676 Mr. D. A. Bannerman on a Collection of 



XXXI. — On a Collection of Birds made by Mr. A. B. Percival 

 in British East Africa. By D. A. Bannerman, B.A., 

 M.B.O.U. With Field-Notes by the Collector. 



(Plate XL) 



The present paper is based on a collection of birds which 

 was formed by Mr. Arthur Blayney Percival (Game-Ranger 

 to the Protectorate) in British East Africa, during the years 

 1900-1903, and presented to the British Museum. The 

 collection, though a small one, is of special interest from the 

 fact that it was chiefly made in the coastal districts, whence 

 comparatively few specimens have hitherto been received. 

 A few birds were also obtained at various points along the 

 railway between Mombasa and Nairobi, and in the neighbour- 

 hood of Mount Kilimanjaro ; likewise some at Shimoni, Taka- 

 ungu, and Malindi: the three last-named are places situated 

 on the coast-line, Malindi being some fifty miles north 

 of Mombasa. Unfortunately, Mr. Percival obtained only 

 a small series of each species, and it is to be regretted that 

 in many instances the sex was not determined. 



Only onespecies — a Bulbul ( < 'hlorocichlapercivali) — proved 

 to be new in Mr. Percival's collection, and this has already 

 been described by Dr. Neumann ; but several rare birds, not 

 previously represented in the Natural History Museum, are 

 also included. Among the more interesting species may be 

 mentioned Pytelia nitidula, which is here figured for the 

 first time from specimens in Mr. F. J. Jackson's collection ; 

 the curious Golden Pipit, Tmetothylacus tenellus, of which 

 ]\Ir. Percival obtained a small series ; Macro sphenus kretsch- 

 merij hitherto unrepresented in the National Collection ; 

 and the extremely rare Fan-tailed Warbler, Cisticola picti- 

 pennis, from the Kikuyu Forest. 



In the following itinerary will be found a list of the 

 localities visited by Mr. Percival, with the months in which 

 the birds were collected : — 



