the Sobat and Baro Rivers. 603 
im Mr. Boyd Alexander’s Collection have these patches on the 
primaries nearly obsolete. This specimen shews no traces of 
the white spots or bands on the outer pair of tail-feathers, 
while in five female examples, also from the White Nile, the 
white markings are more or less developed and vary from 
a well-marked band crossing both webs to an almost 
invisible spot on the outer web of the outer tail-feather. 
Of six birds collected for Mr. McMillan on the Baro River 
only one male and one female shew any traces of white on 
the outer tail-feathers, which have a small white spot on the 
outer web. In the six typical Abyssinian birds in the 
British Museum the white band or spot is well-marked, but 
this character is clearly very variable and of slight import- 
ance, and I am not sure that Dr. Reichenow was not fully 
justified in uniting S. notatus with S. aterrimus. 
Mr. Neumann has recognised no less than five forms or 
subspecies of S. aterrimus, but after a very careful examina- 
tion of the series I cannot see the slightest justification for 
adopting such a course. 
I add the wing-measurements of the specimens examined, 
from which it is clear that Mr. Neumann’s 8S. aterrimus 
major, which is said to be distinguished from S. notatus by 
its size (wing 113 mm.=4°5 in.), is not much larger than 
many other male specimens. 
Typical S. notatus. 
Wing. Wing. 
in. in. 
¢. Shoa, Abyssinia ...... 4:2 O) as VAST m= a ereneies le ERE arcs 3°9 
MMII O Me drayst enehs cst aio-etanz 4:2 @. Anseba Valley ...... 3°89 
CMS ONAL enor: freuen cers leds 4°2, 
Sho AiO ee Foran poe c 4°] 
do. Polkom, Baro River .. 39 Oe lileart.yeiciseleesraeie raters 3°6 
(Chen LOL CENT OEM RR ae eT ere 42 7; Lake Tineroi. 7.25 0 3°85 
Bion ame Tetra « ae dione ages 4:0 
oo Ibe Ibi Rens Gooonoc 4:05 
¢. Twenty miles N. of Mord Of ities era cto sapere 4:0 
Fashoda, White Nile. 4:1 
+) +O +O +0 
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