602 DH. n. BOWDLEB, SHAEPE ON BlEDS [DeC. 3, 



as I think- that the prevailing opinion is in favour of retaining 

 that genus. Now, however, I may be allowed to point out that 

 in the three Scolopacine birds considered in the present com- 

 munication the line of division is rather between the Jack Snipe 

 and the remaining two, than between the Snipes and the Woodcock. 

 I would rather, in fact, refer Gallinago coelestis to the genus 

 Scolopax, retaining Gallinago for G. galUmda. 



6. On the Collection o£ Birds made by Dr. A. Donaldson 

 Smith on his last Expedition to Lake Rudolf and the 

 Nile. By R. Bowdler Sharpe, LL.D., F.Z.S., &c. 



[Received November 16, 1901.] 



(Plate XXXVI.') 



Dr. Donaldson Smith's adventurous journey may be traced on 

 the excellent map which accompanies his paper in the ' Geo- 

 graphical Journal ' for December, 1900 (vol. svi. pp. 600-624). 

 A remarkable point of interest for Ornithologists is that insisted 

 upon by the traveller, namely, that on reaching the Omo Eiver he 

 found a great change in the aspect of the Fauna. This is confirmed 

 by the species of birds which he obtained on the marches between 

 the Mursu country and the Nile. A West- African element, already 

 known to exist on the Upper Nile through the collections made 

 by Emin Pasha at Eedjaf and Lado, was here traceable farther 

 eastward to the Omo River, as proved by such species as Platystira 

 albifrons, Qossypha verticalis, Lybius cequatorialis, and Cossypha 

 omoensis, a near ally of C. giffardi of the Niger. A species 

 of Barbet {Erytlirobucco rolleti) was obtained near the Nile, to 

 which region it seems to be strictly confi.ned, as is probably also 

 Crateropus tenehrosus. A certain Abyssinian element is also present 

 among the birds collected between the Omo and the Nile, viz., 

 Cryptorliina afra, Oriolus auratus (vice 0. notatus), Laniarius 

 erydirogaster, Lybius abyssinicus. On the other hand, a number of 

 Somali-land and East-African forms extend beyond the Omo River 

 district, with a slight admixture of Uganda species. Perhaps the 

 most remarkable of these is Phyllostroplius strepitans, an East-Coast 

 Bulbul, oi which examples were obtained by Dr. Donaldson Smith, 

 which 1 have not been able to distinguish from the typical form. 

 On the Omo River, likewise, the species of Heterliyphantes is H. 

 melanoxantlius. which is the East-African, not the West-African 

 form. Ploceipasser clonaldsoni, a remarkable new species discovered 

 by Dr. Donaldson Smith on his first expedition, appears to be 

 confined to the hilly region near Lake Stefanie. 



Feakcolinus granti. 



Francolinus granti Hartl. ; Sharpe, Hand-1. B. i. p. 23 (1899); 



^ For explanation of the Plate, see p. 622. 



