88 EINAR LÖNNBERG, BIRDS. 



Laniidae. 



Eurocephalus riippelli Bp. 



Rchw. II, p. 526. 



On the acacia-steppe south of Guaso Nyiri and in the thornbush north of the same 

 river all way to Njoro this bird was seen now and again. A male shot at Njoro 21 U had 

 swelled testidés. 



This bird has sometim.es very late habits. One evening when I returned to the 

 camp of Guaso Nyiri (at the förd on the way to Marsabit) after nightfall I saw some birds 

 fluttering över a flat-topped acacia. It was too dark to aim but I tried to shoot, and next 

 morning my gunbearer brought me an Eurocephalus which had fallen and got caught a- 

 mong the branches of the acacia. 



White-headed birds, most probably members of this species were also seen on the 

 bush-steppe between Blue Post and Punda Melia but T could not secure any specimen 

 there as the birds were very shy. 



Sigmodus retzii graculinus (Cab.). 



Rchw. II, p. 536. 



Two specimens of this bird shot in a forest not far from Nairobi, 2 /i 1911 have no 

 trace of white on the quills of the wings but in the third there are small white spöts on 

 three of the primaries of either side. This indicates that the difference between this sub- 

 species and 8. r. tricolor is not quite sharp. 



The birds were found in a place where the sun-rays could penetrate the thick foliage 

 of the high trees. When the first specimen was shot and fell down, another came scream- 

 ing to the spöt and was also shot. 



When Reichenow wrote about this race in »Vögel Afrikas» its known distribution 

 was only from Kawirondo to Pangani. Låter C. von Erlanoer stated its occurrence 

 in the forests round Lower Juba river. Through the above mentioned find at Nairobi 

 its area of distribution is better rounded off. 



Sigmodus scopifrons Ptrs. 



Rchw. II, p. 537. 

 (IM. III, tig. 1). 



Two specimens belonging to this species were shot in a thick forest a couple of hours 

 march north of Meru. 



In the year 1899 Neumann expressed a supposition 1 that of this rare bird only the 

 following specimens existed in collections a) Peters' type from Mozambique, and b ) Kirk's 

 specimens from Usambara and Lamu. Since then the species is reported from Beira by 

 E. R. Grant. 



1 Ornith, Monatsber., Juni. p. 89. 



