NILAUS AFER 457 
The female nearly always has a sooty-brown, not black, head. 
A young bird is dusky-brown above, the head and back spotted with 
white, below white, narrowly and irregularly transversely banded with 
dusky, and with no traces of the chocolate flank bands. Kiri, N. Nigeria 
(Alexander). 
The Northern Brubru ranges from Senegambia and the 
Gold Coast eastwards to the Red Sea. 
The type of the species and that of N. edwardsi both 
came from Senegal. Neumann in his recent revision of the 
Bush-Shrikes recognized two local races in addition to the 
type as follows :— 
Nilaus afer afer, with only a few separate flank stripes. 
Type from Senegal. Distribution from Senegal and Togoland 
to the Nile Valley as far north as Maghavir, north of 
Khartum, where it was obtained by Koenig. 
Nilaus afer erythree, with the flank-stripes broader and 
more numerous, the white portions between washed with 
yellowish. Type from Ailet near Massaua in Eritrea. Dis- 
tribution—Bogosland and Eritrea. 
Nilaus afer hilgerti, with the flank stripes still broader 
and running into one another almost to form patches. ‘Type 
from the Kassim River in Shoa.  Distribution—Southern 
Abyssinia and Shoa to Lake Zwai. 
The large series in the British Museum show that it is 
possible to distinguish these three forms, though the dis- 
tinctive characters are by no means clearly marked or 
constant. 
In Senegambia, Marche and De Compiegne collected speci- 
mens at Daranka and at Zinghinchor close to Casamanse, 
where Verreaux likewise procured the species; Dr. P. Rendall 
met with it only on one occasion during his residence at 
Bathurst on the Gambia. In the Gold Coast Colony, the 
only specimen I saw was perched on the top of a high tree in 
