428 



men did not agree very well with the figure given by Shelley 1 

 but had no typical birds for comparison and so could do no more 

 than suggest that the southern birds might prove to be separable. 

 Inasmuch as no name is available for them, I propose 



Passer castanopterus fulgens, subsp. nov. 



Type. — U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 246602; adult male, collected in the Indunumara 

 Mountains, Kenya Colony, July 15, 1912, by Edgar A. Mearns. 



Subspecific characters. — Differs from typical castanopterus in being more 

 yellowish on the cheeks and under parts; the males of fulgens with top of the 

 head and nape brighter cinnamon-rufous, and the upper back with a slightly 

 more greenish tone. 



Range. — Northern Kenya Colony from Marsabit and the 

 Indunumara Mountains north to Chaffa on the Shoan border, 

 possibly east to Bera, in southern Somaliland. The subspecific 

 identity of the Bera bird is open to question; it should be ex- 

 amined with good comparative material of both forms. 



Of P. c. fulgens I have seen 23 specimens of which 14 are in 

 the United States National Museum, and 9 in the American 

 Museum of Natural History. For the loan of the 9 from Karoli 

 I am indebted to Dr. James P. Chapin. Curiously enough, all 

 these 9 are much earth-stained, and therefore look quite unlike 

 the other specimens of fulgens on casual inspection. 



1 Birds of Africa, 3, 1902, pi. 27, fig. 1. 



