| ! THE meres OF -AF RICA, COMPRISING ALL THE SPECIES WHICH OCCUR IN THE ETHIOPIAN REGION. BY G. E. SHELLEY, F.ZS, F.RGS., &. (LATE GRENADIER GUARDS), AUTHOR OF ‘‘A HANDBOOK TO THE BIRDS OF EGYPT,” ‘©4 MONOGRAPH OF THE SUN-BIRDS,” ETC. PART I. LON DION: PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY R. H, PORTER, 7, PRINCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W. 1906. CONTENTS. PAGE | List oF PuatEs Vv. | 666. Cosmopsarus regius Section IV. Corvi 1 | 667. 5 unicolor Family I. Ortonipe ... 2 | Genus VI. LamproTornNis Genus OrtoLus ee 2 668. Lamprotornis caudatus 647. Oriolus galbula 3 669. “5 eytoni ... : 648. » auratus 3) 670. a purpuropterus... 649. », notatus fy) (eal, 5 wneocephalus ... 653. » brachyrhynehus 7 672. 55 meyesi 654. », higripennis NS) (7/8 benguelensis 650. ,, chlorocephalus 10 | 674. australis 651. », monachus 11 675. ornatus 652. » larvatus ary AD 676. splendidus 655. », crassivostris (Pl. xi.) 91 (PI. xlv.) Family Il. Srursipx 22°) 677. x chrysonotis Subfamily I. BurpHacina 29 678. “ acuticaudus Genus BupHaca 23 | 679. 3 pheenicopterus 656. Buphaga africana 23 | 680. x chalybzeus 657. » erythrorhyncha 28 | 681. 5 chaleurus Subfamily II. Srurninas 31 | 682. 3 purpureus Genus I. Hypocotius 33 683. ys cupreocaudus 658. Hypocolius ampelinus 34 (PI. xlvi.) Genus II. Harrnausius 36 | 684. ee purpureiceps ... 659. Hartlaubius auratus ... 36 | 685. A melanogaster Genus III. Crynyricincuus 37 (PL. xlvil.) 660. Cinnyricineclus leucogaster 38 | 686. 6 iris : 661. 5 verreauxi 41 | Genus VII. Spreo 662. is fischeri 44 | 687. Spreo bicolor 663. A femoralis 688. ,, albicapillus (Pl. xliv.) 46 689. ,, superbus 664. a sharpei 46 | 690. ,, hildebrandti Genus LY. SPECULIPASTOR 47 691. ,, shelleyi 665. Speculipastor bicolor ... 47 692. ,, pulcher Genus VY. CosMopsARus 48 | Genus VIII. OnycHoaNATHUS PAGE 49 50 5L 53 53 56 56 59 59 62 64 67 69 70 73 77 78 50 81 82 84 85 85 88 89 91 92 93 96 693. Onychognathus fulgidus 694. es hartlaubi 695. walleri 696. frater 697. caffer 698. morio 699. rueppelli 700. blythi (Pl. xlviii.) 701. tenuirostris ... 702. albirostris 703. ae salvadorii Genus IX. Paortrrrus 704. Poeopterus lugubris 705. ra stuhlmanni (Pl. xlix.) 706. PP kenricki ee Genus X. Sturnus 707. Sturnus vulgaris Genus XI. CREATOPHORA 708. Creatophora carunculata Genus XII. ACRIDOTHERES ... 709. Acridotheres tristis CONTENTS PAGE 97 | Genus XIII. Marnatus 98 100 101 103 105 105 109 113 114 116 117 lal 119 120 121 121 129 123 128 128 710. Mainatus religiosus Genus XIV. Freainurus 711. Fregilupus varius Genus XY. Nrecropsak 712. Necropsar leguati Family III. Corvrpa Genus I. CornvuLtTuR 713. Corvultur albicollis 714. », Grassirostris Genus II. Corvus 715. Corvus affinis T16;. 0." eealbas 717. » umbrinus 718. .,, edithe ... 719. ,, capensis Genus III. Pyrrnocorax 720. Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax Genus LV. PycaTHARTES 721. Pycathartes gymnocephalus ... 722. - oreas Genus V. CrYPTORHINA 723. Cryptorhina afra PAGE 130 130 131 131 132 132 133 134 134 138 140 140 144 149 151 152 157 157 159 159 160 161 161 -Plate XLIIT,, Plate XLIV., Mee Plate XLV, Plate XLVI., Plate XLVIL., ” Plate XLVIIL., 7 Plate XLIX., So Ep 38 =r) ER og Ep gg 08 pr wp Oriolus ecrassirostris Cinnyricinelus femoralis Cosmopsarus unicolor Lamprocolius splendidus Lamprocolius cupreocaudus 5 purpureiceps Lamprocolius melanogaster Spreo shelleyi Onychognathus blythi Poeoptera stuhImanni 5 kenricki DiS TOF PEATES—VObL. V., PART 4, —— ss —— — 109 Sg at ye a Oe Te oo a ae ae aa Section IV. CORVI. The members of this Section have the plumage of the young birds duller than that of the adults, sometimes more streaked or blotched, but never more barred, as in the Danii or Shrikes, nor more spotted, as in the T'wrdi or Thrush group, and never brighter than the adults, as is the case in the Siluye or Warblers. They differ from the F’ringille, or Finches, in the form of the bill; from the Alaude, or Larks, in the back of the tarsus being ‘plain, not scutellated, and the secondaries never reach to the tip of the wing; from the other four Sections they differ in their mode of feeding, often perching on the ground for that purpose and they are more omnivorous. Flight powerful; wings pointed; bill and feet strong; generally gre- garious ; not migratory (Oriolus galbula excepted) ; sexes generally alike in plumage ; size about that of a Thrush, excepting in the Corvide, the largest of which is the Raven. Nest cup-shaped and placed among boughs or in holes. Hggs, generally five in a clutch, are uniform or spotted. KEY TO THE FAMILIES. a. Tarsus short, never more than 1:1 inches and is not longer than the culmen, otherwise they are Thrush-like in form and size, with no metallic gloss. All the Ethiopian species have a considerable amount of yellow on the upper parts, head or neck, as well as upon the breast, and the bill is pale reddish brown inadults . ...... =... + Oriolide. b. Tarsus comparatively longer. No yellow feathers on the upper parts, head or neck, which are generally strongly glossed ; bill never pale reddish brown. a1. Rarely with any notch on the upper mandible; form and size generally more ered tail of twelve eae square or graduated . . . . c . Sturnide. 61. A notch on the upper mandible near the aad size a vable from that of a Thrush to that of a Raven; tail, when of twelve feathers is square or rounded and when of only ten feathers is generally graduated and longer than the wing. Corvide. (January, 1906. 1 2 ORIOLIDZ Family I ORIOLIDA. Bill moderately strong, pale reddish brown in adults and generally black in young birds; a slight notch on the upper mandible near the tip; nostrils exposed ; rictal-bristles obsolete. Wing of ten primaries; first primary more than half the length of the second one. Tail of twelve feathers, rounded and shorter than the wing. Tarsus rather short, not longer than the culmen. Sexes often similar in plumage; young streaked. An Autumn moult only. Nest cup-shaped and suspended between small branches. The family is confined to the Hastern Hemisphere and comprises some fifty species, of which eight are confined to the Ethiopian Region, and one, O. galbula, migrates into Europe to breed. Genus ORIOLUS. Type. Oriolus, Linn. §. N. i. p. 160 (1766) . . . . . . O. galbula. Galbulus, Bp. C. R. xxxviii. p. 535 ast . . . . O. galbula. Baruffius, Bp. ¢t.c. p. 5388. . . . . . + . O. brachyrhynchus. KEY TO THE SPECIKS. a. Head mostly yellow or green, with no black on the crown. a1, Head mostly yellow in adults; no bluish grey edges to the wing- feathers. a?, Wings with no bright yellow edges to the feathers galbula. b2, Wings with bright yellow edges to the feathers. a’. Outer tail-feathers black at the base . . . . auratus. 6%. Outer tail-feathers almost entirely yellow. . . notatus. b1. Head entirely green in adults; some broad bluish grey edges to the wing-feathers. . . . . . . . chlorocephalus. b. Head black, at least in adult males. cl. Tail yellower, no black bases to the feathers . . . monachus. d', Tail with black bases to the feathers. c*. Breast golden yellow. c’, Primary coverts with white ends. a*. Larger, wing more than five inches; bill longer. . . aly cso) eines meats oe b4. Smaller, wing ie phan Bp inches; bill slightly shorter. . . 7 2 es 2 (Orachyrynchiuss d*, Primary-coverts entirely Bleek: 7 5 + « « « Mgnipennis. [a d*, Breast yellowish white ...... =... =. . crasstrostris, « )- ORIOLUS GALBULA 3 Oriolus galbula. Oriolus galbula, Linn. S. N. i. p. 160 (1766) Hurope; Dresser, B. Eur. ili, p. 365, pl. 144 (1875); Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 191 (1877) ; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 568 (1896) ; A. L. Butler, Ibis, 1905, p. 323 Khartowm. Coracias oriolus, Linn. (x.) p. 107 (1758) Hwrope. Oriolus oriolus, Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 654 (1903). Adult male. General plumage bright golden yellow, with the wings and tail mostly black; in front of eye a broad black band; wing black above, with broad pale yellow ends to the primary coverts; quills with whitish terminal margins, broadest on the outer webs of some of the secondaries and a few of the larger quills have very imperfect white outer edges; under wing-coverts yellow; under surface of quills dusky ash, fading almost into white on their inner edges ; tail, with the base and centre black, the yellow ends to the feathers rapidly increasing in extent towards the outer ones. Iris crimson; bill pale brownish red; feet grey. Total length 9-4 inches, culmen 1:0, wing 6:1, tail 3-6, tarsus 0°85. Bogos (Hsler). Adult female. Differs in having the wings and tail paler; upper parts shaded with olive; throat and breast white, shading into olive yellow on the sides and under tail-coverts, and with some blackish shaft-stripes ; wings dusky brown, with a wash of olive yellow on the inner secondaries, greater-coverts and edges of the lesser-coverts ; tail with the centre feathers olive and the dark portion of the others dusky olive extending nearly to the ends of the feathers. Immature. Similar in plumage to the adult females, or, in the younger specimens, the wing-coverts have whitish terminal margins, the under parts more strongly striped and the tail more olive. The European Golden Oriole breeds during its migration in Europe and Western Asia, and has been met with as far north as 60° N. lat. It ranges over the whole of Eastern and Southern Africa, and North-western Africa to as far south as Senegambia. The greater portion of the specimens migrate from Africa in April, and return to that continent again in September, but some apparently remain in Tropical Africa throughout the year, for Dr. Hinde procured an example at Nairobi, on June 1, 1899. It has not been recorded from Western Africa, 4 ORIOLUS GALBULA between Senegambia and Damaraland, so it apparently migrates from the latter country and Cape Colony, through the eastern side of the continent, and according to Hartlaub (Vég. Madag., 1877, p. 159), has been met with on the island of Madagascar in October. When I was in Egypt these Orioles were first seen on April 20, and soon became plentiful in parties of five or six, all hurrying northward on their migration. They are shy birds, and naturally keep to the thickest foliaged trees they meet with, so consequently are not easy to observe, but may be attracted into view by imitating their loud flute-like note, which has been compared to the words, “Who are you,’ which is an appropriate remark for these birds to make, as they are very wary and careful not to show themselves in dangerous company. Mr. Dresser gives good figures of the adult male and female (Birds of Europe, iii., p. 365, pl. 144) and writes: “It devours all sorts of insects that inhabit the woodlands, but is especially fond of the large ereen caterpillars which are found on the leaves of the trees. It also feeds largely on berries and fruit when in season, but is not more destructive in a garden than many other birds, and amply repays any mischief it may do by the number of noxious insects it kills. It is most partial to cherries, of all garden-fruit, but will also feed on currants, and especially on mulberries. “In Germany, where I have several times found its nest, it commences nidification soon after its arrival in May, the place chosen being usually in a dense wood or grove, the nest being placed on the upper part of a tolerably small tree, and neatly suspended amongst the smaller branches. It is always placed in a fork of a small branch, the nest being basket-shaped, and neatly woven to the slender branches on each side, and is one of the most artistic structures amongst the nests of our ORIOLUS AURATUS 5) European birds. Both male and female co-operate in the construction of the nest. One I have before me is built in the fork of a slender oak branch, and is made of strips of pliable bark, straw, dried grass-bents, &c., closely and firmly constructed, and carefully twisted and woven round the branch. The outside is ornamented with strips of paper-like white birch bark; and the interior is lined with fine grass- bents. In size it measures 4 inches one way and 53 the other in outside diameter, the inside cup measuring 3-3} inches in diameter, and 25 inches in depth. As the nest is not built until the foliage is fully developed, it is by no means easy to find it.” The eggs, four or five in number, are laid in the latter part of May or early in June. They are glossy white, spotted with reddish brown, and measure about 1°2 x 0°85. Mr. A. L. Butler writes: “A very considerable immigration of Golden Orioles occurs at Khartoum at the beginning of September, when the lime and fig-trees are full of them, mostly immature birds. After this they pass on, and are comparatively scarce until March again. I have never heard them utter their beautiful flute-like notes in their winter quarters. From Halfa in the north their migration follows the Nile Valley up to Uganda, Gedaref is the most eastern point at which I have observed it.” Oriolus auratus. Oriolus auratus, Vieill. N. D. xviii. p. 194 (1817) Hab ?; Swains. B. W. Afr. ii. p. 33, pl. i. (1837); Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 195 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 569 (1896); Reichen. Vg. Afr. ii. p. 655 (1903) ; Grant, Ibis, 1905, pp. 201, 202 Uganda; Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 232 N. #. Afr. Oriolus bicolor, Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 20 (1823) Senegambza. Oriolus chryseus, Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 31 (1856) N. HE. Afr. “Oriolus icterus, Wirt.” Heugl. J. f. O. 1867, p. 299 N. H. Afr. Le loriodor, Levaill. Ois. Afr. vi. p. 49, pl. 260 (1808). 6 ORIOLUS AURATUS Adult male. General plumage bright golden yellow ; a broad black band from above the gape surrounds the eyes and includes the upper half of the ear-coyerts ; wing, with the quills and greater coyerts black, the latter as well as the secondaries, with strongly marked bright yellow edges; primaries and primary-coverts, with narrow yellow or white terminal margins and an indication of a white outer margin to some of the primaries; under surface of quills dusky black with whitish inner margins; tail with the centre feathers and the entire base of all the others black, each feather with the end bright yellow, which colour increases in extent towards the outer ones. Tris red; bill pale brownish red; feet dusky grey. Total length 9°6 inches, culmen 1:15, wing 5:75, tail 3:6, tarsus 0-9. Gambia (Strachan). Adult female. Differs from the adult male in its more olive colouring ; black patch on sides of head more obscurely marked; dark portion of tail larger and extending on the outer webs of the feathers nearly to their ends and is washed with olive yellow most strongly towards the base. Immature. Similar to the female, or, in younger specimens, with no trace of the dark mark on the side of head ; throat and chest white streaked with black. The Northern African Golden Oriole inhabits Northern Tropical Africa between about 4° and 18° N. lat. This bird closely resembles our European Oriole in its general colouring, voice and habits, but may be readily dis- tinguished by the olive yellow on the wing, the black band on the side of the head extending back behind the eye; and like all the other African members of the genus it is not of a migratory nature, and is generally to be met with in pairs, or accompanied by the brood after the nesting season. The species has been recorded from many places along the Senegambian coast and from the Island of Bulama. Dr. Rendall, while at the Gambia, wrote: “Common on the mainland all the year round; occasionally stragglers seen on the island.” It has not been recorded from Liberia, and is known to me from Fantee by one of Swanzy’s specimens. Inland from Fantee, Captain W. Giffard obtained five examples at Gambaga from August to January, and Mr. Boyd Alexander, who met with it at the same place, writes: ORIOLUS NOTATUS 7 “This Oriole is not found in the forest region. It is generally observed in pairs, frequenting open country, and is probably a resident in the Hinterland.” In Togoland specimens have been collected at many places and at all seasons. At the Niger, Thomson obtained a specimen at Abo, and Dr. Hartert a pair at Loko, and considered it to be rare in that district. I cannot trace the range further south on the West Coast, although the type was supposed to haye been discovered in Angola by Perrein. Specimens have been collected by Bohndorff at Sassa in the Niam Niam country, by Emin at Redjaf, Kiri, Mabero, Rimo and Wandi, and by Antinori in the Djur country. According to Heuglin it is a resident in the warmer parts of North-east Africa, but does not range into Abyssinia. He met with it on the western slopes of the Amhara highlands on the Upper Rahab, at Galabat and at Fazogl. Oriolus notatus. Oriolus notatus, Peters, J. f. O. 1868, p. 132 Tete ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 218, pl. 7, fig. 2; id. Cat. B. M. iii. p. 196 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 570 (1896); Reichen, Vog. Afr. ii. p. 656 (1903). Oriolus anderssoni, Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. 1870, p. 342. Adults. Very similar to O. awratus, from which it differs in the bill being slightly shorter and stouter, and in the colouring of the quills, primary- coverts and tail; quills with the yellow edges of the secondaries wide to the base of the feathers; primaries with stronger white margins; primary- coyerts with broad yellow ends; tail bright yellow with the exception of the four centre feathers, which are black with golden ends and margins, the remainder of the black being almost confined to the basal portion of the shafts of the four pairs of outer feathers. Ivis red; bill pale brownish red ; feet dusky grey. Total length 9-0 and 9-8 inches, culmen 0:95 and 1-05, wing 55 and 5:6, tail 3-3, tarsus 0-9. Okovango R. (Andersson) and Kilimanjaro (Johnston). Immature. Differ from the adults in having the dark patch on sides of head less distinctly marked; upper parts more olive; pale ends of primary 8 ORIOLUS NOTATUS coverts narrower ; tail mostly dusky olive, with the yellow of the outer webs confined to their ends, but the yellow extends further down on the inner web. The yellow on the tail gradually increases in amount with age; first it expands on the inner webs and gradually extends over the external webs of the four outer pair of feathers, without their being shed; throat and centre of breast at first buff, with flanks yellow and streaked with black, gradually changing into uniform yellow. This gradual change is well shown by the following five specimens in the British Museum: a, Benguela (Monteiro) ; 4, Karugwe, June (Whyte); c, Ikawa (A. Sharpe); d, Lake Shirwa, Aug. (A. Sharpe); e, Nyasaland (Whyte). The Southern African Golden Oriole replaces O. auratus to the south of the Equator, and ranges over the whole of Eastern Africa to nearly as far south as the Limpopo and crosses the Continent into Western Africa from the Congo to Damaraland. In West Africa this Oriole has been procured by Bohndorff at Kassongo and Kibondo in the Upper Congo district, by Storms during his expedition to Lake Tanganyika, and in Angola by Schutt and Mechow at Malandje and along the Kuango River. It is generally distributed over this part of the continent from the Congo to Damaraland, but never extends beyond the limit of Tropical South Africa, and is rarer to the south than to the north of the Cunene and Zambesi Rivers. Monteiro calls it abundant at Benguela, and in the Portuguese Possession it is known to the natives, according to Anchieta, by the many following names: the “ Kimuxoco”’ at Biballa, the “Cupio” at Quillengues, the “ Unguloyombia ” at Caconda, the “ Xirongo” or “ Xirombo ” at Quissange and Quindumbo, and as the “Dicole” at Humbe. Andersson writes: “I have only obtained the adult of this splendid Oriole in Damaraland on a few occasions, and that always during the rainy season; the young, however, are frequently met with; and at the Okavango River the ORIOLUS NOTATUS 9 species is more common than in Damaraland proper. The young birds are easily obtained, but the old are excessively shy and difficult to procure, as they always perch on the most elevated and conspicuous trees and retire into the densest parts of tangled brakes and thickets on the least approach of danger.” In the country between the Limpopo and Zambesi Rivers, Holub obtained the species at the Pandamatinka River to the south of the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi; Jameson and Ayres procured a specimen at the Ganyani River and record it as “shy, but not uncommon in Mashonaland.” Mr. Guy Marshall writes from Mashonaland: “ Not uncommon in the summer months, arriving about October. It is solitary in its habits, except for a short time after its arrival, when it remains in small flocks.” He further remarks: ‘‘O. notatus undoubtedly breeds in Mashonaland, and young birds with mottled breasts are fairly plentiful during January and February.” The type of the species was discovered by Dr. Peters at Tete on the Zambesi, and there is one of Sir John Kirk’s specimens from the same locality in the British Museum. From further up the Zambesi, Mr. Boyd Alexander writes: “Scattered individuals observed for the first time at Zumbo on December 12, frequenting the thick woods, and in company now and again with young birds. The adults were then in a moulting condition and were difficult to approach, their clear whistling note being more often heard.” In this neighbourhood, according to M. Foa, it is known as the “ Kondiomo” (Oust. Bull. Mus. 1898, p. 60). The species is abundant and very generally distributed over Nyasaland, and, according to General W. H. Manning, it is called by the natives of Angoniland the “ Hisundambawala.” It is apparently equally plentiful throughout German Kast 10 ORIOLUS CHLOROCEPHALUS Africa, and according to Stuhlmannis, in common with the other Orioles, known to the natives of Usegua as the “ Kubuiru.” In its more northern range it has been procured on Kilimanjaro (Johnston), in Taveita (Hunter), on Manda Island, and at Witu (Jackson), at Melinda and Lamu (Kirk), and at the Tana River (Fischer). Oriolus chlorocephalus. Oriolus chlorocephalus, Shelley, Ibis, 1896, p. 183, pl. 4 Mount Chirad- zulu; Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. p. 662 (1903). Type. Entire head and throat uniform bright sage green ; a broad collar, breast and under tail-coverts rich golden yellow; remainder of upper parts mostly olive green, a shade darker than the head ; on the wings the green shades into blue grey on the outer webs of the greater and primary coverts and the quills, and, with the exception of the inner secondaries, the remainder of the quills are greyish black, with imperfect ashy inner margins ; five outer pairs of tail-feathers with yellow ends rapidly increasing in breadth towards the outer feathers, remainder of these feathers have the shafts and portion of the inner webs black; under wing-coverts bright yellow, a few of the larger ones mottled with olive, and the outer greater series white with some dusky marks. Iris red; bill pale reddish brown; feet grey. Total length 10 inches, culmen 1:1, wing 5:2, tail 4:3, tarsus 1:0. 9, Mount Chiradzulu (A. Whyte). The Green-headed Oriole inhabits Eastern Africa between 5° and 15° S. lat. The type was discovered by Mr. Alexander Whyte in July, 1895, when he visited Mount Chiradzulu, which is situated in the Shiré highlands between Blantyre and Zomba. The late Captain Sclater described Chiradzulu as “a striking moun- tain, rising to a level ridge about two miles long, which runs north and south to an elevation of nearly 5,000 feet. The upper slopes are well forested and watered by numerous small streams.” ORIOLUS MONACHUS 11 The Tring Museum has also received a fine pair of this beautiful and rare Oriole from Uguru, due west of Zanzibar Island. Oriolus monachus. Turdus monacha, Gm. §. N. ii. p. 824 (1788) Abyssinia. Oriolus monachus, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 216; Shelley, B. Afr, I. No. 571 (1896); Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 657 (1903); Grant, Ibis, 1904, p. 256 S. Abyssinia; Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 232. Oriolus meloxita, Riipp. N. Wirb. Vég. p. 29, pl. 12, fig. 1 (1835) Abyssinia. Oriolus meneliki, Blundell and Lovat, Bull. B. O. C. x. p. 19 (1899) Burka; Grant, Ibis, 1900, p. 122, pl. 2; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 657 (1903). Oriolus monachus permistus, Neum. O. M. 1905, p. 145 Gadat ; id. J. f. O. 1905, pp. 233, 235. The Nun Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. p. 77 (1783). Adult. Entire head, upper half of neck and the throat black ; remainder of neck, the upper tail-coverts, breast, thigh and under tail-coverts golden yellow; the neck shading into a slightly more olive yellow tinge on the back, seapulars and lesser wing-coverts ; tail, with centre feathers and more than the basal half of the others yellowish olive, with dark shafts and a trace of a broad blackish bar; remainder of the tail including the shafts bright yellow (the amount of the bright yellow and of the dark bar on the tail is very variable, the former increasing and the latter decreasing as the bird grows older) ; most of the greater wing-coverts and the secondaries have broad grey edges and a wash of yellow towards the back; primaries with narrow ashy-white edges; primary coverts with broad white ends; under surface of quills dusky ash, whitish towards their inner edges; under wing- coverts yellow, with a few feathers next to the quills white. Iris red; bill brownish red; feet pale grey. Total length 9-1 inches, culmen 0-9, wing 5:6, tail 4:0, tarsus 0-9. Abyssinia (Schaufuss), The Nun Black-headed Oriole is confined to North-east Africa, where it ranges over Shoa and Abyssinia into Bogosland. Although this was the earliest purely African Oriole recognised, it is one of the rarest and most localised forms. It was discovered by Bruce, probably in Shoa, and was 12 ORIOLUS LARVATUS originally described from a painting made by that traveller. It was first called the Nun Thrush by Latham, a few years before it received its Latin name. Heuglin records it as abundant in Abyssinia, at elevations varying from 2,000 to 8,000 feet, frequenting the belts of trees which line the banks of the streams and form one of the prettiest features of the country. In habits and voice it much resembles the better known European Golden Oriole. In its more northern range, Dr. Blanford considered the species to be rare, and remarks : “Tt has a peculiar harsh double call-note.” With regard to O. meneliki, Lord Lovat writes: “ This Oriole is a native of the thickets, south of the Hawash Valley. It is locally plentiful, and is always met with singly or in pairs, feeding in forest trees with yellow leaves (name unknown) and, notwithstanding the bright colour, is difficult to see. The note is a melodious whistle, and the answer is a harsh double note.” Both Dr. Reichenow and Mr. Oscar Neumann regard O. meneliki as specifically distinct from O. monachus; this I do not believe to be correct. The type of O. monachus is a fully adult bird, and that of O. meneliki an immature speci- men. That the former is a highland race, ranging from 2,000 to 8,000 feet, and the latter a lowland form, appears to me to be based upon no evidence, and the variation in the colouring of the tail-feathers and bill can be accounted for by age, and in no other manner. Oriolus larvatus. Oriolus larvatus, Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 20 (1823) Kaffraria ; Monteiro, Ibis, 1862, pp. 335, 341 Quanza R. Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 217 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 572 (1896); Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. p. 658 (1903) ; Shortridge, Ibis, 1904, p. 175 Pondoland ; Grant, t. c. p. 256 S. Abyssinia ; 1905, p. 203 Uganda. with ORIOLUS LARVATUS 13 Oriolus capensis, Swains. Classif. B. ii. p. 237 (1837). Oriolus arundinarius, Burch. Trav. S. Afr. i. p. 464 (1822). * Oriolus chloris, Cuy.’’ Hartl. Orn. W. Afr. p. 81 (1857). Oriolus rolleti, Salvad. Atti #. Acad. Torino, vii. p. 151 (1864). Oriolus larvatus rolleti, Reichen. Vé6g. Afr. ii. p. 659 (1903); Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 324. Oriolus personatus, Heugl. 1867, p. 203 White Nile. Oriolus larvatus, var. minor, Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 225 Abyssinia and Angola. ? Oriolus percivali, Grant, Bull. B. O. C. xiv. p, 18 (1903) Kikuyu. Oriolus larvatus angolensis, Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 236 Malange. Loriot coudougnau, Levaill. Ois. Afr. vi. p. 52, pl. 261 (1808). Adult. Entire head and throat jet black ; remainder of the plumage, with the exception of the wings and tail, uniform yellow of a more olive shade on the mantle; wings black, with pale edges to the quill and broad white ends to the primary-coverts; the pale edges to the quills are white on the primaries and outer secondaries, increasing in breadth and becoming yellow on the inner quills; lesser wing-coverts like the back, median and greater- coverts slightly greyer with some black on their inner webs or base; under surface of wings dusky black fading into ashy white on the inner webs of the quills and the adjoining wing-coverts, remainder of the latter bright yellow; tail olive yellow, with a black band across all but the centre feathers separating the olive yellow from the clear bright yellow ends of the ten outer feathers; both the yellow ends and the black band increasing in width towards the outer feathers. Iris red; bill pale brownish red; feet dusky ash. ‘Total length 9:2 inches, culmen 1:0, wing 5°5 and 5:4, tail 3°7, tarsus 0:95. g and.?, 3.74. Pinetown (Shelley). Immature. Differs from the adult in baving the feathers of forehead and crown edged with dull yellow ; back of neck and mantle with obscure blackish stripes; chin and throat yellow with black shaft-stripes, chest with narrower black stripes. Iris reddish brown; bill black; feet dusky ash. ?, 5. 3. 74. Durban (Shelley). Lichtenstein’s Black-headed Oriole ranges from Angola to the Cunene River, and over the eastern half of the continent from the Knysna in Cape Colony to about 12° N. lat. The species has often been divided into two subspecies ; a nominally large South African form, O. larvatus, and a smaller race, O. roletti. The size of the individual probably depends on the nutrition of the food it receives when young, and might vary to some extent with the nature of the sur- 14 OREOLUS LARVATUS roundings. Upon this theory alone can I suggest the reason for the slight difference in size of some individuals, which does not appear to be a character cither constant or restricted to any special districts. According to Dr. Reichenow, the Tropic of Capricorn separates the range of O. larvatus, Licht. and O. roletti, Salvad. To this species belong the Oriole, obtained by Bohndorff at Kibondo, between the Congo and Lake Tanganyika (the O. brachyrhynchus, Reichen., J. f. O..1887, p. 309), and it is abundant from Angola to the Cunene River, for specimens have been collected at Malange by Mechow in August, October, November and February, by Schutt in May, and by Sala at the Rio Dande. Mr. Monteiro found it known to the natives of Massangana, on the Quanza River, as the ‘“Muenho” and it was very abundant in the wood at Benguela. According to Anchieta it constructs its nest among the top branches of trees and is known to the natives by the following names: “Cupio” at Humbe, “ Angologombia” at Kakoma, pronounced “Golagombia ” at Galanga, and “ Ungologombia”’ at Quindumbo. It has also been obtained by Kellen in the Upper Cunene district, and by Eriksson at the Okovango River. ; Stark writes: “An abundant resident in all the forest and wooded districts in Cape Colony, Natal, Zululand, Portuguese East Africa and the Transvaal. ‘This beautiful Oriole is found usually on the outskirts of forests, among detached groves of trees, and the large growth on the banks of streams and rivers. In such localities its rich flute-hke notes may be generally heard. ‘These Orioles are alimost invariably in pairs. They pass most of their time among the upper branches of fairly lofty trees, preferring those of thick growth, in which their brilliant plumage is concealed by a mass of foliage. They rarely settle on the ground. Their flight is undulating and OREOLUS LARVATUS 15 seldom prolonged for any great distance. They feed on cater- pillars, small beetles and other insects, also on berries and small fruits, occasionally on seeds. The young are fed exclu- sively on caterpillars. The nest is suspended from a fork near the end of a horizontal branch of a tree, at a height of from twenty to fifty feet. It is saucer-shaped, woven from a long grey lichen that grows on the higher forest trees, often where it is hidden by the natural growth. The eggs, three to five in number, resemble those of the Golden Oriole in size, shape and colour.” Mr. Shortridge, in his article on “ Birds from Pondoland ” (“Ibis,” 1904, p. 175), observes: “It is often seen in company with, or following flocks of, Lamprocolius melanogaster.” Layard gives the following picturesque sketch of a haunt of this bird: “On the left bank of the Kearboom’s River, which falls into Plottenberg’s Bay, about half a mile from where the mountains narrow down to the river, there is a lovely kloof, which opens to the water’s edge, and stretches back inland for about a couple of miles. A clear running stream flows through the centre of it, and on each side rocky, inaccessible precipices hem in a splendid forest. In this lovely spot the silence was only broken by the babbling brook and the loud pipe of the Oriole, which frequented the summits of the gigantic yellow-wood trees, whose mighty heads, hung with dense masses of grey moss, seemed, like vegetable Titans, to watch over the solitude around them.” ‘The Messrs. Wood- ward found this Oriole in Zululand, frequenting the high trees, and flying “up and down the kloofs uttering its loud pleasant cry. Besides this cry it possesses an excellent song, with clear, mellow notes.” Can this Oriole be migratory in Mashonaland? Jameson and Ayres met with the species at the Umfuli River and write: “ Occasionally we saw a specimen and heard its loud 16 OREOLUS LARVATUS call amongst the trees, but none, however, appear to remain.” Mr. Guy Marshall writes from the same country: “ Common during the winter months, but with the exception of a few pairs it evidently goes south to breed, shortly after the arrival of O. notatus. It is a much less wary bird than the latter.” Mr. Boyd Alexander also believed it to be migratory at the Zambesi, but he only obtained a single specimen in July. In the Nyasa district it is apparently a common resident, and according to General Manning is known to the natives of Angoniland as the “ Lisondambamala.” Dr. Stuhlmann records its Usegua name as “ Kubuiru.” Béhn mentions it as abundant but shy in the Marungu country on Lake Tan- ganyika, and Fisher observed that it was a plentiful species in Mangrove woods of Hast Africa, and that its note resembles that of our Golden Oriole. Dr. Hinde procured specimens at Ngong and along the Athi River, and writes: “ When the wild figs are ripe, dozens of these birds may be seen in a single tree, consorting with Lamprocolius chalybeus and Oriolus galbula.” The type of O. roletti was obtained by Brun Rollett in the Upper White Nile in about 7° N. lat. According to Heuglin it ranges northward to 8° N. lat., and the vague locality ““ Nubia”? on a specimen in the Leyden Museum, we cannot accept as evidence of its occurring further north. The type of O. percivali was obtained by Mr. A. Blayney Percival, in the Kikuyu Forest, March 29, 1902, and differs from typical O. larvatus in having the four centre tail-feathers entirely black, in which character, as well as in the form and size of the bill, it resembles O. nigripennis (wing 5°5). There is a second specimen of this form, not quite mature, in the British Museum, obtained by Mr. Digget, in the Nandi Forest. These I here treat of as varieties of O. larvatus, as they do » not apparently have any distinct range. ORIOLUS BRACHYRHYNCHUS 17 Oriolus brachyrhynchus. Oriolus brachyrhynchus,* Swains., B. W. Afr. ii. p. 35 (1837) Sierra Leone ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 226, pl. 8; Shelley and Buckley, Ibis, 1872, p. 288, Abowrt; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 218 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 573 (1896). Oriolus larvatus brachyrynchus, Reichen. V6g. Afr. ii. p. 660 (1903). Oriolus baruffi, Bp. Consp. i. p. 347 (1850) Ashantee. “Oriolus intermedius Temm.” Hartl. Orn. W. Afr. p. 81 (1857) Ashantee. Oriolus letior, Sharpe, Bull. B. O. C. vii. p. 17 (1897) Gaboon ; id. Ibis, 1904, p. 91 Efulen. Oriolus larvatus letior, Reichen. Vog. Afr. 11. p. 661 (1903). Adult. Very similar in colouring to O. larvatus, but smaller, and with a little more bluish grey on the outer greater wing-coverts and secondaries. Wing 4:3 to 4:7 inches. Immature. Differs from that of O. larvatus in having no black on the head and no black streaks on the throat or body; head and throat yellowish green, paler and yellower on the lores, cheeks, chin and throat, the feathers of the latter part having yellow edges; terminal margins to the median and greater-coverts yellowish white; bill reddish brown, only slightly darker than in the adult. Jn adults, from both the Gold Coast and Gaboon, the colour of the back of the neck varies from greenish-shaded yellow (O. brachyrynchus, Swains.) to bright yellow (O. letior, Sharpe), the latter probably being the older birds. The Short-billed Black-headed Oriole ranges over Western Africa from Sierra Leone into Gaboon, and eastward to about 31 EH. long. The species has been divided, in my opinion, wrongly, into two, a northern and southern subspecies. The former and typical race, with a range from Sierra Leone into Togoland, and the Southern race O. /etior, Sharpe, extending over Camaroons, Gaboon, and eastward to the country between the Albert Nyanza and the Albert Edward Nyanza. * In “ brachyrynchus” Swains., I have above inserted an additional h, for I look upon the absence of that letter between the 7 and the n as a printer’s error only, Swainson not leaving it out in Vidua erythrorhynchus, B. Afr. i. p. 176. (January, 1906, 2 18 ORIOLUS BRACHYRHYNCHUS The type was obtained at Sierra Leone, which is the most northern range known for the species. In Liberia it is a common bird of the forest, has been obtained at the Sulymah River by Demery, and at St. Paul’s River, Grand Cape Mount, Messurdo, Junk River, Schieffelinsville and Hull Town, by Dr. Biittikofer, who remarks, after making some observation on the variation in the size and colouring of his specimens: “Their song is very much like that of O. galbula, interrupted now and then by a kind of mewing like that of a cat.’ The species is equally abundant on the Gold Coast. The type of O. baruffi was one of Pel’s specimens from Ashantee, on the label of which Temminck had previously written ‘‘ O. intermedius,’ which name was later adopted by Hartlaub for this species. Mr. Boyd Alexander writes : “Common in the forest, where its flute-like call is often the only bird-voice to be heard.” While I was out there with T. E. Buckley, we found the present species and O. nigripennis plentiful and frequenting the same trees at Abouri. In Togo- land, these Orioles have been procured by Mr. Baumann, at Misahéhe, Amedjovhe and Agome Tonewe. It has not been recorded from further east, until we come to Camaroons, where, according to Dr. Reichenow, it is entirely replaced by O. letior. These Orioles are abundant, in suitable places throughout Camaroons and Gaboon, ranging inland to the Semliki River, which connects the Albert Edward Nyanza with the Albert Nyanza, where it has been obtained by Dr. Ansorge at Fort Beni, and in the neighbouring country, to the westward, Emin collected specimens in the Ukondju country at Karevia and along the Ituri River at Irumu and Ipoto. The most southern range known for the species is Gaboon, for the Oriole obtained by Bohndorff on the Congo at Kibondo, and referred to this species in 1887, is really a specimen of O. larvatus, ORIOLUS NIGRIPENNIS 19 Variety O. letior resembles O. brachyrhynchus in all its measurements, and is a distictly smaller bird than O. larvatus, which it resembles in the brighter and yellower shade of the upper parts between the crown and the tail. In the British Museum there are nine of the duller typical forms of O. brachyrhynchus from the Gold Coast, and three of O. letior, while from Camaroons and Gaboon there are eight of O. /etior and three of the duller forms, which include one from Efulen, in Camaroons, and two from Gaboon. I therefore cannot look upon these forms as local subspecies ; but they come under my definition as varieties, the extreme forms only being easily distinguishable. Oriolus nigripennis. Oriolus nigripennis, Verr. J. f. O. 1855, p. 105 Gaboon ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 228, pl. 7, fig. i. Shelley and Buckley, Ibis, 1872, p. 288 Abouri ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 220 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 574 (1896) ; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 661 (1903); Kemp, Ibis, 1905, p. 247 Bo. Adult. Like O. larvatus and O. brachyrhynchus in colouring, with the exception of the wings and tail; wings black and yellow with no grey; primary-coverts black with no broad white ends; primaries with less strongly marked white edges; tail uniform black with yellow ends to the feathers, narrow on the centre ones and broadening out toward the outer feathers, which have the end two-fifth bright yellow. Iris red; bill pale brownish red; feet dusky grey. Total length 82 inches, culmen 0:95, wing 4:8, tail 3:2, tarsus 0-9. Type, W. Afr. (Verr.). Immature. More like those of O larvatus than of O. brachyrhynchus. Differs from the adult in having some yellow on the edges of the black feathers of the forehead and crown; feathers of throat black with broad yellow edges; centre tail-feathers with an olive yellow wash on the basal half. Bill black; wing 4:4. Gold Coast (Kirby). The Black-winged Black-headed Oriole ranges from Sierra Leone into Loango, and eastward to the Niam-Niam country. 20 ORIOLUS NIGRIPENNIS Its occurrence so far west as Sierra Leone formerly rested on a specimen in the late Lord Walden’s collection, so it is interesting to find it again met with in that district by Mr. Robin Kemp, who procured a pair in February, 1904, at Bo. It is moderately plentiful throughout the Gold Coast, and is represented in the British Museum from Wassaw (Blissett), Fantee (Higgins), and Cape Coast (Ussher). I and Buckley considered it to be abundant in the Aguapin district, and met with it in company with O. brachyrhynchus at Abouri. Mr. Boyd Alexander writes: “This Oriole inhabits the same localities as O. brachyrhynchus, but is not so common.” He also remarks that its cry “lu-lu,”’ “breaks at intervals the distant silence, while close to the traveller, the hurried notes of the Babbling Thrush (Cossypha verticalis) comes from the cool depths of the forest thicket.” In Togoland Mr. Baumann obtained the species at Misahdhe Station, but, like O. brachyrhynchus, I do not find it yet recorded from the country between Togoland and Camaroons. In Camaroons the species has been procured at Buea, Bipimbi, Mann’s Well and Efulen. The type of the species which is in the British Museum came from Gaboon, and here, according to the Brothers Verreaux, it arrives towards the middle of October, and, in pairs, frequents the large forests which abound with berries and caterpillars. In Loango, specimens have been procured at Chinchonxo in April by Falkenstein, and at Landana in May by Lucan and Petit, and I should doubt its being migratory in its habits, as Verreaux implies. In its most eastern known range it has been obtained by Bohndorff in Sassa, about 4° 30° N. lat. by 26° E. long. “SI1}SOdUISS'B.LO SNITOTLO) ITX Id WOIGAV AO SQUYIG AHL ORIOLUS CRASSIROSTRIS 21 Oriolus crassirostris (Pl. 43). Oriolus crassirostris, Hartl. Orn. W. Afr. p. 266 (1857) St. Thomas Isl. ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 217 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 575 (1896) ; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 662 (1903); Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. 1904, p. 77. Adult. Entire head, upper neck and throat black; remainder of the neck yellowish white, passing into ashy yellow on the back; upper ta‘l-coverts slightly yellower; two centre tail-feathers dusky shaded olive yellow, with pale yellowish terminal margins; remainder of tail black, with pale yellow ends broadest on the outer feathers where the yellow extends over the end third; wings dusky black, strongly washed with grey on the coyerts and outer webs of the secondaries, and shaded with yellow towards the scapulars; quills with the outer and terminal margins white, broadest towards the ends of the feathers; inner margins of basal half of quills white; under wing-coverts slightly mottled with black, otherwise white like the breast and thighs, with an obsolete yellow tinge towards the neck and flanks; under tail-coverts whitish yellow. Iris red; bill pale brownish red; feet pale grey. Total length 9:3 inches, culmen 1:1, wing 5:0, tail 3°9, tarsus 1:1. g 4.88. Angolares (Newton). Immature. Differs in having no blacks on the head; forehead, crown, sides of head and back of neck dusky brown obscurely streaked with paler and yellower sides to the feathers; chin, throat and breast white, with dusky black shaft stripes on the crop and chest. Bill more dusky. Wing 46. 9, 8.89. St. Micquel (Newton). The Stout-billed, Black-headed Oriole is confined to the Island of St. Thomas. This remarkable species of Oriole is very abundant throughout the island (Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. 1904, p. 77). The type was discovered by Weiss, and this is all the information I can find regarding the species, which, no doubt, like the other Ethiopian Orioles, frequent the forests and suspend eraceful, cup-shaped nests in the thick foliaged trees, at some distance from the ground, and live on the large caterpillars, insects and fruit, which such localities supply them with in abundance. 22 STURNIDZ Family 11. STURNIDAL. Form somewhat Thrush-like, but the shape of the tail is more variable ; upper parts generally strongly glossed with metallic shades; rarely any yellow on the feathers, which colour when present, as in Cosmopsarius regius, is confined to the under parts. Bill black, brown, red or yellow, not very stout, rarely any notch on the upper mandible ; no rictal bristles. Wing of ten primaries ; fairly long, but when closed never reaching to the end of the tail. Tail of twelve feathers, square or graduated. Tarsus moderate, generally longer than the culmen. Plumage usually strongly glossed with blue or green in adult, and streaked or blotched in young bird. In their habits they are gregarious, frequenting mostly the open country to feed on insects, slugs and worms, and at times upon fruit, when it is ripe. Breed in holes of trees, cliffs, kc., and more rarely among the boughs of trees. Eggs, generally five in a clutch, are usually uniform pale blue, but are occasionally spotted and very rarely white. The family is confined to the Eastern Hemisphere and comprises some 150 species, of which I here record 57. Of these, three are now extinct, two are introductions from the Indo-Malay Regions and one (the Common Starling) from England. KEY TO THE SUBFAMILIKS. a. Hind claw weaker than the claw of the middle toe ; all the claws similarly bent into nearly perfect semicircles ; bill red or red and yellow . oe eah cpio ear Buphagine. b. Hind claw stronger than the claw of the middle toe; no red on the bill, 34s sa OE Av ee ec SCR PLE Ce Subfamily I. BUPHAGIN A‘. Bill red, or yellow with the end red, strong and broad at the base, with the culmen slightly depressed and curved at the tip; lower mandible short not reaching to the tip of the bill; nostrils exposed and rounded. Wing long and pointed. Tail shorter than the wing, but fairly long and wedge- shaped, with the end of each feather pointed. Tarsi strong, of the same length as the middle toe; lateral toes equal in length, the cuter one united to the middle one by a membrane, inner one free; claws much compressed, curved and acute; hind claw not so strong as that of the middle toe. The subfamily is confined to Africa and comprises only two species, which belong to one genus. BUPHAGA AFRICANA 23 Genus BUPHAGA. Type. Buphaga, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 154 (1766). . . | . B. africana. KEY TO THE SPECIRS. a. Bill yellow, with the end red; rump and upper tail- coverts ochraceous buff . .. =... .. =. =. . africana. b. Bill entirely red; rump and upper tail-coverts greyish brown, paler towards the back . . . . . . . . . erythrorhyncha. Buphaga africana. Buphaga africana, Linn. 8. N. I. p. 154 (1766) Senegal ; Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 332, pl. 82 (1847) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 195 (1890); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 576 (1896) ; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 666 (1903). Le Pique-boeuf, Levaill. Ois. Afr. ii, p. 198, pl. 97 (1799) Great Namaqua. Adult. General plumage brown, shading into sandy buff on the lower half of the back, tail-coverts and breast; a shade of rufous on the inner webs of the outer four pairs of tail-feathers. ‘Iris yellowish red; bill yellow, with the end portion red; feet black” (Buckley). Total length 9:3 inches, culmen 0°7, wing 5:0, tail 4:0, tarsus 0-9. ¢, 25. 6. 67, Ovaquenyana (Andersson) and ?, 23. 9. 73, Matabele (Buckley), wing 4:7. The Yellow-billed Ox-pecker ranges over Africa, south from about 18° N. lat., with the exception of the forest districts of West Africa, Cape Colony and the country eastward of a line drawn from the middle Zambesi to Lake Tana. The habits of this species and of B. erythrorhyncha are alike, and have been well described by Stark, as follows: “ This species is not so common near the coast of Natal and East Africa, as the Red-billed Ox-pecker, and appears to follow the larger game in their retreat before civilised man. It more particularly favours the buffalo and rhinoceros with its company, and the majority of ‘big-game’ hunters have noticed this partiality. Mr. Andersson remarks in his - 24 BUPHAGA AFRICANA ‘Lake N’gami,’ that this bird ‘is also a frequent companion of the rhinoceros, to which, besides being of service in ridding him of many of the insects that infest his hide, it performs the important part of sentinel. On many occasions has this watchful bird prevented me from getting a shot at that beast ; the moment it suspects danger it flies almost perpendicularly up into the air, uttering sharp shrill notes that never fail to attract the attention of the rhinoceros, who, without waiting to ascertain the cause, almost instantly seeks safety in a precipitate flight.’ “Mr. Ayres also writes: ‘This species is a pest to the hunter, of whose approach it warns the buffalo and rhinoceros by its loud harsh note, which is perfectly understood by its huge friends.’ “ According to Mr. J. G. Millais, who gives a most excellent account of this species, accompanied by five drawings, in his delightful “A Breath from the Veldt,’ the Rhinoceros Bird attaches itself most frequently to the rhinoceros, the Cape buffalo, the sable antelope, and the water-hog, as well as the koodoo. He writes: ‘The prehensile power of the claws is, as I found by experience, so great, that when a dead bird which had grown stiff was thrown on to the back or sides of an ox, so that the feet touched the animal’s hide, the claws held fast at once, and could not be easily withdrawn. It is most interesting to notice the way in which a party of these birds will move about on the body of a horse or ox, searching every part of him as they run or hop over it in the most lively fashion. At the risk of being accused of telling a traveller’s yarn, I must state the fact they can hop backwards quite as well as forwards, and they often make long hops downwards from the shoulders to the foreleg, or down the side of the animal, whose coat they are engaged upon. It is quite immaterial to them how or in what direction they move.’ BUPHAGA AFRICANA 25 “When the Rhinoceros Bird wishes to alarm an animal of the approach of danger, they rise for 20 or 30 feet, and fly round in a series of small circles, uttering harsh scolding notes, which much resemble those of the European Missel Thrush. On this signal a wild animal at once takes to flight, but an ox as a rule takes no notice, much to the indignation and horror of the birds, who sometimes become perfectly frantic in their endeavours to stampede the beast, flying wildly at his face and eyes, while screaming their loudest. Curiously enough, all this alarm on the part of the Ox-birds seems to be on account of the animals on whose hide they have been searching for food, for they themselves are among the tamest of birds, frequently allowing one to walk within a few paces of them without evincing any alarm whatever. These Starlings not only rid the animals they frequent, of ticks and other vermin, but they often peck at sores on oxen and donkeys until they form cavities, which measure sometimes 2 inches or more in diameter, and as much in depth: they actually do eat the flesh and drink the blood of these animals. Oxen submit quite placidly to this process of being eaten alive, and seem none the worse for it afterwards, but donkeys show their objections by trying to rid themselves of the birds, by rolling on the ground and running under bushes. “The Yellow-billed Ox-pecker builds an untidy-looking nest in the natural hollow of a tree. On a foundation of straws and pieces of dried grass a thick pad of hairs is formed, and on this four or five very pale bluish white eggs are deposited. They average 1°15 xX 0°90.” With regard to its range, the species is apparently abundant throughout Senegambia; Dr. P. Rendall writes from the Gambia: “Common and noisy, but difficult to shoot, as they will not leave the backs of the cattle. Besides 26 BUPHAGA AFRICANA the parasites thereon, they seem also very partial to the lacrymal secretions of these animals.” Mr. Budgett also calls it common on McCarthy Island. It has not been recorded from the country between Senegambia and the Niger, but this may be accounted for by the scarcity of cattle and the forest character of these parts, for it is not uncommon in the Niger and White Nile districts. Following its range south- ward, it has been procured by Marche and De Compiégne in Gaboon, Toulson obtained it in Angola, and according to Monteiro the species is “abundant all over Angola, which, generally speaking, abounds in cattle.” Monteiro’s specimen came from the neighbourhood of the town of Benguela, and his Angola possibly refers to that country, where it has been obtained by Anchieta at several places, and according to his notes is known at Benguela and Capangombe as the “ Loando.” In Damaraland these Starlings are rare, and I cannot trace their range further south in Western Africa. From Zululand and Central Natal northward, it is fairly plentiful. In Zululand the Messrs. Woodward found this species much rarer than B. erythrorhyncha, only meeting with it in the Umbegamusa district, which lies between the Black and White Umfulosi Rivers. E. C. Buxton writes from Suariland, a little to the north of Natal: “The two Buphagas I shot at the same time on some oxen, one of each off the same cow, and I could not distinguish them on the wing. There were several shot at the time, and in the proportion of one of the red-billed birds to two of the others.” Buckley writes: “Common in the Transvaal right up into the Matabele country. This bird is a great nuisance at times to cattle, from its habit of pecking holes in them; they run over a bullock as easily as a Woodpecker on a tree, picking out the ticks which infest them. Over a bullock’s back you may see three or four of these birds’ heads — BUPHAGA AFRICANA 27 reconnoitering you on your approach ; so tame are they that the one in question was killed by one of our natives, with a stick, from a horse’s back. This species is continually with the rhinoceros, and when the animal is disturbed, the birds hover over it as it runs, keeping up a continual twitter.” Mr. Guy Marshall writes: “Fairly common in Mashonaland, though I have seen but few round Salisbury. In South Africa the species is known to the English colonists as the “'Tick-bird” and “ Rhinoceros-bird,”’ by the Dutch as the “Rhinaster Végel,” and by the Matabeles as the “ Umblanda.” The species has not been recorded from the Zambesi nor from Central British Africa, but specimens have been collected at Ulundi (Trotha), north-east of Lake Tanganyika ; Bukoba (Stuhlmann); Kibiro, Lado, Makraka and Buesa (Emin); Port Rek, Lake Tana, Galabat, Mareb and Taka (Heuglin). The late Sir Samuel Baker, in his “ Albert Nyanza, Great Basin of the Nile,” i. p. 107, writes: “It is a perfect pest to the animals, and positively eats them into holes. The original object of the bird in settling upon the animal is to search for vermin; but it is not contented with the mere insects, and industriously pecks holes in all parts of the animal, more especially on the back. I was obliged to hire little boys to watch the donkeys, and to drive off the plagues ; but so determined and bold were these birds, that I have constantly seen them run under the body of the donkey, clinging to the belly with their feet, and thus retreating to the opposite side of the animals when chased by the watch-boys. In a few days my animals were full of wounds, excepting the horses, whose long tails were effectual whisks.”’ 28 BUPHAGA ERYTHRORHYNCHA Buphaga erythrorhyncha. Tanagra erythrorhyncha, Stanley, in Salt’s Tray. Abyss. App. p. 59 (1814) Abyssinia. < Buphaga erythrorhyncha, Temm. Pl. Col. ii. pl. 465 (1828); Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 196 (1890); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 577 (1896) ; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 667 (1903); Grant, Ibis, 1904, p. 255 Gallaland ; Clarke, t. c. p. 525 Natal ; Sparrow, Journ. S. Afr. O. U. i. p. 9 (1905) S. Africa; A. L. Butler, Ibis, 1905, p. 323 Soudan ; Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 237; Erlanger, t. c. p. 705 N. H. Afr. Buphaga habessinica, Hemp. and Ehr. Symb. Phys. Fol. W. pl. 9 (1828). Adult. General plumage brown gradually shading into sandy buff on the breast and under tail-coverts. Ivis red; eyelids yellow; bill entirely red; feet reddish brown. Total length 8-2 inches, culmen 0:7, wing 4°, tail 3°6, tarsus 0:8. g, 17. 2. 01, Goraboutha (Pease), and 9, 19. 6. 76, Swaziland (T. E. Buckley), wing 4°6. Immature. Similar to the adult, but slightly darker on the head and neck. Iris brown; eyelids pale yellow; bill dusky reddish; feet black. Wing 4:6; 21. 3. 74, Durban (Shelley). The Red-billed Ox-pecker ranges over Hastern Africa from Natal to 17° N. lat., and westward through the White Nile district into Senegambia. Little is known regarding the species in Western Africa, Marche and De Compiégne collected specimens at Dakar, Mbao and Deine, and Hartlaub records others in Verreaux’s collection from Cassamanse, Bissao and Gaboon. According to Dr. Sharpe (Layard’s B. 8. Afr. p. 420), Anchieta has met with the species at Catumbella in Benguela, but I do not know on what authority he made that statement. When I was in Natal these birds were common about Durban and Pinetown, where they might be seen climbing all over the cattle in search of parasites. On approaching a flock thus engaged, they quickly moved to the backs of the animals, where they sat im rows just before taking flight. On leaving they rise for some 50 or 60 feet, and then fly BUPHAGA ERYTHRORHYNCHA 29 straight away. My friend, Mr. T. L. Ayres, told me he used to tie slip-knots in the tails of the horses and found it a very effective way of catching these birds. A young caged bird he had was very tame, always flying towards anyone who came near, and chattered most loudly if not taken notice of. Starke writes: “The Red-billed is the commonest ‘Tick Bird’ on the coast of Natal and East Africa, its place further inland being taken to a large extent by its congener, Buphaga africana. In the lower parts of Natal it is resident, and in pastoral districts is nearly always to be seen in small flocks, either seated on the backs of oxen or horses, climbing, Wood- pecker-like, over their sides, or flying round them with harsh cries resembling those of the Huropean Missel Thrush. Occa- sionally they perch on trees, seldom or never on the ground. Livingstone, however, states that he met with the species together with Buphaga africana, roosting in reeds in localities where neither wild nor tame animals were found (‘ Missionary Travels,’ p. 546). When seated on the back of an animal these Ox-peckers rest on the whole tarsus, with head thrown back and bill pointing upwards at an angle; if endangered by the sweep of their host’s tail they flatten them- selves still more and allow it to brush lightly over, or jump nimbly out of the way. Their food consists almost entirely of ticks taken from the bodies of various animals, donkeys being special favourites. Should they, however, find an animal with a sore back they are apt to peck at and irritate the wounds, perhaps for the sake of the blood, which they drink as it oozes from the raw surfaces, but I have never known the Red-billed Ox-pecker eat out the’deep holes that the yellow- billed species sometimes does. The same individual birds frequently attach themselves to particular animals. A donkey at Pinetown in Natal, was constantly attended by four of these birds, who, in return for their services in keeping her 30 BUPHAGA ERYTHRORHYNCHA free from ticks, were in the habit of drinking blood from sores which they kept open for that purpose behind the ears. Their nests also were lined entirely with hairs pulled from the donkey’s coat ; in collecting these the birds showed a certain amount of ingenuity, the individual hairs as they were pulled out being placed end to end on the donkey’s back until neat bundles were accumulated, as large as they could conveniently carry; these were then carried to their nests under the roof of a house. In unsettled districts these birds build in the holes of trees, but in more civilised parts usually under the roofs of houses. ‘The nest is an untidy structure of straw and erass lined with the hair of various animals. ‘The eges, three to five in number, are of a uniform pale bluish-white colour. They average 1°12 x 0°85.” According to Major Sparrow, “This species also nests in stone walls, and the eggs are of a white ground covered with dark pink spots and_ blotches. It nests from November to January.” In Zululand the Messrs. Woodward observe ( “ Ibis,” 1877, p. 416): “Numerous here, and were a great nuisance to one of the beasts who had a bad sore;” and further remark : “The cow seems to recognise the Ox-pecker as a friend, rather encouraging its attentions than otherwise.” The species is abundant and very generally distributed throughout the eastern half of Tropical and South Africa; it is represented in the British Museum from Durban, Pinetown, Olifant River, Swaziland, Mpimbi, Machako’s, Kitui, Row- wah, Gedais, Gourabourta, Angollala, Anseba, Senafé, Maragaz and Ailet, and has also been recorded from some fifty inter- mediate stations along this line and the Nile valley. According to Dr. Stuhlmann, the species is known by the natives at Karogwe, near Pangani, as the ‘“ T'schassi,’”’ and Mr. Lort Phillips mentions “ Hoorie”’ as its Somali name. Speke found them common in Somaliland, and wrote: “ They STURNINZ 31 feed chiefly on lice and ticks, which they find on cattle, and are very annoying to camels who are galled by carrying baggage, by pecking at and preventing their sores from healing ; five or six are generally to be seen clinging to one animal at once. When cattle are sound in skin they seem to enjoy being cleansed by these birds.” In Northern Abyssinia, according to Dr. Blanford (Geol. and Zool., Abyss., p. 402), it is “found both on the highland and near the coast. It is much more abundant in the former.” It is apparently rare in the Egyptian Soudan, for Mr. A. L. Butler observed it only at Jebel Ahmed Aga on the White Nile, when creeping up to buffaloes in thick bush. Subfamily Il. STURNIN AS. Bill never red nor red and yellow. Feet adapted for running on the ground, the claws being only moderately curved, and the hind one the longest. They often breed in colonies in trees and cliffs, usually, but not always, selecting holes for the reception of their nests, and assemble in large flocks after the breeding season in the open country to feed on insects, snails and worms, also on fruit when it is ripe. It is doubtful if all the genera entered in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, vol. xiii., can be recognised. If we unite Chalcopsar, with its one species, CU. australis, to either Lamprotornis or Lamprocolius, we have scarcely any character left for separating Lamprocolius, Sundey., 1835, from Lamprotornis, Temm., 1820. The genus Lamprotornis of my following key presents four other fairly marked groups: (1) with a large angular notch on the inner webs of the primaries, and a slight graduation of the tail, includes L. ornatus, L. spendidus and L. chrysonotus ; (2) Heteropsar, Sharpe, for L. acwticaudus, with a decidedly wedge-shaped tail ; (3) Lamprocolius, Sundey., type L. phenicopterus, with the tail square, and the feathers fairly broad ; (4) Coccycolius, Oust., with its one species, C. ivs, is distinguished by the narrow tail-feathers and the peculiar strong metallic gloss resembling that of the Golden Cuckoos. These forms collectively constitute one very natural group, to which Spreo is most nearly allied. The latter genus comprises two groups: (1) Those with the abdomen white, including the typical species, S. bicolor, have the tail slightly longer and more graduated, and the outstretched feet not reaching to the tip of 32 STURNIN the tail as it does in group 2, which includes all the rufous breasted species. On coming to the Chestnut-winged Starlings, which are all readily distinguishable by the large amount of rufous on the wings, which are alike in both sexes, we find that the thirteen known forms, including three subspecies, belonging to this group, have been separated into six genera, of which Onychognathus, Hartl., 1849, with the type O. fulgidus, is the oldest, then Pyrrhochira, Reichenb., 1850, Amydrus, Cab. 1851 following; the other three genera are represented by single species. It appears to me to be undoubtedly an advantage to science to include these species in one genus, as Blanford has forcibly expressed as his opinion, in the “Geol. and Zool. Abyss. p. 401 (1870), and which I have followed by placing all these Chestnut-winged Starlings under their one oldest generic name, Onychognathus. KEY TO THE GENERA. a. Head and neck never white or ashy when the under parts are white. a’. Head and neck entirely feathered; tarsi and feet never yellow. a?, Feathers of head and neck rounded. a’. Tarsi and feet pink ; plumage mostly isabelline, with no gloss. . oe) es enon ee eLeumocolnss bs ste and feet blackich, . Tail square, with the centre feathers slightly the shortest. a®, Culmen rather long and straighter, about the length of the tarsus. . . . . Hartlaubius. b5, Culmen rather short and more curved. ates Cinnyricintelus. b+. Tail, with the centre feathers longer than the outer ones ; plumage glossed. c®, Basal portion of primaries white, forming a distinct speculum on the closed wing. . . Speculipastor. d®, No white showing on the closed wing. a*, Plumage of sexes alike. No rufous on the wings, unless the breast and under tail-coverts are rufous. a’. Tail longer than the wing, and with the end portion of centre feather only 0:5 inch wide; breast yellow or ashy bROWN; 2 <* | fr a Lee) Cosmo psariictes > hil HYPOCOLIUS b7. Tail-feathers all broad to their ends, when the tail is longer than the wing. a’. Breast and under tail-coverts black or strongly glossed with green, blue, violet or bronze, at least in adults. 68. Breast and under tail-coverts white or chestnut. Tail shorter than the wing. fi, AZ La Mee tae b®. Plumage of sexes generally dissimilar ; some rufous on the wings in the female ; breast and under tail-coverts neither white nor rufous. ce’, Larger; wings alike in both sexes d’. Smaller, wing less than 4:5 inches; primaries entirely blackish in the males. b?. Feathers of the head and neck lanceolate . bt, Head and neck not entirely feathered. ce, A bare track of skin down the sides of the throat or the entire head bare and wattled . #8 d?. No portion of the throat bare ; bill and feet yellow. c%. Feathers of crown lanceolate ; bare skin on head next to the eye oS pin SS ben | Bonen d’, Feathers of crown not lanceolate ; bare portion of head forms yellow lappets on sides of crown . b. Head and neck white or pale grey, and the under parts white ; bill and feet yellow (extinct). ct. With long crest-feather of loose texture d*. No crest ; plumage almost entirely white HYPOCOLIUS. Genus I. 33 Lamprotornis. Spreo. Onychognathus. Peaopterus. Sturnus. Cheatophora. /t-/ Acridotheres. Mainatus. Fregilupus. Necropsar. Bill pink, with the end black, broader than deep; culmen curved; upper mandible with a slight notch near the end; nasal aperture rounded and exposed. Wing shorter than the tail; distance between the tip of the secondaries and end of wing less than the length of the tarsus; primaries, one small, not reaching to the end of the primary-coyerts, three and four longest. 0-5 inch. Tarsi, feet and claws pink. Hypocolius, Bp. Consp. i. p. 336 (1850) (January, 1906, Tail rounded, the outer feathers falling short of the centre ones by Type. HT. ampelinus. 3 Bd HYPOCOLIUS AMPELINUS Hypocolius ampelinus. Hypocolius ampelinus, Bp. Consp. i. p. 336 (1850) ; Heugl. Ibis, 1868, p- 181, pl. 5; Hartl. Bericht. p. 125 (1868) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 316 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 578 (1896); Sharpe, Hand. B. iv. p. 275 (1903); Reichen. V6g. Afr. ili. p. 677 (1905). Ceblepyris isabellina, Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 32 (1855). Adult male. Upper parts mostly uniform pale pearl grey, of a more sandy buff shade on the top of the head, which is surrounded with black, very narrow in front and on the side of the forehead, but widens out over the sides of the head, with the exception of the cheeks, and extends in a broad band across the back of the head; tail-feathers with broad black ends, primaries black with broad white ends to the nine long feathers; most of the secondaries have a large amount of black on their inner webs, which cause the under surface of the wing to be blackish in the middle, white towards the end and pale grey on the coverts which incline to buff near the bend of the wing; cheeks, chin, throat, centre of breast and under tail- coverts pale sandy buff of a greyer shade on the lower throat, front of chest and the flanks. Iris brown; bill pink with the end black; tarsi, feet and claws pink. Total length 9:6 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 3°95, tail 4-6, tarsus 0°95. 3, 30. 3.91. Fao (Cumming). Adult female. Differs in being uniform sandy buff, darker above than below, with no black on the head aud less black at end of tail; primaries pale ashy brown, shading into blackish brown towards the ends of the feathers, which have narrow white terminal margins. Wing 3°9, tail 4-1. ?, 29. 6. 86. Fao (Cumming). Immature. Resemble in colouring the sex to which they belong, with the exception of the black on the head being absent in the males as well as in the females. Fao (Cumming). The Pink-billed Starling ranges from the White Nile east- ward into Southern Central Asia. In the British Museum there is a specimen labelled “White Nile” (Verreaux), and I doubt the species ranging further west, for Count Salvadori (‘‘Ibis,” 1870, p. 539) observes that the specimen in the Turin Museum is one of Botta’s collecting, and was not obtained in the Niam-Niam country, by Piaggia, as stated by Hartlaub. The species was discovered by Botta in 1839, and three HYPOCOLIUS AMPELINUS 35 of his specimens in the Paris Museum are believed to have been obtained at Sennaar; it has also been received from Abyssinia in a collection made by M. de Goutin while he was Consul at Massowa. This is all that is known with regard to the species in Africa. It has been recorded by Lieutenant H. HE. Barnes as having been seen near Aden, and probably its true home is Arabia, from whence it migrates eastward and westward according to the season. With regard to its habits I may extract the following from Mr. Cumming’s notes made near Fao at the northern extremity of the Persian Gulf (“ Ibis,” 1866, pp. 478-480). Arriving from §.E., the first flock of six passed over the telegraph building, April 10. It is not till the middle of June that they breed, first eges were found on the 13th of that month, and young, just able to fly, on July the 2nd. The nests are generally placed on the leaves of the date-palm, usually at 3 to 5 feet from the ground; they are substantial and cup-shaped, about 3°5 inches wide by 2°5 deep, lined inside with fine grass, soft fluff from the willow when in seed, wool and sometimes hair. The eggs, generally four in number, “are of a glossy leaden white, with leaden coloured blotches and spots towards the larger end, sometimes forming a ring round the larger end, and at times spreading over the entire ege.” A live specimen he sent to the Zoological Gardens, London, he brought up by hand from the nest (P. Z. 5. 1890, p. 147, pl. 15), “ having been first fed on bread and water, and after- wards on dates and other fruits. It would also take flies, erubs and grasshoppers, as well as dry bread, bread steeped in sugar and water, and was delighted in having a little lucerne occasionally.” They measure on an average 0'86 X 65. 36 HARTLAUBIUS AURATUS Genus Il. HARTLAUBIUS. Bill black, slender and rather long, as long as the tarsus, culmen slightly curved ; nasal aperture rounded and situated in the fore part of the nasal- groove, with a posterior rather than a superior membrane. Wing longer than the tail; primaries, one small, not reaching beyond the primary coverts and is shorter than the culmen; three and four longest. Tail square, with the centre feathers slightly the shortest; tarsi, feet and claws black, the latter rather strong and curyed. Type. Hartlaubius, Bp. C. R. xxxvii. p. 830 (1853). . . . . . A. aurata. The genus is confined to the Island of Madagascar and comprises only one species. Hartlaubius auratus. Turdus auratus, P. L. 8. Mill. 8S. N. Suppl. p. 140 (1776) Madagascar. Turdus madagascariensis, Bodd. Tabl. Pl. Enl. p. 32 (1783). Hartlaubius madagascariensis, Milne, Edw. and Grand. Hist. Madag. Ois. i, p. 311; Atlas, ii. pls. 115, 113, B. figs. 3, 116 (1879); Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 120 (1890) ; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 579 (1896). Acridotheres gracilirostris, Drap. Dict. Class. vii. p. 152 (1841). Madagascar Thrush, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. pt. 1, p. 68 (1780). Adult male. Entire head and throat uniform dark brown, remainder of the neck and the back rather paler brown shading into glossy green towards the ends of the tail-coverts; tail blackish brown washed with a green gloss strongest on the centre feathers, outermost web on each side broadly margined with white; least and median wing-coverts brown, the latter slightly glossed with green and with some white next to the bend of the wing; remainder of wing dusky black with broad white edges to most of the primaries, the outer quills with glossy blue edges like the greater wing-covert excepting the inner one which shades into the brown of the scapulars and has a green gloss on the inner web; a small coppery bronze patch on the greater coverts; under wing-covert and portion of the inner webs of the quills white; sides of lower throat, front of chest and the flanks rufous shaded brown; centre of chest, abdomen and under tail-coverts white. “Iris brown; bill and feet black’ (Grandidier). Total length 7-7 inches, culmen 0°75, wing 4:2, tail 3:0, tarsus 0°85. Antouzil Bay (Verr.). Adult female. Differs from the male in the dark parts being of a more uniform dull brown, with a very slight greenish gloss on the tail, CINNYRICINCLUS 37 terminal portion of inner webs of the quills and the outer webs of the greater wing-coverts and inner primaries, and there is much’ less white on the quills. Wing 3-9, tail 2-7. 9, Madagascar (Crossley). The Madagascar Starling is confined to the Island of Madagascar. According to M. Grandidier’s notes, these Starlings are restricted to the east and north-eastern portion of Madagascar, the dry, sandy soil of the western side of the island not suiting them. It is an essentially social bird, living in flocks of sometimes a hundred or more, but generally averaging ten to a dozen individuals; however, during the nesting season, the males are liable to quarrel. They mostly frequent the open country, especially near streams, and follow the flocks of cattle, perching upon their backs or searching for their food upon the ground, for they feed like our Common Starling, upon all descriptions of insects, and occasionally upon fruit and grain. They are not shy, have a powerful, rather heavy flight, and roost among the boughs of trees. He calls their flesh fairly good eating. They leave the open country for the woodlands on the approach of the breeding season to seek for suitable places to build in, and are not to be met with near the sea-shore during the rainy season, at least, from November to March. The ege is pale blue, with variable sized spots of brownish red mostly towards the thick end, and measure 0°92 x 0°68. On account of their frequenting the cattle they are called by the natives “ Vorontianomby ” (friend of cattle). Genus II]. CINNYRICINCLUS. Bill black, short, wide at the gape, and the culmen rather strongly eurved. Wing much longer than the tail, pointed; third primary longest, or equal in length to the second and fourth. Tail square with the centre feathers slightly the shortest. Tarsi, feet and claws black. 38 CINNYRICINCLUS LEUCOGASTER Type. Cinnyricinclus, Less-Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 272 . . . . C. leucogaster. Pholidanges, Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 198 (1851) . . . , leucogaster. Pholia, Reichen. Orn. Monatsb. 1900, pygoee a eC shanper: The genus is confined to Tropical and South Africa, and comprises five species. KEY TO THE SPECIES. a. No spots or stripes on the under parts. at. Breast and under tail-coverts white. a*, Head, neck and back rich metallic violet. a°. No white on outer tail-feathers. . . . leucogaster, 3, ad. 63. A white outer edge tothe tail. . . . . verreauxi, g, ad. b*, Head, neck and back not rich metaltic violet. c’. Head, neck and back silvery grey . . . fischeri. d*. Head, neck and back bluish black . . . femoralis. b', Breast and under tail-coverts pale cinnamon ; throat white. . . . o° . Sharper. b. Some stripes or spots on the under parts. ct. Upper parts rufous-shaded brown, some broad pale cinnamon inner edges to the quills . . leucogaster and ver- reauxt, @, and juv. d'. Upper parts more sooty brown, often with a bluish sloss= 2 eae eee Sune Em per mi tive Cinnyricinclus leucogaster. Turdus leucogaster, Gm. S. N. ii. p. 819 (1788) Whidah. Cinnyricinclus leucogaster, Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. p. 679 (1903); Kemp, Ibis, 1905, p. 246 Sierra Leone; Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 237; Erlanger, t. c. p. 707 N. H. Afr. Lamprotornis leucogaster, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 152, pl. 8 (1837). Pholidauges leucogaster, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 121 (1890); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 580 (1896). Adult male. Entire head, neck, back and upper tail-coverts brilliantly glossed with broad violet ends to the feathers, and most of the feathers on the back have subterminal steel blue bars; tail blackish brown, with the centre feathers and portion of the outer webs of the others glossy violet ; wings brownish black, with nearly the whole of the coverts and inner secondaries glossy violet like the back; under wing-coverts with a few white CINNYRICINCLUS LEUCOGASTER 39 edges near the bend of the wing; crop, under surface of body and the under tail-coverts pure white passing into dusky ash on the flanks, with a few blackish stripes on the neighbouring white feathers. Iris yellow; bill and feet black. Total length 7-1 inches, culmen 0:5, wing 4:2, tail 2-6, tarsus 0-8. Mensa (Hsler). Adult female. Upper parts and sides of head brown, with pale edges to the feathers; the nine long primaries, with a large portion of their inner webs pale cinnamon; the small first primary and the under wing-coverts brown, the latter somewhat mottled with pale cinnamon and buff edges; under parts white with a very slight sandy tinge on the throat and nearly all the feathers spotted or striped with dark brown. Wing 3:95, Mensa (Hsler). Immature of both sexes. Like the adult female, but the pale edges of the feathers of the upper parts generally broader and more rufous. In the moult of the males the feathers do not change their colour, but are shed. This is well shown in one of Kirby's specimens from the Gold Coast. On each wing the two outer long primaries are in the rufous stage, the next quill being half grown and uniform black like the other quills. The Northern Violet-backed Starling ranges over Tropical Africa from 17° N. lat. to Gaboon, on the west, and to the Equator in Central and Eastern Africa. In West Africa the species is known to range from St. Louis at the mouth of the Senegal River, into Gaboon, and is apparently abundant and very evenly distributed over this part of Africa to the north of 5° N. lat., and is likewise plentiful in North-east Africa until we approach Somaliland and the Equator. It meets with its very near ally, C. ver- reauxt, along its southern range, but we have no reason to suppose that they ever interbreed, for the amount of white on the outer webs of the tail, the only distinguishing mark for C. verreauxi, is very constant. C. leucogaster has been procured on Bulama, the only island from whence the species has been recorded. In Liberia, Mr. Biittikofer met with it most frequently in the open country, the females and young birds perching together on the bushes while the full-plumaged males kept by them- selves at some little distance. During my visit to the Gold 40 CINNYRICINCLUS LEUCOGASTER Coast I met with the species on a few occasions in February, between Accra and Abokobi, always in fairly large flocks of about a score. Ussher writes: “ This bird is widely dis- tributed over the whole of the Guinea Coast, and is of very general occurrence on the Gold Coast. It is usually observed in pairs, and occasionally in some numbers. I have seen the low bushes in the vicinity of the town of Lagos (on the Slave Coast) tenanted by them in large quantities, the brilliant plumage of the male contrasting markedly with the sober colouring of the female and the pied tints of the immature birds. They were feeding eagerly on the berries of a descrip- tion of * wait-a-bit’ thorn, very abundant in some localities of the Guinea Coast. The male in full plumage, seen flying low in the bright sunlight, is undoubtedly one of the most exquisite birds in Africa; and a marked difference in colour is observable among even full-plumaged males, some haying coppery or golden reflections on the rich puce colour of the feathers, whilst others decidedly incline to a deep violet blue of equal beauty. Their habits appear to be similar to the Shining Grackles’ in general, and did not present anything noteworthy to my observation.” In our Gold Coast Colony Mr. Boyd Alexander obtained specimens at Gambaga, Krachi and Pong, and writes: “A migrant in the Hinterland. Small flocks appeared at Gam- baga in May. According to Captain Giffard, the bird is again Common there in August.” Mr. Hartert met with the species at Loko, on the Niger, in May and July, feeding on fruit. Further south it is apparently rare, for it is known to me from Camaroons by a specimen procured by Mr. Zenker at Jaunde; Aubry Lecomte and Gujon obtained it in Gaboon, and there are specimens in the British Museum collected by Bohndorff, at Sassa and Semio, in the Niam-Niam country. CINNYRICINCLUS VERREAUXI 41 On the eastern side of the continent, the most southern range known for the species is Nandi; here Mr. Jackson met with a flock of five or six, “ attracted by the small fruit of a large tree in the garden.” Mr. Harrison obtained the species at Lake Margarita and at Bunge, Mr. Pease shot the only one he saw in Somaliland, at Somadu, and Lord Lovat writes: “Met with only in the valley of the Blue Nile and its tribu- taries. I once observed this Starling hawking for flies like a Bee-eater.” The species has not been recorded from Shoa, but is apparently as plentiful in Central and Northern Abys- sinia as on the Gold Coast, and being strong on the wing they change their quarters according to their requirements, for Heuglin found them in the lowlands of Semien, along the Mareb and Takase Rivers, and in Bergemeder up to 9,000 feet. In May and June they were abundant on the low ground of the Samhar coast, at the Anseba and in Bogosland in families of young and old birds. Early in summer he found them assembled in large flocks, consisting of both young and old birds in the thick forests between the Gazelle and Kosanga Rivers. Cinnyricinclus verreauxi. Pholidauges verreauxi, Bocage in Finsch and Hartl. Orn. O. Afr. p. 867 (1870) Caconda ; id. Orn. Angola, p. 314, pl. 5 (1881) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 123 (1890) ; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 581 (1896) ; Grant, Ibis, 1905, p. 201 Uganda. Cinnyricinclus verreauxi, Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 680 (1903). Adult male. Similar to that of C. lewcogaster, from which it differs only in having some white on the outermost pair of tail-feathers; these are blackish brown, with the basal two-thirds of the outer web white and the remaining third with a very narrow white edge. Ivis yellow; bill and feet black. Total length 7:2 inches, culmen 0:55, wing 4:25, tail 2°6, tarsus 0:8. g, 20. 11. 96, Ravine (Jackson). Adult females and immature birds. Like those of C. leucogaster. 42 CINNYRICINCLUS VERREAUXI The Southern Violet-backed Starling ranges in Western Africa from Loango into Damaraland and throughout Central and Eastern Africa, from the Orange River Colony and Natal to about 1° N. lat. The species has been obtained in Loango by Falkenstein, Lucan and Petit; by Bohndorff at Leopoldsville on the Congo, and is generally distributed over Angola, Benguela and Damaraland. The species was discovered at Caconda by Anchieta, according to whose notes, it feeds principally upon fruit, and is known to the natives by the following variety of names: “ Girde”’ at Biballa, “ Quiro-musole”’ at Quilleugues, “ Sue-Sue” at Humbe and “ Donga”’ at Caconda. Chapman wrote: “Common in the Lake regions and in Damaraland, but here only as a migratory bird. Type. Corvultur, Less. Traité, p. 327 (1831) . ... . =. . C.albicollis. Archicorax, Glog. Handb. p. 274 (1842). . . . . . « GC. albicollis. The genus is confined to Tropical and South Africa and comprises two species. Corvultur albicollis. Corvus albicollis, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 151 (1790) Africa. Corvultur albicollis, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 24 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 632 (1896); Johnston, Brit. Central Afr. p. 330 (1897) ; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 640 (1903); Shortridge, Ibis, 1904, p. 174 Pondoland ; Sharpe, t. c., p. 367 Cape Col.; Sparrow, Journ. 8. Afr. O. U. i. p. 9 (1905) ; Sclater, Ibis, 1905, p. 112 Matoppo Hills. Corvus cafer, Licht. Cat. Rer. Nat. Hamb. p. 9 (1793). Corvus vulturinus, Shaw, Gen. Zcol. vii. p. 343 (1809). Corvultur crassirostris (non Rupp.), Grant, Ibis, 1905, p. 201 S. Uganda. Le Corbivau, Levaill. Ois. Afr. ii. p. 5, pl. 50 (1799). CORVULTUR ALBICOLLIS 13 or Adult. General plumage glossy black, with a broad white collar round the back of the neck; feathers of the throat more lanceolate than in C. crassirostris, and, like the foreneck, dull brown, contrasting with the remainder of the under surface, and is separated from it by a somewhat concealed white band, the feathers of which are either edged with white or pure white, sometimes with dark brown margins. ‘Iris hazel; bill very dark brown, with the ends of the mandibles whitish horn colour; tarsi and feet brownish black” (Andersson). Total length 18-5 inches, culmen 3:0, wing 16:0, tail 7-1, tarsus 3:0. g , Nyika Plateau (Whyte). Immature. More dusky brown; the white collar at the back of the neck mesially streaked with brown towards the upper back; the white collar on the fore-chest very distinct, but all these feathers are mottle with brown. The White-necked Corbivau ranges southward from 1° N, lat. over the eastern half of Africa, and into Namaqualand and Cape Colony. With regard to its western range, Andersson, who calls it the Southern Corbivau, writes: “This Raven-like-looking bird is not, to my knowledge, an inhabitant of Damaraland, but is abundant in the southern portion of Great Namaqualand, where it remains throughout the year. It is generally found singly or in pairs, but sometimes congregates in flocks. It perches indiscriminately on rocks and trees, and may occasionally also be seen perched on the backs of cattle, and many species of wild animals, whose hides it examines in search of parasitic insects; it, however, passes most of its time upon the ground, where it stalks about with ludicrous gravity, uttering at intervals cries not unlike those of a true Raven. Carrion probably constitutes its chief nourishment ; but it is said also to attack with ferocity and success the young of the smaller quadrupeds. The flight of this species is powerful; and it occasionally rises to a great height.” Regarding the habits of the species, Stark writes: “ Found alike on the coast, among the mountains and on the high veldt, as well as in the Karroo and the sandy wastes of 136 CORVULTUR ALBICOLLIS Namaqualand, the ‘ Ring-hals’ is one of the most widely distributed and best known birds of South Africa. Where not molested it is a bold and fearless species, frequenting the outskirts of towns and villages, and the vicinity of farmhouses, native kraals and outspans, on the look-out for offal and scraps of all kinds. When reared from the nest it makes an extremely tame and amusing, if sometimes mischievous, pet ; it has, in fact, all the habits and idiosyncrasies of our European Raven; its ordinary cry, also a harsh croak, is, to my ear, exactly similar to that of the latter bird. “In the interior the *‘ Ring-hals’ feeds largely on carrion, and is usually the first bird to detect a carcass; on the coast it devours dead fish cast up by the waves, shell-fish of all kinds, the paper-nautilus being a favourite tit-bit, as well as the eggs of penguins and other sea-fowl. At times it kills and eats snakes, lizards, frogs and small tortoises. Nor does it disdain an insect diet, beetles, grasshoppers, locusts and termites are all readily devoured, as well as ticks and bots picked from the hides of cattle. I have sometimes amused myself by watching the bold, yet cautious and gentle manner in which one of these Ravens will approach a reclining ox, and after a preliminary course of soothing caresses, accompanied by a soft ‘cawing’ note, insert his head into the ear and dexterously extract the ticks. These birds always seem to have a good understanding with the older and more experi- enced oxen, who will, at a hint from one of them, lie down and place themselves in the most favourable possible position for the extraction of their parasites. “ The ‘ Ring-hals ’ is usually a resident in Cape Colony and Natal, and roosts all the year round in or near its nest. This latter is invariably, so far as I have observed, built on a rock or krantz, on a ledge, or in a hole. It is large and firmly constructed of dead sticks and twigs mixed with pieces of turf = CORVULTUR ALBICOLLIS 137 and tufts of grass, and is lined with rootlets, wool, hair, erass and various soft materials. The eggs, almost invariably three in number, vary considerably in colour and shape, even in the same nest; they are of some shade of bluish-white, more or less thickly marked with various shades of olive-brown, and are not to be distinguished with certainty from eggs of the European Raven (Corvus corax). They average 2°05 X 1°32. “The same nest is occupied year after year. In the neighbourhood of Cape Town the eggs are usually laid in August.” In Layard’s time, according to his notes, it might be “frequently seen about Table Mountain, descending from thence to the shores of the bay in the morning, and returning at night, but always flying at a great height over the town.” I saw it occasionally in Cape Colony, but more frequently in Natal. In Pondoland, Mr. Shortridge called it “a very common resident, generally seen by day in pairs, which gather together in flocks towards the evening and roost among the rocks.” Major Sparrow writes: “The clutch is usually five, not three, eggs. In the Orange River Colony and Natal I have found that it lays in August.” At the Zambesi Mr. Boyd Alexander found these Ravens in pairs, but by no means common, and remarks: “ Unlike Corvus scapulatus, it is a resident about the Zambesi, while in whatever locality it was seen the latter species was absent.” Throughout East Africa, from the Zambesi to the Equator, it is apparently fairly abundant, varying in numbers accord- ing to the food supply of the locality. In British Central Africa Sir Harry Johnston informs us that it “is extremely common in all the hill country,” and further remarks: “ It carries off all small ducks and chickens within its reach.” Béhn met with these Ravens on both sides of Lake Tanganyika, and according to Stuhlmann it is known to the 138 CORVULTUR CRASSIROSTRIS natives of Ungaru as the “ Kunguru,” which name he found was also applied to the Black-and-white Crow at Zanzibar. Fisher records them as daily visitors to his camps near the mouth of the Pangani River and at Lake Nawasha, and remarks that while they were abundant in the vicinity of the huts of the Masai people, who feed upon meat and rear cattle, they were absent from the seed-growing lands near Nguruman. On Kilimanjaro Mr. H. C. V. Hunter met with them up to 15,000 feet, and Sir Harry Johnston writes: ‘Inhabits the whole mountain up to the snow, and breeds in August in the most inaccessible rocks.” In his book entitled ‘The Kilimanjaro Expedition,” he gives a good figure of this Raven. Close to the Equator Mr. Jackson has procured the species from the Ruwenzori Mountains, at Kampala, in Southern Uganda, on Mount Elgon, and in Nandi, and writes: “This fine Raven is plentiful in Nandi. It is a tame and confiding bird. Although plentiful here in July, it was not present two months ago, and was probably away breeding.” In South Uganda it has also been procured by the late Mr. W. G. Doggett at Mulema. Corvultur crassirostris. Corvus crassirostris, Ritpp. N. Wirb. Vég. p. 19, pl. 8 (1835-40) Abyssinia. Corvultur crassirostris, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 25 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 633 (1896); Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 641 (1903) ; Grant, Ibis, 1903, p. 255 S. Abyssinia; Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 231 Shoa. Corvus albirostris crassirostris, Kleinschmidt, J. f. O. 1906, p. 82. Adult. Similar to C. albicollis, from which it differs in the bill, being double the size; feathers of the throat being more rounded and of a more purplish shade like the entire under parts, there being no trace of a white pectoral band ; on the hinder neck a large patch of white covers the sides and back of the nape, and is continued in a narrow line down the neck, and widens out slightly towards the mantle. Iris brown; bill black with the end whitish; feet black. Total length 23-5 inches, culmen 4:0, wing 18:5, tail 10-0, tarsus 3-3. 3, 21. 4. 68, Takonda (Jesse). CORVULTUR CRASSIROSTRIS 139 The Thick-billed Corbivau inhabits North-east Africa. It is very similar to C. albicollis, but may be readily distinguished by the entire absence of any white pectoral band, while in habits these Ravens are still more alike, but the present species is the northern form ranging from Somali- land and Lake Rudolf, northward to Kalabat and Taka, and westward to the White Nile and Kordofan. In Somaliland the species was first met with on the plateau by Speke, and more recently Dr. Donaldson Smith procured a pair at Sheik Husein in September, 1894. Lord Lovat writes: “On the Addis Abbeba plateau it is common, its ordinary food is carrion, but it will eat the fruit of the wild fig with avidity. It has a harsh guttural note.” He procured a specimen at Borumeda, and Mr. J. J. Harrison obtained others at Loko and Dincha. In Shoa, Harris pro- cured it at Angolalla, and Antinori records the species as abundant in the mountains of Ankoba, and always to be met with in the company of flocks and herds near Let Marefia. Riippell, who discovered the species, mentions it as common in the more elevated parts of Abyssinia, but according to Dr. Blanford, it is locally distributed there. Von Heuglin found it feeding in the market places of the native towns, and during the Galla war in 1862, appeared on the battle fields in com- pany with Vultures and Kites, and he records it from as far north as Taka. In March he found a nest placed in the crevice of a precipitous rock overhangiug a waterfall in Wogara, and was entirely hidden by the creepers which grew over it. This Raven, he further remarks, rarely perches on trees, but mostly frequents the open country, where it takes up its position on some rock or stump, and although not shy, is exceedingly cunning, like most of its allies. In Mr. Ogilvie-Grant’s list of the late Mr. W. G. Doggett’s 140 CORVUS last collection from South Uganda, C. albicollis is recorded from Mulema, by error, as C. crassirostris. Genus II. CORVUS. Bill, tarsi and feet black and strong; culmen curved, and of about the same length as the tarsus; nostrils always covered with thick bristles in all the Ethiopian species. Wing long and pointed, nearly twice the length of the tail. Tail square or rounded, of twelve feathers. Corvus, Linn. 8. N. (x.), p. 105 (1758) ; (xii.) i. p. 155 (766) eae i TEL Mee oe weal w Ald) Choeronicati Corone, Kaup. Naturl. Ever p. 1. 99 (1829) . ecivots ie) Aa ecotames Pterocorax, Kaup. J. f. O. 1854, Suppl. P:lVeeecn uemea ) Ceralecess Heterocorax, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. aa Sie = = (Ghaopensis: Rhinocorax, Sharpe, ¢. c. p. 45 Spear C. affinis. This is the most widely spread genus of the family, and is represented in the Ethiopian Region by five species, three of which are confined to the Ethiopian region. KEY TO THE SPECIES. a. Nasal-bristles mostly directed upwards. . ‘ . affinis. b. Nasal-bristles all set flat over the nostrils; bill lege aca a+, Bill stouter. Nasal-bristles longer, extending over more than half the distance from the eye to tip of bill. a*, Plumage black and white . . . albus. gee Pines blackish, with no white ends 6 the feathers, as, Basal portion of all the feathers dusky . . . . wmbrinus. 6%. Basal portion of feathers of neck and chest naee white; wing about l4inches ...... . . editha. 61. Bill more slender Nasal-bristles shorter. . . . . . capensis. Corvus affinis. Corvus aftfinis, Riipp. N. Wirb. Vog. p. 20, pl. 10, fig. 2, head (1835-40) Massawah, Shendi; Dresser, B. Bur. iy. p. 559, pl. 262, figs. 5, 7 (1894) ; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 635 (1896); Kleinschmidt, J. f. O. 1906, p. 83. Rhinocorax affinis, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 46 (1877); Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 639 (1903) ; iii. p. 886 (1905); Neum. J. f. O. 19C8, p. 231 N. E. Africa. Corvus brachyurus, Brehm. J. f. O. 1854, p. 75 CORVUS AFFINIS 141 Corvus brachyrhynchos, Brehm. Vogelf. 1855, p. 414. Corvus brevicaudatus, Mull. J. f. O. 1855, p. 456. Adult male. Black, with a gloss on the upper parts purple inclining to green on the sides of the head and neck and to deeper black on the breast ; nasal-bristles erected towards the forehead. Iris dark brown; bill, tarsi and feet black. Total length 19:5 inches, culmen 2:5, wing 15-7, tail 7:0, tarsus 2°7. g, Adigrat (Blanford). Adult female. Like the male. Culmen 2°55, wing 15:3. 9?, Koom- aylee (Blanford). The Fan-tailed Raven ranges over North-east Africa generally, from the Equator into Egypt and from the Upper White Nile and Kordofan into Arabia. The only specimen known to me from the Upper White Nile was procured by Emin at Lado. Mr. Jackson saw two at Eleeyu on the Kamassia range and found the crop in the one he shot there full of egg and young birds; but from Turquel Suk he writes: “ Plentiful in Kavamoja, together with C. scapulatus and Corvultur albicollis.” In Somaliland, according to Speke, it is known to the natives as the “'Tukka,’ and Mr. Lort Phillips writes: “Extremely common in Somaliland from the sea-coast at Berbera to the top of the Ghoolis. It is a persistent and most fearless camp-follower, and is ever on the look-out for scraps from the kitchen. It has a curious habit of walking about with its beak wide open, as if greatly affected by the heat.”” Dr. Elliot also found them abundant in the country and like C. edithe had a peculiar habit of soaring in the air, when it could easily be recognised by the form of the wings and tail, the secondaries reaching to the end third of the latter and he writes: “A number would rise in the air, generally in the middle of the day when the heat was excessive, and ascending in more or less extensive circles until they became mere specks in the sky or disappeared 142 CORVUS AFFINIS altogether. Often during this performance they would join, or be joined by, Vultures, Eagles or Hawks, and then the entire company would sail along, circling as they went, the Crows cutting across the paths of their larger companions in utter disregard of their movements, or without, apparently, fear of a collision. While thus soaring I never noticed any movement of the wing, the birds propelling themselves onward and upward in the same mysterious manner as is observed of the birds of prey, when similarly engaged.” This phenomenon of rising without effort, in the air, is, I believe, due, to a great extent, to the bones of birds being hollow and not air-tight, at least when the wings are expanded, and consequently the air becomes more rarefied in their bodies as they ascend, and this being warmed by the peculiarly rapid circulation of the blood in birds, diminishes their weight as they ascend. The species is equally abundant throughout Shoa, Abyssinia and Arabia, but gradually dwindles in number towards Palestine, Egypt and Kordofan, where it can hardly be regarded as more than a straggler. The types were dis- covered by Riippell at Massawah and Shendi, where he records them as abundant. Heuglin writes: “I once saw it at Thebes, afterwards in Southern Nubia, in the oasis of El Kab, at Kordofan, through the whole of Abyssinia up to an altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 feet; on the Danakil and Somali coasts in large flocks in October. In general it is much more gregarious in its habits than C. wmbrinus and C. scapulatus ; in the plains, in the mountains, and on the coast it is not unfrequently seen, as also near human habita- tions. In the highland it appears to breed in colonies in the cliffs, and I saw large flocks circling round like Jackdaws. In the flat country it is rarer, usually occurring in pairs; and it sometimes inhabits the most sterile deserts, frequenting the caravan halting-places and the wells.” CORVUS AFFINIS 143 Canon Tristram (Ibis, 1866, p. 71), while camping in a deserted part of Palestine, near the ancient fortress of Mesada, first saw a specimen of this Crow in company with a pair of C. wmbrinus and observed that their flight was very different, C. affinis “rather sailed than flew, and the motion of the wings was scarcely perceptible. But more marked than all was the contrast of its outline. Its depth of wing, not only long but broad, till the secondaries appeared to reach almost to the end of the tail, and its short broad tail ex- tending to twice the width of the other, made it appear to cover double the surface its companions did and we-at once named it the Fantail Raven. But its note was the richest, most powerful, and most musical that ever Raven uttered. No croak, but a long-sustained cheery cry which decidedly belied its relationship.” He further mentions that on reach- ing the rich oasis of Safieh below Kerak he found the smoking embers of a plundered village, strewn with the corpses of the combatants in a recent battle; but he had to camp there for the night, and writes: “ Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the Eagles be gathered together: and the Ravens also; for the sun was not above the horizon when a steady stream of carrion-eaters, who had scented the battle from afar, began to set in from the south. All the Vultures, Kites and Ravens of North Arabia, seemed to be rushing to the banquet. Against them we perpetrated a regular battwe on their way to their uncleanly feast. We brought down more specimens than we could carry away of the three species of Rayen—the Common, the Brown-necked, and four good specimens of our long-sought Fantail, C. afinis. The Vultures and Kites sailed too high, out of reach of our shot. Had we not been compelled to leave, we might doubtless have stood among the trees, and with a human bait before us, have continued our warfare throughout 144 CORVUS ALBUS the day. After this we never saw our new friend again, for the south end of the Dead Sea appears his northern limit; nor did we ever meet with C. umbrinus north of Jerusalem, not even in the upper part of the Jordan valley. Neither does it ever descend to the coast, where C. corax alone is found.” Blanford (Geol. & Zool. Abyss. p. 393) writes: “It abounds everywhere on the highlands and in the sub- tropical zone, and it descends almost to the sea-level at times. When I first visited Komayli, at the base of the hills, in January, the only Crow to be seen was C. scapulatus, but in February, after some rain had fallen, C. affinis abounded. In the former instance I first met with this species at about 3,000 feet, near Mayen. In May it had retreated once more to its former range, and the white- breasted Crow alone was to be seen in the tropical region; in ascending to the Bogos country it first appeared on the Lepka at about 12,000 feet above the sea, at Ain.” According to Mr. Oscar Neumann they breed in February. Corvus albus. Corvus albus, P. L. S. Mill. S. N. Suppl. p. 85 (1776) Senegal; Kleinschmidt, J. f. O. 1906, p. 90. Corvus scapulatus, Daud. Traité ii. p. 232 (1800); Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iil. p. 22 (1877); Milne, Edw. & Grand. Hist. Madag. i. p. 444; Atlas i. pl. 177; iii. pl. 304, fig. 6, egg (1879); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 634 (1896) ; Johnston, Brit. Centr. Afr. p. 330 (1897) ; Reichen. Vég. Afr. ii. p. 634 (1903); Shortridge, Ibis, 1903, p. 174 Pondoland ; Grant, t. c. p. 255, Shoa; Whitehead, Ibis, 1904, p. 223 Orange R. ; Alexander, t. c. p. 359 Fernando Po ; Kemp, Ibis, 1905, pp. 214, 247 Sierra Leone; A. L. Butler, t.c. p. 326 Soudan; Neum. J. f. O. 1905, p. 230 N. E. Africa. Corvus scapularis, Leach in Tuckey. Exped. Zaire, p. 407 (1818). Corvus scapularis, var. ethiops, Hempr. & Ehr. Symb. Phys. fol. z (1828). “Corvus dauricus, Lath.” Desj. P. Z. S. 1831, p. 45 Madagascar. CORVUS ALBUS 145 Corvus curvirostris, Gould, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 18 W. Africa. Corvus leuconotus, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 133, pl. 5 (1837) Senegal. Coryus pheocephalus, Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 232 (1851); Kleinschmidt, J. f. O. 1906, p. 92, pls. 2, 3, 4. Corvus madagascariensis, Bp. C. R. 1853, p. 829. Adult. Black and white; the dark parts glossed with purple and steel- blue, less so on the abdomen and under wing-coverts ; hind neck, mantle, sides of neck and breast from crop to abdomen pure white. Iris dark brown; bill, tarsi and feet black. Total length 18 inches, culmen 2:3, wing 13:5, tail 7-2, tarsus 2-4. g, 29. 7. 66, Otjimbinque (Andersson). The African Black and White Crow ranges over the whole of Tropical and South Africa and the surrounding islands, including those of the Madagascar subregion. The range of this species is remarkable as including the whole of the Ethiopian Region, as I define it, and does not occur elsewhere. Throughout its wide range it is apparently very evenly distributed, like the Grey Crow (Corvus corniz) is over Great Britain, and much resembles that bird in size, structure and habits. Sir Harry Johnston, with his wide knowledge of Africa, writes: ‘The Common Black and White Crow is found throughout Africa from the verge of the Sahara to Natal; but I have sometimes thought it was less prevalent in the interior, especially in the forest regions, than on or near the sea-coast, where it is always the bird most commonly met with. It is useful as a scavenger.”’ Dr. Reichenow, in his Vogel Afrikas, gives a long list of the localities where specimens have been procured, which I need not here repeat, and the following native names for the species: Abomey, “ Avumsoco-o” (F'. Newton) ; Fernando Po, “Caha” (F. Newton); Benguela, “ Xiquamango,” “ Kelam- balambe,” “ Equala,” “ Quiquamanga,” “ Kiquela ”’ (Anchieta) ; South Africa, “ Bonte Kraai” of the Boers (W. L. Sclater) ; Zambesi, “ Kounjouboui” (Foa); Quilimane, “ Nyakungu”’ (Stuhlmann) ; Zanzibar, ‘“ Kurabu” (Fischer) ; Mombasa, “ Kuneuru ” (Fischer) ; Taita, “ Gursi”’ (Hildebrandt). (January, 1906. 10 146 CORVUS ALBUS Dr. P. Rendall found a pair breeding in a tree in the Government-house grounds at Bathurst on the Gambia, and Dr. Hartert met with the species nesting on Los Island in April. Dr. Biittikofer writes from Liberia: “This species lives more exclusively than any of its congeners, upon fish, craw-fish and molluscs, which are sometimes left behind in ereat quantities by the retiring tide, and is, moreover, very fond of palm-nuts. During the palm-oil season, from February to May, as the country people say, its meat must be ‘much sweet,’ and I was obliged to shoot lots of them for our boys’ dinners. Now and then I tasted this * meat ’ myself, and although I did not find it exceedingly palatable— especially that of adult birds—I much preferred it to that of Hornbills, Plantain-eaters, Parrots and the like, which is very tough and dry indeed. The nest of the African Rook is built in the crowns of high, inaccessible cotton-trees.” At the Niger, Dr. Hartert found a pair breeding in February on the top of a tall Bombax tree. Andersson, in his “ Birds of Damaraland,” writes: “It is a regular scavenger, being always present where offal is to be had, and at times resorting in numbers to the bays and inlets of the coast in search of carrion thrown up by the waves; indeed its scent and sight for carrion rivals that of the Vultures, and it is not unfrequently seen about a carcass before even a single Vulture has appeared. It is quite fearless, and will approach a person within a few steps, but if once shot at, displays considerable cunning and caution. From its commonness and sociability its presence is often disregarded ; and it avails itself of such opportunities to carry off any pieces of meat and fat which may chance to be within its reach; but such little depredations are amply compensated by its usefulness as a scavenger, and also in ridding domestic as well as wild animals, from the fearfully blood-thirsty ticks CORVUS ALBUS 147 which infest their hides. Some of the notes of this Crow, more especially on a raw misty morning, are absurdly singular and ridiculous. In the heat of the day nearly all the birds of this kind found in a limited locality will join in circling round and round for hours together, sometimes ascending to a very great height.” Their nests, he remarks, much resembled those of the Kites. Stark writes: “Its usual note is a harsh croak, but, like many of the Crows, it has a singular variety of cries, especially in Spring, many of them sounding as if the bird were about to choke or was trying to call with its mouth full of food. The nest, built in September in Cape Colony, is a large basket work of sticks and twigs, lined with wool and other soft material. It is usually placed in a tree, but occasionally on the ledge of a krantz. The eggs, from four to six in number, are bluish-green, spotted and streaked, especially towards the larger end, with different shades of olive-brown They measure 1°65 x 1:15.” The Colonels Butler and Feilden and Captain Reid, write from Natal: ‘“ Note extremely guttural and hoarse, only to be compared to that of a frog with a bad cold! Nest in both trees and rocks. Reid took a nest in a ‘krantz’ close to Newcastle, containing four eggs, on October 9; the old birds, nothing daunted, built another nest on a ledge of rock close by, and in twelve days one of them was sitting on a fresh clutch of eggs. It is worthy of note that the first nest was so compactly built, though to all appearance a most flimsy construction, that it was lifted bodily from its site by the end of one of its component sticks, and that the lining consisted solely of a mass of pieces of ox hide (evidently torn from a carcass), weighing quite two pounds.” T. EK. Buckley, during his journey through the Transvaal and Matabeleland, found this species and Corvultur albicollis, 148 CORVUS ALBUS equally common, affecting the open plains and neighbour- hood of towns in preference to the bush country. From the Zambesi, Sir John Kirk writes: “ Particularly common in the Portuguese towns, where it is the common scavenger, and also all up the river.” - Mr. Boyd Alexander, while on the Zambesi, saw them generally in large flocks, one of which he put up out of a mealie-field, which rose “ with a great uproar, and circled in the air after the manner of Rooks.” In Nyasaland, according to Sir Harry Johnston, it takes the place of Corvultur albicollis in the less elevated districts, and he found this also to be the case when he ascended Kilimanjaro. In North-east Africa, according to Heuglin, it is to be met with. singly or in pairs, excepting during the winter months, when they assemble in small parties. In Sennaar in June, he found one of their nests placed in a small acacia tree about 12 feet from the ground, and resembled in structure that of our Common Rook. Hartman likewise found a nest in the same country, on May 3, with eggs resembling those of the Carrion Crow. In the Indian Ocean the species ranges as far east as Madagascar and the Seychelles Archipelago. It is plentiful in Madagascar, where its Betsileos name is “ Goaka,” in the Bar language the “Gaga” and the Hovas call it “ Voromkako.” On the island of Anjuan it is known, according to Mr. Bewsher, as the “ Quihe.” he species has been obtained in Mohilla by Kersten, on Mayotte by Pollen and Humblot, and it is known to be distributed over the Seychelles Islands. During Sir E. Newton and Mr. 8. Roch’s expedition from Tamatave to Antananarivo they “found a nest on a low tree in the middle of the capitol. The nest and eges were in every respect similar to those of the Common or Hooded Crow.” CORVUS UMBRINUS 149 Corvus umbrinus. ‘*Corvus umbrinus, Hedenb.” Sundev. k. Vet. Akad. Forh. Stockh. 1838, p. 199; Dresser, B. Eur. iv. p. 577, pl. 265, fig. 2 (1874); Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iii. p. 17 (1877); Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 636 (1896) ; Alexander, Ibis, 1898, pp. 81, 91; Salvad. Ann. Mus. Gen. 1899, p. 288 Cape Verde Isl.; Reichen. Vog. Afr. ii. p. 633 (1903) ; Grant and Forbes, Nat. Hist. Sokotra, p. 22 (1903); Nicoll, Ibis, 1904, p. 35, Cape Verde Isl. ; A. L. Butler, Ibis, 1905, p. 8326 Soudan. “Corvus infumatus, Wagn. 1839,” Sundev. Civ. 1850, p. 130. Corvus corax umbrinus, Kleinschmidt, J. f. O. 1906, p. 86. Corvus corone (non Linn.) Dorhn. J. f. O. 1871, p. 5 Cape Verde Isl. Adult male. General plumage brownish-black, with a bronze gloss; the nasal bristles, which set flat over the nostrils, are black like the lores and feathers surrounding the eyes; feathers of foreneck lanceolate. Iris dark brown; bill, tarsi and feet black. Total length 21 inches, culmen 2-95, wing 14:9, tail 8-4, tarsus 2:95, Egypt (Shelley). Adult female. Like the male in plumage. Culmen 2-4, wing 15:4, tail 8:3, tarsus 2:4; depth of bill at nostrils 0°8, St. Jago (Alexander). The Brown-necked Crow is abundant on the Cape Verde Islands, but has not otherwise been recorded from further west than Kordofan and the Nile Valley, from whence it ranges eastward over the southern half of Asia to Balu- chistan. On the Cape Verde Islands the species is generally dis- tributed, so it is surprising not to find it recorded from the mainland of West Africa. That caused me in 1896 to enter C. leptonyx (B. Afr. i. No. 637) under the impression that the Cape Verde Island Crow would prove to belong to the same species as the Madeira and Morocco small Raven, but that has been proved conclusively not to be the case. The two species are very similar, but the Morocco bird has a stouter, more Raven-like bill, and for comparison, I have given the depth of the bill in the Cape Verde Island specimen I have described. Regarding the Brown-necked Crow on Santiago, Mr. 150 CORVUS UMBRINUS Boyd Alexander writes: “On February 25, we discovered a nest ready for eggs on a ledge of rock close to the sea and about 30 feet up. Locusts formed the chief food of these birds, which they hunted in a most systematic manner. On several occasions I had the opportunity of watching them on the war path.