- 7 vr Fe he 7 ? aS . a = J ve ‘ o —_ ’ j , 4 : “ fy = t-97 2 Le « “ sy — 8 oA 4 —_ . id as i > . : ’ . . > Py - : * 6 7 - utp : “ 0 ‘ ‘ 7 ; * - ‘ ’ ‘ ¥ ” ant . - « - P ~~ ued ’ - < , \ wy . - oie ’ med * ; : * - Te b= 2 a ‘ : - F ’ +i» - ? “i . ” ; : - P 3 a4. 9 Py $ Chan rol th ae x ~ y fiat ‘* . , 4 é a - : ’ : f : ’ . : ; r , 5 : “ . 4 . “ 5. , ’ - = ‘ , 4. - ' . : : y j . ; 4 ‘ ~ ton - * - . ‘ ‘ 7 . : sii. « = = ’ . ‘ ‘ 2 fe 1 iy; rr 1 Me f i », ' BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB EDITED BY i oe a a EP ae LON Vir KISH MUSES, " & = Ce CM Be ON I ee ON (@ 7 oe eee [) ej * & 94. > a pay k Volume 78 \Z 8 ee" a, ~ P a of f 1958 Ran miss” PGE MeO SBE EE isNG SS: AcN Di Si xX PE N€ E PREFACE ALTHOUGH THE present volume with 166 pages is the largest since the war, the extra six pages over Volume 77 were exceptional, in that they were concerned with the new Trust Deed and therefore in size the present volume really remains the same for the third successive year. It is pleasing that the supply of papers continues to be excellent and further new con- tributors have supported us. The trend this year has been for rather longer papers, but short notes are a great help to the Editor in completing a 16 or 20 page issue without leaving part of the last page blank, which not only looks unpleasant, but costs the same as if it were filled. The need for economy is more pressing than ever now that the Inland Revenue have withheld our rebate on the Deeds of Covenant, the result of which will be that our expenditure will exceed our income. One way in which a saving might be made is in the Author’s Corrections. While it is appreciated that in a scientific paper the greatest accuracy is essential, it may not be realised that to alter or delete one word costs 3s. 6d.; to insert one word which may cause overrunning for several lines, can cost up to 12s. 6d. for about six lines. In 1958 such corrections cost the Club £18 16s. 3d. The co-operation of all authors over this would be greatly appreciated. Dr. L. Soulsby’s paper on internal parasites of wildfowl was re-printed in full in the 9th Annual Report of the Wildfowl Trust by permission of our Committee. Summaries of many of the papers are now appearing regularly in Biological Abstracts. These are being prepared by Mr. Bryan Sage and his efforts are resulting in further publicity for the Bulletin. Once again we are particularly indebted to Mr. C. N. Walter for pre- paring the List of Authors and the List of New Forms. I would also like to thank Mrs. B. P. Hall, Dr. James Harrison, Mr. C. W. Mackworth-Praed and Mr. N. J. P. Wadley for their help with this volume. The numbers attending the meetings for 1958 were as follows :— Members of the Club, 275; Members of the B.O.U., 33; Guests, 87; Guests of the Club, Dr. M. Burton, Miss J. Burton, Mr. & Mrs. R. E. Darnton, Monsieur & Madame Olivier, Professor M. F. M. Meiklejohn, Captain G. K. Yeates, Major G. Pye-Smith and Mr. R. Spencer (twice). Total: 406. JEFFERY HARRISON. Sevenoaks, December, 1958. ill | COMMITTEE 1958 Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED, Chairman (elected 1956). Captain C. R. S. PITMAN, Vice-Chairman (elected 1956). Dr. J. G. HARRISON, Editor (elected 1952). Mr. N. J. P. WADLEY, Secretary (elected 1950). Mr. C. N. Water, Hon. Treasurer (elected 1950). Mrs. B. P. HALL (elected 1955). Miss T. CLAy (elected 1956). Mr. J. G. MAVROGORDATO (elected 1957). Mr. I. J. FERGUSON-LEES (elected 1958). OFFICERS OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB PAST AND PRESENT Chairmen P. L. SCLATER 1892-1913 LORD ROTHSCHILD 1913-1918 W. L. SCLATER 1918-1924 H. F. WITHERBY 1924-1927 Dr. P. R. LOWE 1927-1930 Major S. S. FLOWER 1930-1932 D. A. BANNERMAN 1932-1935 G. M. MATHEWS 1935-1938 Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON — 1938-1943 D. SETH-SMITH 1943-1946 Dr. J. M. HARRISON 1946-1949 Sir PHILip MANSON-BAHR 1949-1953 Colonel R. MEINERTZHAGEN 1953-1956 C. W. MACK WORTH-PRAED 1956— Vice-Chairmen LORD ROTHSCHILD 1930-1931 W. L. SCLATER 1931-1932 H. F. WITHERBY 1932-1933 G. M. MATHEWS 1933-1934 N. B. KINNEAR 1934-1935 H. WHISTLER 1935-1936 1V Vice-Chairmen— cont. D. SETH-SMITH Colonel R. SPARROW Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low Hon. Guy CHARTERIS W. L. SCLATER Dr. D. A. BANNERMAN Capt. C. H. B. GRANT B. W. TUCKER F. J. F. BARRINGTON Dr. E. HOPKINSON C. W. MACK WORTH-PRAED Dr. J. M. HARRISON Sir PHiLtp MANSON-BAHR B. G. HARRISON Lt.-Colonel W. P. C. TENISON Miss E. M. GODMAN Colonel R. MEINERTZHAGEN Major A. G. L. SLADEN Colonel R. MEINERTZHAGEN Mr. E. M. NICHOLSON Captain C. R. S. PITMAN Editors R. BOWDLER SHARPE W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT D. A. BANNERMAN D. SETH-SMITH Dr. P. R. LOWE N. B. KINNEAR Dr. G. CARMICHAEL LOW Captain C. H. B. GRANT Dr. G. CARMICHAEL LOW Lt.-Colonel W. P. C. TENISON Captain C. H. B. GRANT Dr. J. G. HARRISON 1936-1937 1937-1938 1938-1939 1938-1939 1939-1940 1939-1940 1940-1943 1940-1943 1943-1945 1943-1945 1945-1946 1945-1946 1946-1947 1946-1947 1947-1948 1947-1948 1948-1949 1948-1949 1949-1953 1953-1956 1956- 1892-1904 — 1904-1914 1914-1915 1915-1920 1920-1925 1925-1930 1930-1935 1935-1940 1940-1945 1945-1947 1947-1952 1952= Vv Honorary Secretaries and Treasurers HOWARD SAUNDERS W. E. DE WINTON H. F. WITHERBY Dr. P. R. LOWE C. G. TALBOT-PONSONBY D. A. BANNERMAN Dr. PHILIP GOSSE J. L. BONHOTE C. W. MACK WORTH-PRAED Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low C. W. MACK WORTH-PRAED Honorary Secretaries Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON C. R. STONOR N. B. KINNEAR Dr. G. CARMICHAEL LOw Lt.-Colonel W. P. C. TENISON Captain C. H. B. GRANT W. E. GLEGG Miss G. M. RHODES N. J. P. WADLEY _ Honorary Treasurers C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED Major A. G. L. SLADEN Miss E. P. LEACH C. N. WALTER 1892-1899 1899-1904 1904-1914 1914-1915 1915-1918 1918-1919 1919-1920 1920-1922 1922-1923 1923-1929 1929-1935 1935-1938 1938-1940 1940-1943 1943-1945 1945-1947 1947 1947-1949 1949-1950 1950- 1935-1936 1936-1942 1942-1949 1950- V1 LIST OF MEMBERS DECEMBER 1958 As for 1954, 1955, 1956, amended December 1957, and as follows: Resigned or died during 1958: Dr. H. M. S. Biair, Captain C. H. B. GRANT, D. GRIFFIN, Miss C. K. JAMES, Miss C. E. LONGFIELD, Miss K. Tousey, G. F. TOWNES, W. H. WORKMAN. New Members in 1958: ApaMs, L. E. G., 15 Chertsey Street, Guildford, Surrey. Booru, Capt. B. D. McD., The Royal Scots Greys, Fresh Fields, Elsenham, Nr. Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. BROOKE, R. K., Box 8016, Causeway, S. Rhodesia. CATCHESIDE, B. T., 142 Northcroft Road, London, W.13. CurRRY-LINDAHL, K., Nordiska Museet Skansen, Zoological Department, Stockholm. Doy Le, Rev. F., African Missions, Blackrock Road, Cork, Ireland. *Evans, Mrs. R., 15 Westmorland Road, Maidenhead, Berks. Houston, W. H., Drumornie, Brora, Sutherland, Scotland. JANY, J. E., Manteuffelstrasse 3, Berlin-Lichterfelde, West Germany. JOHNSON, F. E. B., Willow Close, Mill Lane, Hulcote, Bletchley, Bucks. LATHBURY, Lt. Gen. Sir Gerald, K.C.B., D.S.O., M.B.E., Locks House, Nr. Wokingham, Berks. ( *Associate Member) Changes of Address : AMES, A. G. E., ‘“Two Glenowen’’, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham, Glos. BENSON, C. W., B.A., Litton House, Trull Road, Taunton, Somerset. HALDANE, L. A., c/o Lloyds Bank Ltd., Sidney Street, Cambridge. HALL, Mrs. B. P., Three Ways, 18 Lynwood Road, Epsom, Surrey. Hay, W., Makondi Water Corporation, P.O. Box 11, Newala, Central Province, Tanganyika. HOLLANDS, F. G., Red Ley, Quarndon, Derbyshire. PHILIPS, A. R., a/c Prof. Bernardo Villa R., Privada de San Lucas No. 9, Coyoacan, Mexico 21, D.F., Mexico. PLOWDEN-WARDLAW, W. J., c/o A. R. McFayden, Esq., Messrs. Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie, 150 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, C.2. ReAy, W. H., Sgts. Mess, Royal Air Force, Turnhouse, Edinburgh. SAGE, B. L., FRES, MBOU, 138 Fitzjohn Avenue, High Barnet, Herts. STAFFORD, J., “‘Westering’’, Moor Lane, Brightstone, Isle of Wight. STEWART, R., 47 Avenue de |’Art Flamand, Antwerp, Belgium. Vil NEW FORMS, 1958 Amaurornis phoenicurus maldivus Ammomanes deserti borosi Anthus similis josensis ... Butorides striatus didii Calandrella cinerea millardi Certhilauda albofasciata bathoeni Eremomela turneri kalindei Euplectes orix turgida ... Fringillaria capensis nebularum Indicator pumilio Mirafra angolensis antonii — —— marungensis — — minyanyae Nilaus afer solivagus Parisoma layardi aridicola Passer melanurus vicinus Prodotiscus insignis lathburvi ... Serinus atrogularis seshekeensis LIST OF AUTHORS, Etc. ACCOUNTS, FINANCIAL ... ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING BENSON, C. W. The occurrence of the Black Stork Ciconia nigra ( pinages) as a Ralae arctic migrant in Nyasaland iy et, 2 ‘ Notes from Northern Rhodesia ; The Paradise Flycatcher a oe viridis in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland _... é mt, ; : BENSON, C. W. and PITMAN, Capt. ce 'R. S. Further Breeding Records from Northern Rhodesia Part I Burton, Dr. Maurice **Anting’’ CuaPin, Dr. James P. A New Honey-guide from the Kivu District, Belgian Congo Page 53 124 18 a2. 126 125 147 96 129 46 153 154 163 is 148 59 lz 17 78 81 86 90 133. 164 21 46 Vill CLANCEY, P. A. Geographical Variation in the teas Woodpecker eb cc notata (Lichtenstein) The South African Races of the Bearded Woodpecker TG hri ipias narmaguus.. noe (Lichtenstein) Polytypic Variation in the Sparrow Passer melanurus (Miiller) On Barbatula bocagei Sousa, 1886: Caconda, Angola tt A ote Race of the Brubru Nilaus ee (Latham) from South- Eastern Africa . A New Race of Red Bishop Euplectes. orix ( Linnaeus) from South Africa On the Validity of Calandrella cinerea niveni (Macdonald), 1952, described from Natal, South Africa .. : A New Name for a South African Race ‘of Grey Tit Par us afer Gmelin DARNTON, Mrs. Iris Birds, Beasts and Butterflies of Equatorial Africa. Colour film GALBRAITH, I. C. T. The Birds of the Solomon Islands Goopwin, Derek The existence and causation of colour- paclabeaide in the wes 1 of Feral and Domestic Pigeons ‘ ae ne : as) A Wood Pigeon with an unusual call GRANT, Capt. C. H. B. Death of New Names Published Privately i“ Ornithological Nomenclature and Nomenelatorial Procedure GRANT, Capt. C. H. B. and MACKWORTH-PRAED, C. W. Gavia Oe AR eh, ay eee Wt) ede Colymbus ; A New Race of Serin from Northern Rhodesia ae On Ammomanes cinctura pallens Le Roi, Orn. Mon.P. 6, ‘1912: ’ Birsani, Bajuda Steppe, Dongola Province, Sudan : A New Race of the Long- -billed Pipit from Nigeria On Malaconotus blanchoti Stephens, Gen. Zool. 7, p.161, 1826 Tunstall’s Ornithologia Britannica, 1771... : HALL, Mrs. B. P. Habitats and Distribution of some Angolan Birds A New Race of Honey-guide from Mount Moco ... Variation in the Angola Lark, Mirafra angolensis Bocage, with a | descrip- tion of Two New Races ak xe a f ’ ‘ A New Race of Cossypha natalensis HARRISON, Dr. James M. On the Populations of the Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula Brisson in Western Europe, and the possible Significance of certain Aberrant Characters in that Species Part I . a . 2 a se = Part Il 75 A Generalised Infection due to an Acid- Fast Bacillus in . the Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo buteo (Linnaeus) : The Baikal Teal in the British Isles; A New Record and : a Note on the Incidence of the ‘* Bridled’’ Face Pattern eee A ringed Shag inland in Kent and a note on its cause of death ... River Warbler in Switzerland — ich a 126 1X HARRISON, Dr. James M. and Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G. The White Neck Spot Variant in the E sg eae Green- Peas Teal and the Yellow-billed Teal ... 104 Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G. Some activities of a Wildfowlers’ Association Fd es ae 119 Herring Gulls in Wales with Partially Amputated Legs ae or ho 150 See HARRISON, Dr. James M. See SOULSBY, Dr. Fake. HorvaTH, Dr. L. A New Race of the Desert Lark from Egypt as ee et bus B= het IRwin, Michael P. Stuart The History and Relationships of the Races of the Barbet Lybius leucomelas _... 19 The Relationships of the Races of the ‘Cape Bunting, Fr ingillari ia capensis in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland... 69 A case of Geographical overlap in Northern Bechuanaland of the. Mir afra apiata and Mirafra rufocinnamomea group of Larks ne. 93 A description of the Unrecorded Gape and Mouth Markings of the Locust Finch Ortygospiza locustella with some Breeding and Other Notes _... 127 Keve, Dr. Andrew Further Population Studies of, The Yellow Wagtail a eat a a i Pe oe 48 The Jackdaw ... ae bee oe ae ae bp ag St. 88 The Jay as ee AN cp eh bh ec ota ae i teva Jones, David On a Rare Colour Aberration in the Greater Black-backed Gull pe 87 LIVERSIDGE, R. A Species New to South Africa Xema sabini (Sabine) ase a AD MACDONALD, J. D. Note on Cinnyris manoensis Reichenow Ba vis a4 on ee 7 MACKWORTH-PRAED, C. W. The correct name of the Peregine Falcon _... arr + 2 tae 149 See GRANT, Capt. C. H. B Moreau, R. E. See Wuite, C. M. N. NIETHAMMER, Professor G. Turdus merula agnetae Volsoe ae oe see am seg me! 87 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE and NOMENCLATORIAL PROCEDURE... 60, 99, 135 PAN AFRICAN ORNITHOLOGICAL CONGRESS ii ioe ie a a. 45 » 4 PARKES, Dr. Kenneth C. Nomenclatorial Notes on Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers bn ee 6 PATERSON, Miss Mary L. Two New Races of Larks from the Bechuanaland Protectorate ... yo 125 PHILLIPS, W. W. A. and Sims, R. W. Two New Races of Birds from the Maldive Archipelago oe at 5] PITMAN, Captain Charles R. S. Snake and Lizard Predators of Birds Part I bes aS = oe cae as ae a ef 82 Part II a Bet ae ve 2: tes sae om oS 99 Part Ll ai ee af si hy te xd a sae, See BENSON, C. W. PRIGOGINE, Dr. A. The Status of Eremomela turneri van Someren and the description of a new race from the Belgian Congo ie Se ue os ad oe 46 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE... i: se 4% Ri, ee (2g o. 77 ROSSMAN, Dr. Fritz O. Tornado effect on Birds ae eat ae ae we th a 44 RUDEBECK, Dr. Gustaf Some Additional notes on the Buzzard, Boteo boteo trizonatus ... ad 54 A New Race of the Bunting Fringillaria capensis (L) from Angola 3 te SAGE, Bryan L. On arare colour aberration in certain species of the genus Larus Linnaeus 71 Supplementary notes on the eengrephiel distribution ot the ** Mottled’’ variety of the Rook Bx _ or 4 74 Hybrid Ducks in New Zealand ; 108 On the Avian Hosts of the Leech Theromyzon (Protoclepsis) tessellata (O. F. Muller) see sais oe ee oc - oe Pe 113 Sims, R. W. See PHILLIPS, W. W. A. Sou.ssy, Dr. E. J. L. Parasitological findings in Viscera sent for examination by Wildfowlers 21 SoutsBy, Dr. E. J. L. and Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G. Intestinal obstruction in a Herring Gull caused by Parasites ae oa 28 SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING ... ae ee ‘iat ae it 1% wh 63 SPENCER, Robert Bird Ringing _.... a ty aed ashe <- ed bend ... 45, 61 TRUST DEED eee eee eee It TS eer eee eer eee ove eee 64 XI VALVERDE, Senor Jose A. Some observations on the Migration through the Occidental Sahara WAINWRIGHT, Major General C. B. Mussel attached to a Teal Wuitg, C. M. N. The Names of some Francolins Notes on African Larks. Part VI _... A New Lark from Northern Rhodesia White, C. M. N. and Moreau, R. E. Taxonomic Notes on the Ploceidae Part I aS a’ Nair. | a i Part Il... WILLIAMS, John G. Cyanomitra batesi in Northern Rhodesia WINTERBOTTOM, Dr. J. M. Distribution of Eremomela icteropygialis Lafresnaye A New Subspecies of Parisoma layardi Hartlaub Dah 30 132 148 The Caxton & Holmesdale Press Sevenoaks BULLETIN OF . THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB AYyROHASED om 2 JAN 1958 Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON Volume 78 January No. | 1958 \s a4 ; oa AN Ty ‘2@TeLOO DONT i ; ri y ROE Se Tie hel oy bo AOCISALAB PARA ql ri b ha b i (dah fe ee 4 7 x 1958 i | Vol. 78 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLO She teu CLUB PURCHASED Volume 78 ae Cee 8 PI dAEe <<), Number! SBA ete roptiyink A ee ‘ oy On eee ba hs hE soe re TOMES: TRO Panes te nt Re She any <5 SERS A a a a ’ t i a m P . pus 5 pig Cree Re: ‘ae ee ieee 4 > , oh Bi ay i be ne Pay a0 Vag Ee Peis Anh eee av OREO) Ge hy nome eR Oe eet es Re lp eR ee i . i t Ui ‘ be) 1 i own gs vt ; 7 4 7 t ad wom % } ' Lee 1, i / i 4 ii % my r 4 i] , r ih ay Uy if ‘5 i wg . t 7 H j wn hale) Ae faa ith 1 ; ‘ : Wer , ‘ . Phi rs a « ‘ aye dy, en Waser f j ? i ’ \! ree a AD TOSSES i f » ESO) FOR ne ae ft | : 4 At | . i A re i - vy A j ) ; ih § ; bey yy’ as { " if f : wet A. uct ’ \ is Me a } ¥ 1 t ye ee ‘s A v A t Chen Ae ae i ebm nett, magi i GA Dh ome j é bi LAG eae OO yr A), , i yi 5 \ ni jn rial) =f 4 “pe Rae Rone tt. sgn Ra EM a babii ft SBIR TARR: REE EN EUAN AC 1 ME, Se fi aa Ay i, 4 ( Sey Ae a os + } ' F { : x) A ie eee | 4 i hs , pet A ea TG byt Uys . ues, : f , 4 t Die Coot ey ate eth Ade AC oe Lae Wd arern ie i ha\e ie 9 eae et Melis ald 4 i Potinte 6 bi wiripemnbiinnns fh Hive tat, iad } f Hage et at PANE Rif eo eo BR en Wind a ea Wed ie Sag] ‘ i pels ‘i i Ff i HM) : p U i” Ha : : } ; Wi Wins q Ai “A 1 hepa it fr ‘ ‘ re 2) te Oe a viet Wid ae VE PA i iy 4 aie. nh i v4 PEN A fi i ¥ " ard? i ‘ i f ow Ny fi. Ms an eae lial » i: ir Hisinng ‘ i re: DeLay 4 he ay FINAN Tt : MY ‘ Vy, ¥; ' 44 4 Ay psy j i ay | i | f \ te te tatty Pat } 'E ie . aes HANAN PAN ok) é ; Ls / HiT: NN 4 Notices BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN”’ Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each. Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available. Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., aS above. DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1958 21st January, 18th February, 24th March (jointly with B.O.U.), 15th April, 20th May, 16th September, 21st October, 18th November, 16th December. FREE COPIES Contributors who desire free copies of the Bulletin containing their notes should state so on their MS., otherwise these will not be ordered These will be supplied up to 4 maximum of fifty. PUBLICATION OF THE **BULLETIN’’ Members who make a contribution at a Meeting should hand the MS. to the Editor at that Meeting. It is essential that the MS. should be correct and either typed or written very clearly with scientific and place names in block letters. The first mention of a scientific name should be spelt out in full, i.e., genus, specific name, racial name (if any), and author. Any further mention of the same name need only have the initial letter of the genus and no further mention of the author. If no MS. is handed to the Editor at the Meeting, a note will be inserted mentioning the contribution. BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS The Club will pay for a reasonable number of black and white blocks at the discretion of the Editor. If the contributor wishes to have the blocks to keep for his own use afterwards, the Club will not charge for them, as has been done in the past. Communications are not restricted to members of the British Ornithologists’ Club, and contributions on taxonomy and related sub- jects will be considered from all who care to send them to The Editor, Dr. J. G. Harrison, ‘‘Merriewood’’, St. Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent. Communications relating to other matters should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, N. J. P. Wadley, Esq., 14 Elm Place, London, S.W.7. SUBSCRIPTION Twenty-one Shillings Annually. Two Shillings and Sixpence per copy. Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent. BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON Volume 78 February No. 2 1958 Webs 8 ¥ Doe oe , ‘ A ae el gh By a A Wales Hanan Rule ‘ i re f ry ’ PAu \ ‘i? Apts “ s a4 ( ty 4 yh ry ‘ pect N ee SY we) Paes Gu tency eh Re cal Ab i q P Nid ¢ iy aN er AAC hy RA oN Fh Wate alike rally ob f aN Ki Wien ) Et iad ey \ Bh Nov es fo a 2 Py anes " Peas, i} rf en? i. F Ms 4 PA 1 aN 6] . ‘ ¥ ya ii ey Liha) ip} , Ly J x) Made! “yf! 1958 21 Vol. 78 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ fo “ai Volume 78 Soi c | ~ 3 FER 1958 Number 2 Ci e Published: Ist February, 1958 Se The five hundred and sixty-second meeting of the Club was folds at che Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, on Tuesday, 2]st January, 1958, following a dinner at 6.30 p.m. Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED Members present, 32; Guests, 9; Guests of the Club, Dr. M. Burton and Miss J. Burton; Total, 43. The late Captain C. H. B. Grant The Chairman announced with deep regret the death of Captain Claude Grant and members stood in respect. Captain Grant was Vice-Chairman (1940-43), Editor (1935—’40 and °47 — °52) and Hon. Secretary in 1947. The Chairman welcomed Dr. J. M. Winterbottom, who conveyed greetings from the South African Ornithological Society. ‘“‘Anting”’ Dr. Maurice Burton gave a most imteresting paper, illustrated with a film taken by his daughter. - He began with a survey of the orthodox views and then discussed his tame Rook which ‘‘anted’’ in steam and in front of an electric fire which it would turn on, and with lighted matches and burning straw. The film illustrated this most excellently and Dr. Burton continued with a discussion on the association of birds and fire, suggesting that ‘‘anting’’ and ‘‘fire-eating’’ are the same phenomena, due to the impression of heat in the mouth. ‘‘Anting’’ he thought, is an action of exaggerated preening and represents an emotional peak, in which a mounting excitement ends in typical ‘‘anting,’’ with or without an ant. The grooming movement of — some mammals in response to scents is probably analogous. A stimulating discussion concluded the evening. Parasitological findings in Viscera sent for examination by Wildfowlers Dr. Es, JL... SOULSBY During the 1956-57 season 46 viscera were examined at the Department - of Animal Pathology, University of Cambridge, in order to ascertain the : : type and degree of parasitism which occurs under natural conditions. Ten species of wildfowl were represented in the samples, the distribution being as follows: Shoveler 3, Mallard 3, Teal 15, Wigeon 12, Graylag goose, | Velvet Scoter 3, Common Scoter 4, Golden Eye |, Shelduck 3, Vol. 78 22 1958 Tufted Duck |. With the exception of three viscera which were sent by Mr. J. L. Hirst of Morecambe, the rest were sent by the Kent Wildfowlers’ Association. The author is extremely grateful to the gentlemen con- cerned who have helped with this survey. Parasites found: Nematodes (Roundworms) :— Amidostomum anseris; Tetrameres fissispina,; Echinuria horrida. Acanthocephala (Thorny-headed worms):— Polymorphus minutus. Trematodes (Flukes):— Catatropis verrucosa; Psilochasmus oxyurus; Echinostoma revolutum; Cotylurus cornutus; Paramonostomum alveatum; Maritrema subdolum; Himasthla elongata; Hyptiasmus arcuatus. Cestodes (Tapeworms):— Paricterotaenia borealis; Hymenolepis gracilis; Echinocotyle rosseteri; Hymenolepis sp. Observations on the parasites found: Amidostomum anseris is a very common parasite of ducks and geese. It was found in a Greylag goose and in two Common Scoters. It affects the gizzard and causes marked erosions. It also occurs in domestic ducks and geese, sometimes causing severe disease. Tetrameres fissispina was previously thought to be uncommon in this country but was found in Scoters and a Teal. It may cause serious damage to the proventriculus. Polymorphus minutus was found in extremely large numbers in Common Scoters and in a Velvet Scoter. Despite gross infection the birds appeared to be healthy. Paramonostomum alveatum and Maritrema subdoluma were found in extremely large numbers in a Shelduck which was found dead and also suffered from gross tuberculosis. In addition this bird had a massive in- fection with Hymenolepis gracilis. Paricterotaenia borealis and Echinostoma revolutum were found in large numbers in a Shelduck and a Tufted Duck respectively. Other parasites were found in small numbers only. The purposes of this survey are twofold, firstly to obtain information regarding the species of parasites which occur in wildfowl in this country. We do not know which are the indigenous parasites and which are intro- duced by migratory species of wildfowl. Secondly to obtain information regarding the parasitic burden of apparently healthy wildfowl. We do not know at present what levels of parasitism to expect in the natural state, but it would appear from the few viscera examined so far that generally a low level of parasitism obtains, but apparently heavy burdens can occur with impunity. Nevertheless such burdens may be of importance in so far that they can be a potential menace to the health of the bird if its food supply is curtailed or if other diseases are acquired. It is only by an extensive and prolonged survey of the parasite fauna of such birds that the importance of parasitism can become apparent. This must be accompanied by other observations on such things as the food supply, abnormal behaviour in migration or use of feeding grounds or abnormal plumage, things which only the man in the field, the wild- © fowler, can satisfactorily do. In time it is hoped that a comprehensive picture will be built up regarding these problems, | | : 1958 23, Vol. 78 Mussel Attached to a Teal by MAJOR-GENERAL C. B. WAINWRIGHT Received 12th October, 1957 Several papers have appeared in recent Bulletins dealing with aquatic predators of birds. Pitman!’ mentions the large numbers of one-legged waders to be seen in East Africa, for which clams are believed to be res- _-ponsible, while Harrison? also mentions one-legged waders and a Wigeon, Anas penelope, and he too believed clams were responsible for these amputations, the result of necrosis. It is of much interest therefore that on 20th October, 1949, I caught a duck Teal, Anas crecca crecca, in a duck trap on Abberton Reservoir, Essex, with a fresh water mussel clamped onto its foot. The tarsus was fractured and I amputated the foot at the fracture site and released it. This confirms that at least some of these amputations are due to molluscs, as suggested by previous authors. Dr. Jeffery Harrison also informs me that he shot a Teal with one leg amputated, in Eire in October, 1956. References : 1 Pitman, Captain C. R. S., ‘‘Further Notes on Aquatic predators of Birds.’’ Bull. BG. VOl..71,. pp. 91.— 2, 1957. * Harrison, Dr. James M., ‘‘ Fish and other Aquatic Fauna as Predators of Birds’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 75, pp. 110 — 3, 1955. On the Populations of the Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula Brisson in Western Europe, and the possible Significance of certain Aberrant Characters in that Species. PART Two by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON Aberrant Characters: The significance of aberrant characters in Pyrrhula presents a problem of no small interest. As with aberrations in other species, these can be roughly divided into those of colour, the heterochroisms, with which this paper is not concerned, and which are usually without systematic significance, while again as with other species, those of pattern which may well offer evidence of evolution- ary importance. In considering any aberrant character the first question that has to be. answered is, whether or not, the character in question is found as a con- stant in any given population of the species. If this can be answered in the affirmative then, in my opinion, the character has evolutionary and phylo- genetic significance. Three aberrant characters are found in Pyrrhula and its races throughout its entire range. One of these may be said to be commonly met with, one moderately commonly, the third and last but rarely. The commonly occurring aberrant character is that in which the two outer tail feathers have, in varying degree a white or pale biscuit coloured streak on the inner vanes towards the tip. Of this condition study reveals that it is (1) not sex-linked, i.e. it is found in birds of either sex (2) moreover that it occurs in birds of all ages, (3) that its expression may be from the merest fleck, or even as a minimal Vol. 78 24 1958 expression with just the rhachis, at the site where the white marking is usually found, lacking colour, to a well defined white or pale fawn coloured marking roughly of an attenuated pear shape with its apex directed proxim- ally, measuring sometimes as much as 2 cms. long by 2 to 3 mm. at its widest point, and (4) that it is in some cases only found unilaterally. It is well known that in the Far Eastern forms of Pyrrhula, P. p. cassini, P. p. griseiventris. P. p. rosacea and P. p. kurielensis this character is re- garded as more or less a constant, particularly in P. p. cassini (kamtschatica — auctorum), while it is less often seen in birds in the western populations. In order to assess the incidence of this and other aberrant characters the total material was divided into two major groups comprising the eastern and western populations. The dividing line was that indicated by Voous!? (loc. cit. p. 65, Fig. 8.). This line demarcates the significant average diff- erence in size between the eastern and western birds and runs broadly south of the Scandinavian Peninsula, turns south through eastern Germany to bend sharply eastwards along the line of the Carpathian Mountains. ‘East of this line the average wing length varies from 90 mm. to 96 mm., west of the line from 79 mm. to about 89 mm. From the east 246, and from the west 375 individuals have been in- vestigated. The former group provided 158 males and 49 females, the latter 247 males and 128 females. The accompanying histograms (Fig. II, a, b) demonstrate the prevalence of this character in these two major groups, and it is instructive to note that whereas in the eastern group it is most commonly found in the males, in the western group the incidence has be- come inverted and is far greater in the females. It would seem reasonable to assume therefore that, as this is so, it is probable that the genes for white tail markings are more commonly carried by the females. A further interesting comparative study is afforded when the incidence of this character is analysed in the extreme westerly populations, (Fig. III, a. P. p. coccinea, b. P. p. wardlawi, c. P. p. nesa and d. P. p. germanica). These again demonstrate the greater incidence in the females of the two western insular, and therefore the most closely segregrated, races, P. p. wardlawi and P. p. nesa. It is significant as indicating the origin of P. murina from the Eurasian stock that the white tail markings are found. Unfor- tunately an insufficient number were seen for any statistical conclusions to be drawn, however the variation was found in both sexes. Comparing the incidence of this character in P. p. wardlawi together with P. p. nesa with P. p. coccinea the histograms, (Fig. II1) again show clearly that where a species is inhabiting a wider distributional area, the incidence is less. What basic principles underlie the incidence of this char- acter in races where it occurs sporadically, i.e. not as a more or less normal constant ? We have already seen that it is in the eastern populations that the white, or fawn, tail markings are normal and characteristic. We have also seen that in the light of ringing recoveries, as well as on morphological con- siderations the western populations are to be regarded as very sedentary, of this, at the present time we have no evidence to the contrary. Sporadic immigration by birds from northern and north-eastern Europe is also an admitted fact, as is also the intermediate genetic constitution of P. p. germanica, the central European form (Stresemann,® /oc. cit., Voous,’? loc. cit. pp. 66 — 67). It is also admitted that where a population, by virtue a Een 1958 20 Vol. 78 of being geographically circumscribed and on that account subjected to the equivalent of a process of intensive in-breeding, that variants by gene recombination may be anticipated, and that this process will be intensified in direct relation to any increase in global numbers of a population so Fig aly EAQRTERNGS 158 WESTE RN oo 247 @? 49 Pg 128 a.b. Whute tal markings ex Punk suffusion orn mantles situated. In other words, variants due to gene recombination and, or, other genetic effects, are directly related to the degree of isolation to which a population is subjected and to the density of such population. The above circumstances would, in my opinion, account for the high incidence of the character under consideration in so far as the two western insular populations are concerned. The lower incidence in the two forms inhabiting the mainland of western Europe, P. p. coccinea, and in central Vol. 78 26 1958 Europe, P. p. germanica, offers further support to this hypothesis, while in the case of P. p. germanica the incidence is lowered still further by gene — : dilution from secondary intergradation, (Fig. III a.) from the north and east. So much for the white or fawn tail markings. The second aberration to which we must now give our attention is that of the pink suffusion of the Fig. IIT WHITE TAIL MARKINGS (a)P (rae nak (b) Rp vardiews: © Pp. nesa. (d) Pp. a ete 245 21 aaa 20 a 19 IZ | 16 15 LStS' 2799 33331799 3,55 15999 L38SS — 13QQ Fig IV PINK SUFFUSION ON MANTLES (a2) EASTERN Go 158 (b) WESTERN GS 247 1958 oa Vol. 78 grey of the mantle in the male. Here again this is a character which is derived from the eastern forms as it is commonly found in P. p. cassini and P. p. rosacea* - This character is of course only visible in the male as any tendency for its disclosure in the female would be masked by the dark mantle of that sex — possibly one day an albinistic female will help to decide whether this aberrant character is sex-linked or not. From a study of the relevant histograms, (Fig. IV b) it can be seen that its highest incidence is in the western populations P. p. nesa, P. p. wardlawi and P. p. coccinea, and that only two instances in 61 specimens of P. p. germanica (Fig. IV c) were found. It is believed that even were the three groups studied strictly equivalent, that even so the incidence in the western populations would be found to exceed that of the eastern groups for the reasons already advanced above. A rare variant was the subject of a communication (antea, 1957, 77, 113 — 114).1° In this the males bear a superficial resemblance to the Far Eastern form P. p. griseiventris. Here again both the specimens were found in the western populations P. p. nesa and P. p. wardlawi. The in- cidence of this aberration is in the order of 2 in 247 males. Summary. This paper is based on a study of 621 specimens. It describes broadly the geographical and individual variation of the western races. The significance of such aberrant characters as are believed to have a bearing on the evolution and phylogeny of the species is discussed. Evidence in support of the hypothesis of autophoric reverse variation in the species is advanced. — The study reveals negative evidence of any immigration into the British Isles of birds from western Europe, though the possibility of this on a minimal scale cannot be entirely excluded and must await proof by the recovery of ringed birds. Acknowledgments: This study has been made possible by the kind co- operation of many individuals. | am indebted to The Ministry of Agri- culture, Fisheries and Food, at whose instigation this research was initia- ted, and in particular to the following Officials of the Ministry ; Messrs. W. S. English, A. D. Harrison, T. Laflin, M. G. Ridpath, D. A. B. Summers, E. N. English and E. N. Wright. In addition to the invaluable help given by the above named, | also received many specimens: through the kindness of the following, Dr. J. S. Ash, Mrs. Hazel, Miss Monica Newman, Mr. Philip Noakes, Sir Phillip Manson-Bahr, and Mr. Raymond Wickham. I would also acknowledge gratefully the loan of comparative material from the following sources; through Mr. J. D. Macdonald for the series in the British Museum, Natural History, South Kensington, through Dr. A. C. Stephen for similar facilities from The Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, through Mr. Alfred Hazelwood for the series in the Bolton Museum. From private collections, supplementing the series in my own col- lection, | am indebted to Mons. Noél Mayaud and to Dr. Jeffery Harrison. I would also like to add my appreciations to the following for helpful *Foot Note: According to some authorities this form is regarded as a variant of P. p. griseiventris (Keisuke Kobayashi, in /itt, 12. I. 57). Vol. 78 28 1958 comments and specific information, firstly to Mr. Keisuke Kobayashi, for examining series of eastern Pyrrhula on my account, then to Dr. P. Voipio, of the Department of Zoology, University of Helsinki, to Professor K. H. Voous of the Zoological Museum, Amsterdam, to Mr. H. E. Axell of the Dungeness Bird Observatory, to Mr. Robert Spencer for searching the ringing recoveries for me and to Mrs. Jeffery Harrison for help with the figures in the text of this communication. References :— 1 Hartert, E. 1910, 1921 — 22. Die. Vég. der paldark. Fauna 4 Matthews, G. and Iredale, T., 1917, Austral, Avian Record, Ul, 122. * Stresemann, E. 1919. Uber die europaischen Gimpel. Beitr. der palaark. Region. Orn. Ges. Bayern. * Niethammer, G., et alia, 1937. Handb. der Deutsch. Vogelk. - 5 Mayaud, N., Heim de Balsac H. and Jouard, H. 1936. Inventaire des Oiseaux de rance. 6 Hartert, E., and Steinbacher, F. 1932 — 38. Die Vég. der paldark. Fauna. 7 Mayaud, N., 1939. Liste des Oiseaux de France. Bs oe. P. A., 1947. ‘*A New Race of Bullfinch from Scotland.’’ Bull. B.O.C., ei ean P. A., 1948. ‘On the Validtiy of Pyrrhula p. wardlawi Clancey, ibid. 68, 10 Clancey, P. A., 1948. ** Notes on the Birds of the Western Palaearctic Region.’ Ibis. 90,132 — 134. 11 Meinertzhagen, R., 1947 — 48. ‘‘Some Notes and Comments on Sixteen British Species’’. Bull. B.O.C., 68, 1. 18 — 33. 2 Voous, K. A., 1949. ‘‘ Distributional History of the Eurasian Bullfinches.’’ The Condor. 51, 2, 52 — 81. 13 Voous, K. A., 1951. “‘A New Race of Bullfinch from the Iberian Peninsula. ’’ Limosa. 24, 3 -4, 131 — 138. 14 Schnarke, H., and Wolf, A. 1938. Beitr. zur Kenntn. der Vog. Bulgarisch-Mazedon Journ. f. Orn. 86, 309 — 327. 16 von Jordans, A. 1910. Ein Beitr. zur Kenntn. der Vogelw. Bulgariens. Mitt. K6én. Naturwiss. Inst. Sofia. 13. 49 — 152. 16 Harrison, James M., 1954. ‘Remarks on the Taxonomy of the Yellow Bunting, ’’ Emberiza citrinella Linnaeus Bull. B.O.C., 74, 105 — 112. 1” Maerz, A., and Paul, R. M., 1950. A Dictionary of Color. 18 Harrison, James M. 1953. The Birds of Kent. 19 Harrison, James M., 1957. ‘*‘ Variant Patterning in the Robin and Bullfinch.’’ Bull.:B.O.C.,°T7,; 113, 114. Intestinal Obstruction in a Herring Gull caused by Parasites by Dr. E. J. L. SOULSBY AND DR. JEFFERY G. HARRISON Received 29th October, 1957 On 19th June, 1957, a recently dead Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, was found on the fresh marsh on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Wasting was not evident but on post mortem the bird was found to have died from an in- testinal obstruction. There was a fusiform distention in the upper part of the large intestine, the swelling being some 24 inches long and one inch in diameter. The gut wall was mottled and bluish-white in colour and pos- terior to the obstruction the gut was collapsed. On opening the swollen portion, the lumen was found to be completely occluded by a vast number of trematodes (flukes), as can be seen in the accompanying plate. The trematodes were identified as Cotylurus platycephalus (Creplin, 1825), Szidat, 1928. This trematode is found in a wide variety of gulls and also in the Kittiwake, Shag and Cormorant in Europe. Its sites within the host are the Bursa of Fabricius, cloaca, rectum and large intestine. 1958 29 Vol. 78 The life cycle of this trematode is not yet fully known, but in all pro- bability entails snails as the primary intermediate hosts and such fish as the bream, perch and minnow as secondary intermediate hosts, such as occur in the life cycle of other members of this genus. C. platycephalus has previously been recorded as causing the death of Razorbills in Great Britain (Lowe and Baylis 1934), death in this case being due to a haemorrhagic enteritis. R. H. Poulding has studied the causes of death in 97 diseased gulls, but he has found no such case as this, and states that massive infections by worms are, in his experience, com- Large Intestine of Herring Gull obstructed by a vast number of the trematode worm Cotylurus platycephalus. The gut has been opened over the site of the obstruction. paratively uncommon in gulls, and he has never seen such a case of acute obstruction as is recorded here. However, Jennings and Soulsby (1958) have found that Black-headed Gull chicks may acquire exceptionally heavy burdens of trematodes and . that these may be responsible for ill health and death. It is probable that the Herring gull in question was unfortunate enough to eat one or several fish carrying large numbers of metacercariae of C. platycephalus and thereby acquired enough trematodes to cause occlusion of the large intestine. References :- Jennings, A. R. and Soulsby, E. J. L. ({958) Ibis (In Press) Lowe, P. R. and Bayliss, H. A. (1934) Brit. Birds 28; 188. Poulding, R. H. (1957) Bull, Brit, Ornith, Club (Vol. 77 pp. 144-9), Vol. 78 30. 1958 Cyanomitra batesi in Northern Rhodesia by Mr. JOHN G. WILLIAMS Received 14th July, 1957 Through the courtesy of Major I. R. Grimwood, Assistant Director of the Department of Game and Tsetse Control, Northern Rhodesia and of Mr. C. W. Benson of the same Department I have had the opportunity of examining a sunbird obtained by Major Grimwood’s native collector Enoch Moonga, on the Sakeji River, northern Mwinilunga District, North- ern Rhodesia: collector’s number IRG 1066. The specimen was collected on 19th December, 1956 in the canopy of the forest along the river. The specimen is an adult — on measurements a male — of Cyanomitra batesi (Ogilvie-Grant). Dr. J. P. Chapin has also examined the specimen and confirms my identification. Major Grimwood’s specimen represents a considerable south-easterly extension of the species’ range, although Dr. J. P. Chapin (Birds of the Belgian Congo, vol. 4) records a specimen from Kinda in the Lower Katanga, Belgian Congo. sees Bills of (from left to right) Anthreptes tephrolaema, Cyanomitra batesi and Anthreptes seimundi minor: natural size. A few remarks on the distinguishing characters of Cyanomitra batesi may be of value to ornithologists in Africa. The species may be confused with Anthreptes seimundi minor Bates and with female Anthreptes tephro- laema (Jardine & Fraser). The latter may be recognised by its stumpy, less curved bill (see fig 1) and blackish rectrices which lack green tips. Anth- reptes seimundi minor has a bill very similar to that of Cyanomitra batesi but has the tail entirely green. Cyanomitra batesi may be recognised by its blackish rectrices with broad olive-green tips to at least the four outer pairs. Cyanomitra batesi and Anthreptes seimundi minor have the extreme base of the lower mandible dull yellowish-horn: Anthreptes tephrolaema 1958 31 Vol. 78 female has a completely black bill, However, it is doubtful whether these three sunbirds can be distinguished in the field except under the most favourable conditions. The specimen of Cyanomitra batesi collected by Major Grimwood has been presented to the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo. Geographical Variation in the Knysna Woodpecker Campthera notata (Lichtenstein) by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 24th July, 1957 The Knysna Woodpecker Campethera notata (Lichtenstein), 1823: Terra Caffrorum, /.e., eastern Cape Province, South Africa, a close ally of the wide-ranging Golden-tailed Woodpecker Campethera abingoni (Smith) of the Ethiopian Region, is confined to the southern and eastern Cape Province, eastwards through Pondoland and East Griqualand to parts of western Natal. It is an inhabitant of both coastal and interior climax forest, as well as dry, and often xerophilous, scrub-forest in the interior, having been taken as far north as Colesberg by Arnot (vide Sclater, Birds of South Africa, vol. 11, 1903, p. 129, but the species is seldom mentioned in the literature, and at no time has it been suggested that it is subject to geographical variation. The possibility of the existence of de- monstrable subspecific variation was, however, brought to my notice when a pair collected at Committees Drift, in the Albany district of the eastern Cape Province, on 7th October, 1956, was compared with a long series in similar plumage obtained in the coastal Pondoland forests by the staff of the Durban Museum in August, 1954, and found to differ in many significant respects. Through the kindness of the Directors of the South African Museum, Cape Town (through Dr. J. M. Winterbottom), the East London Museum, and the Kaffrarian Museum, King William’s Town, I have been able to assemble and study a good material of this woodpecker, and have confirmed my earlier impressions, concluding that C. notata is certainly divisible into two quite well-marked subspecies. The opportunity was also taken to study the relationship of C. notata to C. abingoni. Levaillant, Histoire Naturelle des. Oiseaux d’ Afrique, vol. vi, 1808, pp. 19-21, records having found Le Pic tigré in the Knysna Forest, i.e. forésts d’Anteniquoi, and in the country lying between the valley of the Gamtoos River and Caffraria, but the species was not formally described to science until 1823, when H. Lichtenstein described is as Picus notatus in Verzeichniss der Doubletten des Zoologischen Museums ... Berlin, 1823, p. 11, the type-locality: Terra Caffrorum. Of the topotypical populations [ have a series of 15 specimens before me, the majority of which has been collected during the past four years (Committees Drift, 6 ; Pirie Forest, King William’s Town district, 2; Peddie, 1; East London district, 5; Patensie, near Port Elizabeth, |). On the basis of eleven specimens in the above series collected since 1953, it can be stated that there is little indivi- dual variation in the topotypical populations. There is slight variation in the size of the breast spots and in the mantle colouration, some specimens being particularly greyish, others more greenish, but the series taken as a whole is reasonably uniform. Vol. 78 32 1958 A series of 16 skins of this woodpecker from the coastal forests of Pondoland exhibits interesting and significant differences when compared with the topotypical material. Viewed in series, Pondoland birds are extremely uniform on the upper-parts, being a darker and more golden mossy-green on the mantles than topotypes, and less conspicuously spotted on the upper back and banded with whitish on the rump, upper tail-coverts and tertials. Examined laterally, they display less spotting on the wing- coverts, but they differ most on the under-parts, being much more densely spotted on the lower throat and breast, the spots grouped and overlapped to form an incipient gorget. The intensification of the ventral spotting also extends over the abdomen and flanks, and the ground colour tends to be greener and less yellowish. This variation follows Gloger’s Rule, and reflects the actual difference in the biotopes of the two groups of populations, the Pondoland birds, with much melanin in their plumage, being strictly resident in a heavily forested region with high rainfall and considerable humidity (rainfall at Port St. Johns, Pondoland, c.54.5 inches per annum), whereas those of the topotypical populations, with reduced melanin, inhabit as a whole more open, drier and rather less humid ‘areas (rainfall over the entire Albany district ranges from 10 — 30 inches per annum). The question of classification is not simply resolved by the recognition of two races. Two specimens from the Knysna Forest collected by J. van O. Marais in 1898/1899, and now in the collection of the South African Museum, are like the Pondoland birds in being heavily spotted below. On the upper-parts one of the Knysna specimens, dated 4th June, 1898, also resembles those from Pondoland, but the other specimen, dated 3rd June, 1899, is exactly like topotypical examples in being paler, rather greyer and more cryptically marked with white. It is difficult to visualize the precise situation obtaining in the populations of C. notata found in the Knysna Forest on the basis of two skins collected nearly sixty years ago. The limited data suggest that at some former date the heavily spotted forest form, as understood from the series from Pondoland before me, enjoyed a fairly continous distribution in the then almost continuous forest ranging from Natal and Pondoland to Knysna and beyond. Subsequent changes in the climate resulting in the reduction and continuity of high forest, culminated in the disruption of the range of the forest form and favoured the spread of the pale populations. With the investment of the Knysna populations by pale birds, and the formation of an austral enclave, the ultimate elimination of the characters of the forest form by genetic swam- ping by the more numerous surrounding populations was only a question of time. Such a process of racial extinction is suggested by the two Knysna specimens before me. The stability of the Pondoland populations lends support to such a theory, their range being in contact with the pale birds only on its western periphery, so that gene-flow is on a limited scale. An intermediate population seems to occur in the Manubie Forest, near the mouth of the Great Kei River and at the southern extremity of the coastal forests which range to the south of the main Pondoland block, because two specimens from that forest in the collection of the East London Museum combine the characters of both forms. I believe that we should recognise by name the two following ecological groups of populations of the Knysna Woodpecker: a dark, heavily spotted form confined to the high forests of Pondoland, East Griqualand and 1958 33 Vol. 78 adjacent part of Natal, with an enclave of apparently unstable populations in the forests at Knysna; and a lighter and less heavily spotted one, con- ditioned to live in drier and often more open woodland, which ranges throughout most of the southern and eastern Cape. For the first form a name will be required, and Campethera notata relicta mihi, subsp.nov., is introduced below accordingly. The second form is, of course, the nomino typical one. 1 2 (Photo: A. L. Bevis) Campethera notata (Lichtenstein) 1. Campethera notata notata (Lichtenstein) 2. Campethera notata relicta Clancey (Type on right) Note the more densely spotted under-surface and incipient gorget in C. n. relicta. Roberts, in the Annals of the Transvaal Museum, vol.viu, 4, 1922, p.222, placed the Knysna Woodpecker in a monotypic genus, Notopicus Roberts, — which is ‘“characterized by its entirely different style of colouration (italics mine), and has the tail longer in proportion to the wing than in the preceding C. a. smithii (Malherbe), C. a. abingoni, C. b. bennetti (Smith) and C. b. capricorni Strickland), the wing itself more rounded in shape.’’ Our knowledge of the ranges of the races of C. abingoni and C. notata suggests that the two forms may actually be conspecific, and a careful study of assembled material of all the South African races of C. abingoni lends much support to this belief. When compared with C. a. abingoni of Natal and Zululand, both races of C. notata differ in being more uni- formly greenish on the upper-parts, less spotted with buffy white, and the tertials are not so strongly barred (even in C. n. nctata). On the under- parts C. notata is spotted and not streaked, the tail is slightly longer and softer, and the shafts of the rectrices are usually brown and not golden Vol. 78 34 1958 yellow. In parts of western Natal the ranges of C. n. relicta and C. a. abingoni are contiguous and mutually exclusive, and the two forms behave as good species. However, a study of the infraspecific variation of C. abingoni in South Africa shows that certain races have the under-parts largely spotted and almost unstreaked (C. a. smithii (Malherbe), 1845: South Africa; C. a. annectens (Neumann), 1908: Sambo, Benguela, Angola). C. a. annectens shows a marked tendency for the throat and breast spots to coalesce to form a gorget patch, much as in C. n. relicta, a developmental trend which reaches its apogee in C. n. anderssoni (Roberts), 1936: Windhoek, South-West Africa. This latter race ranges south to about the Orange River, and occurs in juxtaposition to the north- eastern populations of the spotted C. n. notata, which has been recorded as far north as Colesberg. The reduction of the dorsal markings and tertial barring in C. n. notata, when compared with C. a. anderssoni, is really only one of subspecific import, because the majority of the more salient markings present in that race of the Golden tailed Woodpecker are likewise visible in C. n. notata, even though they be largely vestigial or evanescent. Another point of note is that some examples of C. notata subsp., have the shafts of the rectrices golden, as in C. abingoni subsp.., not brownish, and the only morphological character which one can reliably employ to maintain the specific distinctness of C. notata is the slightly longer and rather softer tail. Even this character may be simply an adaptation to an existence on trees with smoother barks than the acacias and other coarse-barked species, so favoured by the races of C. abingoni. Two courses appear to be open to us in connection with the classification to be adopted — (a) to place C. notata and C. abingoni in a super-species (C. notata), or (b) to treat the races of the two forms of woodpeckers as belonging to a single polytypic species. While it is almost certain that the latter arrangement is the correct one, it would seem de- sirable to await the production of proof of the intergradation of C. a. anderssoni and C. n. notata before taking such a step. In the meantime, the Knysna and Golden-tailed Woodpeckers should be treated as component species of the C. notata super-species. As recorded above, it is convenient to recognise two races of the Knysna Woodpecker, and the nomenclature, characters and ranges of these are as follows: 1. Campethera notata notata (Lichtenstein) Picus notatus H. Lichtenstein, Verzeichniss der Doubletten des Zoo- logischen Museums . . . Berlin, 1823, p. 11: Terra Caffrorum, j.e., eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Adult male: Top of head and nape dark olivaceous grey, the feathers fringed, especially posteriorly, with lustrous scarlet ; mantle dull golden green, with variable admixture of pure grey, and barred with broken, vestigial bars of dull white, or simply dotted with white and golden yellow; rump and upper tail-coverts similar, but more strongly barred with whitish on a paler ground ; tertials olivaceous with clearly visible, though vesti- gial, bars of white. On under-parts creamy white, washed with yellowish over the lower breast and abdomen, and the whole surface heavily spotted with black, the spots of the lower throat and breast being massed together, round and often heart-shaped. 1958 35 Vol. 78 Female adult: Similar to the adult male, but with the top of the head olivaceous brown dotted with white, and the red restricted to form an occipital crest. Bill consistently shorter. Measurements: Wing (flattened) 8 gg 105 — 114 (108.9), 9 99 102 — 108.5 (106.0), culmen gg 25.5 — 28 (26.8), 92 23 — 25 (24.6), tarsus gg 19 — 22.5 Cie 22? 20.5 — 23 (21.2), tail gs 71.5 — 76.5-(73.3),. 92 68.5 — 74°¢71.7) mm. Type: In the Zoological Museum, Berlin. Range: Wooded country of the southern and eastern Cape Province, east to the Great Kei River and north to about Colesberg. Intergrades to the east of its stated range with the following subspecies. Replaced in the Knysna Forest by unstable populations of C. n. relicta (see discussion above). 2. Campethera notzta relicta, subsp.nov. Type: 3g adult. Embotyi, Lusisiki district, Pondoland, eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Sea level. 10th August, 1954. Durban Museum Expedition. In the collection of the Durban Museum. Diagnosis: Similar to C. n. notata but darker and more golden mossy- green on the mantle, the grey wash lacking, and with the markings sup- pressed ; Rump and upper tail-coverts with less conspicuous barring. Wings darker, the spotting or the coverts reduced, often absent, and the bars on the secondaries, particularly the tertials, usually merely indicated. On under-parts darker and more densely spotted throughout in series, the lower throat and breast spots larger and more concentrated and over- lapped to form an incipient gorget. Averaging smaller in size. Measurements: Wing 10 3¢ 103-107 (105.1), 6 92 102 —- 107 (104.2) culmen g¢ 26 —- 28 (27.1), 92 24—- 25.5. (24.7), tarsus gg 21 — 23 (21.7), 2° 20 — 21 (20.3), tail gg 68.5 — 72 (70.1), 29 69 — 72 (70.4) mm. Range: The high forests of the eastern Cape Province lying to the east of the Great Kei River, in the Transkei, Pondoland and East Griqualand, in the adjacent parts of western Natal, and with an isolated, unstable group of populations in the Knysna Forest in the southern Cape. Paratypical material: The Type and twelve paratypes (all in the Durban Museum). Other material: 3 topotypes in the South African Museum. Measurements of the Type: Wing 105.5, culmen 26, tarsus 23, tail 70 mm. Note: Five females of C. n. relicta differ from those of C. n. notata in - having the head-top almost devoid of spotting, but a sixth example does not vary in this respect. The two females of the Knysna populations dis- cussed above have the head-tops completely spotted. Their wings measure 100 and 104 mm. The South African Races of the Bearded Woodpecker Thripias namaquus (Lichtenstein) by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 24th July, 1957 The large Bearded Woodpecker Thripias namaquus (Lichtenstein) of the Ethiopian Region ranges in some four or five geographical races from French Equatorial Africa, the Sudan, Abyssinia and the Somalilands, south to Angola and South-West Africa in the west, and Natal and the Vol. 78 36 1958 (Photo: A. L. Bevis) Races of the Bearded Woodpecker, Thripias namaquus (Lichtenstein) 1. Th. n. coalescens Clancey 3. Th. n. namaquus (Lichtenstein) 2. Th. n. decipiens (Sharpe) ‘ 4. Th. n. schoénsis (Riippell) The marked difference in the colouration of the under-parts between 7h. n. coalescens and Th. n. namaquus, and the intermediate condition of that of Th. n. decipiens should be observed. The striking similarity between TA, n, coalescens and Th, n, schoénsis is most noteworthy. 1958 oi Vol. 78 eastern Cape Province in the south-east: Peter, Check List of the Birds of the World, vol. vi, 1948, p. 222, and Chapin, Birds of the Belgian Congo, part ii, 1939, pp. 595-597, have both summarized our present state of know- ledge concerning the species’ geographical variation, recognising four races: Th. n. saturatus Berlioz, 1934: Bozum, Ubangi-Shari, French Equatorial Africa; Th. n. schoénsis (Ruppell), 1842: Shoa, central Abys- sinia ; Th. n. decipiens (Sharpe), 1884: Shimba Hills, near Mombasa, coastal Kenya Colony ; and 7h. n. namaquus (Lichtenstein), 1793: Damara- land, South-West Africa. In an earlier note the races of this woodpecker were reviewed by Moreau, Bull. B.O.C., vol. lvii, 1, 1936, pp. 10-11, who placed Th. n. decipiens as a synonym of Th. n. namaquus, a view adopted by Mackworth-Praed and Grant, Birds of Eastern and North Eastern Africa, vol. i, 1952, pp. 767. Four other races have been proposed by specialists from East Africa and Angola, but none of these is currently acknowledged. Within the confines of the South African sub-continent only the nominate race is at present believed to occur, but a recent study of material in the collections of South African museums shows that three subspecific groups should be accepted in our systematic arrangement of the southern populations, one subspecies of which is described below as new. For the loan of material I am grateful to the Directors of the South African Museum, Cape Town (through Dr. J. M. Winterbottom), the East London Museum, the Kaffrarian Museum, King William’s Town, and the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria. I am also indebted to Herr W. Hoesch, of Okahandja, for the collecting of a small series of Damaraland Th. n. namaquus, and to my colleague, Mr. J. G. Williams, Ornithologist — of the Coryndon Museum, Nairobi, for kindly presenting carefully pre- pared material of Th. n. schoénsis. Picus Namaquus A. A. H. Lichtenstein, Cat. rer. nat. rar., Hamburg, 1793, p. 17, was stated by its describer to come from the interior of South Africa, South Africa to Namaqualand. In most standard works the type- locality is simply given as the ‘‘Interior of South Africa’’, but of recent years this has become restricted to Damaraland, South-West Africa, presumably on the basis of what appears to be the first definitely locality within the established range of the species in sub-continental South Africa to be given in the literature (excluding that of Levaillant: see below) subsequent to the publication of the description, i.e. the reference of Strick-. land and Sclater ‘‘List of a Collection of Birds procured by C. J. Ander- sson in the Damara Country, with notes,’’ in Jardine’s Contributions to Ornithology, 1852, p. 155. The accuracy of this restriction may be questioned, because in his important recently published account of the travels of Keyaillant; Captain C. H. B. Grant, Ostrich, vol. xxvii, 2, 1957, p. 95, points out that Lichtenstein’s Cat. rer. nat. rar., is in actual fact a catalogue of the Holthuyzen mammal and bird collections, which were offered for sale at Einbeck’s Sale Rooms, in Hamburg, on 21st October, 1793. Some of the birds collected by Levaillant during his South African expedition had been acquired by Holthuyzen, in 1784, and were disposed of by sale with the rest of his (Holthuyzen’s) collections in 1793. Among the speci- mens sold was the 7Type-material of Picus Namaquus Lichtenstein, now unfortunately lost. Levaillant, Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux d’ Afrique, vol. vi, 1808, pp. 22-24, records having collected this woodpecker (Le Pic “Vol, 78 38 1958 a-double moustache) in Caffraria, i.e., the eastern Cape Province, in the latter part of 1782 (Grant, Joc. cit., p. 84) and makes no mention of having either shot or observed it during his later travels to Namaqualand. While it is now established that Levaillant did travel in Great Namaqualand, it is certain that he did not reach Damaraland. As 7h. namaquus occurs sparingly in Great Namaqualand, there is nothing inherently unlikely in Namaqualand (as understood by Lichtenstein) being the correct pro- venience of at least some of the paratypes of Picus Namaquus. Much of the work of Levaillant is unreliable and often quite inaccurate, especially that produced many years after his return from South Africa, the sale of his collections, and his harrowing incarceration during the Reign of Terror, and he may well have collected material of the Bearded Wood- pecker in Great Namaqualand, overlooking the fact when he compiled vol. vi of his Oiseaux d’ Afrique. It is extremely unlikely that any material of-this woodpecker available to European workers in 1793 could have come from Damaraland, which was then largely terra incognita, and on the basis of our knowledge of the travels of Levaillant, the original col- lector, and the data given by Lichtenstein, the describer, the type-locality of Th. n. namaquus should be Great Namaqualand, South-West Africa, and not Damaraland. I do not think that we can legitimately assume at this date that Lichtenstein did not have Namaqualand material, or, in- deed, that any of the specimens available to him were necessarily those collected in the eastern Cape Province (Caffraria) by Levaillant. Birds of the topotypical (Great Namaqualand) populations of 7h. n. namaquus have the under-parts dull greyish green, coarsely and freely banded with vermicular bars of dull white, and the black auricular patches do not extend beyond the ear-coverts on to the sides of the neck. Com- parable populations range throughout Damaraland, the northern parts of South-West Africa, and southern Angola eastwards through the northern Cape Province and the Bechuanaland Protectorate to parts of western Northern. Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and the western Transvaal. Northern Angola and southern Belgian Congo birds have been placed with this race by Chapin and Peters in their respective works. Demonstrably different populations are to be found in the eastern low- lands of Portuguese East Africa, the eastern Transvaal, Swaziland and Zululand, the birds of which differ little in size but significantly so in series on ventral colour-characters from those of the interior and . arid west of the sub-continent. In the reduced clarity and marked coalescing of the pectoral bars, and greyer, less greenish-tinged, ground colouration to the less coarsely barred under-parts, such populations adumbrate the major racial characters of 7h. n. saturatus, Th. n. schoénsis and Th. n. coalescens (see below), in which the breast is largely unbarred, and of an olivaceous brown colour, flecked with dull white and some black. However, in the restricted nature of the black auriculars, the populations of the south-east African lowlands agree with topotypical nominate 7h. namaquus. The question of the nomenclature to be used for this form is difficult to resoive. It belongs to a complex of eastern African populations exhibiting characters varyingly intermediate _between the nominate race and those occurring in north-eastern and south- ern Africa in which the breast is dark, spotted and almost unbarred. The northern populations of this assemblage have been named 7h. n. decipiens, 1958 3g Vol. 78 the range of which is given by Peters, Joc. cit., as ‘‘south-western Uganda and Kenya Colony from the Tana River and Nairobi, south to the north shore of Lake Edward and central Tanganyika Territory,’’ but the south- em ones are generally placed with Th. n. namaquus. The validity of Th. n. decipiens itself has been questioned, and Moreau, in 1936, relegated it to | the synonymy of 7h. n. namaquus, an opinion adopted by some later workers, but not by Peters and Chapin. I find that the nominate race of this woodpecker, as understood on the basis of the adequate recently taken South-West African material before me, does not range in to East Africa. Perhaps two racial groups of populations deserving of nomenclatural recognition inhabit eastern Africa from the region of south-western Uganda and southern Kenya Colony, south to southern Portuguese East Africa and Zululand, but | have insufficient material to attempt a worth- while appraisal and delimitation of these at the present time. Until this can be done I prefer to leave the whole complex of populations in a single, perhaps composite, race under the name 7h. n. decipiens. Also meriting further study is the race Th. n. schoénsis as understood by most modern workers. It is clearly an unsatisfactory composite race, because | find the populations of British Somaliland to differ strikingly from those of northern and north-western Kenya Colony in being more strongly banded with white on the mantle and tertials, and markedly less saturated throughout. Peters, /oc. cit., strangely enough, does not include the Somalilands as being within the range of this woodpecker, but the species is recorded from these territories by other workers. As noted earlier, Levaillant, in 1782, found the Beared Woodpecker not uncommon in the eastern Cape Province, which has not been the experience of more recent collectors and observers. In his valuable sum- mary of the known distribution of this species as at 1903, Sclater, Birds of South Africa, vol. 11, 1903, p. 139, gives but a single Cape Province locality, viz., near Port St. Johns, Pondoland. Since then little has been recorded of the species in the Cape Province, but during July, 1946, and April, 1957, Miss M. Courtenay-Latimer, Director of the East London Museum, and Mr. G. G. Smith, Chairman of the Museum Board, located several pairs of the Bearded Woodpecker in the valley of the Great Kei River, to the north-east of East London, where F. A. O. Pym had obtained it in August, 1910. A small series of four specimens (2 33, 2 92) was col- lected and has kindly been placed at my disposal for study. This material has been augmented by the loan of the Port St. Johns specimen — a 9 taken by the late Captain Guy C. Shortridge on 21st November, 1901 — from the collection of the South African Museum. [he five eastern Cape examples of the Bearded Woodpecker before me differ strikingly from topotypical Th. n. namaquus in being much darker below, the white of the centre of the throat being less extensive and dis- tinctly sullied by blackish tipping to the feathers and a brownish overall cast, while the black side streaks of the throat are correspondingly broader and extend further down on to the breast. The breast is almost unbarred and of a uniform dark olivaceous grey, flecked with dull whitish and black, and the rest of the under-parts is considerably darker than in Th. n. namaquus. There is little difference in the colouration of the upper- parts, except for a tendency for the females to have fewer white dots on the forehead, and forecrown, and for both sexes to be more spotted and less Vol. 78 40 1958 barred on the mantle. There is no difference in size. It differs in a closely similar manner from 7h. n. decipiens. This distinctive new race, which is described below as Thripias namaquus coalescens mihi, subsp. nov., ranges from about the valley of the Great Fish River eastwards to Pondo- land and East Griqualand, and, perhaps, Natal. It appears to be a race of forested country with a comparatively high annual rainfall, whereas Th. n. namaquus and Th. n. decipiens are forms of the dry thornveld savan- nas in regions where the annual rainfall is considerably less. The eastern Cape race, 7h. n. coalescens, bears a remarkably close re- semblance to the geographically distant Th. n. schoénsis, which is com- pletely isolated from it by intervening populations of Th. n. namaquus and Th. n. decipiens. Th. n. coalescens differs only from Kenya Colony and Abyssinia 7h. n. schoénsis in having the black auricular patches restricted to the ear-coverts and not extending down the sides of the neck, and in being rather less saturated on the upper-parts, wings and tails, but in the @ ABA"S Was J T°. A iS AMAIA AWTS SESLTW ASB’ ee Ss \\\ —, LJ —S a LAST LONDON SS & PORT ELIZABETH Map showing the approximate ranges of the three South African races of the Bearded Woodpecker Thripias namaquus (Lichtenstein). 1. Th. n. namaquus (Lichtenstein) 2. Th. n. decipiens (Sharpe) 3. Th. n. coalescens Clancey colouration of the under-parts the two races are inseparable. I have recently recorded further instances in African birds where the terminal forms at either end of race-chains are closely similar in their major morphological racial characteristics, notably in the barbet species Buccanodon whytii (Sharpe) (vide Durban Museum Novitates’’, vol. iv, 15, 1956, pp. 245 — 251) and in the Orange Thrush Turdus gurneyi Hartlaub (vide Bull. B.O.C. vol. Ixxv, 6, 1955, pp, 70 — 78). The phenomenon, which | believe results simply from convergent evolution in most instances, is 1958 4] Vol. 78 also known to occur in still further polytypic species with extended race- chains in eastern and southern Africa. Three racial groups of populations of the Bearded Woodpecker can be recognised as occurring within the confines of the South African sub- continent, two of which represent well-defined races with distinctive characters. The third group is of uncertain status, though clearly closely affiliated to similar populations that occur in southern Kenya Colony, Tanganyika Territory and neighbouring territories, which exhibit ‘‘inter- mediate’’ characters between the pale, bar-breasted nominate race of the South-West Arid biome, and the dark, almost uniform, breasted races of the regions to the north of the Congo forests, north-eastern Africa, and the eastern Cape Province and Natal in South Africa. The name 7h. n. decipiens, which is applied to the populations of southern Kenya Colony, Tanganyika Territory and adjacent regions, by most workers, is here used for a whole complex of ‘‘intermediate’’ eastern African populations of this woodpecker pending a critical revision. The nomenclature, characters and ranges of the three South African races of 7h. namaquus are as follows : 1. Thripias namaquus namaquus (Lichtenstein). Picus Namaquus A. A. H. Lichtenstein, Cat. rer. nat. rar., Hamburg, 1793, p. 17: Interior of South Africa. Type-locality here restricted to Great Namaqualand, South-West Africa. Adult male: Forehead and crown sooty brown speckled with dull brownish white; occipital crest lustrous scarlet, nape black ; rest of upper- parts umber brown with golden wash and transverse, undulating bars of yellowish white ; ear-coverts black, sides of neck white ; on under-parts, centre of throat white with slight greenish wash ; lower throat, breast and rest of under-parts pale greyish green with coarse transverse vermicular bars of dull greenish white. _ Female: Similar to the male but the upper surface of the head wholly glossy black, the forehead and crown dotted and streaked with white. Wing-measurements: ¢¢ 133 — 136, 99 127.5 — 136 mm. Type: None designated. Paratypical material now not in existence. _ Range: South-West Africa (in Great Namaqualand scarce) and south- ern Angola eastwards through the northern Cape Province and the Bech- uanaland Protectorate to parts of western Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and western and northern Transvaal. Intergrades with the next | race to the east and north-east of its stated range. Northern Angola and southern Belgian Congo birds are placed in this race by Chapin and Peters, but I have not attempted to verify this point. Note: This race is characterized by the fact that the vermicular bars on the lower throat and breast are free and not coalescent. 2. Thripias namaquus decipiens (Sharpe) Mesopicus decipiens Sharpe, Journal of the Linnaean Society of London, Zoology, vol, xvii, 1884, p. 430: Zanzibar — error, the Type being from the Shimba Hills, near Mombasa, coastal Kenya Colony. Similar to the nominate race but rather darker, greyer, and with little or no greenish wash on the under-parts, and with a certain amount of fuliginous clouding on the breast. The ventral barring as a whole is finer than in Th. n. namaquus, imparting a somewhat darker and duller aspect to the under-parts. In the birds of the northern populations the blackish Vol. 78 42 1958 auriculars often extend slightly beyond the ear-coverts (the influence of Th. n. schoénsis), but in the southern ones there is no such extension. Wing-measurements: gg 126 — 137, 92 128 — 138 mm. Type: In the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) London. Range: From the region of Lake Edward, Belgian Congo, and south- western Uganda, southern Kenya Colony and Tanganyika Territory, south | through Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and northern Portuguese East Africa to southern Portuguese East Africa, the eastern Transvaal ‘‘low- veld’’, Swaziland and Zululand. Note: This race is characterized .by the variable fuliginous clouding on the breast and the rather darker and greyer, less greenish washed, under- parts, when compared with Th. n. namaquus. As noted in the preliminary discussion, this complex of populations may ultimately require to be broken up into two or more races. 3. Thripias namaquus coalescens, subsp.nov. Type: 2, adult. Kei Bridge, on the Great Kei River, eastern Cape Pro- vince, 28th July, 1956. Collected by G. G. Smith. In the collection of the East London Museum. Museum Reg. No. 3377. Diagnosis: A dark race closely resembling Th. n. schoénsis (Ruppell) of Abyssinia, northern Kenya Colony and adjacent regions, from which it differs in being rather less saturated on the upper-parts, wings and tail, and in having the black auricular patches restricted to the ear-coverts. In Th. n. schoénsis the white of the post-ocular and malar streaks does not link up on the sides of the neck, being broken by the extended black auriculars. Differs from 7h. n. decipiens, as above defined, in having the black streaks to the sides of the throat broader and extending further downwards on to the sides of the breast ; white on centre of throat duller, restricted and distinctly washed with brownish and fiecked with black ; breast almost unbarred and of a uniform dark olivaceous grey, irregularly marked with spots of dull white as well as some markings of blackish. Rest of under-parts darker and rather greener than in 7h. n. decipiens. On upper-parts closely similar, but slightly darker and more inclined to be spotted than barred on the mantle. The female of Th. n. coalescens tends to have fewer white spots on the head top than either 7h. n. decipiens or Th. n. namaquus. When compared with Th. n. namaquus, the differences are even more striking. Wing-measurements: gg 129.5, 135, 92 128.5- 131.5 mm. Range: The eastern districts of the Cape Province from about the valley of the Great Fish River eastwards to Pondoland, East Griqualand and, perhaps, Natal. Paratypical material: The Type and four paratypes. Measurements of the Type: Wing (flattened) 128.5, culmen from skull 33.5, tarsus 20.5, tail 63 mm. Note. This race differs from the other South African forms in the more dusky, less whitish throat, broader and more extensive black streaks to the sides of the throat, and dark, almost uniform, olivaceous grey breast, dotted with dull white and some black. The two paratypical males of 7h. n. coalescens have rather smaller scar- let occipital crests than either Th. n. decipiens or Th. n. namaquus, but it is not clear if this has resulted from undue constriction of the skin or loss of some of the feathers during preparation, or is an additional valid racial 1958 43 Vol. 78 criterion. However, the feathers in question appear to be naturally shorter in length, and the latter suggestion seems to me the more likely explanation. A Generalised Infection due to an Acid-Fast Bacillus in the Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo buteo a aetbia at by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON Received 31st October, 1957 In May, 1957 I received from Professor K. H. Voous the extremely wasted cadaver of a female Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo buteo. (Lin- naeus) which had been found in a weak and moribund condition in the Naadermeer Nature Reserve on 14th May, 1957. The bird which could obviously not have recovered was destroyed and the skin preserved for the Zoological Museum, Amsterdam. The body was sent to me preserved: in 10% formosaline, for histopathological examination. On dissection the viscera of the abdominal cavity were seen to be heavily infiltrated with greyish white nodules varying from minute dots to lesions of almost a centimeter in diameter. Both lungs were extensively studded with the same type of lesion, while the following organs .were macroscopically unaffected ; ovaries, adrenals, kidneys, heart, nor was there any involvement of the osseo-ligamentous structures. The accompanying table sets out the distribution of the nodules. In this * represents from one to a few discreet lesions, and **** a condition in which the normal tissue of the eee involved was largely replaced by deposits. -————— From this table it can be seen that this Proventriculus - infection, which morphologically is iden- ae a tical with avian tuberculosis, has_ its Grezara - heaviest infiltrations in the abdominal —__—_—_____-____|__——_| organs and lungs. Histologically the Small intestine = picture presented by all the affected tissues as ——|—_—-——}_ is that of avian tuberculosis, the lesions Large intestine showing typical giant-cell systems with aa caseation and, where advanced, wide- Liver erat spread necrosis. The histological material ee ——| was stained by the haematoxylin and eosin Lungs cane and Ziehl-Neelsen techniques. In the latter —_——_______|______| tthe demonstrable lesions showed large © Spleen ARPES numbers of acid-fast bacilli, which mor- —-——_——|___——_! phologically resemble Mycobacterium tuberculosis avium. Unfortunately as no unfixed material was available cultural investi- gations were not possible. The distribution of the lesions clearly demonstrates the path of entry of the infection as being primarily via the gastro-intestinal tract, and second- arily a spread via the portal lymphatic and venous systems. The evidence of a blood-borne infection is provided by the massive involvement of the lungs in this case. My thanks are due to Professor K. H. Voous for sending me the speci- men and to Dr. Keith Randall, Consulting Pathologist, for permitting one of his Technicians, Miss Ann Fraser, to whom my thanks are also due to prepare the sections for me. Volt 7840" ge, 44 1958 ie tee ms ° er | AS nee * Tornado Effect on Birds 2D estee ts X ~ J FER IO by Dr. Fritz O. ROSSMANN UPro Poe <4 VR At ¥\\ » Received 10th October, 1957 a In the older tornado literature some unique observations on birds are reported. It would be interesting to meteorologists, if bird experts could contribute more recent, perhaps more detailed information. The following few reports are taken from first hand descriptions of tornadoes: ‘*Several of the fowls were picked almost clean of their feathers, as if it had been done carefully by hand.’”? ‘*In other cases, however, forces seem to have acted with great vio- lence upon individual parts of bodies. Numerous instances occurred, where hens were completely stripped of their feathers.’ ’? ‘*The stripping of fowls attracted much attention in this and other tornadoes. ’”? ‘*Stripping feathers from fowls. The most singular fact is, that the fowl lives under the depluming process. In some cases roosters have been seen walking around, days after the tornado, crowing, and without a feather on their backs.’”4 The explanation given by H. A. Hazen seems to be the only one: ‘‘The appearance can be readily accounted for the supposition, that an electric charge threw off the feathers, and this seems the only way of explaining the stripping of clothes from a person.’’° It is, however, hardly adequate. For the high voltages which would have to develop together with strong mechanical effects would certainly kill small animals. On the other hand, it is strange that we read only of walking birds, that have undergone such loss of feathers. Why should not flying birds and even fur bearing animals equally lose partly or completely their fur ? It could be that feathers offer a larger surface to the attack of the air, but it is more probable that atmospheric pressure differences join in play and therefore should be considered first of all. For, as a tornado moves up against an obstacle in its path, it produces a low pressure field around the object. The air pressure in the quills 1s assumed to remain constant, while the pressure around the animal suddenly drops by about 20 to 50 mb, resulting of necessity in an expansion of the quills. As the air stream of the tornado varies, the little pressure system set up around the location of the quills will loosen the feathers from the skin so that they are sheared off by the streaming and drag on the webs of the feathers. This is due to Bernoulli’s principle, which, of course, is also responsible to the collapse of houses in the track of a tornado. | Have similar observations been made in modern time ? Are they limited to domestic birds, which cannot escape ; or have wild birds been found with their feathers sheared off ? 1 E. Loomis, Stow/Ohio Tornado, 20th Oct. 1837, American Journal of Science 33, 368 1837. 2D. Olmstead, New Haven Tornado, 31st July, 1839. American Journal of Science 37, 340 1839. 8 E. Loomis, Mayfield/Ohio Tornado, 4th February, 1842. American Journal of Science 43, 278 1842. “ H. A. Hazen, The Tornado New York 1890, p.24 Be vil.e. p.. 24, i ny sll Hated 3 se di’ the he a taste boos ‘tt hi it al, o a , r we tey Pie Wohi aa yu haa it i ay ih rit ANY is ys halen ae) By ‘hat Oiiseny : eis arty are ay en sasha 2 Sey aie on is as i apes that | ie HAG PCT Vai OOM ad EME De} Lie BORN, | Notices BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN’’ Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each. Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available. Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘ Bulletin’’ which they no longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., as above. 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Stace oom BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON Volume 78 MARCH No. 3 1958 hae Bh A Nal Me mie 1h Wy hia: r er eb , MM at std i oe Ly b eine PAM NG RAL SAR “Ti ei) a aM AUS PAN FT) hs HME AN fe ey Hy eel ae AG Bh Bie AOE a al LE ei) We 1958 “2s wh Vol. 78 PURCHASED BULLETIN — 4 fan 1958 OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Volume 78 Number 3 Published: Ist March, 1958 The five hundred and sixty-third meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7. on Tuesday, 18th February, 1958, following a dinner at 6.30 p.m. Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED Members present, 29; Guests, 7; Guest of the Club, Mr. Robert Spencer; Total, 37. Bird Ringing Mr. Robert Spencer, the Bird Ringing Secretary of the British Trust for Ornithology gave a most interesting talk illustrated with slides. A full ~ account will appear in a subsequent Bulletin. Pan African Ornithological Congress A SYMPOSIUM HELD BY THE CLUB ON 17TH DECEMBER, 1957 _ After dinner many of the members of the Club who had attended the Pan African Ornithological Congress in Livingstone in July, gave some |} account of their activities in Africa. The Chairman emphasised that the | Congress itself was a great landmark for all those interested in African | birds and he paid tribute to the organisers, in particular Mrs. Mackie | Niven, who had all along had faith in the ultimate success of this new , venture. Miss P. Barclay-Smith spoke first of meeting of the International ' Committee of Bird Preservation, which took place in Bulawayo before the Livingstone Congress. Representatives of ten nations attended the meeting and had valuable discussions on African problems of preservation with | particular reference to the White Stork, Secretary Bird and the locust-like } activities of the Queleas. She also paid tribute to the excellent organisation in Bulawayo by Mr. Reay Smithers and Miss Mary Patterson of the | National Museum of Southern Rhodesia. Vol. 78 46 1958 Mrs. B. P. Hall gave a short account, and some slides, of an expedition in the south-western Kalahari which she had undertaken with Mr. Smithers. The object of this expedition had been to collect and study the birds in the areas round Tsabong, Tsane, Lehututu, Kukong and Kakia where little or no ornithological work had been done previously. Mr. Edwin Cohen followed with a description of the excursion to the Wankie Game Reserve, which was illustrated in turn by Mr. H. H. Davis with colour slides of both Wankie and of the Zambesi valley round Victoria Falls. These slides showed admirably the types of habitat found, and included some shots of guinea fowl and other birds typical of the Reserve. Mr. R. E. Moreau showed some different habitat types with slides of the Luangwa valley. He commented in particular on the poverty of passer- ines in the dry season in the mopane woodland, and also on the fact that, in groves of evergreen forest along the valley some species such as Paradise Fly-catchers, normally local migrants, appear to be resident. Slides in- cluded some of typical water-birds and a colony of Wood Ibis ; he finished with views of Nyasaland emphasing the isolation and consequent zoo- geographical interest of such areas as the Zomba plateau. The final speakers were Miss C. M. Acland and Miss V. Maxse who gave an account and short film of the post-congress excursion to the Loch- invar Ranch and the new Kafue National Park. The film gave some excellent views of the vast marsh of the Kafue flood plains with the herds of Red Lechwe and a profusion of water birds. A New Honey-guide from the Kivu District, Belgian Congo by Dr. JAMES P. CHAPIN Received 21st November, 1957 It was long believed that the smallest species of the genus /ndicator was T.exilis (Cassin), of which the nominate race has wings only 65-79 mm. long, the tail 39-51 mm., and the culmen from base 8-10 mm. Within the past year we have been surprised to find that together with Indicator exilis in the highlands west of Lake Kivu there dwells another species of the genus, still smaller, differing in coloration, and with the beak markedly smaller. This dwarf honey-guide appears never to have been described, and for it I propose the name Indicator pumilio, new species Description: Rather similar to J.e.exilis in general coloration and similarly streaked on back, rump, and wing-coverts with fuscous and sulphine yellow, the remiges mostly with outer edgings of sulphine yellow. The inner edgings of the remiges are similarly light gray, but slightly more tinged with yellow ; the tail pattern virtually as in exi/is. Adults of pumilio have the same white line running from the anterior lores to the vicinity of the nostrils, but do not show any blackish malar stripe such as is present in adults of both sexes of exilis. Sides of the head are greenish gray, and the crown more washed with green than in exi/is, with half-hidden dusky striping. The chin of pumilio is yellowish white, washed or spotted with greenish gray; its underparts are somewhat deeper in colour than those of exilis, more washed with green on a gray ground, the breast and flanks showing 1958 47 Vol. 78 diffuse dusky striping which is no more than suggested in some specimens of exilis. Lower belly yellowish white, and under tail-coverts gray with edgings of whitish. Tibial feathering with stripes of fuscous or blackish, — edges yellowish white. The average dimensions of /.pumilio are smaller than those of /.exilis exilis. Five adult males of pumilio have wings 71-76 mm., tails 45-50 mm., culmen to base 8.5—9 mm. Six adult females have wings 64-67 mm., tails 41-44 mm., culmen to base 7.3—8 mm. These figures may not seem to differ markedly from the ngatisions of l.exilis exilis ; but males of that species from the southwest side of Lake Kivu have wings 76-85 mm., tail 46.5-60 mm., culmen to base 9.2-10.5 mm. Females from the same area have wings 68-76 mm., tail 42-45.5 mm., culmen 9-10 mm. Such a population may be referable to the race T.exilis pachyrhynchus. The difference in weights is much more diagnostic. Seven examples of pumilio from southwest of Lake Kivu weighed from 12 to 15 grams, whereas fifteen of exi/is from the same vicinity weighed 14.5 to 22 grams. In each group males were usually the heavier, but the weight of individuals varies considerably with the amount of beeswax contained in the stomach. Whether viewed from above or from the side, the beaks of pumilio are always distinctly smaller than those of exilis. Type: American Museum of Natural History, No. 648641, from Tshibati, altitude 6400 ft., lat. 2° 14’ S., long. 28° 47’ E., on the southwest side of Lake Kivu, Belgian Congo. Adult male, collected 11th May, 1957, by James P. and Ruth T. Chapin. Tshibati is a zoological station of the Institut pour la Recherche Scientifique en Afrique Centrale, situated above the central headquarters at Lwiro. Range of Indicator pumilio: from the mountains just west of Lake Kivu southward at least to the highland of Itombwe, northwest of Lake Tanganyika, where on 30th June, 1908, Rudolf Grauer collected an adult male for the Rothschild Museum, and where Dr. Alexandre Prigogine has recently secured three more examples. Two of these Dr. Prigogine kindly lent us for comparison. Grauer’s specimen was misidentified as /. exilis, and doubtless regarded as a young individual, although its tail pattern is that of an adult. It is now in the American Museum of Natural History. At Tshibati we have collected juveniles of both pumilio and exilis, easily recognized by their more pointed outer rectrices with more v-shaped blackish tips. Those of pumilio differ by their more greenish underparts and brighter yellow edgings on upper side, also by their smaller dimensions, particularly those of the beak. The very small beak of Indicator pumilio caused me to think at first that it might be conspecific with J.meliphilus (Oberholser), another rather small species, with wings 70-82 mm., tail 41-52 mm., culmen to base 7-9.2 mm. For the most part /. meliphilus inhabits less rainy regions than I.exilis. But the difference in coloration is so great, meliphilus being far lighter gray below, less streaked above, that I have been persuaded to name the new Kivu bird binominally. I still feel that its small beak may well indicate relationship with meliphilus. The latter is not a mere race of /. exilis. The ranges of exilis and meliphilus certainly overlap in the Mwini- lunga District of Northern Rhodesia, and probably also in fanigola, the _ Upper Katanga, and western Keyna Colony. Vol. 78 48 1958 Near Tshibati in the Kivu the species pumilio and exilis differ little if at all in behaviour. Both came to the very same pieces of empty waxcomb that we laid out to attract them, often near native beehives, within a hundred yards of our house. Both seemed equally silent at such times. We found it difficult to distinguish them in life with a field glass, for the young of exilis also lack the dusky malar stripe. I wish here to express my gratitude to Dr. Alexandre Prigogine, Dr. Herbert Friedmann, Mr. R. E. Moreau, Mr. R. H. N. Smithers, Dr. Dean Amadon, and Dr. H. Schouteden for their help and advice and for the loan of certain specimens needed for comparison. Further Population Studies of the Yellow Wagtail by Dr. ANDREW KEVE Received 15th October, 1956, but held over until normal communication was restored with Hungary Recently many studies have been made on the populations of the Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava Linnaeus, by Harrison (1945), Johansen (1946 & 1952), Drost (1948), Mayaud (1949 & 1953), Smith (1950), Grant & Mackworth-Praed (1952), Gladkow (1954), Williamson (1955), Sch- wartz (1956), Sammalisto (1956), etc. These studies have gradually dis- closed the evolutionary problems connected with this species and provide one of the best examples of the complicated problems of a species-group which has been over-split and in which there are many intermediate forms. I have investigated the Central European and Balkan populations of the Yellow Wagtail several times (1935, °36, 738, ’39) and note that my results agree with those of others. My research, undertaken with E. Gres- chik, is based upon 728 specimens. The population of the Carpathian Basin is of special interest to us, where the breeding race is M. f. flava Linnaeus. But the individual varia- tion is wide and we were able to divide our 116 males into three groups. The first has very light ear-coverts, which are typical of the Hungarian population (31.1%). This group also have bills which become more slender from nostril to tip. This light phase, which is perhaps a steppe character, does not appear subspecific, because we have found comparable specimens from Scandinavia, Germany and Austria. Amongst these skins were some identified as M. f. beema, but we were fortunately able to show that they were pale variants of M. f. flava, in some cases with abnormal moult of the tail or with a tail shortened by faulty technique in preparing the specimen. The main bulk of the Hungarian population does not differ from Scandinavian material (44.8%). The minority (18.1%) have dark ear-coverts and are like M. f. dombrowskii. Fourteen specimens — supple- mentary to the main material — were identified as M. f. flava 2 dombrowskii. These were collected in Transylvania, Banat, Batshka and in the vicinity of the Danube, not far north from 46°21’. There were 21 skins of M. f. dombrowskii Tschusi from Hungary, a fact which proves that this race is regular on migration — probably Polish birds, but I did not see any Polish material. I even have speci- mens collected south of Banat in May and June. These are either late migrants or infiltrating breeders from the Roumanian plain, following the course of the Danube (vide Schwarz, The Relation of the Yellow Wagtail 1958 49 Vol. 78 Populations of the Camargue and Switzerland). I regard this race as very poorly differentiated and variable, making it difficult to recognise. How- ever, on 54 skins I consider its description to be correct. British ornitholo- gists would probably consider this race as part of a cline. It has colonised the territory of the black headed fe/deggi group in the Delta of the Danube, as is substantiated by two specimens in the collection of Madarasz (1909), which are M. f. dombrowskii.z feldeggi. By contrast, there is no intergrad- ation with the Mediterranean grey-headed wagtails, because the black- headed M. f. feldeggi is interposed. M. f. cinereocapilla does not occur in the eastern part of the Balkans. Morphologically, M. f. dombrowskii and cinereocapilla are very close, therefore it is difficult to determine the origin of the former. Did the Mediterranean races at one time have contingent breeding terrain, which the black-headed group later penetrated from the south-east, partly though not successfully evolving a new race or was it the other way round ? On the other hand, it may be an instance of parallel evolution in the Mediterranean forms. Unfortunately I have not seen Ivanow’s work (1935), so J do not now know whether he had actual M. f. dombrowskii z2 feldeggi, but the two specimens collected by Madarasz prove that they occur in the Danube Delta (Keve, 1936). M. f. dombrowskii is nearest to M. f. flava, as is demonstrated by the Hungarian material. Gladkow expressed no opinion on this point, but by his distribution map we can see that he considered it as a synonym of M. f. flava. I have recorded that M. f. cinereocapilla Savi breeds on the coast of the Adriatic, basing my opinion on the old literature and on two females collected by Madarasz near Fiume during the breeding season. Mastrovic’s opinion (1942) is that breeding was never proved north of central Dalmatia. This race also breeds in Albania, and Reiser (1933) considers that the birds mentioned by Ticehurst and Whistler (1932) are not M. f. feldeggi, but cinereocapilla. Gengler’s skin from Macedonia is not cinereocapilla, but an aberrant M. f. feldeggi (Keve 1936). The western limits of its breeding terrain were fixed by Mayaud (1953). Motacilla flava thunbergi: The twenty skins prove that this form is a regular migrant through Hungary in April and May, and possibly also in Thrace, where Dr. J. M. Harrison shot an example in May, 1935 and in Bulgaria, where one was shot in 1936. The race can be difficult to distin- guish from the Mediterranean forms, but its small bill is a good differen- tiating character. Regarding Sammalisto’s study (1956), I can confirm his results with 5 males and 5 females and also 6 typical M. f. flava from southern Estonia collected by Harms. These demonstrate the great varia- bility of the Yellow Wagtail in the Baltic. I mention these skins under this race, but would note that they are somewhat brighter, their white super- ciliary stripe is well-developed and the shape of the bill is close to that of M. f. dombrowskii. The question is where do these two races meet ? According to Domaniewski (1925), the northern limit of the breeding area of M. f. dombrowskii is Warsaw ; according to Kumari (1954), M. f. thunbergi is a rare breeding bird in Estonia and M. f. flava breeds on the shores of the Baltic. It is quite possible therefore, that in the Baltic and north Poland there is a population which is an intergradation of the three forms M. f. flava, thunbergi and dombrowskii, and as this population mi- grates through Hungary, specimens occur which present great difficulties in identification. Vol. 78 50 1958 Motacilla flava feldeggi: this race occurs only in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin, at Banat and south Batshka as far as the Francis- Channel. The 33 skins taken between April and July suggest that occasional pairs breed there, but Gengler, Matvejew and Makatsch all agree that the northern limit of its usual breeding area is south Serbia, approximately as far as the town of Nish in the Morava valley. Recently occasional spring visitors have been observed further north — perhaps connected with the general extension of range of birds from the Morava valley. Thus it was seen near Szeged (1955), at the Tisza river, near Budapest and near the Danube (1953) and in the Kisbalaton (south Pannony, 1953, Warga). According to Mastrovic (1942), breeding has not yet been proved in Dal- matia, but it is a regular visitor there, as in Italy. My material consisted of 16 skins from Italy and 13 from Dalmatia and Corfu. Arrigoni (1904) regards the Black-headed Yellow Wagtail as only a casual visitor to Italy. The following forms should be eliminated from the Hungarian Check- List:— Motacilla flava beema Sykes (= the light phase of M. f. flava, which also show some abnormal tail moult); Motacilla flava lutea Gmelin (= winter plumage of M. f. dombrowskii); Motacilla flava taivana Swinhoe (= abnormally moulting M. f. flava). Such mistakes are occasioned by the abrasion of the greenish tips of the feathers of the crown, which is not always uniform. Between the greyish poppy-blue feathers are often some greenish ones, as well as some yellowish ones in the white eye-stripe. These feathers are longer and stronger and are not equally abraided. It is these birds which give rise to the ‘‘taivana’”’ types in our populations and corresponding with this, there is the ‘‘xan- thophris’’ type in the black-headed populations. In this connection, the private correspondence of Almasy and L. Lorenz-Liburnau for the year 1896 (Keve, 1939) is very interesting. Almasy made an exhaustive study of the Hungarian Yellow Wagtails (1899). There he has remarked on the resemblance of some skins to the asiatic subspecies, but would not agree to identify them as such. This is quite evident from the correspondence. The plumage of juveniles and winter specimens indicate that some of the most primitive characters are shown by M. f. taivna. The ‘‘Motacilla praeflava’’ might have been like this. The Yellow Wagtails, segregated during the different glaciations of the Quarternary Period, became differ- entiated morphologically at a later time, the increasing temperature of post-glacial times favouring the extension of breeding range. The older groups have remained in their refuges, but the more recent mutations from **Motacilla praeflava’’ have colonised new breeding areas. The biological potentialities of the different races of Yellow Wagtail are therefore not equal. However they have not completely lost their ‘sexual compatibility’’. This is proved by the intermediate nature of the specimen of M. f. dom- browskii 2 feldeggi from the Danube Delta. On the other hand, see the examples of Grote (1937) and Drost’s study (1948) concerning M. f. flava and flavissima i.e. M. f. lutea. Are some of the races of today mutations ? I doubt it. | have based my opinion on the studies and verbatim reports of Jourdain, who showed clearly that the delayed migration of Yellow Wagtails is responsbile for many mistakes. Migration in large flocks and common wintering grounds favours possible intergradation. The mixed flocks go far northwards, In the Kisbalaton (south-west corner of Lake Balaton) on April 13th, 1951 I 1958 5] | Vol. 78 observed a flock, consisting of 15 —- 18 males, in which many races were represented, but unfortunately I was unable to collect specimens. Now that we know more concerning the direction of migration of the Yellow Wag- tail from ringing recoveries (Mayaud, Moreau, Spencer, Tait, L. Thom- son, etc.), their taxonomic problems are going to be revealed in a different light. In Hungary, we have even had two recoveries from Italy. In this respect, I find myself in full agreement with the views of Williamson (1955). I am very obliged to Dr. James M. Harrison for his kind help in the correction of my manuscript. References :— Dementiew, G. P. & Gladkow, N. A., Ptici Sovetskogo Sojuza. V. Moscow, 1954, p. 803. Drost, R., Populationsstudien an der Englischen Schafstelze, Motacilla flava flavis- sima Blyth, auf Helgoland. Vogelwarte, XV, 1948, pp. 18-28. Harrison, Jeffery G. Some Remarks on the Problem of Sykes’ Wagtail in the British Isles The Ibis, Vol. 87, 1945, pp. 69-72. Johansen, H. Notes on Systematics and Distribution of the Yellow Wagtails, Motacilla flava Linnaeus. Dansk. Orn. For. Tidskr., XL, 1946, pp. 121 — 42. Johansen, H. Die Vogelfauna Westsibiriens. J.£.0., XCU, 1944, pp. 145 — 204. Keve (Kleiner), A. Die Rassen der Schafstelzen in Ungarn. Edit. Hung. Inst. Orn., Budapest, 1935, pp. 34. . Keve (Kleiner), A. Mitteilungen uber die Schafstelzen (Motacilla Aves) Bulgariens und seiner angrenzenden Gebeite. Mitteil. Natw. Inst. Sofia, LX, 1936, pp. 69 — 80. Keve (Kleiner) A. Ist Motacilla flava lutea Gm. eine Mutation ? Anz. Orn. Ges. Bay. II], 1938, pp. 3 —5. Keve (Kleiner), A. Les races de la Bergeronette, Motacilla flava L. au bassin des Car- pathes, Festschr. E. Strand, V., Riga, 1939, pp. 365 — 384. Kumari, E., Eesti NSV Linnud, Tallinn, 1954, p. 414. Mastrovic, A., Die Végel des Kiistenlandes Kroatiens. 1 Zagreb, 1941 2, p. 192. Mayaud, N. Motacilla flava L. en France, ses Races, leurs Distribution Geographiques et leurs Migrations Alauda, XX, 1952. pp. | — 20. Musilek, J., Horice etc. Bemerkenswerte Exemplare oler Schaftselzen, Motacilla flava L. Sylvia, 1., 1936, pp. 33 — 35. Sammalisto, L. Secondary intergradation of the Blue-headed and Grey-headed Wag- tails, Motacilla flava flava L. and Motacilla f.thunbergi Billb. in south Finland. Orn. Fennica, XXXII, 1956, pp. 1 — 17. Schwartz, M. Uber die Variationsbreite der Camargue-Schafstelzen, Motacilla flava und die Schafstelzen-Einwanderung in die Schweiz. Orn. Beob., LUI, 1956, pp. 61 — 72. Williamson, K., Migrational Drift and the Yellow Wagtail Complex Brit. Birds, XLVIILI, 1955, pp. 382 — 403. Two New Races of Birds from the Maldive Archipelago by Mr. W. W. A. PHILLIPS AND Mr. R. W. SIMs Received 7th January, 1957 During the period December, 1956, to February, 1957, one of us (W.W.A.P.) visited islands in the Maldive archipelago. A small collection of 128 bird skins was made and observations on many species were recorded (Phillips and Sims, in press). The collection was presented to the British Museum (Natural History) and during the course of determination it became evident that the Maldivian populations of the Little Heron, Butorides striatus, and the Waterhen, Amaurornis phoenicurus, represented new races. Individuals of both these populations are characterised by having considerably more white in their plumage than birds of other populations of the same species. Fortunately several specimens of both were collected and the characters are found to be fairly constant. It is Vol. 78 52 1958 probable that the increase in white may be correlated with habitat for in the Maldives both species are found on the exposed coral reefs and beaches with their dazzling-white sands. Elsewhere, they are usually to be seen either near mangroves and estuaries or in swamps and along rivers where it is muddy. In both cases birds with prominent white markings would be conspicuous on the mud so on the white coral sands the whiter plumage with its obliterative effect may be of selective value. I The Little Heron is of interest because the race javanicus Horsfield is remarkably constant in character in Ceylon and over a wide area of Asia yet geographical isolation has resulted in differentiation in the Chagos archi- pelago (albolimbatus Reichenow), in the southern Maldives (albidulus Bang) and in the northern Maldives which we now name: Butorides striatus didii new race Description: Nearest to albidulus Bangs but differs in having the forehead mainly white and the crown heavily streaked with white ; the neck and back are paler being a clearer silvery-grey where albidulus is pale buffy. All the wing feathers are edged with white instead of buff. The rectrices are also paler being mainly white with irregular dark patches. The under- parts are correspondingly paler being a clearer silvery-grey. Type: Adult male. Male Island, North Male Atoll, Maldive archipelago. 4th December, 1956. W. W. A. Phillips. Collector’s No. 2. B.M.Reg.No. 1957.16.17. Remarks: There are two adult and three immature males and four adult females in addition to the type. Six of the specimens were collected on the same island as the type, the others being taken on neighbouring islands on the same atoll. In series the amount of white is somewhat variable, one adult female (B.M.Reg.No.1957.16.24) has an almost white crown with only a few black streaks and one adult male (B.M.Reg.No.1957.16.26) has many white secondaries with only slight dark markings ; most have totally white tails. The immature birds are separable from a series of immature birds of javanicus from Ceylon by being generally paler and with clearly streaked crowns. Range: Northern atolls of the Maldive archipelago. (Replaced by B.s.albidulus Bangs on the southern atolls). Breeding: The Little Heron nests during November, December and January in small bushy trees growing near the beaches and swamps. The nest is concealed by foliage being built on a lateral branch about 8 to 12 feet from the ground. It is a simple unlined platform roughly constructed of small sticks and twigs. There are two eggs in the clutch. One clutch was examined ; the eggs were a pale green with a chalky wash and measured 39 x 29 and 40 x 29 mm. respectively. General: Whatever the time of day the Little Heron is a feature of the beaches that surround Male and other islands. On the ebb tide many are usually seen sitting on knobs of coral and darting from time to time at small fish, eels and crabs nearby. As the tide rises they fly inland to the tops of palm trees or stand on the sea walls and exposed coral outcrops apparently asleep. In the fishery-harbour of Male, however, many resort to the fishing boats lying at anchor. They pass from boat to boat searching ; ; | : : 1958 33 Vol. 78 for small fish and unused bait and have become quite tame. When flying between islands they generally fly low over the water with rapid wing- beats. The call is a loud, short “yelp.” The Maldivian name for the bird is ‘Rabonde’. Acknowledgements: This race has been named after the Hon. Ibrahim Ali Didi, the Prime Minister of the Maldives, whose personal help made the expedition possible. We wish to express our gratitude to Mr. J. C. Greenway, Museum of Comparative Zoology, who generously sent us the unique type of albidulus Bangs. Finally, our thanks are due to Dr. D. Amadon, American Museum of Natural History, who kindly checked two of our series with material from the Chagos. II The Waterhen appears to be represented by a distinct race in each major island group, thus the separation of the population of the /nsulae maldivae appears to agree with the general pattern of differentiation due to isolation observed throughout the species. The Maldivian bird we name: Amaurornis phoenicurus maldivus new race Description: Nearest to the nominate race but differs in the white of the forehead extending further over the crown and the back being less olivaceous and more slaty in tone ; on the sides of the breast and belly the black areas are reduced in size ; the flanks are paler being less rufous and more cinnamoneus in colour. Type: Adult male. Hulule Island, North Male Atoll, Maldive archipelago 22nd December, 1956. W. W. A. Philips. Collector’s No. 56. B.M.Reg.No. Be 746-31, Remarks: There are three adult and one immature males and two adult and two immature females in addition to the type. Only four specimens were collected on the same island as the type but all were taken on the same atoll. In series the amount of white is variable ; one adult female (B.M. Reg.No.1957.16.34) apart from a trace of black on the nape has a white head and neck while one adult male (B.M.Reg.No.1957.16.30) has white secondaries and secondary wing-coverts. The black area of the sides of the breast and belly varies in width or is absent. The immature birds differ from those of phoenicurus Pennent by the more slaty colour of — the back and the paler flanks. Range: Maldive archipelago. Resident in moderate numbers on most of the larger islands. | Breeding: Gadow and Gardiner (1903. Faun. Geog. Maldive & Laccadive Arch., |: 370) recorded taking a young bird from a nest in July ; one three- quarters grown chick was seen by W.W.A.P. in mid-January, 1957. Local inhabitants report breeding from May to September. Nests are built among pandanus scrub and thickets in swampy and overgrown areas. General: \t is an elusive, skulking bird living in the undergrowth around swamps and thickets near the beaches. Usually to be seen feeding on the beaches at low tide. Many appear to have become largely terrestrial and live away from water. A very noisy bird, especially in the early mornings, evenings and preceding rainstorms when its distinctive cry ‘‘Crooruwaka, crooruwaka’’ rings through the undergrowth. The Maldivian name is ‘Cumbilli’, Vol. 78 54 1958 Some Additional Notes on the Buzzard, Buteo buteo trizonatus by Dr. GUSTAF RUDEBECK Received 30th October, 1957. Two species of the genus Buteo breed in South Africa, viz., the large and short-tailed ‘‘Jackal Buzzard’’, Buteo rufofuscus (Forster 1798) and the small so-called ‘‘Mountain Buzzard’’, which until recently has been assigned to Buteo oreophilus Hartert & Neumann 1914. The type of oreo- philus was collected in southern Abyssinia, and nowadays this form is known to be widely distributed in East Africa. However, a comparison between East African oreophilus and its South African counterpart revealed very considerable differences, and, hence, the latter form has been des- cribed under the name of trizonatus (Rudebeck 1957, with references). In recent years several authors have considered creophilus a race of Buteo buteo, and, for reasons given in the above-mentioned paper, it seems appropriate to treat trizonatus in a similar way. Another possible course would be to retain both of them as species and rank Buteo buteo as a super- species. In 1904 and 1905, C. H. B. Grant collected some small buzzards at Knysna and Plettenberg Bay in the Cape Province and close to Zuurbron in the Transvaal. These birds came to the British Museum, where Sclater (1912) identified them as ‘‘Buteo desertorum’’. In 1919, however, the same author was inclined to ascribe them to oreophilus, although he expressly remarked that they did not fit quite well with the description of this form. Buteo buteo trizonatus was described on a series from the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, and a few skins kept in other South African museums. By that time I had not yet seen the specimens collected by Captain Grant, but it was obvious from Sclater’s comments that most or all of them must belong to trizonatus (Rudebeck l.c., p. 431). In September, 1957, I had the opportunity to study the British Museum collections. Only five of the eight specimens mentioned by Sclater were found ; as expected, all of them are trizonatus. Besides, there were four other skins of the same form, two of them previously belonging to the Norwich Museum collection. In all, therefore, the British Museum has got nine specimens of trizonatus. Their particulars are given in the following table. Bare Locality, date Museum number : / Sex Wing Tail portion collector, &c. of fureane Norwich Castle Mus. 3} 1955.6.N-20-2175 Gurney coll. “mm “YS 26085 37 Sy Adi Dr. Sait: Norwich collection. | 1955.6.N-20-2197 Knysna 13.1.1866 2 ke hie | 40 C. J. Andersson 45.7.6.54 S. Afr. - ? 431. a Oe 43 Sir A. Smith. 94.6.16.276 Burg Mount, Gordge, 3 340 170 41(2) April 1878 1958 55 : Vol. 78 1905.12.29.110 Knysna 26.1.1905 SEs Oe ot eee, 1400 ft. Grant. 1905.12.29.111 Knysna 24.12.1904 2 360 187 damaged Grant. 1905.12.29.113 Plettenberg Bay, J 226. 1o3" 4 6.3.1905 Grant. 1905.12.29.114 | Zuurbron 1.5.1904 3 S20 tbat 3G Grant. 1905.12.29.115 | Zuurbron 13.5.1904 ? 346 (173) 44 Grant. Additions and remarks to the table: The sign * indicates that the figure is perceptibly affected by wear. Figures in brackets indicate that the plumage is in moult. The measurements of the bare portion of the tarsus are taken from the insertion of the lowermost feathers to the base of the middle toe ; it is often difficult to obtain exact figures in this case. The length of the bill from cere to tip varies between 19 and 23 mm. In olden days most of these specimens had been identified as ‘‘Buteo desertorum’’, but later they were placed under B. oreophilus, except for the birds ex the Norwich collection, which I found in a series of vu/pinus. All of them show the colour pattern typical of trizonatus, i.e. compara- tively pale brownish spots on upper breast and belly, but a broad zone on lower breast white and without spots or very nearly so, contrasting with the darker areas above and below. On the whole, the British Museum series consist of light-coloured birds with a very broad white zone. The specimens no. 45.7.6.54 and 1905.12.29.114 are extremely pale, even the lower belly being mainly whitish with a few small brown markings. There is always some, and usually much, chestnut on under wing-coverts, the last-men- tioned bird (no. 114) being the only exception. Likewise, they show more or less rufous or chestnut on rectrices. The female from Zuurbron (no. 115) has a predominantly rufous tail ; the opposite extreme being no. 2197, in which only faint traces of rufous brown are visible. Tibial feathers are rather dark brownish with spots and edges of richer brown or chestnut, but very pale birds may show much white and only traces of rufous brown on tibiae. — In short, the original description holds good for this series as well, even if the range of variation can be slightly extended ; and speci- mens with a large amount of white underneath may be commoner than indicated by the series in South African museums. Buteo buteo trizonatus was described on a series of 11 birds (3 males, 3 females, and 5 unsexed) from the Cape Province. Also available for study was one specimen without original label but said to be a female from Natal. -Disregarding that bird but including the series in the British Museum I have : , now seen 14 sexed specimens, 7 males and 7 females. Their measurements are as under (worn plumage marked *): Males: Wing 320, 326, 330, 337, 338, 340, 352. M, 335 mm. Tail 163*, 170, 174, 174, 174*, 185, 185*. M, 175 mm. Vol. 78 56 1958 Females: Wing 331, 341, 346, 349, 354, 360, 362. M, 349 mm. Tailel 76, 1774 1793881, 185,-187, 19 bi te? ae Hence the females average larger than the males. Of course, a few speci- mens may be wrongly sexed (largest male and smallest female ?). The specimen collected by C. J. Andersson, sexed as a female by the collector, also carries another label of later origin with the text, ‘‘pro- bably 3 though marked 2’’. This remark, easily understandable on the assumption that the bird belonged to ‘‘desertorum’’, has no foundations nowadays. It is my belief, therefore, that the orginal sexing was correct. Finally, it should be added that pale specimens of trizonatus may re- semble the Madagascar Buzzard Buteo brachypterus Hartlaub 1860 in colour on under-parts ; but brachypterus can always be recognized by its very small dimensions, and its range of variation in colour is quite different from that of trizonatus. The author is greatly indebted to Mr. Derek Goodwin and Mr. J. D. Macdonald for kind assistance at the British Museum of Natural History in London. References :— Rudebeck, G., 1957: Buteo buteo trizonatus, a new Buzzard from the Union of South Africa. South African Animal Life, vol. LV, p. 415 — 437. Sclater, W. L., 1912: ‘*On the Birds collected by Mr. Claude H. B. Grant &c.’’ Ibis, ser.. LX, vol..6, p. 12. Sclater, W. L., 1919: *‘A Note on the Buzzards of the Ethiopian Region.’’ Ibis, ser Ml, vol.t; p. 254 =-255. Polytypic Variation in the Sparrow Passer melanurus (Muller) by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 15th October, 1957 : The Cape Sparrow or Mossie Passer melanurus (Muller) is a handsome and common but somewhat unevenly distributed species of south-western Africa, ranging in the west from the Cape of Good Hope northwards to Benguela, Angola, and in the east to the border country of Southern Rhodesia and the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the northern Transvaal. Demonstrable geographical variation in the species has been on record for many years, and two races are currently recognised, these being P. m. melanurus (Miller), 1776: Cape of Good Hope, and P. m. damarensis Reichenow, 1902: Windhoek, South-West Africa (vide Sclater, Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, part ii, 1930, p. 722; Roberts, Birds of South Africa, 1940, p. 334; Vincent, Check List of the Birds of South Africa, 1952, p. 113). A recent study of most of the specimen material housed in South African collections has demonstrated the necessity for recognising a third race in our systematic arrangement of the species, and this is for- mally described below. For the loan of material I am grateful to the Direc- tors of the South African Museum, Cape Town (through Dr. J. M. Winter- bottom); East London Museum; Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg ; Transvaal Museum, Pretoria ; and the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo. 7 Polytypic variation in P. melanurus appears to be strictly orthodox, the largest and darkest coloured birds occurring in southern and south- eastern high rainfall areas, the smallest and palest in the western and central desert and peripheral arid regions. Birds agreeing nomenclaturally —— a —_—e 2 she it) — oe : | | 1958 57 Vol. 78 with the topotypical populations of P. m. melanurus range throughout _ most of the Cape Province to the south of the Orange River and into the southern Orange Free State. In this race, males in fresh plumage have the crown, cheeks, throat and breast sooty black, the nape and mantle centre dark olive-brown with an admixture of black, the scapulars lower back _ and rump hazel, and the sides of the body and flanks strongly washed with grey. Females are much less strikingly plumaged than the males, the head- _ top being about the Chaetura Drab of Ridgway (Color Standards and ~ Color Nomenclature, 1912, pl. xlvi), while the nape and mantle are similarly coloured but slightly paler, and the cheeks, throat centre and upper breast-band are dark greyish. In these populations the wings of males measure 73.5 — 82 mm., females 70 —- 80 mm. In the north-western Cape (from about Port Nolloth and Springbok eastwards to Kenhardt and Prieska (intergrades), South-West Africa, south-western Angola, northern Cape Province, Bechuanaland Protectorate, parts of the western Orange Free State and the western and northern Transvaal, occur fairly uniform populations of rather smaller and lighter coloured birds, which have been given the name P. m. damarensis by Anton Reichenow. P. m. damarensis averages slightly smaller than P. m. melanurus (wings of males 74 — 79.5, and females 73-79 mm. in South-West African and Bechuanaland specimens), and males differ in having the nape and mantle centre lighter, the olive-brown without a black admixture, while the black surfaces are more brownish sooty, and the flanks are less strongly washed with grey. But the females show better subspecific differences than the males, being much lighter, less drab grey, on the head-top, nape and mantle centre than P. m. melanurus. The throat centre and breast-band are almost constantly more pallid, and the scapulars, lower back and rump are tawny and not hazel. In P. m. damarensis to a greater extent perhaps than in P. m. melanurus, the plumage of the upper-parts fades rapidly, and breeding birds have the scapulars, lower back and rump several degrees paler than freshly moulted examples. Towards the end of the breeding season, the surfaces concerned have often bleached to a sandy fawn. The exact zone of contact between the races P. m. melanurus and P. m. damarensis is not easily plotted, as material from many crucial areas is not available. However, during the recent Durban Museum expedition _ (August — September, 1957) to the northern Cape Province and central Orange River valley, sampling of several local populations of P. melanurus was carried out. A series of 13 3¢, 8 99 from Riverton, near Kimberley, is almost constantly of the race P. m. damarensis, but in a series of 6 3d, 3 99 from the Asbestos Mountains (Griquatown — Niekerkshoop road) the influence of the austral P. m. melanurus is clearly demonstrated in one -or two specimens. At Prieska, on the central Orange River, most of the specimens collected (8 33, 3 92) are best placed with P. m. melanurus, but the population is clearly an intergrading one.-A similar set of circumstances obtains at Van Wyks Vlei, some 90 miles to the south-west, from which locality I have a series of 6 $3, 2 99, but at Kenhardt (5 33, 5 99) the birds are again lighter coloured, and attributable to P. m. damarensis in most instances. The data available suggest that the zone of intergradation be- tween P. m. melanurus and P. m. damarensis is a comparatively narrow one. South-east of the ranges of P. m. melanurus and P. m. damarensis occur - populations of birds which differ significantly in size and colouration, Vol. 78 58 1958 The populations of the south-east African highland grassland biome, in Basutoland, eastern Orange Free State, Natal, western Swaziland and the southern Transvaal, have hitherto been associated with the nominate race, but I now find them to be sufficiently well differentiated as to be placed as a new subspecies. The eastern birds under consideration are large, the wings in males 80.5 — 86, females 77 — 82 mm. The males are more strik- ingly contrasted in colouration than in either P. m. melanurus or P. m. damarensis, with the melanic surfaces a more glossy jet, less sooty, black, and the rest of the under-parts purer white, the flanks only lightly washed with grey. The nape and mantle centre are a darker and purer grey, while the lesser wing-coverts, scapulars, lower back and rump are a darker and more saturated vinous chestnut. The females are also darker on the upper- parts than P. m. melanurus, but ventrally they differ but little. For this new race of Cape Sparrow the name P. m. vicinus mihi, subsp.nov., is intro- duced below. Three races of the sparrow Passer melanurus (Miller) can be conveniently recognised in our taxonomic arrangement of the species, and the nomen- clature, characters and ranges of these are as follows: {. Passer melanurus melanurus (Miller) Loxia melanura P. L.S. Miller, Des Ritter C. von Linné .. Natursystems Supplement, 1776, p. 153: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Province, South Africa. Male : Crown, cheeks, throat and breast-band sooty coal-black ; post- ocular stripes, sides of neck and remainder of under-parts dull white, the sides of the body and flanks washed with olivaceous grey. On upper-parts, nape and mantle centre olive-brown with strong admixture of black ; lesser wing-coverts, scapulars, lower back and rump hazel (about OOS-5- 10°). Wings blackish, with prominent whitish median bar, a less conspicuous bar on secondary coverts, and pale margins to the tertials. Female: Paler coloured than the male, and with the crown, cheeks, nape and mantle centre of a colour about Chaetura Drab, darkest on the crown. On the under-parts, the throat and breast-band are dark greyish, and the white of the post-ocular stripes, neck sides and the lower ventral surfaces is more washed with buff than in the male. Measurements: 20 33: wings (flattened) 73.5 — 82 (78.8), culmens (from base) 13 — 15.5 (14.6), tails 55 — 54 (59.1) mm. 15 99: wings 70 — 80 (75.1), culmens 13-16 (14.4), tails 52-60 (56.5) mm. Thirty-five specimens measured. Type: None in existence. Material: 78: South-western Cape Province (Cape Town, Dassen Island, Durbanville, Malmesbury, Stellenbosch, Hermanus, Bredasdorp, Touws River, Worcester), 21 ; central Cape districts (Graaff-Reinet, Van Wyks Vlei, Hanover, Prieska), 24 ; southern Cape (Oudtshoorn, Willowmore), 2; eastern Cape (Tarkastad, Cathcart, Committees Drift (Albany), Aliwal North, etc.), 29 ; Orange Free State (Glen, on Modder River), 2. Range: South-western and western Cape Province to the south of Little Namaqualand, eastwards through the arid central and southern districts to the eastern Cape and southern Orange Free State. In the Cape Province reaching as far north as Prieska and, perhaps, Hopetown on the Orange River. 1958 59 Vol. 78 Note: Some examples with rather long wings, /.e., in excess of 82 mm. in adults males, and of dark colouration, occur in the populations of the winter rainfall areas of the south-western Cape Province, but the majority is similar in these respects to the birds of the other populations of this race, and I do not feel that further subdivision of P. m. melanurus is warranted. 2. Passer melanurus damarensis Reichenow Passer arcuatus damarensis Reichenow, Ornithologische Monatsberichte, vol. x, 1902, p. 77: Windhoek, Damaraland, South-West Africa. Similar to the nominate race, but male with black surfaces more sooty, less coal-black ; nape and mantle centre paler olive-brown, which is without blackish admixture ; lesser wing-coverts, scapulars, lower back and rump slightly paler, and flanks only lightly washed with greyish. Female more sharply differentiated, having the crown, nape and mantle centre olivaceous wearing to light grey, not Chaetura Drab, and with the scapulars, lower back and rump tawny and not hazel. On the under-parts, the throat and breast-band paler, often quite creamy, and distinctly less dark grey. Averaging slightly smaller in size. Measurements: 20 33: wings (flattened) 74 — 79.5 (76.4), culmens 13.5 - _15 (14.2), tails 54 — 62 (57.5) mm. 14 99: wings 73 — 79 (75.7), culmens 13.5 — 15 (14.4), tails 53 — 59 (56.7) mm. Thirty-four specimens measured. Type: In the Zoological Museum, Berlin. Material: 69: South-West Africa (Seeheim, Helmeringhausen, Wind- hoek, Swakopmund). 10; Bechuanaland Protectorate (Tsane, Tsabong, Lehututu, Francistown, 55 miles W. of Kanye), 7 ; northern Cape Pro- vince, (Kuruman, Riverton, Kimberley, Griquatown-Niekerkshoop road), 32 ; north-western Cape Province (Bladgrond, Kenhardt), 11; western Transvaal (Bloemhof, Marico, near Pretoria), 9. Range: South-western Angola, South-West Africa and Little Nama- qualand eastwards to the Southern Rhodesia — Bechuanaland border country, the western and northern Transvaal, and some districts of the western Orange Free State. Intergrades with the former race to the south of its stated range, and with P. m. vicinus to the south-east. 3. Passer melanurus vicinus, subsp.nov. Type: 3, adult. Bethlehem, eastern Orange Free State, South Africa. Altitude 5500’ a.s.1. Collected by M. O. E. Baddeley, 28th July, 1955. In the collection of the Durban Museum. Diagnosis: Male similar to but more strikingly coloured than that of the nominate race, the crown, cheeks, throat and breast-band a more glossy jet, less coal, black, and under-parts purer white ; the sides of the body and flanks less washed with olivaceous grey ; and the lesser wing-coverts, scapulars, lower back and rump a darker and more saturated vinous red- brown (about 00S-5-7°). Ranging larger in size — wings of 3 80.5 — 86 mm. as against 73.5 — 82 mm. in P. m. melanurus. Females are also darker on the upper-parts, and larger in size, thus: wings 79 — 82 mm., as against 70 — 80 mm. in P. m. melanurus. Measurements: 16 33: wings 80.5 — 86 (83.2), culmens 14.5 — 16 (15.2), tails 61 — 65 (62.5) mm. 4 9°: wings 77 — 82 (79.7), culmens 14.5 — 15.5 (15.1), tails 59 — 63.5 (61.1) mm. Twenty specimens measured. Vol. 78 60 1958 Material: 26. Eastern Orange Free State (Bethlehem), 3 ; Basutoland (Mamathe’s, near Teyateyaneng), 4; southern Transvaal (Pretoria, Johannesburg, Henley-on-Klip, Kendal), 12; Natal (Bergville, near Pietermaritzburg), 7. Measurements of the Type: Wing 84.5, culmen 14.5, tail 61.5 mm. Range. The eastern half of the Orange Free State, the highveld districts of the southern Transvaal, western Swaziland, Basutoland, Natal (absent from the coastal districts), and East Griqualand, eastern Cape Province. ig | ; f / ar i | t | | | Li] 1 | Hl ! , OURSAN j ) 100 ©6200 300 400; | SS SS | a MILES | ay Q 7a | — 32° EAST LONDON | H 2 fa a 3 42° 12° CAPE TOWN $5 Y PORT ELIZABETH Passer melanurus (Miller) Sketch map showing the approximate ranges of the three races of the Cape Sparrow or Mossie. 1. Passer melanurus melanurus (Miller) oa 2. Passer melanurus damarensis Reichenow AGG ina 3. Passer melanurus vicinus Clancey a ae. aad 4 7 a ps a pur A Givithological Nomenclature and Nomenclatorial __,. a te Es : > FER v q At the time of his death Captain Claude Grant had just completed a comprehensive treatise on this subject on which he was a great authority. It will be published by some of his friends and notice of this is being given so that anyone who wishes may be enabled to subscribe towards it. — bape rte a a | i psa. | 4 da F raeeu ‘ent 46 min at af ‘alu a iy aT Nh aw 1 ed RS he v paaraiote 1 PRT tegt wes a1 Oe al AY sane 4 AGN Re ay oe Pb yea TY Lo may a a pee a. aft ie 6 ochrerrat) i Wee aie re ae ee aie? Madore) je 16 : ii ith As) i "i Ca a T ced ae 4 Aria R Ny: Went, TH i a) ch ait (. Mi ato reer REO aa. v gatktool) af SUD ty Vl bi PEL Me ce Ww tee end Py +] rin ; ; pit Si ( Mats if 4 in Bate oe ye ti rt wits Pn. f,2, Tas! POS, ge Yt at diy; AEH) hide hs i blvode ‘ he ih solid" ; ENED adhd 1a edn) a th paddel aif Wie g Meee A) ihe (i if aon ba Ga a EA Ami Le sich ae sen. 1 le, is ae Hien : cane RE. &) Hee, si i MtbsTiy ag tay at * et pe anor Nes ‘ey Bs neti ob Paeyriyy Ci. an eg hay ") i ius lt aR oa yi iNbedh Bia F Ms ? Wri Ore Ny ih yi eatin Al | aseiitdite sp i nh i r ‘oo, ha wi) Notices BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘“*BULLETIN’’ Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each. Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available. Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., as above. DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1958 24th March (jointly with B.O.U.), 15th April, 20th May, 16th September, 21st October, 18th November, 16th December. FREE COPIES Contributors who desire free copies of the Bulletin containing their notes should state so on their MS., otherwise these will not be ordered These will be supplied up to «4 maximum of fifty. PUBLICATION OF THE ‘°**BULLETIN”’ Members who make a contribution at a Meeting should hand the MS. to the Editor at that Meeting. It is essential that the MS. should. be correct and either typed or written very clearly with scientific and place names in block letters. The first mention of a scientific name should be spelt out in full, i.e., genus, specific name, racial name (if any), and author. Any further mention of the same name need only have the initial letter of the genus and no further mention of the author. If no MS. is handed to the Editor at the Meeting, a note will be inserted mentioning the contribution. BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS The Club will pay for a reasonable number of black and white blocks at the discretion of the Editor. If the contributor wishes to have the blocks to keep for his own use afterwards, the Club will not charge for them, as has been done in the past. Communications are not restricted to members of the British Ornithologists’ Club, and contributions on taxonomy and related sub- jects will be considered from all who care to send them io The Editor, Dr. J. G. Harrison, ‘‘Merriewood’’, St. Botolph’s Road. Sevenoaks, Kent. Communications relating to other matters should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, N. J. P. Wadley, Esq., 14 Elm Place, London, S.W.7. SUBSCRIPTION Twenty-one Shillings Annually. Two Shillings and Sixpence per copy. Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent. BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB PURL' 7 Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON Volume 78 APRIL No. 4 1958 ayaa "I “eretoQ long 1958 6] Vol. 78 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB ie f OPEN P URCHASEL Volume 78 PGi 1°... 1958 Number 4 Published: {st Aprii, 1958 The five hundred and sixty-fourth meeting of the Club was held jointly with the B.O.U. at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, on Monday, 24th March. Chairman: Dr. W. H. THORPE Bird Ringing by Mr. ROBERT SPENCER i Summary of a talk given to the Club in February, i958 The number of birds ringed under the national bird-ringing scheme is increasing rapidly and the annual total is now in the region of two hundred thousand. This has led to a corresponding increase in the rate at which recovery records are accumulating and for certain species we may now contemplate much more detailed and varied analyses than were possible before the war. | From the earliest days of the scheme the main emphasis has generally been on the study of migration and this, of course, remains a primary object of ringing. Experience has shown that the value of ringing in this respect varies considerably from species to species, depending on the percentage of birds recovered and whether the distribution of the re- coveries in space and time is representative. At least three factors influence the proportion of useful recoveries reported for each species: (i) Size. The recovery rate tends to be directly proportional to the size of the bird — and of the ring. (ii) Relationship to man. The recovery rate is higher for species which are of sporting or economic importance to man. Sometimes, as in the case of birds caught in fishing trawls, the relationship is entirely unintentional. Because of local practices the recovery rate may vary in different parts of the range of a species. (iii) Habitat. Species frequenting urban areas of human habitations tend to show a higher recovery rate than strictly rural species. The operation of all these factors may be seen in the fact that, with the exception of the Sulidae, Laridae and Hirundinidae. there is barely a handful of recoveries for the whole of Africa, where there is the additional complication of a largely illiterate population. In the study of migration, therefore ringing may be of very limited value in tracing the wintering or breeding area of individuals of many species, but invaluable in the study of such problems as movement in relation to age, routes followed, the Vol. 78 62 1958 speed of migration, and the influence of weather upon the migrating bird. The,second object of ringing is the investigation of population dynamics, and this aspect seems likely to increase in importance. The large numbers of recoveries of certain common species, especially when coupled with suitable field projects, permit detailed studies of breeding biology mortality, etc., and it is this type of analysis which is more likely to have useful economic applications. Up to now aluminium has been used in the manufacture of rings because of its lightness, but it shows poor powers of resistance to corrosion and . abrasion and is less durable than some of the birds themselves. This is particularly so in the case of many sea-birds. Thus, rings on Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) and Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) may become illegible in less than three years. So long as the main interest is in migration this inadequacy of the rings is not a serious disadvantage for in many respects the most informative recoveries are those occurring in the season of ringing or that immediately following, but for mortality studies it may prove an insuperable handicap. Research is therefore being undertaken to find a more suitable alloy for use in ring manufacture. On Barbatula bocagei Sousa, 1886: Caconda, Angola by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 31st October, 1957 Grant and Mackworth-Praed, Bull.B.O.C., vol. 76, 9, 1956, p. 159, show that Barbatula bocagei Sousa, Jorn.Ac.Real.Sci.Lisboa, vol. 11, 1886, p. 158: Caconda, Angola, is a juvenile Black-collared Barbet which has lost the red colour on the head and throat through having been in spirit. Arising from this finding they place B.bocagei in the synonymy of Lybius ; torquatus torquatus (Dumont), 1816: eastern Cape Province, South ~ Africa. Recently, Benson and White, Check List of the Birds of Northern 1 | Rhodesia, 1957, Appendix 4, p. 159, have suggested that B. bocagei is an _ earlier name for the race currently designated L.t.congicus (Reichenow), = 1898: Malanje, Angola. Reference to my revision of the races of this — barbet in the Durban Museum Novitates, vol. iv, 17, 1956, pp. 273-280, will | show that B.bocagei is an available name for a distinguishable, but at present innominate, group of populations, closely allied to the typical race, which are resident in parts of western and south-western Angola. As — demonstrated in my revision on the basis of new material collected in Angola by Gerd Heinrich and loaned to me by the Chicago Natural — History Museum (through Dr. A. L. Rand), L.t.bocagei differs from L.t. — torquatus in having less red on the forehead, darker, browner and more coarsely vermiculated mantle and rump, the greenish wash absent, and a less copiously freckled under-surface. The vicinal race, L.t.congicus, differs in having the red on the head and throat more crimson, less scarlet, the mantle and rump greener, and the lower under-parts more strongly yellowish. In size L.t.bocagei and L.t.congicus appear to be about the same. Though closely allied, L.t.bocagei and L.t.torquatus are completely isolated from one another, both by vast stretches of unsuitable country and interposed populations of other races (L.t.congicus and L.t.lucidiventris). 1958 63 | Vol. 78 Special General Meeting Chairman: C. W. MACKWORTH-—PRAED This was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe Place, S.W.7. on Tuesday, 18th February, 1958 at 5.45 p.m. The following Resolutions were duly passed :— (i) (ii) RESOLUTION That the Rules of the Club be amended by the deletion of Rule 12 and the addition of the following Rules: **12. (a) Any stocks shares or other securities or money from time to time bequeathed or given to the Club shall be vested in trustees for the Club unless in any particular case the Club shall by a special resolution otherwise decide, and any other securities, money or other property (whether real or personal) from time to time belonging to the Club may be vested by or with the consent of the Committee in trustees for the Club. (b) Any property to be vested pursuant to this Rule in trustees for the Club shall be paid or transferred to or vested in, deposited with or otherwise placed under the control of trustees or a bank or other trust corporation to be held upon such trusts for the benefit of the Club and with or subject to such powers and other provisions as may be approved by a special resolution of the Club and de- clared by or contained in a formal deed, including provision for the purchase out of the trust funds of a house or other building, land or other property for the use for all or any of the purposes of ~ the Club. (c) The Committee may pay to any bank or other trust cor- poration so appointed such remuneration for acting as trustee for the Club as may from time to time be agreed between the Commit- tee and the trustee. AMENDMENT OF RULES ‘* 13. These Rules or any of them may be revoked or amended and any new rule or provision may be substituted or added by a special resolution. “14. In these Rules ‘‘a special resolution’? means a resolution passed by a majority of not less than three fourths of the members voting thereon at a general meeting of the Club of which not less than two weeks’ notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given.’’ SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS That in exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 12 the sum of £1,399 11s. Od. 34% War Stock now belonging to the Club shall forthwith be transferred to trustees for the Club and that that Vokes 64 1958 (ili) (iv) investment and any other property, real or personal, which may hereafter be transferred to or vested in deposited with or otherwise placed under the control of trustees for the Club shall be held upon such trusts for the benefit of the Club and with or subject to such powers and provisions as are declared or contained or proposed ~ to be declared or contained by or in the Trust Deed submitted to © the meeting and initialled for the purposes of identification by the Chairman, and that such trusts powers and provisions be approved accordingly ; That Lloyds Bank Limited be appointed as first trustee under and : authorised to execute the said Deed on behalf of themselves and all other members of the Club. THIS TRUST DEED is made this Twenty-seventh day of Februay, 1958 BETWEEN CYRIL WINTHROP MACKWORTH-PRAED — of ‘“Castletop’’ Burley near Ringwood, Hants, CEDRIC NORMAN WALTER of Finsbury Pavement House, 120 Moorgate in the City of London of the one part and LLOYDS BANK LIMITED whose head office is at 71 Lombard Street in the City of London (hereinafter called ‘‘the Bank’’) of the other part ; j WHEREAS a club, known as ‘‘The British Ornithologists’ Club’ | and hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the Club’’, was founded in or about the year One thousand eight hundred and ninety two having for its objects the promotion of scientific discussion between members of the British — Ornithologists’ Union and others interested in ornithology and to facil- itate the publication of scientific information connected with ornithology ; — AND WHEREAS in accordance with the Rules of the Club the affairs — . of the for the purposes of the said Trust Deed ; That the Chairman and the Honorary Treasurer of the Club be a7 Club are managed by a Committee consisting of the Chairman of” the Club, the Treasurer, Secretary and other officers and four other mem- _ bers of the Club and the said C. W. Mackworth-Praed and C. N. Waltemg : are respectively the Chairman and the Treasurer of the Club ; AND WHEREAS at a special general meeting of the Club duly convened and held on the Eighteenth day of February. 1958 it was re- solved that the sum of £1,399 11s. Od. 34°% War Stock now belonging to” the Club be forthwith transferred to trustees for the Club and that that investment and any other property real or personal which may hereafter be transferred to or vested in, deposited with or otherwise placed under the control of trustees for the Club shall be — held upon such trusts for the benefit of the Club and with or sub- ject to such powers and provisions as are declared or contained or proposed to be declared or contained by or in this Deed (which was submitted to and approved at the meeting and initialled for the purposes of identification by the said Cyril Winthrop Mack- worth-Praed the Chairman of the Meeting), and that the Bank be appointed as first trustee under and for the purposes of this Deed, i 1958 65 Vol. 78 and the Chairman and the Treasurer of the Club were authorised to execute the Deed on behalf of themselves and all other members of the Club ; . AND WHEREAS the Bank have consented to act as trustee under and for the purposes of this Deed: NOW THIS DEED WITNESSETH AND IT IS HEREBY AGREED AND DECLARED by and between the parties hereto of the first part on behalf of themselves and all other members of the Club and the Bank as follows :— |. IN this Deed unless the context otherwise requires **the Trustees’” means the Bank or other the trustee or trustees for the time being under this Deed, ‘the Committee’’ means the persons for the time being members of or purporting to act as the Committee of the Club or otherwise for the time being having the management of the affairs of the Club, and ‘the Treasurer’’ means the Treasurer for the time being of the Club or any person authorised by a resolution of the Committee to act as Treasurer during a vacancy in the office of Treasurer or by reason of the absence or incapacity of the Treasurer. 2. ANY property, whether real or personal, which may hereafter be paid or transferred to, vested in, deposited with or otherwise placed under the control of the Trustees by the Treasurer or any other officer of the Club or by any other person with the consent or at the direction of the Committee, whether by way of gift or otherwise, and any income arising from any money or other property from time to time held by the Trustees under this Deed shall be held by the Trustees upon trust for the Club subject to the trusts, powers and provisions hereinafter declared or contained. 3. (1) Subject to any conditions subject to which any particular property may be vested in them, the Trustees shall hold any real property for the time being vested in them under this Deed upon trust to sell the same, and any personal property for the time being so vested in them upon trust to call in, sell and convert into money such part thereof as may not consist of money, but the Trustees shall have power to postpone the sale and conversion of any such property for such period as they without being liable to account may think proper. (2) Real or personal property may be vested in and held by the Trustees under this Deed subject to conditions as to the purposes or manner in which such property is to be used or applied, Pro- vided that the Trustees shall not accept any property subject to any such conditions, unless the conditions shall have been approved by the Club in general meeting or the Committee. (3) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Clause and to any conditions subject to which any particular property may be vested ‘in them, the Trustees shall pay to the Treasurer any income arising Vol. 78 66 mee LP: from any money, investments or other property from time to time held by the Trustees under this Deed, and may apply any money representing the capital so held by them or any part thereof for such purposes of permanent or lasting benefit as the Club may from time to time in general meeting approve. (1) The Trustees may invest in their names or under their control any moneys for the time being held by them under this Deed and not immediately required for the purposes of the Club in any in- vestments for the time being authorised by law for the investment of trust funds, and may from time to time realise any investments so made, and re-invest the net proceeds in others of a like nature. (2) The Trustees may, with the approval of the Club in general meeting, apply any money held by the Trustees under this Deed in the purchase and in paying the expenses of the purchase of and making improvements in or alterations to any house or other building land or other property in England or Wales, with or with- out any usual appurtenances thereto, for the use for all or any of the purposes of the Club, and any land so acquired may be free- hold or leasehold, whereof not less than 40 years is unexpired at the time of purchase (with power to effect and maintain sinking fund policies), and the property so purchased shall be conveyed or assigned to and vested in the Trustees upon trust, with the previous approval of the Club in general meeting, to sell the same with full power to postpone the sale, and, until sale as aforesaid, the Trustees may permit the property so purchased to be used for all or any of the purposes of the Club. (1) The Bank shall be the first trustees under this Deed. (2) Except so long as a Bank or other trust corporation are the Trustees, the number of trustees under this Deed shall not be less than three. (3) The power of appointing new trustees under this Deed, whether to fill a vacancy caused by the death, retirement or removal of a trustee or as an additional trustee, shall be vested in the Com- mittee and exercisable by a resolution of the Committee, and effect shall be given to any such resolution by an instrument in writing under the hand and seal of the Chairman or the Secretary or other officer for the time being of the Club. (4) The Trustees or any of them may retire from the trusts here- of on giving not less than one month’s notice in writing of his or their intention so to do to the Chairman or the Secretary or other officer for the time being of the Club, and upon the expiration of such notice the trustee giving the notice shall cease to be a trustee under this Deed. (5) Ifthe Club in general meeting shall at any time by resolution decide that it is desirable that the Trustees or any of them should cease to be trustees or a trustee under this Deed, and notice to that effect signed by the Chairman or the Secretary or other officer _ for the time being of the Club shall be given to the Trustees or that ~~ — 1958 67 Vol. 78 . trustee, the Trustees or that trustee shall forthwith on the giving of 6. 10. such notice cease to be trustees or a trustee under this Deed. THE Bank or any other trust corporation for the time being acting as a trustee under this Deed shall be entitled to charge and be paid such remuneration for their services as trustees under this Deed as the Public Trustee would from time to time have been en- titled to charge, if he had been appointed Custodian Trustee under this Deed, Provided always that the Bank shall be entitled to charge a minimum annual fee of Three Guineas. THE Trustees shall keep proper accounts of all money received or other property for the time being vested in or held by them under this Deed, and of any payments made or expenses incurred by them under or for the purposes of this Deed, and (if and so long as the Trustees shall not be a trust corporation) once at least in every year such accounts shall be examined and audited by the auditors for the time being of the Club, and as soon-as practicable after the 31st day of December in every year or such other date as may be determined by the Committee the Trustees shall present to the Committee a copy of the accounts for the period from the date to which the last audited account so presented shall have been made up, or, in the case of the first account, from the date of this Deed, and a copy of the auditors’ report on such accounts. THE Trustees may decline to accept the transfer of any property of any kind involving or likely to involve the owner thereof in personal liability. THE Trustees may with the previous approval of the Club in general meeting at any time by an instrument in writing under seal revoke or alter all or any of the trusts, powers and provisions herein contained, or add any new trusts, powers and provisions, whether applicable to any particular property held by the Trustees or gener- ally, Provided that the purposes for which any money representing capital for the time being held by the Trustees under this Deed may be applied under Clause 3 hereof shall not be altered or extended. (1) Any directions given by the Committee to the Trustees shall be | sufficiently given if given by notice in writing under the hands of the Chairman, and the Secretary or other officer for the time being of the Club, or of any two officers of the Club. (2) Any approval given or decision made by the Club for any of the purposes of this Deed shall be sufficiently given or made if given or made by a resolution passed by a majority of three fourths of the members voting thereon at a general meeting of the Club at which not less than 50 members are present and of which not less than two weeks notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution shall have been given in the manner in which notice of general meetings of the Club is usually given, and any approval or consent given by the Committee for any of the purposes of this Deed shall be sufficiently given, if passed by a majority of the mem- bers of the Committee voting thereon at a meeting of the Committee. Vol. 78 68 1958 (3) A copy of a resolution of the Club in general meeting or of the Committee purporting to be certified as a true copy by the chairman of the meeting, at which such resolution was passed, shall for all purposes be sufficient evidence that such resolution was duly passed by the requisite majority at a meeting of the Club at which the requisite number of members was present or at a meeting of the Committee (as the case may be) duly convened for the purpose. pi (4) A notice in writing signed by the Chairman or the Secretary or other officer for the time being of the Club certifying that the person named in the notice is the Chairman, Secretary or other officer of the Club shall for all purposes be sufficient evidence of the fact so certified, unless or until such notice is revoked or superseded by a similar notice so given. (5) The receipt of the Treasurer for any sum payable by the Trustees under this Deed to the Club or to the Treasurer shall be a sufficient discharge to the Trustees for the sum so payable. — IN WITNESS whereof the said Cyril Winthrop Mackworth-Praed and Cedric Norman Walter have hereunto set their hands and seals and the Bank has caused its Common Seal to be hereunto affixed the day and year first above wiitten. SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED by } the above named CYRIL WINTHROP C. W. M. PRAED MACK WORTH-PRAED in the presence of :— S. D. Herington, Alder House, Aldersgate Street, London, E.C. Solicitor SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED by the above named CEDRIC NORMAN C. N. WALTER. NORMAN WALTER in the presence of:— S. D. Herington THE COMMON SEAL OF LLOYDS BANK ) LIMITED was hereunto affixed in the presence } of :— Lloyd Director J. E. Way Secretary 19S8 69 Vol. 78 The Relationships of the Races of the Cape Bunting, Fringillaria capensis in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland by Mr. MICHAEL P. STUART IRWIN Received 8th Octoher, 1957 In the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, the Cape Bunting, Fringillaria capensis, forms three very distinctive races: vincenti Lowe 1932: of Nyasaland, northern Portuguese East Africa and the Petauke District of Northern Rhodesia ; plowesi Vincent 1950: of Southern Rhodesia, ranging from the Matopos Hills north-eastwards to the Inyanga Highlands ; and smithersit Plowes 1951: of the Chimanimani Mountains. southern Eastern Southern Rhodesia. Throughout its range over this huge area, it is restricted to above 3,000ft., filling a localised ecological niche. consisting of rocky or boulder strewn wooded hills and in consequence unevenly and locally distributed being absent from large tracts of unsuitable country. Left :- Centre :- Right :- F. c. vincenti Fc. plowesi Kec. smithersit ra } Topotypical © Type The Central African Races of the Cape Bunting Superficially the dark vincenti. from north of the Zambezi River may at first appear to show some approach to smithersii and indeed, in the original description of smithersii, the author at first compared it with that race. It would, however, now appear that the relationship is rather remote and that vincenti has its nearest relative in the pallid plowesi. Furthermore Vol. 78 70 1958 plowesi in inhabiting the Inyanga Highlands and as far south at least as the Vumba and Umtali, occupies an area intervening geographically between the two darkest described races, and this fact has been contributory to the review of their relationships and origin. The basis of the variation presented, points to two expansive phases representative of independant colonisations of the species from the south. but probably not contemporary with each other. Plowesi, nearest geographically to vincenti, though at first appearing very different, is distinguished on the underparts by the predominantly grey colour with some pale buff on the abdomen, but with the grey pigment most strongly developed on the breast, and it is just the intensification of this one character and its extension throughout on the ventral surfaces, excepting the throat (which 1s dull white in both races), and the additional saturation of the mantle, loss of red tones and tendency to the overall obliteration of the dark feather centres. to give a more uniform, less streaked appearance than in any other race, that makes the distinctiveness of vincenti. Measurably there is no significant difference between the two races: yincenti 3a Wine 75, 15.77 mm: Tail 65. 67. 68 mm, EES 13.. 75 wa. 63. 65 mm. plowesi lO os Wine 7352.76, 76,.77, 77,78, 718) 78) 796) aaa 10 oy VG 13s fS, A935, 10) JOST) ie ae mee LO $6 Tail. 63,.04,-65., 65,65, 66, 66,68, 69) 69 mom 10 & GO, 60, 61, 61, 62. 62, 62, 64, 66. 66 mm. Untortunately svithersii is as yet only known from the Type and one other specimen, and though exhibiting wing measurements within the above range, has a significantly longer blackish tail. smuithersii F + (Type) Wing 79 mm. tail 72 mm, 73 mm. 74 mm. In ag tia from the plowesi-vincenti group. smithersii differs con- spicuously in lacking any grey on the underparts. instead being a griseous olive or buff, including the throat (not buff grey as given in the original description), and consequently showing a closer approach to the races limpopoensis and reidi of the Transvaal and Natal, which are more rufescent on the abdomen. but have similar blackish tails with longer measure- ments as smithersii. The mantle of smithersii is rather distinct. with broad blackish feather centres, but this only represents the intensification of a character shared by the other races to the south. At this stage it must be noted that the two most saturated races have developed independent and divergent specialisation in the colour pattern of the under tail coverts, further confirming different origins. In vincenti the feathers of the coverts are broad and rounded, grey at their bases, but rather broadly tipped with dull white, giving a noted barring effect. In contrast those of smithersii are narrow, more elongated, concolorous with the remainder of the ventral surfaces, but with long and very narrow blackish feather centres the pigment centred along the rachis. It must be stressed that none of the other described races show any such specialisations. 1958 lel Vol. 78 Phylogenically it would seem that vincenti arose from a northward range extension of the ancestral form that eventually gave way to plowesi, and that of the rather isolated smithersii from a similar northward thrust of some form rather like the present day /impopoensis and reidi. It would. also seem probably, that these phases of colonisation were independent, taking place at different stages in the development of the species. On the other hand. it is none too easy to ascertain the place of origin of the plowesi-vincenti group as a unit, as they are structually and in colour unlike any of the other described races from the south. In the general greyness of the underparts they most nearly approach the far distant bradfieldi of South-West Africa and of a still more pallid and as yet un- described form from the coastal deserts of Angola, but unlike any of the other races, these western populations have very heavy bills, so that the greyness of these distant races probably represents a case of convergence only and not a reflection of any close or actual relationship. In the preparation of this paper I have examined all the described forms as reviewed by Vincent in Bu//.B.O.C.70.1950: pp. 14-17. I am indebted to the Authorities of the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria and to Mr. P. A. Clancey, Director of the Durban Museum and Art Gallery, for the loan of comparative material. Also to the assistance of Mr. R. H. N. Smithers. Director of the National Museums of Southern Rhodesia. Bulawayo, under whose care is the material upon which this study has been based. On a rare colour aberration in certain species of the genus Larus Linnaeus 7 by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE Received 19th November. 1957 In September 1951 Messrs. Carl L. Hubbs and A. Bartholomew jnr. published (Condor 53:221--227) a most interesting and detailed paper dealing with the persistence of a rare colour aberration in Heermann’s Gull. Larus heermanni Cassin. The occurrence of this aberration in various populations of Heermann’s Gull in America was first noted about 1862. and it has been reported intermittently ever since this date. This aberration generally takes the form of an oblong white patch on the upper surface | of each wing near the carpal joint. One wing of a Heermann’s Gull ex- hibiting this aberration ts illustrated in Plate |. | am indebted to Mr. Thomas R. Howell of the University of California for the loan of this specimen. In the majority of cases the affected feathers are the primary coverts, but very occasionally the patch may extend on to some of the secondaries, or even some primaries. Variations of the standard pattern _ occur on rare occasions, sometimes there are two distinct patches on each _ wing, or the patch is present on one wing and not the other. Various estimates have been made as to the frequency with which this aberration occurs in different colonies. In 1930 A. J. van Rossem estimated that it occurred 1-1000 in a colony at Isla Raza, California. Hubbs and Bartholomew, how- _ ever, consider that generally speaking a frequency of 1--10,000 is probably a more accurate estimate. Twenty aberrant specimens were found among a _ total of 616 examined in nine American collections. Including field records _ the authors list 28 occurrences. in 21 cases where the sex was given 14 Vol. 78 qe. 1958 Wing of Larus heermanni ¢5 collected at Isla Raza, Lower California, U.S.A., on 16th April. 1930, by A. J. van Rossem. (663°) were females and 7 (334°) were males. The records are divided almost equally between adult and immature birds. { am now able to record the occurrence of what is undoubtedly the same aberration in two species of gull in the British Isles :— HERRING GULL Larus argentatus argentatus Pontoppidan On 24th June, 1957, whilst proceeding out to sea from Aberdeen on the S.S. *‘St. Clair’’, I noticed among the Herring Gulls following the boat, an adult with an oblong white patch on the primary coverts of each wing. The patch was perfectly symmetrical in size and shape on each wing, ( figure 1). ng el tastes == = = SS =I a= mG 1.Wing of adult Larus argentatus argentatus seen at Aberdeen on 24th June, 1957. 1958 73 Vol. 78 °° LESSER BLACK-BACKED“GULL Larus fuscus graellsii Brehm. The following records have ae received from the correspondents whose names are quoted : i : (1) Three adults in flight near hie Holm.in the Bristol Channel, on 3rd June, 1951, ‘‘had a white patch on me pees) coverts of each wing.’ (W. L. Roseveare). (2) An adult ‘‘with a large white patch at the carpal joint of each wing’’ seen off Skokholm, Pembrokeshire, on 4th May, 1952. (W. L. Roseveare). . (3). An adult seen in flight near Steep Holm on 30th May, 1954, had one large and one small white patch on each wing. (W. L. Roseveare). (4) An adult with a large white patch on the upper surface of each wing, seen on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, in early June 1995. mes Bell). (5) One with a white patch at the carpal area of each wing seen at Glasgow, Lanark, on 21st April, 1956. (H. Monger-Gross). (6) An adult seen at Lundy Island, Devonshire on 23rd September. 1956 had a small white patch on each wing. (W. L. Roseveare). At the time I made my own observation on the Herring Gull, and when I received the records relating to the Lesser Black-Backed Gull, I was not aware of the paper on Heermann’s Gull. It was not until I. came across this paper at a later date that the observations quoted above assumed any special significance. I have examined all the specimens of Herring and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls in the British Museum (Natural History) without finding any aberrant specimens of this type. | am indebted to Mr. R. W. Sims and other members of the Museum staff for their co-operation. The number of records of aberrant Lesser Black-Backed Gulls from the Bristol Channel indicates that the condition is persisting in a breeding colony or colonies somewhere in that area, quite probably on Steep Holm or Lundy Island. _ The appearance of an identical aberration in both the Herring and Lesser _ Black-Backed Gull is hardly surprising considering the fact that they are, _ strictly speaking, races of the same species. It is, however, most remarkable that an aberration formerly known only from a gull whose breeding range is restricted to the Pacific Coast of North America and Mexico should be found to occur also in the British Isles. It is obviously impossible to re- gard this as a mere haphazard freak. The condition is plainly a genetical pattern remarkably stable in form, and it almost certainly represents a _reversionary trend towards an evolutionary character of great antiquity. | This suggestion was in fact put forward by Hubbs and Bartholomew who were not aware of the aberration occurring in any other species of gull. We can, perhaps, justly consider this as a case analogous with that of the a ‘mottled’’ plumage and wing barring now known to occur quite frequently im various species of Corvidae, the significance of which has recently been discussed by Dr. James M. Harrison (antea 77 :84—-85 and 131-133). In both cases the condition is not sex linked; may appear in both adult and juvenile birds; is evidently carried by a recessive gene(s), and in colonial breeding species such as the Rook Corvus frugilegus Linnaeus and Larus heermanni often occurs with some frequency in widely separated breeding colonies. Vol. 78 74 1958 Supplementary notes on the geographical distribution of the ‘“‘Mottled’’ variety of the Rook by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE Received 20th December, 1957 In two previous papers on this subject (antea 76: 25-28 and 77 : 42-43) it was shown that the ‘‘Mottled’’ variety of the Rook Corvus frugilegus frugilegus Linnaeus had been recorded from ten counties, namely, Cam- bridgeshire, Durham, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Somerset and Surrey. In the notes which follow evidence is produced showing that Cumberland can now be added to this list bringing the total to eleven. Additional information re- lating to the counties of Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire is also given :— ; A NEW COUNTY CUMBERLAND.—the following passage appears on page 59 of The Birds of Cumberland (1886) by The Rev. H. A. Macpherson and William Duckworth -— ‘‘A bird of the year, shot at Kirkandrews-on-Eden, in September, 1885, exhibits the interesting association of smoke-grey upper wing coverts, and primaries, secondaries, and rectrices barred terminally with smoke-grey, together with the usual colour of the species. This bird clearly belongs to the variety figured by Mr. Hancock (Cf. B. of N.& D.., p. 38).’’ The bird figured by Hancock is, as was pointed out previously, a specimen of the ‘‘Mottled’’ variety. FIG. 1. Map showing the vice-county distribution of the ** Mottled’’ variety of the Rook 1958 75 Vol. 78 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CAMBRIDGESHIRE.—Mr. R. K. Cornwallis has very kindly drawn my attention to the following information given in a book by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns published in 1846 and entitled Observations in Natural History with an introduction on Habits of Observing as connected with the _ study of that Science also a Calendar of Periodic Phenomena in Natural History; with remarks on the importance of such registers. The author was Vicar of Swaffham Bulbeck and on page 150 he records, ‘‘In the spring of 1823 we picked up two young birds alive under the nests, just fledged, in which each feather was tipped with dirty white, giving the whole plumage a speckled appearance.’’ It seems highly probable that these were specimens of the ‘*Mottled’’ variety. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.—Miss A. M. Kendall informs me (in /itt.) that in May, 1950 a young Rook barred all over was shot at Rushton by Capt. Roberts-George. Figure | shows the distribution of this variety on the vice county system, and it strongly suggests that gene flow is responsible for the resultant pattern of distribution. It may well be that the ‘‘Mottled’’ variety will eventually be proved to have occurred in Yorkshire, thus connecting the East Anglian and Border pockets, and also in Warwickshire and Worcestershire which would then link up with East Anglia and Herefordshire. Should this be so the only really isolated localities left would | be Somerset and Surrey-Kent south of the Thames. A New Race of Brubru Nilaus afer (Latham) from South- Eastern Africa by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 31st October, 1957 The populations of the small laniid Nilaus afer (Latham) resident in _ Natal, Zululand, Swaziland and the extreme southern parts of Mozam- _ bique are now found to differ sufficiently from the wide-ranging Ni/aus _ afer brubru (Latham), as to warrant their nomenclatural segregation. The _ new race may be known as Nilaus afer solivagus, subsp.nov. Type: §, adult. Lubuli Police Camp, near Nsoko, south-eastern Swaziland. 28th August, 1955. 300 ft. a.s.1. Durban Museum Expedition. In the collection of the Durban Museum. Diagnosis: Adult male. Differs from Nilaus afer brubru (Latham), 1801 : _ Orange River, South Africa, in having the black of the upper-parts deeper and more coruscant, and the whitish dorsal streak yellowish tinged. On the under-parts creamy, less snowy white, and with the chestnut side- stripes conspicuously narrower and darker. Adult female. Very similar above to N.a.brubru, but dorsal streak distinctly yellowish tinged. On Vol. 78 76 1958 under-parts markedly different owing to the reduced size of the side- stripes, which on the flanks are vestigial and only indicated by a light wash of yellowish cinnamon. Smaller in size. Wings of paratypical N.a. soli- vagus specimens—4 33 80.5 — 84.5 (82.9), 2 99 82, 83 mm., as against 4 gg 87 ~ 89 (87.9), 3 22 83 — 88 (85.7) mm. in topotypical N.a.brubru. Material: N.a.solivagus (paratypical), 6; N.a.brubru (topotypical 9, others 4), 13. Also material of N.a.nigritemporalis Reichenow and N.a. massaicus Neumann. Measurements of the Type: Wing (flattened) 84. culmen from base 19, tarsus 22.5, tail 53 mm. Range: Locally distributed in some thornveld districts of the high interior of Natal, and in Zululand, eastern Swaziland and the extreme southern parts of Mozambique. Remarks: Topotypical material of N.a.brubru is extremely rare in collections, but through the efforts of the Durban and East London Museums a series of nine is now available from the Orange River and Kenhardt, in the north-western Cape Province. This latter locality represents an interesting extension of range to the south of the Orange River. N.a.brubru ranges from the north-western Cape and Orange River northwards to south-western Angola in the west and to the Zambesi River valley in the east, where it meets and intergrades with N.a.nigritemporalis. A single example of N.a.solivagus exhibiting in part the characters ascribed to N.a.nigritemporalis was obtained in 1933 by the late Dr. Austin Robert’s party at Otobotini, in north-eastern Zululand. No other such example has since been obtained. The Names of some Francolins by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE Received 6th January, 1957 In ‘‘The Ibis’’:1952, p. 306 I proposed the fusion of Prernistis with Francolinus. 1 pointed out that this involved two possible changes of name but that there was doubt as to whether they represented valid races need- ing new names. In one case it now appears that a new name is needed. Pternistis afer cunenensis Roberts Ann Trvl.Mus,15. p. 22. 1932 is pre- occupied by Scleroptila jugularis cunenensis Roberts described in the same place on the same page, since both birds belong to the genus Francolinus. Hall and Macdonald have now shown that the ‘‘Prernistis’’ so described is valid, the data being given in Ann.Trvl.Mus.23.p. 7. 1957. I therefore propose Francolinus afer palliditectus nom.nov to replace Pternistis afer — cunenensis. eh beds aie | : 1958 a7 Vol. 78 BRITISH | ale REELS a oN eae CLUB REPORT OF THE Cc OMMITTEE Oe ELE TT MEETINGS The Club held nine meetings during the year including a joint meeting in March with the British Ornithologists’ Union. Attendances totalled 406 compared with 428 in the previous year. MEMBERSHIP The Committee very much regret to record the deaths during 1957 of Mr. J. Bartholomew, Sir Norman B. Kinnear and Mr. J. van Tyne. Since the end of the year, we are sorry to record that Capt. C. H. B. Grant has died. There were eight resignations and three members were removed from the list for non-payment of subscriptions and, with an additional 4] new members, the total membership at the end of the year reached the record figure of 243. THE BULLETIN The Editor is to be congratulated’on the prompt publication of the *““Bulletin’’ on the first of the month and an increase in outside sub- scriptions from 80 to 96. The ‘‘Bulletin’’ was maintained at the same level of 160 pages as in the previous year. FINANCE The Accounts of the Club for the year 1957 presented herewith show an excess of Expenditure over Income to the amount of £16 4s. 4d. In the previous year there was an excess of Expenditure of £34 10s. 4d., which included non-recurring expenditure in connection with the *“Bulletin.’’ | In the year 1957 there has been a general increase in Miscellaneous Expenses and also in postage. On the other hand, there were gains in income of £39 for Entrance Fees and Subscriptions of new members, and £25 for Investment Income. Against this the Club has suffered a material loss through the withholding of its claim for repayment of Income Tax on the Deeds of Covenant. The Club is not alone in this respect, all similar bodies being affected in the same way. following a decision in the Courts. It is very doubtful whether these claims will be ultimately admitted. It is pleasant to record the receipt. frorn four members, of unsolicited donations to the ‘‘Bulletin Fund’’, amounting to £18 Ils. Od., and the thanks of the Club is expressed to them. If the refund of Income Tax on the Deeds of Covenant continues to be denied to the Club for the year 1958, it is estimated there will be a deficit of about £45 on the year and the ‘‘Bulletin Fund’’ will be called upon to make this good. A contribution to the ‘‘Bulletin Fund’’ is, therefore, a _. (Continued on page 80) } Vol. 78 78 | 1958 : BRITISH ORNITH INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 1956 EXPENDITURE £ a ¢ £¢5,-& ae ‘*Bulletin’’ Vol. 77 Cost of publication, piers a suceeics sarar s 37] Expenses... . 389 17 10 75 Less Sales es ya ae re a is 90 iz. 7 296 - 299 5 3 31 | Special Expenditure re ‘‘Bulletin’’ ... = ‘8 — 42 Notices, etc. for Meetings ni 46 19 6 36 Postages, Projectionist and Miscellaneous Expenditure 56 16 3 5 Audit Fee 5 a Sg 5 Contribution ‘Zoological Record”? . fn vi 5 -s a , i 3 ‘£415 £413 11 0 34 Excess of Expenditure over Income, brought down ... 164 4 — Surplus for the year carried to General Fund jad PA ae ie £34 £43 9 § BALANCE SHEET - £ £8.) E86, ae i GENERAL FUND: 1241 As at 31st December, 1956 ... bg phi sv VEZ4G.12.3 Add: Surplus for the year... ce aah mmm 2 9 q ———————1267 171 4 BARRINGTON FUND: 1000 Legacy from F. J. F. Barrington, dec’d. ... im 1000 0 0 BULLETIN FUND: 78 As at 3lst December, 1956 ... 2m oe Ne ii te-3 Received during year... ... *~ an Ne 18 ti 4 —~ 9% 9 3 SUBSCRIPTIONS 1958 Beis in ash tar Aree Members a ay <9 ys i8 13 O 67 Subscribers... ... dnt ss cy es 5h 41. 7 ————— 70 4 7 22 SUNDRY CREDITORS _... a ia Re ree 2D Se C. W. MACK WORTH-PRAED, Chairman C. N. WALTER, Hon. Treasurer £2408 £2456 16 2 We have examined the above Balance Sheet and Income and Expenditure Account therewith, and in our opinion correct. FINSBURY CIRCUS HOUSE, - BLOMFIELD STREET, LONDON, E.C.2. a 24th February, 1958 : 1958 1956 £ 215 12 47 £2408 aE ee OGISTS’ THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER, 1957 19 CLUB INCOME SUBSCRIPTIONS : 232 Members 9 Associates ... Income Tax recovered under Deed of Covenant ENTRANCE FEES: 41 Members ... ~ Associates ... Donations INVESTMENT INCOME: General Fund Barrington Fund we have suggested in the case of the European Green-winged Teal, that the white spot may represent a reversion towards the white neck ring, as seen typically in the Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos Linnaeus. Delacour’ considers that the whole group of Green-winged Teals are closely related to the Mallards and these variants provide further supporting evidence of this. We are most grateful to Dr. David Harrison, Lt. Cdr. Alastair McLean, R.N., the late Mr. Foster Stubbs, Mr. J. G. Tatham and Captain J. V. Wilkinson, D.S.C., G.M., R.N. for obtaining specimens for us. References :— 1 Harrison, James M. ‘‘The Birds of Kent’’ Vol. 1, p. 129. Witherby, 1953. aren James M. ‘‘ Exhibition of two varieties of the Teal’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 66, F : Harrison, Jeffery G. ‘‘ Further Comments on Teal Variations’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 75, pp. 120-1, 1955. 4 Delacour, Jean. ‘‘The Waterfowl of the World’’ Vol. 2, p. 87, London, 1956. The Baikal Teal in the British Isles; A New Record and a Note on the Incidence of the “‘Bridied’’ Face Pattern by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON Received 6th April, 1958 - . Occurrences of the Baikal Teal, Anas formosa Georgi, in the British Isles have always in the past been regarded with scepticism, as this bird is known to be a favourite species in captivity especially on the Continent. _ This view is maintained by Bannerman (1958) and he comments as follows : (in litt. 26.v.58) ‘‘I was by no means happy about the Fair Isle record and enclosed the bird in brackets’’ (see Bannerman,' The Birds of the | British Isles, Vol. VIL, p.36). However records in the north of the British Isles, including the Fair Isle record referred to above have recently been _teconsidered and have met with support from various authorities. In view _ of this it now seems desirable to see whether these are not in fact referable | to genuine immigrants. __ The specimen to which this note relates was shot on 5th February, 1958 | at Loch Spynie, Elgin, Scotland by a party of guns and, as it was not | gathered until the following day, which of the guns actually shot the Vol. 78 106 1958 bird must remain uncertain. For this information I am indebted to Major Brander-Dunbar of Pitgaveny, while the specimen came to me through the kindness of Dr. J. S. Ash. Identification was not immediately established. While of course it is admitted that various species of the Anatidae are very popular as captivity birds, and the species under consideration particularly so in Holland, one must equally bear in mind that other species of Asiatic origin have occurred as genuine, even if as sporadic immigrants and no questions as to the validity of such records have been raised once satisfactory evidence as to correct identification has been established, so that broadly, there is as much in favour of the acceptance of the appearances of A. formosa from time to time in the British Isles as genuine immigrants as there appears to be against their acceptance as such. Hartert? (1912-21) mentions the irregular incidence of A. formosa in the British Isles and dismisses them as referable to escapes from captivity. Of all the records which lay claim to authenticity probably none pos- sesses better credentials than that of the duck of the species which was ; observed on Fair Isle on Ist October, 1954*. This individual arrived in company with other eastern species, viz:— two Yellow-headed Wagtails, Motacilla citreola Pallas, a male Siberian Thrush, Turdus sibiricus sibiricus Pallas and an influx of Yellow-browed Warblers, Phylloscopus inornatus inornatus (Blyth) and Scarlet Grosbeaks, Carpodacus erythrinus Pallas. During the time of its arrival and of these associated species there was a pronounced drift, determined meteriologically from Russia and Siberia to N.E. Scotland. These circumstances particularly have tended to focus the attention of various authorities upon the question of the possible genuine immigration of A. formosa into this country, and Mr. Ferguson- Lees, who saw the Fair Isle example commented (in Jitt. 15.v.58) that ‘it was very wild (wilder than the Common Teal it accompanied)”’ Kenneth Williamson too writes (in Jitt.) in connection with this record **There seemed no good reason to doubt that it must have been the victim of the same weather conditions’ ’—i.e. those responsible for the influx of eastern species already noted. In reply to an enquiry re the possibility of the bird being an escape from Slimbridge, Mr. Peter Scott commented (in litt. 9.v.58) ‘“The Baikal Teal is certainly not an escape from here, in fact I rather doubt whether it is an escape at all. I believe, and we’re all agreed here, that these odd occurrences in North Scotland are wild birds’’ In view of these opinions and the fact that such species as the Buff- breasted Sandpiper, 7ryngites subruficollis (Vieillot) and the Siberian e Pn Bh tly had Pectoral Sandpiper, Calidris acuminata (Horsfield) have found acceptance — upon the establishment of satisfactory evidence of correct identification, it makes the hesitant attitude towards the sporadic appearances of this. Asiatic duck species appear paradoxical and inconsistent, and would seem to justify a reconsideration of all the relevant records. The present specimen shows, as can be seen from the accompanying — plate a fully developed, and most interesting facial pattern, which the writer would refer to as ‘‘bridled’’. In a previous communication’ I have suggested that this pattern rep- resents a primitive character of the Anatidae for it is found as a rare character in individuals as a recessive mutation, or recombination, with or without the influence of inter-specific hybridisation. That A. formosa represents, in its general characters a primitive duck 1958 107 Vol. 78 is strongly suggested by the fact that, as was shown in the hybrid between a drake Teal, A. crecca crecca Linnaeus and a duck Shoveler, A. clypeata Linnaeus, an individual closely resembling the drake of A. formosa resulted, a phenomenon which the writer referred to as ‘‘heterophoric reverse mutation’”’. The ‘“bridled’’ facial pattern appears to occur in A. formosa ducks in an incidence of approximately 15°, though in many individuals its Head and neck of female Anas formosa Georgi showing ‘‘bridled’’ character. Specimen * obtained at Loch Spynie, Elgin, Scotland, on Sth February, 1958. development is far less pronounced than it is in the present specimen which represents the full expression of the character. The fact that this ‘““bridled’’ facial pattern has been recorded in two drakes of the European Green-winged Teal, 4. c. crecca seems to indicate that this species and A. formosa have a close phylogenetic affinity. References : 1 Bannerman, D., 1958, The Birds of The British Isles, VIi1., 36. 2 Hartert, E., 1912-21, Die Vég. der Paldarkt. Fauna, I, 1317. = Fair Isle Bird Obser vatory Report, 1954, 4. 4 Harrison, James M., 1953, On the Significance of Variations of Pattern in Birds, Bull. Brit. Orn. C lub, 73, 37- 40. - 5 Harrison, James M., 1954, Further Instances. of Aberrations of Pattern and Colour in The Anatidae. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 74, 52, 53. Vol. 78 108 1958 Hybrid Ducks in New Zealand by Mr. BRYAN L. SAGE Received 15th March, 1958 In a previous issue of this Bulletin (vol. 73: 61-62) Sir Philip Manson- Bahr described the appearance of hybrids between the Mallard Anas Platyrhynchos platyrhynchos Linnaeus and the New Zealand Grey Duck Anas superciliosa superciliosa Gmelin that he saw on the lakes at Rotorua, New Zealand, in May, 1950. Being particularly interested in the subject of hybridization in the Anatidae I decided to obtain some further informa- tion on this particular aspect, and I am indebted to Sir Philip for much encouragement in this direction. I must also record my grateful thanks to the Secretary and biologists (in particular Mr. K. H. Miers) of the Department of Internal Affairs at Wellington, who went to considerable trouble to obtain and send to me for study, specimens of these hybrids. Dr. R. Duff of the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand, also kindly lent me several specimens of hybrids. Mr. R. B. Sibson of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand has been most helpful with information. The notes which follow are not as complete as I should have liked them to be, I had hoped to go into the genetical side of the problem in some detail. However, as I have to take up an appointment in Iraq, it is unlikely that I shall be able to pursue the matter further, the following information is, therefore, placed on record in the hope that it may be of some value to those who are interested in this problem, I am convinced that a close study of the genetics of hybridization between these and other species of Anas, correlated with studies of the geological history of the Australasian and Oriental Regions, would throw much light on the evolutionary history of this large group of closely related ducks, which I believe to be of eastern origin. In this connection it is perhaps worth mentioning that the detailed study by Prof. F. E. Zeuner of the systematics of Troides Hubner (Lepi- doptera-Papilionidae), which deals with the distribution and phylogeny in relation to the geological history of the Australasian Archipelago, contains a considerable amount of information on the latter aspect which could well be utilised when considering the phylogeny of the Anas spp. Prof. Zeuner’s study was published as Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. XXV: 107-184 (1943). The Mallard in New Zealand According to G. M. Thomson (The Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in New Zealand 1922) the Mallard was first introduced into New Zealand on several occasions between 1867 and 1881, but apparently none of these survived. From 1896 onwards various successful intro- ductions were made, many birds being reared in captivity and then released in such quantity that by 1915 shooting was permitted. Between 1910 and 1918 nearly 1,350 birds were liberated in South Island. Subsequent to 1906 a successful liberation was made at Lake Okareka near Rotorua, North Island. Mr. R. B. Sibson informs me in /itt that the Mallard is still comparatively scarce north of Auckland, where pure Grey Ducks may still be found. He believes that the reason for this is climatic; the mild humid climate with only occasional frosts in winter not being congenial 1958 109 Vol. 78 to the Mallard. Over most other parts of the country the Mallard has become a common sight. A striking example of the rate at which the Mallard replaces the Grey Duck under suitable conditions is illustrated at Manawatu, Wellington. When ringing commenced here in 1947 about 60°% of the ducks ringed were Greys, but during 1955-1956 the Grey Duck comprised less than 10° of the total number ringed. Comparative Ecology The comparative ecology of the Grey and Mallard Ducks in the Manawatu District has been studied by R. W. Balham (see Emu 52: 163-191) to which reference should be made for a detailed discussion. The Mallard may be found on quiet river reaches, drains, potholes, lagoons and lakes, including waters in urban areas. The Grey Duck, whilst being eA bE el From left to right — Mallard x Grey Duck 3; Grey Duck x Mallard 2; Grey Duck 9; Mallard &. In the case of the two hybrid specimens the probable male parent is the first-named. . found in all these localities except artificial waters, also haunts forest gorges, mountain streams and hill reservoirs. The Grey Duck appears to be unable to compete with the Mallard when the latter is present in large numbers. In addition environmental changes, such as drainage and swamp reclamation, have favoured the Mallard whilst causing a general decrease in the Grey Duck population. The Grey Duck still holds its own in the more pristine areas. Ringing returns show that the Mallard is largely sedentary whilst the Grey Duck disperses widely outside the breeding Vol. 78 110 1958 season. Hunting pressure is excessive for the Grey Duck and quite high for the Mallard. The results of Balham’s studies of the food of both species Hee ents that there must be considerable competition. The History and Frequency of Hybridization Exactly when the introduced Mallard first commenced to hybridize with the endemic Grey Duck is not apparently on record, but Thomson (1922) states that suspected hybrids were shot in South Canterbury in 1917 (i.e. no more than seven years after the first major liberation of Mallard in South Island in 1910). This is the only historical information that I have found. Opinions differ as to the abundance and frequency of these hybrids. Mr. R. B. Sibson states in /itt that in South Island and the southern parts of North Island hybridization has been going on for some time, and that Mallards and hybrids predominate in the shooting bags. Mr. K. H. Miers, however, says that the Mallard x Grey Duck hybrid is not as common as it is often stated to be, and that he knows of no area where a /ybrid population is supplanting the Grey Duck, though the Mallard itself is certainly doing so in many cases. Personally I believe that the hybrids are a little more numerous in some places than Mr. Miers thinks, but not excessively so. Mr. Miers has kindly provided me with some figures, based on trapping returns, showing the incidence of hybrids in some of the main waterfowl areas, three in North Island and two in South Island. These figures are shown in Table | :— TABLE I Proportion of hybrids in some main waterfowl areas of New Zealand, based on trapping returns. North Island Total No. Grey Mallard No. of of Ducks Ducks hybrids Lake Waihare 2551 2539 8 8 (Auckland) (99.38 %) (shy) (31% Wairoa 634 389 231 14 (Hawke Bay) (61.36%) (36.44%) (2.20 %) Manawatu 4543 1629 2896 18 (Wellington) (35.86%) (63:15: 7) (39%) South Island Lake Waihola 1481 661 776 44 (Dunedin) (44.64% (S2A1TY%) (2.95 %) Belfast 762 331 398 33 (Christchurch) (43.44%) 22354) (4.33 %) These figures are only very approximate, but they do tend to show that the proportion of hybirds is higher in the south than in the north, but in the absence of any detailed studies on the relative abundance of the hybrid populations it is not possible to make any definite statements. Furthermore the situation is complicated by the fact that many private individuals and various societies have bred these hybrids in captivity and then released them. In addition some breeders have even crossed the first generation with Khaki Campbells and then released the progeny! This is 1958 Mi; Vol. 78 what has happened at Rotorua where Sir Philip Manson-Bahr made his observations. Such a state of affairs as this makes scientific studies difficult to say the least. Plumage Characters of the Hybrids Sir Philip Manson-Bahr describing the hybrid birds seen at Rotorua in May 1950 stated that many of them were Mallard-like but lacked the white collar; others had a close resemblance to the male Gadwall (Anas strepera (L.)); one had a facial pattern reminiscent of that of the Baikal Teal (Anas formosa Georgi.), and some of the females resembled the Indian Spot-bill (Anas poecilorhyncha poecilorhyncha Forster.) Whilst the resemblance of these hybirds to various other species undoubtedly has a certain amount of evoluntionary significance, for reasons similar to those so ably explained by Dr. James M. Harrison (antea 73: 37-40). It would appear that the situation at Rotorua is not typical of that in New Zealand generally but is due to excessive inbreeding and back-crossing as well as random hybridization with domestic varieties. As J. L. Bonhote Proc. 4th Int. Orn. Congr. 1905: 256 remarks — “‘One of the most striking results of hybridization, especially when carried beyond the first gener- ation, it that it seems to produce a flood of variation . . .’’ It is also inter- esting to note that Bonhote found that the progeny resulting from his Grey Duck x Spotbill x Mailard trigen could generally be divided into two distinct types, one in which Mallard characters were dominant and the other in which Spotbill characters dominated, the Grey Duck char- acters invariably being swamped by these two. In other areas of New Zealand, such as the Avon River district of Canterbury, the Mallard x Grey Duck populations appear to be fairly stable. I have examined five hybrid specimens, two males, two females, and one unsexed. In four of these specimens the exact parentage is unknown but in three cases the Grey Duck is believed to have been the male parent, and in the other the Mallard. The fifth specimen is known to have had the Grey Duck as the male parent. These specimens may be briefly described as follows, measurements are not given as they do not seem to have any significance :— (i). Female (2nd from the left in Plate 1), probably Grey Duck male x Mallard female. Obtained Manawatu River, 3rd May, 1947. Upperparts — darker than female Mallard and similar in shade to the Grey Duck; all feathers with dark buffish-brown borders, the pattern therefore resem- bling the female Mallard. Wing — axillaries white; speculum purplish-blue but with distinct greenish gloss. Head — throat and neck creamy-buff with fine brown streaks, lores and side of head identical; crown heavily streaked with dark brown. Upper tail coverts — uniform dark brown as in Grey Duck. Underparts — lighter than Grey Duck or female Mallard, feathers predominantly buff with pale chocolate centres, giving a distinctly spotted appearance rather than streaked as in the Mallard (see Plate 1), spotting heavier on upper breast and ground colour darker. Feather pattern like Grey Duck but the buffish ~ borders wider and paler. (11). Male, River Avon, Christchurch, 1956. Parentage? _ Upperparts — feather pattern similar to (i) but ground colour darker than Grey Duck or female Mallard, lighter borders to the feathers much narrower and less noticeable than in (i) thus presenting more uniformly coloured appearance rather Vol. 78 LZ 1958 than ‘‘mottling.’’ Crown — very dark brown; lores and sides of head similar to (i). Wing — axillaries white; speculum green with no trace of purple. Underparts — similar to (i) but ground colour darker and upper breast with deeper sepia tinge. Throat and neck — rather more streaked than in (1). (iii). Male (1st on left in Plate 1), probably male Mallard x female Grey ~ Duck. Obtained Rotorua, 25th March, 1956. Upperparts — similar to Grey Duck but feathers of ‘‘shoulders’’ with pale chestnut V shaped subterminal bars. Crown — very dark, almost. blackish- brown with greenish sheen; very poorly defined superciliary stripes; cheeks and lores creamy-buff streaked with dark brown. Wing — axillaries white, speculum purplish-blue with no greenish gloss. Rump and upper tail coverts — darker brown than back and with greenish gloss. (iv). Sex? River Avon, Christchurch, date ? Parentage ? Upperparts — similar in shade to the Grey Duck but the feathers of the back and mantle with buffish borders giving a mottled appearance similar to the female Mallard. Head — as Grey Duck but striped appearance much less noticeable. Wing — axillaries white, speculum purplish-blue as in Mailard. Underparts — as in Grey Duck but ground colour lighter and more prounounced mottling effect on the breast. (v). (ex Canterbury Museum). Female, male Grey Duck x female Mallard, Ist generation. Masterton, 20th June, 1944. Upperparts — mantle, back and rump as (i). Wing — axiilaries creamy-white, speculum green as in Grey Duck. Head — cheeks and lores light buff finely streaked with brown; crown very dark brown, stripe from bill through eye, so marked in the Grey Duck, very poorly differentiated from the crown in this bird. _ Uunderparts — similar to (i) but brown centres to the feathers even less notice- able, appearing rather more like fine streaks. Ground colour of upper breast darker and brown centres rather more prominent. Ground colour of belly and vent darker than breast with conspicuous brown centres. _ Generally speaking it seems that the feather pattern of these hybrids is similar to that of the female Mallard, but that the colour is as dark as the Grey Duck and sometimes even darker. The distinctive striped head pattern of the Grey Duck is in all cases non-existent or very faint. The speculums vary from pure Mallard or Grey Duck to intermediate types. The duck populations on the lakes at Rotorua have been subjected to releases based on empirical crossings in captivity, including progeny resulting from Mallard x Grey Duck crosses. In one such experiment the majority of the first generation of this cross threw back to the Mallard; the few that threw back to the Grey Duck were then crossed again with pure bred Grey Ducks, of the 100 progeny reared from this back-cross. 75% threw back again to the Mallard and only 25% to the Grey Duck. Unfor- tunately it seems that no exact descriptions were kept of these birds, but it seems probable that the distinctive breeding plumage of the male Mallard largely disappears in these hybrid populations, the resemblance being more to the female Mallard. Some hybrids, however, as specimen (ii), may have a greenish gloss to the head. Hybridization in other areas On certain islands in Micronesia there exists a population of ducks which were separated by Salvadori (Bull. B.O.C. No. 20, p.l.) as Anas 1958 113 Vol. 78 oustaleti, the Mariana Mallard or Oustalet’s Duck. According to Marquis Yamashina (Pacific Science 11: 121-124) these populations are in fact the result of hybridization between Grey Ducks reaching the islands from the south, and Mallards from the north. If this is so, then there exists in | Micronesia a feral population of ducks of identical parentage to the New Zealand hybrids. It is of interest to note that Salvadori’s description as quoted by J. C. Phillips (A. Nat. Hist. of the Ducks 2: 53. 1923) agrees very closely in many respects with that given under (iii) above, particularly as regards the speculum and the greenish gloss to the brownish-black crown. On the Avian Hosts of the Leech Theromyzon (Protoclepsis) tessellata (O.F. Muller) by Mr. Bryan L. SAGE Received 3lst January, 1958 This leech is well known as a parasite of ducks and other aquatic water- fowl and waders in Europe and to a lesser extent in the British Isles. Harding (1910) states that it is of rare occurrence in the British Isles, but there is ample evidence that it is in fact widespread. Mann (1951) states that there are records from Perthshire, Edinburgh, Inverness, Lake District, North Wales, Berkshire, Isle of Man, Devonshire, Somerset, Surrey, Kent, Yorkshire, Suffolk and Shropshire. In addition Brightwell (1842) found it in Norfolk ; Johnston (1865) catalogues a specimen from Holy Island Lough; Dalyell (1853) records it from Berwickshire, Linlithgow and the island of Bute; Harding (1910) records it from Cambridgeshire and Rollinson et a/ (1950) give records from Renfrewshire and West Wales, and Brown (1935) states that it is common in Cheshire. In Ireland Thompson (1844) records it from Tuam and Lough Neagh, and Scharff (1898) from Clonbrock, Co. Dublin, and Co. Clare. The vast majority of these records refer to the leech in the free state and not in a host. | When parasitising a host tessellata is usually to be found in the nasal cavities, larynx, trachea and oesophagus. Its presence in these situations is by no means always lethal, particularly to an adult host, the leeches — dropping off when gorged with blood. Death may be caused on occasions particularly to young ducklings, etcetera, and is usually brought about by choking due to a large accumulation of leeches. A case of this nature is described by Mégnin (1905). Infestation on this scale is probably primarily due to the presence of large numbers of young leeches which have entered the host on the parent, which is known to carry as many as 200 young, each of which require three blood meals to reach maturity. Less frequently the site of infestation may be the eye and some instances of this will be mentioned later. There are several reports of the activities of this leech as a pest in water- fowl collections. Weltner (1887) states that at a farm at Wanzenau, near Strasbourg, the ducks and geese were nearly all destroyed by tessellata which had attached itself to the walls of the oesophagus. Biichli (1924) reports it from the nostrils of ducks in which the brain and its membranes Vol. 78 114 1958 had congested blood vessels. Rollinson et al (1950) describe a case in Berkshire in which the cause of death of young ducklings was attributed to the presence of tessalleta in the nasal cavities ; they also state that it has been found in the nostrils of a South American Steamer Duck (Tachyeres sp.) at Slimbridge, which subsequently died. A most interesting case of infestation of the eye is reported by Roberts (1955) who gives full details of a severe outbreak of kerato-conjunctivitis in captive Chinese Geese (Anser cygnoides L.) in north-west Shropshire. A specimen of this leech in the collection at the British Museum (Natural History) was taken from a Chinese Goose on the River Serpentine in London in 1880. Christiansen (1939) reports severe eye and nostril infestation in geese in Denmark, and also gives a remarkable record of it being found in the eye of a.man. When we come to consider wild birds as hosts there are somewhat fewer records, although a search of the European literature would doubtless reveal a number. Mann (1951) states that a specimen was taken from the eye of a Great Crested Grebe (Pcdiceps cristatus cristatus (L)) at Shelve Pool, Shropshire, in 1943. In the collection at the British Museum (Natural History) is a specimen taken from the mouth of a Bittern (Botaurus stellaris stellaris (L.)) shot in Hampshire by J. E. Harting in 1890. So far as the ducks are concerned, Mann (1951) states that all the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos L.) ducklings from the Blagdon Reservoir, Somerset, examined by Miss Fraser of Bristol in 1948 were infected. De Guerne (1892) obtained specimens from the breast plumage of migra- tory Wigeon (Anas penelope L.) and Teal (Anas crecca crecca L.) Blanchard (1893) describes two examples from the nasal cavities of the Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis (L.)). Christiansen (1939) records it from the Coot (Fulica atra atra L.) Brown (1935) mentions a small specimen found in the nostrils of a Curlew (Numenius arquata arquata (L.)) from Loch Rhynd, Perthshire. F inally, an adult Common Gull (Larus canus canus L.) found dead by the writer at Hilfield Park Reservoir, Hertfordshire, on 10th November, 1957, had specimens of tessellata in the nasal cavities and behind one eye. Footnote: R. H. Poulding British Birds xlvii: 306-307) has recorded this leech from a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus argentatus Pontoppidan) obtained at Blagdon Reservoir, Somerset, on 13th February, 1954. This Paper was not seen before the above communication was in press. Acknowledgements oe are due to the Royal Veterinary College and Hospital for confirming the identification of Theromyzon tessellata. | am indebted also to Dr. A. R. Jennings of the Department of Animal Pathology, Univer- sity of Cambridge, for drawing my attention to certain references in the literature. ] must also acknowledge the kind assistance of the librarians of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the British Museum (Natural History). References :— Blanchard, R. (1893). Courtes notices sur les Hirudinees, xviii. Encore la Glossiphonia tessellata. Bull. Soc. Zool. de France, xviii, p. 197. Brightwell, T. (1842). On Hirudo geometra, Linn., and some other species of British Freshwater Leeches. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ix: 11-15. 1958 15 Vol. 78 Brown, F. J. (1935). Year Book of the North-Western Naturalists’ Union. p. 30. Biichli, K. (1924). Tijdschr. Diergeneesk, 51: 153. Christiansen, M. (1939). Z.Infekt Kr. Haustiere, 55: 75. Dalyell, Sir J. G. (1853). The Powers of the Creator displayed in the Creation. vol. 2. London. Guerne, J. De. (1892) Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6), x: 117-120. Harding, W. A. (1910). Parasitology 3: 130. Johnston, G. (1865). A C atalogue of the British Non-parasitical Worms in the British Museum. Mann, K. H. (1951). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 4: 956-961. Mégnin, P. (1905). Arch de Parasitologie (Paris), x: 71-76. Roberts, H. E. (1955). Leech Infestation of the Eye in Geese. Veterinary Record 12th March, 1955: 203-204. Rollinson, D. H. L. et a/(1955). Deaths in Young Ducklings Associated with Infestations of the Nasal Cavity with Leeches. Veterinary Record 15th April, 1950: 225-227. Scharff, R. F. (1898). /rish Naturalist. vii: 188-194. Thompson, W. (1844). Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. xiii: 437. Weltner, W. (1887). Sitzungsber.Ges.naturf.Berlin. p. 85. A ringed Shag inland in Kent and a note on its cause of death by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON Received Ist April, 1958 On 3rd February, 1958 an immature female Shag, Phalacrocorax aristotelis (Linnaeus) was found dead on the Kent Wildfowlers’ Reserve near Sevenoaks. It had been ringed (Brit. Mus. Ring No. 135. 143) by the Northumberland and Durham Natural History Society on 6th July, 1957 on the Farne Islands as a nestling, and had therefore moved 310 miles S.S.E. (Data per R. Spencer, Bird Ringing Committee, Brit. Trust for Ornith.). That this distance represents in fact its actual movements is of course very unlikely. On examination it was found to be very wasted and its cloaca contained a large calcareous plaque, measuring approximately 5O x 30 mm. and at its thickest point about 5 mm. In the same situation there was a single large intestinal worm which Dr. D. O. Morgan, of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Cambridge University reported upon as follows :— **This is a pseudophyllidean cestode and almost certainly Ligula intes- tinalis — a species found in diving and wading birds. The larval stage is found in fresh water fish.’’ The gut above the plaque was grossly dilated. The bird had died as a result of intestinal obstruction, a condition favoured by a diet rich in calcium. This state of affairs is associated with marked dehydration, indeed may have been preceded by it. It is possible that these serious consequences may be determined by an unduly pro- longed flight under circumstances which precluded the bird from feeding. A further inland example of this species, an adult, was seen on an adjacent ballast water in the same area between 15th March and 22nd. The occurrence of quite exceptional numbers of inland Shags in S.E. England in the early part of this year is noted by Mr. I. J. Ferguson-Lees, in the 2nd and 3rd issues of ‘‘British Birds’’ Vol. L1, under ‘‘Recent Reports and News,’’ : Vol. 78 116 1958 On the Validity of Calandrella cinerea niveni (Macdonald), 1952, described from Natal, South Africa by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 10th February, 1958 In his revision of the South African races of the Red-capped Lark Calandrella cinerea (Gmelin), Macdonald recognised five races from the ‘sub-continent, two of which he described as new to science (vide Annals of the Transvaal Museum, vol. 22, 1, 1952, pp. 29 — 32). One of the new races, C.c. niveni (Macdonald), 1952: Gezabuzo, near Pietermaritzburg, Natal, has already been the subject of some discussion, being synonymized with C. c. anderssoni (Tristram), 1869: Otjimbingwe, Damaraland, South- ‘West Africa, by the S.A.O.S. List Committee, Ostrich, vol. xxvii, 4, 1956, p. 179, and even more recently by White, Bull. B.O.C., vol. 77, 7, 1957, p. 120. I now believe that such an opinion is incorrect and that C. c. niveni is well-founded, though the characters given for it in the original diagnosis are inadequate and do not serve to differentiate it from its true subspecific affines. Macdonald’s arrangement of the South African races of this widely distributed lark is not entirely substantiated by the large new collections now held in South African museums, and it is clear that much work still remains to be done. It is not my intention to review the South African races of C. cinerea, but I would submit the following points: (a) C. c. cinerea (Gmelin), 1789: Cape Town, South Africa, is not a greyish race confined to the south-western districts of the Cape Province, but enjoys a wide range throughout most of the province, with the exception of northern Little Namaqualand and the eastern districts, where other forms replace It. (b) C. c. witputzi (Macdonald), 1952: Witputs Police Camp, southern Great Namaqualand, South-West Africa, is, as already noted by White, loc. cit., a weakly marked race with a much more circumscribed range than given to it by its describer, who associated with it most of the popu- lations of the nominate race! I do not entirely agree with White that it should be made a synonym of C. c. cinerea because of the valid distinction of the rather paler and more pinkish sand-coloured upper-parts (about wood brown, Ridgway, Color Standards and Coler Nomenclature, 1912, pl. xl). The range of C. c. witputzi is still imperfectly known, and I would only associate the populations of northern Little Namaqualand, Great Namaqualand and southern Damaraland under this trinomen. (c) C. c. anderssoni does not have the breeding range accorded to it by Macdonald, and it is still known mainly from birds shot from itinerant flocks in the regions extending from central Damaraland to western Southern Rhodesia and the northern Transvaal. White, Joc. cit., gives the first records for Northern Rhodesia of specimens taken from a transient flock at Monze, in the Southern Province, in December, 1956. Breeding material of this, the darkest race of the Red-capped Lark, from Lake Ngami and the -Makarikari Pan in the collections of the Durban Museum and National Museum of Southern Rhodesia suggests that C. c. anderssoni may be a highly localized form breeding on alluvium and dark soils, as found in -Ngamiland, just as C. c. ongumaensis Grant and Mackworth-Praed, 1955: -Onguma, Etosha Pan, northern Damaraland, is an ecological race of the saline pans of northern South-West Africa and Bechuanaland, and — ee eS Oe - ys ea Ni i il it i et PA FAS Ls lan elites. | wt 1958 117 Vol. 78 C. c. spleniata (Strickland), 1852: Walvis Bay, Namib, South-West Africa, a race of the white Namib sands. The finding of whitish (C. c. ongumaensis) and dark (C. c. anderssoni) birds at Ondonga, Ovamboland, ‘by the German collector, Hoesch, is actually of little taxonomic signifi- cance, because all populations of C. cinerea are highly nomadic when not actually breeding. The finding of two and even three races of the Red- capped Lark in a single area is simply a measure of the extreme plasticity of the species coupled with a pronounced vagous tendency on the part of virtually all races. (d) C. c. saturatior Reichenow, 1904: Kondeland, south- western Tanganyika Territory, breeds throughout the plateau of Southern Rhodesia and immediately adjacent Portuguese East Africa. It is not listed by Macdonald, though since admitted to the South African list by the S.A.O.S. List Committee. C. c. niveni was separated from C. c. cinerea (the race C. c. witputzi as understood by Macdonald) as being ‘‘Darker . . . General colour of upper parts about light sepia, or a shade greyer, or less chromatic, than snuff brown. Cap and breast patches are correspondingly darker.’’. and its range given as the ‘‘Eastern Cape Province from Port Elizabeth, north- east to Natal.’’ As noted above, the race has already been placed in the synonymy of C. c. anderssoni by the S.A.O.S. List Committee, a decision _reached on account of the fact that the Committee could not differentiate many specimens from the eastern parts of the range of C. c. anderssoni, as given by Macdonald, from topotypical C. c. niveni. I have recently compared new material of C. c. andersscni from the northern Bechuana- land breeding grounds and western Southern Rhodesia with good series from the eastern Cape Province, Orange Free State, Natal and the south- eastern Transvaal, and find the populations separated as C. c. niveni to consist of distinctly larger and lighter coloured birds. 13 g¢ of C. c. niveni have wings 96.5 — 104 (99.4), 4 99 91 — 96 (92.5) mm., as against 6 gg 90.5 — 96.5 (94.6), 9 99 85.5 — 92 (87.9) mm. in C. c. anderssoni. C.-c. saturatior with wings in 7 3g 90.5 — 96.5 (94.1), and C. c. williamsi Clancey of the Kenya Colony highlands with the wings in 9 3g: 91.5 — 97 (94.0) mm. agree very closely in size with C. c. andersscni, but 4 §¢ of C. c. spleniata in the Durban Museum average slightly smaller, thus — 91.5 — 93.5 (92.4) mm. 12 g¢ of C. c. cinerea in our collections have wings of 92.5 — 99 (96.3) mm., and 7 gd C. c. witputzi 93 — 98.5 (95.4) mm. C. c. ongumaensis I have not measured, but it is not likely to differ significantly in size from - any of the races here mentioned, with the exception of C. c. niveni. C. c. niveni does not resemble C. c. andersseni in colouration, but is intermediate in this respect between C. c. cinerea of most of the Cape Province and C. c. saturatior of Southern Rhodesia and adjacent Portuguese East Africa northwards. Compared with C. c. anderssoni, C. c. niveni in breeding dress appears much paler and more uniform on the upper-parts due to the smaller and less dark feather centres and the reduced amount or absence of russet in the nuchal and mantle feathering. In C. c. anderssoni the dark centres to the back feathers are between sepia and black, in C. c. niveni pure sepia (Ridgway, pl. xxix); the reddish portions of the feather fringes in the former race russet (pl. xv.), in the latter snuff brown (pl. xxix). While not always immediately apparent in the worn breeding dress, the flight and tail feathers of C. c. anderssoni are actually substanti- ally darker than those of C. c. niveni, being almost black edged with russet, Vol. 78 118 1958 and not ligh sepia edged with fawn. C. c. anderssoni stands quite apart from C. c. cinerea, C. c. niveni, C. c. saturatior, etc., in its bold black and russet striated upper surface, dark wings and tail. It is appreciably smaller than C. c. niveni, though not distinguishable in size from the immediate vicinal forms. C. c. niveni most closely resembles C. c. saturatior in the colouration of the upper-parts. A careful comparison of breeding specimens of the two forms reveals that they are remarkably close, C. c. niveni being only slightly lighter, duller and more uniform on the upper-parts, owing to the reduction in the size of the dark feather centres and the amount of red on the fringes. The head-top is rather darker, corresponding to russet as against tawny (pl. xv). C. c. saturatior is distinguishable in the breeding dress from its racial congeners by the rich blackish sepia and tawny diced mantle; in size it is similar to C. c. anderssoni, C. c. williamsi, etc., but it is smaller than C. c. niveni. The nominate race is somewhat smaller than C. c. niveni, and paler ‘and more uniformly coloured above, owing to a further reduction in the size of the dark mesial markings to the feathers and the virtual disappear- ance of red on the nape and mantle. The fringes of the mantle feathers are about tawny-olive or between tawny-olive and Saccardo’s umber (pl. xxix). C. c. witputzi is very similar to the nominate race, but, as noted above, is still rather paler and somewhat more pinkish dorsaily, the feather fringes of the nape and mantle corresponding to wood brown. We can conclude that C. c. niveni is a nomenclaturally recognisable race on both structural and colour characters. It is the largest of the southern African forms, and is intermediate in colouration and distribution between C. c. cinerea and C. c. saturatior. It is not a synonym of the much darker C. c. anderssoni, as listed by the S.A.O.S. List Committee and ‘White. The range of C. c. niveni can now be defined as the eastern Cape Province, Orange Free State, Basutoland, Natal and Zululand, and the Transvaal. It intergrades to the north of its ascertained range with C. c. saturatior, and to the south-west with C. c. cinerea. With perhaps the sole exception of C. c. anderssoni, the pattern of — variation presented by the South African races of the Red-capped Lark is orthodox: pale populations in the west and south-west in association with increasing aridity and areas of whitish sand and sait-encrusted ground bordering dry saline pans: and darker birds in the moister eastern and south-eastern grassed highland biomes. Records of C. c. anderssoni, the darkest race, from across the northern parts of the sub-continent, from central Damaraland to Pietersburg, northern Transvaal, appear initially to distort the otherwise orderly sequence of graded geographical change from east to west in this highly plastic species. The wide range generally accorded C. c. anderssoni is deceptive, and I believe that it is no more than a localized race breeding on alluvium and dark coloured soils centred on Ngamiland, which is subject to considerable dispersal in flocks when not actually breeding. For the loan of material | am grateful to the Directors of the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo, and the Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg. I am also indebted to my colleague, Mr. John G. Williams, Ornithologist of the Coryndon Museum, Nairobi, for the gift of a series of C. c. williamsi from the Kenya highlands. He), eae ; a a Sort hea? AOE 1 EE) oy Notices BACK NUMBERS OF THE *“* BULLETIN” Back numbers of the ‘‘Builetin’’ can be obtained at 2/6 each. Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available. Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. 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BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB PURCHASED z Oct 1958 on al 3 Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON Volume 78 October No. 7 1958 “a OOM UO cod ¥ : oy) iss gar ide, elie» soiely Rf Fe ote MR Oe a VCCI RARE “TAAL Lats (Se — be P: ;. . i J +h rf 4 ‘ A ah >. 7 e Fi 4 ¥ 3 % "9 ; = > ee wae} « a As i > r 7 rn a i ' , - es 2 Co ~s. Sak - » oe os 1958 119 Vol. 78 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB oe Volume 78 (OA, } { 4 & bs 8 ; ie a Number 7 Published: Ist October, 1958 The five hundred and sixty-sixth meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, on Tuesday, 16th September, 1958, following a dinner at 6.30 p.m. Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACWORTH-PRAED. Members present, 29; Guests, 4; Total: 33. Some Activities of a Wildfowlers’ Association 1958 is being celebrated as the Golden Jubilee Year of the Wildfowlers’ Association of Great Britain and Dr. Jeffery Harrison showed a colour film based on the activities of one of the 77 local clubs—the Kent Wild- fowlers’ Association. While including some shots of the marshes and wildfowling in progress, the film stressed the importance of conservation and research. _ Shots taken on a ballast water reserve showed the use of nesting rafts by Canada Geese and duck traps in operation for ringing. The successful nesting of Little Ringed Plover on this reserve was also filmed. Co- operation with the Wildfowl Trust was emphasized and the technique of viscera extraction for food and parasitic studies was shown, as well as some sequences taken with the Trust’s rocket-netting team. The importance of examining the bag for ringed birds, unusual varieties or hybrids was also shown. Dr. Harrison pointed out that although we had heard much of the *“New Naturalists’’ since the war, he did not think naturalists had changed so much as wildfowlers, to whom the term ‘‘New Wildfowlers’’ really applied. In the discussion, Mr. Max Nicholson said that the film gave an excellent idea of what was meant by the ‘‘New Wildfowlers’’ and the co- Operation which was being achieved. He gave a word of warning about the future of Canada Geese and the problem of the Mute Swan was also mentioned. Vol. 78 120 1958 Snake and Lizard Predators of Birds by CAPTAIN CHARLES R. S. PITMAN Received 8th November, 1957 These notes are almost entirely concerned with Africa. Part III SNAKES (viii) Others This section deals with twelve species, preying to a certain extent on birds, which are not included in any of the preceding categories. They all belong to the Colubridae, but can be separated into two groups — the harmless solid-toothed, a few of which constrict their prey ; and the venomous back-fanged ; five of the former and seven of the latter. Solid-toothed (a) Coluber florulentus, Southern Flowered Snake. Corkill (*) p. 16, ‘‘small birds have been noted as prey.’’ (b) Spalerosophis diadema, Diademed Whip Snake. Corkill (*) p. 16, ‘‘Rodents and birds are the usual prey.’”’ (c) Boaedon fuliginosus (until recently Boaedon lineatus), Brown House Snake. Owen (in litt.) says he has ‘‘found Boaedon lineatus in our hedge in Khartoum after young sparrows.’”’ Pitman (7) p. 75, ‘‘on occasion it will prey on birds,’’ and on several occasions he has found a small bird in the stomach of one of these snakes. Boaedon is a constrictor and simultaneously as it seizes its prey the snake envelops it in its coils with a movement too swift for the human eye to — follow. Pitman (7) p. 75, also refers to Fitzsimons (in South Africa) having found a house snake in a canary’s cage after it had consumed the rightful — Pitman (*) p. 94, “‘is not averse to helping itself to the weaver-birds, both adult and juvenile, which build their nesting colonies in its habitat.’ But its diet is almost exclusively restricted to cold-blooded prey, and of the hundreds of stomachs he has examined to find bird remains was a rare occurrence. In fact, this is one of the snakes which birds do not appear to recognize as an enemy. R. E. Symons (in Jitt.) from Natal says that the ‘‘green tree snake definitely preys on birds.’’ As he also specifically mentions Dispholidus typus (which is a green tree snake) and the green mamba in his communi- occupant. (d) Philothamnus irregularis, Northern Green Snake. cation, this reference must be to Philothamnus irregularis. 4 z (e) Pseudaspis cana, Mole Snake. . Rose (*”) p. 265: ‘‘will eat eggs, a large specimen being able to cope ¥ with an ordinary fowl’s egg which it swallows whole’’; and (78) p. 87: — ‘“are fond of eggs, of fowls as well as of cobras.”’ ! 1958 Pal Vol. 78 Back-fanged (f) Telescopus dhara ( = obtusus), Large-eyed Snake. Corkill (*) p. 19, records finding two sparrow nestlings in the stomach of a specimen which was being mobbed by a number of sparrows on a wall 30 feet above the ground; also (in Jitt.) that this species preys very commonly on sparrows. (g) Telescopus semiannulatus, African Tiger Snake. Pitman (7) p. 133, records finding the remains of a small bird in a Northern Rhodesia specimen. Tonides (in /itt.) found an adult Hirundo sp. in a Tanganyika tiger snake. Rose (?") p. 280: ‘‘seizes roosting birds, holding them until the venom takes effect’’; also (78) p. 114, says the tiger snake is nocturnal feeding mainly on geckos and other lizards ‘‘but will seize roosting birds.’’ Colley, writing from Tanganyika, records finding one of these snakes in a bird cage having swallowed an adult dioch (Quelea). (h) Crotaphopeltis hetamboeia, White-lipped Snake (also known as Red-lipped or Herald Snake). Mr. H. M. Millar (in Jitt.) tells how in South Africa he killed a red-lipped snake which had swallowed the two nestlings from the nest of a Paradise Flycatcher (Tchitrea). (i) Psammophylax (lately Trimerorhinus) tritaeniatus, White-bellied Grass Snake or Striped Schaapsteker (of South Africa). Bogert (1°) p. 78, records a Tanganyika specimen ‘‘contained a recently hatched bird of a small species.’’ **(j) Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus rostratus, Eastern Brown Beaked Snake. Colley, from Tanganyika, records finding one of these snakes, about three feet in length, at a dioch (Quelea) nesting site with four young diochs in its stomach.’’ (k) Psammophis sibilans, Hissing Sand Snake. | Cansdale (*) p. 32, states birds are included in the diet of sand snakes. Corkill (*) p. 21, records a specimen which had ‘‘an unidentified bird in its mouth.’’ Loveridge (1%) p. 274, ‘‘bird quills in stomach of an Nchisi (Nyasaland) reptile’’, and (7%) p. 39, ‘‘occasionally birds’’ referring to Fleck’s (1894) record of a tit, Parus afer being taken. There is, however, an abundance of evidence that the sand snake is not normally a bird eater, and the few © instances known to the contrary are exceptions. The sand snake, which may attain a length in excess of five feet, is one of the species which birds do not regard as an enemy, and it can often be seen basking‘on the tops of bushes in the vicinity of weaver and bishop colonies and other birds’ nests without being molested. (1) Psammophis subtaeniatus, Stripe-bellied Sand Snake. Pitman (*) p. 157, includes birds in its diet. Loveridge (73) p. 53, recalls an incident where a stripe-bellied sand- snake was apparently lying in {wait for small waxbills (Lagonosticta). In _ captivity it will take small birds. General The Director of the Gold Coast (as it then was) Fisheries Department (in litt.): ‘“The only case I have seen of a snake taking a bird was on the Vol. 78 122 1958 River Dhensu, near Accra. A snake, which I did not identify, seized a well- grown pied crow (Corvus albus) in a tree overhanging the river and both fell struggling in the water. The snake lost the bird.’’ The snake was probably either Dispholidus typus or Dendroaspis viridis. Sir Charles Belcher (in /itt.) in Kenya, saw a snake enter the nest of a weaver Xanthophilus xanthops, which he had just examined and which contained young, sited at the tip of a very high slender, bamboo-like reed. By the time he got back to the nest the snake had disappeared and so had the nestlings. Stubbs (in litt.) describes how, when he was in the Southern Sudan, on several occasions one of his brooding ducks or hens was found dead in the morning, with their eggs missing and obvious snake tracks to be seen. The predator was almost certainly a cobra. In India, on the stony scrub-covered hillsides of the north-west frontier, — the writer — before he was interested in snakes — on several occasions — disturbed colubrids in the act of seizing nestlings. Isemonger (7°) p. 53, after 25 years of constant study of snakes in their wild state emphasizes how rarely — he cites four cases only — does one get the opportunity of witnessing a snake preying on birds. All field herpetologists will certainly agree. There is a general paucity of records of such predations which are probably not infrequent. LIZARDS Lizards as predators of birds, and their eggs, have already been partially dealt with vide Varanus niloticus ibid. 77 (8), a species which constitutes the principal lizard threat. In addition, there is (a) the Land Monitor, Varanus exanthematicus; (b) the larger Agamas ; and (c) the Giant One-horned Chameleon, Chamaeleo melleri. (a) Varanus exanthematicus. Little definite is known of the diet in the wild state of this relatively rare species, but it will, like Varanus niloticus, presumably prey on birds and their eggs as opportunity offers. In Afrikaans — Varanus lizards are called ‘leguuan.’ t Rose (#7) p. 196, quoting from a correspondent: ‘‘V.albigularis ¢ (= exanthematicus) in Damaraland . .. In the spring one can often see it ina tree at the side of a mistletoe in flower, waiting for sunbirds and bulbuls, which it sweeps into its mouth with its tail when they come to suck the nectar from the flowers. The leguuan has endless patience and will remain immovable for days at a good stand until a bird appears’’ (Bradfield). This note is from a reliable observer and provides an interesting account of — an aspect of the Land Monitor’s feeding behaviour, though one is inclined : to doubt the veracity of the statement ‘‘sweeps into its mouth.’’ The — action of tail and mouth no doubt are simultaneous. (b) Agamas. The large, wide-gaped agamas, Agama agama (the ¢ with © conspicuous orange head and tail) and Agama cyanogaster, formerly atricollis (the 4 with bright blue head and tail) are sometimes mobbed by ~ passerines, which suggests that they may occasionally be predacious on birds. rn Cawkell (°’) p. 686, seems to provide the only published record — an incident at Brikama, in Gambia, where he saw a 3 Agama agama, about — 1958 123 Vol. 78 ten inches long, run off with a Senegal Fire-finch, Lagonosticta senegala. (c) Chamaeleo melleri. This enormous chameleon, with an overall length of almost two feet, is capable of engulfing small birds of waxbill size in its huge mouth. Loveridge (7%) pp. 188-9 and plate 2 (fig. 1), has an extraordinary photograph taken by Mr. J. R. Lennon, in Nyasaland, of C. melleri with a Cordon Bleu, Uraeginthus bengalus in its mouth. Lennon also had a photo of a Senegal WaxbilJ, Lagonosticta rendalli being swallowed head first by one of these chameleons. The birds were not seized by the mouth, but were caught by the normal chameleon procedure of shooting out the long, glutinous tongue. Lennon’s decease has prevented fuller details being obtained. I am greatly indebted to all those who have so generously provided me with information based on their own experiences, or who have drawn my attention to relevant references. SUMMARY The larger arboreal snakes, as listed, and including all mambas, are habitual bird predators ; mambas, Dispholidus typus and Boiga blandingii can be ruthless raiders of weaver colonies. Cobras to a certain extent will prey on birds, but the three best known and most widely distributed African species exhibit a distinct liking for eggs — preferably fowls’ eggs when they can get them. Too little is known about the ringhals to express an opinion. The large Bitis vipers are not normally bird-eaters. The horned desert viper Cerastes habitually preys on birds, as also does the sand boa, Eryx colubrinus. Their semi-burrowing habits enable — to await their prey undetected. The egg-eater Dasypeltis is unique in feeding exclusively on birds’ eggs — and only if fresh. Pythons will feed on birds at almost any age. Of the twelve ‘‘Others’’ listed — Boaedon fuliginosus, Philothamnus irregularis, Pseudaspis cana, Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia, Rhamphiophis oxyrhynchus rostratus, and Psammophis sibilans do not normally prey on | birds. In the cases of Psammophylax tritaeniatus and Psammophis sub- taeniatus not enough is known to express an opinion. With reference to Coluber florulentus, Spalerosophis diadema, Telescopus dhara and Telescopus semiannulatus, it is likely that birds constitute a normal item in their diet. References :— 1 Cansdale, George. ‘‘ Reptiles of West Africa.’’ (Penguin Books), 1955. 2 Pitman, Capt. Charles R. S. ‘*A Guide to the Snakes of Uganda,’’ 1938. 3 Corkill, N. L. ‘‘ Notes on Sudan Snakes,’’ August, 1935. 4 Tasman, Father K. ‘‘Every man’s hand against him.’’ The Rhodesian Graphic, November, 1953. 5 Loveridge, Arthur. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Vol. LXXIV, No. 7, October, 1933. 6 Loveridge, Arthur, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zo6l. Vol. LX XIX, No. 5, November, 1936. * Loveridge, Arthur. ‘* A Guide to the Snakes of the Nairobi District,’’ January, 1946. 8 Van Someren, V. G. L. ‘‘ Days with Birds,’’ 1956. ® Villiers, A. ‘‘Les Serpents de l’Ouest Africain,’’ 1950. 10 Hewitt, John. Annals Transvaal Museum, II, 1910. Vol. 78 124 1958 11 Loveridge, Arthur. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zo6l. Vol. XCI, No. 4, December, 1942. 12 Loveridge, Arthur. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zodél. Vol. XCV, No. 2, December, 1944. 13 Loveridge, Arthur. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Vol. 110, No. 3, July, 1953. 14 Loveridge, Arthur, ‘‘The Snakes of Tanganyika Territory (not dated, but pe to 1930). 15 Stones, Dr. P. B. ‘‘The Nigerian Field,’’ Vol. XIV, No. 4, October, 1949. a8 Roberts, Austin. ‘‘The Birds of South Africa,’’ 1940. 17 Rose, Walter. ‘‘The Reptiles and Amphibians of Southern Africa,’’ 1950. 18 Rose, Walter. ‘‘Snakes — mainly South African, 1955.’’ 19 Bogert, C. M. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. His. Vol. LXXVII, Art. 1, 1940. 20 Schmidt, Karl P. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. His. Vol. XLIX, Art.1, Part Il, Snakes, 1923. 21 Curry-Lindahl, Dr. Kai. Ann. du Mus. Roy. du Congo Belge, 1950. #2 Loveridge, Arthur. ‘‘ Forest Safari,’’ 1956. *3 Loveridge, Arthur. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zo6l. Vol LXXXVII, No. 1, 1940. *4 Percival, A. Blayney. Jour. E. A. and U. Nat. His. Soc, No. 10, 1916. 25 Loveridge, Arthur. ‘‘A Guide to the Snakes of the Nairobi District.’’ East Africa Nat. His. Soc. 1946. 26 Isemonger, R. M. ‘‘Snakes and Snake Catching in Southern Africa’’, 1955. 2? Cawkell, E. M. Ibis 99 (4), October, 1957. 28 Smith, Malcolm. ‘‘The British Amphibians and Reptiles,’’ 1951. A New Race of the Desert Lark from Egypt by Dr. L. HorvATH Received 12th March, 1958 Ammomanes deserti borosi subsp.nov. Description: A conspicuously greybacked Desert Lark, not brown-grey, like the nominate form. Whole upper-parts, including scapulars and all S$p. 72, Panes A isabellina pein oI deserti Bills of Desert Larks the wing-coverts, light mouse-grey, without any trace of yellowish-brown grey colour. It is very distinct from the series of the nominate form collected by myself at Asswan and the series of A. d. isabellina Tem- minck I have collected between Suez and Cairo. Reddish-brown fringes to primaries and tail-feathers are darker and duller in a great extent, not yellowish, like the nominate form. Under-parts are the same as in the nominate form. Bill is deeper especially the lower mandible; it on the whole is more curved than in the nominate or isabellina forms, especially the tip of the upper mandible. It is interesting to note that the distance between the tip and the junction of the two halves of the lower jaw is 1-2 mm. shorter than in Ammomanes deserti deserti or A. d. isabellina. (See figures). Distribution: Only known from the agriculturally cultivated oasis, Bir Abbad, in the Arab Desert 20 kilometers from the Nile about on the 25 aN. latitude, Egypt. Type: In the Hungarian National Museum of Natural History, register number 58.150.1. An adult female collected on an oasis, Bir Abbad, in 1958 125 Vol. 78 the Arab Desert 20 kilometers east from the Nile about on the 25° N., Egypt, by Dr. L. Horvath, on 29th October, 1957. The type locality is 25° 02’ N., 33° 04’ E. Measurements: wing, 106 mm.; tail, 68 mm.; tarsus, 24 mm.; bill from skull, 13 mm. Remarks: The deeper and more curved, that is, stronger bill and the grey colour of the upper-parts refer to the effects of its environment. The soil of its habitat is more solid and the colour of the oozy soil of the oasis where it lives is grey. I have pleasure in naming this new Desert Lark Ammomanes deserti borosi in honour of Dr. I. Boros, herpetologist, Chief-Director of the Hungarian National Museum in recognition of his kindness to appointing me as a member of the Museum’s first expedition to Africa. Two New Races of Larks from the Bechuanaland Protectorate by Miss MAry L. PATERSON Received 4th April, 1958 Certhilauda albofasciata bathoeni: New race Discription: Compared with C. a. kalahariae O. —Grant, overall more rufous, the edges of feathers of the back, the secondaries and wing coverts buffy, not greyish white. The breast and belly deeper rufous, the ear coverts darker, the dark centres of the feathers of the back less distinct, merging more into the general rufous colour. Much ligher in all above respects than C. a. baddleyi from Kanye. Type: An adult male N.M.31035 from 57 miles east of Kakia, B.P. 24°16’S : 23°24’E. C. S. Barlow, 1957 Expedition. 15.6.57. Taken on open ae grassland on red kalahari sand. Gonads enlarged, coming up to ree Measurements: A series of 6 males and 8 females. Males W.88—94. Av. 91.7; Females W. 81-84 Av. 82.8. Distribution: Only so far known from a belt of open grassland from some 30 to 75 miles east of Kakia on the Kanye road merging into kalahariae westwards between Kakia and 50 miles east of Kakia, there being a break in distribution eastwards owing to a wide belt of unsuitable country west — of Kanye where on suitable ground C. a. baddleyi occurs. There are also two specimens in the British Museum (Natural History) collected on grass- land, 32 miles north of Fort Rietfontein which agree with topotypical C. a. bathoeni whereas the ‘‘Pan’’ birds from Fort Rietfontein are C. a. Kalahariae. Mrs. B. P. Hall of the British Museum (Natural History) who kindly examined these birds for me suggests that the range of C. a. bathoeni is probably fairly wide in the Kalahari where suitable grasslands are found and that it is ecologically but not necessarily geographically separated from the ‘‘Pan’’ race. Unlike C. a. kalahariae which was closely associated with the salty pans © characteristic of the area west of Kakia, this race occurred in the more Open patches of grassland with grass up to 3ft. high. Remarks: Named after the Paramount Chief of the Banwaketse, Bathoen Il, O.B.E., who kindly granted permission for the expedition to operate in his Territory. Vol. 78 126 1958 My thanks are due to Mr. R. Smithers and Mrs. B. P. Hall for their help and advice. Calandrella cinerea millardi: New race. Description: By far the palest of all the races of C. cinerea characterised by great loss of red pigment. In this race the upper parts have an over-all greyish appearance compared with C. c. spleniata which is in comparison buffy. The centres of the feathers of the upper parts, ashy brown, the feather edges grey with only a very faint trace of buff. The crown, sides of breast and upper tail coverts rufous with grey edges to the feathers giving a general greyer appearance as compared to the darker rufous in all other races. The basic rufous colour of the crown of C. c. spleniata corresponding to Villalobos Colour Atlas OOS 11°9. In this new race corresponding to OOS 7°13. Type: Adult female N.M.31095 from Chawe pan, 10 miles north east of Tsane, Bechuanaland Protectorate. C. S. Barlow, 1957 expedition 5.6.57. Wing 88, tail 62, culmen 14, in fresh plumage. Measurements: A series of 12 males and 12 females; Males W. 90-97 Av. 93.5; Females W. 86-90 Av. 88.7. Distribution: The south west Kalahari from Tsabong, Tsane, Kukong as far west as Kakia on open short grassy pans on calcarious ground. Also recorded from Mumpswe on the northern edge of the Makarikari Pan, normally in parties on similar ground. Remarks: Specimens taken at Mumpswe in January, 1957 were in parties with C. c. anderssoni. As yet we have no evidence as to either of these races being resident in the Mumpswe area, as this species is known to exhibit considerable local movement. M. P. Stuart Irwin reports that during a visit to Mumpswe in October during the early part of the visit no Red-cap Larks were seen but quite suddenly large numbers of C. c. anderssoni appeared ; during this visit no paler specimens were observed in the area. Neither of these races have been found breeding in the Mumpswe area; all specimens being in non- breeding condition. Named after Mr. John Millard, O.B.E., Divisional Commissioner (Northern Province) Bechuanaland Protectorate, who has assisted us in providing facilities for our work in the B.P. My thanks are due to Mr. C. M. N. White who has examined a series of C. c. millardi and has suggested they they be described. River Warbler in Switzerland by Dr. JAMES M. HARRISON Received Ist March, 1958 In view of the fact that the River-Warbler, Locustella fluviatilis (Wolf) is regarded as of rare, or even doubtful occurence in Switzerland, the record of an example, a male, which I have in my collection and which was obtained on 3rd August, 1956 at Cossonay, in Canton Vaud is worthy of note. ; I received this specimen from the late Ernst Fliikiger, of Interlaken and have no reason whatsoever to question its authenticity. 1958 || Vol. 78 A Description of the Unrecorded Gape and Mouth Markings of the Locust Finch, Ortygospiza locustella with some Breeding and Other Notes by Mr. MICHAEL P. STUART IRWIN Received 21st April, 1958 Though the mouth and palatal markings of the Quail Finch, Ortygospiza atricollis have been described by St. Quintin (Avicultural Mag, Ser. 3, 1, 1910: 103-104) and by Serle (Oologists’ Rec. 18, 1938: 61-62), those of the Locust Finch, Ortygospiza locustella have remained unknown. The description that follows is from a nestling aged approximately 63 days from a nest found in late April at Chatsworth in the Midlands of Southern Rhodesia. The nest was visited twice daily from the time of hatching and the mouth and gape pattern had already attained their full development when the description was taken. Unfortunately three out of the four young disappeared on the sixth day, having evidently been removed by a predator and on account of this the remaining nestling was preserved in spirit. On either side of the gape are two flat red lobes protruding slightly from the corners of the mouth. The palatal pattern consists of two opposing black lines, bow shaped and running along the roof of the mouth at the edge of the palate and all but joining anteriorly. At right angles and at the base of these two lines, are two inverted bow-shaped lines, one on either side of the mouth at a level with the gape wattles, but only about one third the length of those on the palate. Within the opposing palatal lines the roof of the mouth is bright red, the colour extending down into the throat. The tongue has three raised red lobes which overlap its edges. The posterior pair are lozenge-shaped, and placed together along the axis of the tongue and the anterior and somewhat larger one is heart shaped. In Mashonaland and the Midlands of Southern Rhodesia, the Locust Finch is entirely restricted to moist dambos clothed in short wiry and tufty grass, with a probably preference for water logged sand veld rather than black cotton soil and is everywhere local. In the Chatsworth area of the Midlands, five nests were found between February and April; situated in dambos running down through light Brachystegia woodland, along the edges of which grew the tree Parinari ' mobola and often in or near the centres a few Syzygium guineense. In the same area the Quail Finch Ortygospiza atricollis also nested commonly, but invariably in drier situations where the grass was more even and less tufty, though nesting sites may become temporarily waterlogged after heavy rain. O. atricollis never however, builds in quite the moist situations favoured by O. locustella. Nest construction agreed with the description given by Vincent (/bis, 91, 1949 : 662-663). All five nests examined, and a sixth deserted and empty, had linings of short stripped grass stalks, the remainder of the nest being composed of dead grass. Judging by the state of incubation of different clutches this ornamental lining of grass is used when green and apparently added to during the earlier states of incubation. In four out of five nests, a few feathers were present and in the fifth some plant down. Although Vincent (loc. cit.) collected a male O. atricollis supposedly Vol. 78 128 1958 incubating, in O. locustella, the greater part of the duties would appear to be undertaken by the female, though positive observation was difficult and was confined to observing the sex of the bird flushed. During the day females could be flushed from the nests, in some cases accompanied by the male. Males always repaired to the nests about half an hour before sunset and roosted therein throughout the night. In the one nest observed that contained young, the female appeared to take the greater part of the responsibility in feeding. Both, however, appeared to feed together when off the nest after the young have hatched and probably so during in- cubation. Incubation would appear to begin before the completion of the clutch. A nest of C/7 showed a difference of between 3 to 4 days in the development of the embryos, in two C/6, the disparity was about 48 hours in one case, but not noticeable in another; the four young already mentioned, all hatched within 12 hours. Neuby-Varty (in Rhodesian Ornithological Society Nest Record Card Scheme), gives details of a clutch of C/8 from the Marandellas district, all in different stages of incubation and indicative of having commenced with the first or second egg. There is the possibility that incubation may start earlier in larger clutches. Clutch size is considerably higher than published information indicates, data for Southern Rhodesian clutches being as follows: 1 x C/8, 3 x C/7, 4x C/6, 1 x C/5, 2 x C/4, C/2, the last almost certainly incomplete. Chapin (Birds of the Belgian Congo 1954: 503), on limited material merged the race irisae Roberts, (Ann. Transy. Mus. 15, 1932: 33), with the monimate one, this action is fully born out by the sixteen adult specimens now available from Southern Rhodesia when compared with nineteen from Northern Rhodesia. Smithers, Irwin and Paterson (Check List of the Birds of Southern Rhodesia 1957: 154), regarded the species as an intra-tropical migrant appearing only during favourable years. Recent evidence seems to point to its being a resident with some local movement. J. Ross Peters (in Jitt.), is convinced that the species remains throughout the year in the Rusape district, recording it between October and June and during July at Timaru on the Rusape-Inyanga road at 6,000 feet. A movement at Rusape, causing their temporary disappearance seems to co-incide with the drying up of suitable moist grassland. B. V..Neuby-Varty (in. litt.), records small flocks in the Marandellas area throughout the dry season, with a flock of c.20 birds in August-September. On the Umvukwes Ranch, in the Banket district, the same correspondent records enormous variation in numbers from year to year independent of the average rainfall. Despite intensive collecting and field work commencing in 1950, the author did not encounter the species until the 1955-56 rainy season, at the same time R. W. Rankine and J. Ross Peters also first came upon it in the Headlands and Rusape districts. There is a distinct possibility that this and other moist grassland species such as the “‘cloud scraping’’ grass warblers Cisticola ayresii and Cisticola brunnescens, may be subject to cyclic fluctuations in numbers associated with changes in their habitat connected with rainfall. Since the 1951-52 rainy season, Southern Rhodesia has experienced a succession of above average rains, that were immediately preceded by a series of drought years. In a period of decreased rainfall, if 1958 129 Vol. 78 severe enough and extending over a number of seasons, as is normally the case, much of the potential available habitat must be rendered unsuit- able through the drying up of dambos, this would tend towards a sharp reduction in numbers of such a specialised species and confine it to even more circumscribed areas. There are, therefore, grounds for suggesting that the drought period immediately preceding the 1951-52 rainy season, would have been sufficient to reduce the population to a level when the species became sufficiently sparse and localised to avoid easy and obvious discovery and that a build up in numbers has subsequently occurred during the present period of increased rainfall. Both the Quail and Locust Finches are completely terrestrial in their mode of life, never even perching on grass stems. In this respect they must be unique among the Estrildine Waxbills and indeed weavers and Passerines in general. It is therefore unfortunate that several standard works illustrate them in a perching position which they never assume in life. A New Race of the Bunting Fringillaria capensis (L.) from Angola by Dr. GUSTAF RUDEBECK Received 12th April, 1958 The Rock Bunting Fringillaria capensis (L.) is widely distributed in South Africa, mainly south of the Cunene and Zambezi Rivers, but in the eastern parts of the continent it extends as far north as Nyasaland and adjoining parts of Portuguese East Africa. Just over a hundred years ago, Hartlaub (1857, p. lvii) included the species in his ‘‘Verzeichniss derjenigen Végel Westafricas, welche zugleich in Siidafrica angetroffen werden,’’ and on p. 152 in the same work there is a quotation (‘‘Angola: Henders.’’) to the effect that capensis occurs in Angola. However, Reichenow (1904-05, ili, p. 288) put this record in brackets, presumably because Barboza du Bocage (1881) did not mention the species at all. According to later authors (e.g., Sclater 1930, p. 830, and Praed & Grant 1955, p. 1094-1095), Fringillaria capensis does not occur north of the South West Africa — © Angola border. | In August — October, 1956, the present writer was fortunate to take part in the Visser — Transvaal Museum Expedition to Kaokoveld and Southern Angola. On this occasion, three specimens of Fringillaria capensis were collected at Lucira in South-western Angola. They belong to a race which is new to science and described herewith. Fringillaria capensis nebularum subspecies nova. Description: (head and neck) feathers at base of culmen white, turning into grey higher up on front. Top of head grey with dark streaks. A dark Stripe from nostrils along sides of crown, this stripe being broad and black in front but further backwards merging with the dark — but not pure black — streaks on top of head. Lores white, continuing in a stripe above eye to sides of neck. Another broader stripe below the eyes to lower ear- _ coverts is also white, as is the chin and the throat. The white areas are separated by a black stripe through the eye and another from base of lower Vol. 78 130 1958 mandible along the malar region; these stripes joining each other on sides of neck. Rather much grey showing on nape, where the dark shaft-streaks are narrower and partly indistinct. Back brown with faint traces of rufous but a considerable suffusion of grey, and with narrow (1 — 2 mm.), dark brown shaft-streaks. Upper rump uniformly olive to greyish brown. (Wings) upper wing-coverts rich chestnut, small coverts along edge of wing partly white. Primaries and secondaries uniformly brownish; the former, except the outer-most one, edged pale chestnut to whitish, the latter broadly edged chestnut. Hidden parts of inner webs of wing-feathers are paler. Under wing-coverts grey to whitish. (Under-parts) breast grey without admixture of brownish. The colour gradually becomes paler towards belly which is whitish. A slight creamy or buffish tinge is visible on belly and lower tail-coverts, being strongest on lower belly. Tibial feathering grey, tips of feathers often whitish. Tail dark and dull brown; very indistinct bars visible at certain angles. Outermost rectrix on outer web edged whitish or pale buff. Bi// horn, base of lower mandible paler. Legs and claws blackish. Measurements: Collector’s number Sex Wing Tail Bill jes ee fr.n. 134 3 80.5 63 14.5 13.5 9 135 (type of nebularum) 3 81.5 64 15.5 13.5 9.5 136 S 80 62 he, 13.5 10 Explanations to table: ‘Bill fr.s.’’ means length of bill from tip to skull, i.e. to the cranio- facial angle. **Bill fr.f.’? means length of bill from tip to feathers, i.e. length of exposed culmen. **Bill fr.n.’? means length of bill from tip to front edge of nostril. Type locality: Lucira, S.W. Angola. For description of habitat, see below. Date: 13th September, 1956. G. Rudebeck legit. The specimens have been compared with the series in the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo, and the British Museum (Natural History) in London. I have seen series of all races of Fringillaria capensis, except the dark-bellied form smithersii Plowes from the Chimanimani Mountains in Southern Rhodesia. Fringillaria capensis nebularum comes close to the race cloosi Hoesch & Niethammer, which is known only from the Brandberg, S.W. Africa (about 21° 10’ S, 14° 40’ E). However, nebularum is readily distinguished by its very light under-parts, and its bill is also slightly longer. The race bradfieldi Roberts, with type locality Waterberg Police Post, Waterberg, S.W. Africa (about 20° 30’ S, 17° 15’ E) is a buffish olive colour on belly, quite different from nebularum and considerably darker than cloosi. The bill of bradfieldi, though long and pointed in comparison with the races farther south, is shorter than in the races mentioned above. The trend towards a shorter bill, much darker under-parts, and more broadly striped back is continuing through southern South West Africa and western Cape Province. The races karasensis, ausensis and klaverensis, all described by Roberts, have been founded on the populations breeding in these areas. The form capensis capensis (Linnaeus) from the ‘‘Cape of - i th 1958 131 Vol. 78 Good Hope’’ is the darkest extreme on this side of the continent. In other words, there is a cline from short-billed and dark birds in the south to long-billed and light ones in the north, the extremes being represented by capensis and nebularum, respectively. Fringillaria capensis is a bird of rocks and stony slopes or plateaus, often with scarce and low vegetation. From its habitat requirements it follows that the bird is common in certain parts of its range but absent or very local in many areas. As far as known, the species is resident. Hence certain populations are presumably effectively isolated. It is reasonable to assume that this has played a part in the evolution of the numerous geographical races nowadays recognized This does not mean, however, that all the races interposed between capensis and bradfieldi can be upheld. Vincent (1950, 1952) did not accept klaverensis, and Macdonald (1957) has given reasons for synonymizing both klaverensis and ausensis with the nominate form. Nor has the race cloosi been generally admitted. Vincent (I. c.) did not mention it at all; and the two specimens from Brandberg which are in the British Museum have been assigned to bradfieldi. In the opinion of the present writer, cloosi is a valid race. But no doubt some of Roberts’s races were described on slender grounds. However this may be, the clinal variation of the characters mentioned above is clear-cut in Western South Africa, even if the cline is not abso- lutely continuous or of the same ‘‘inclination’’ all the way. It may be added that the races of Fringillaria capensis which breed in the Karoo and north-eastwards from there (Basutoland, Transvaal, Southern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, &c.), do not show such a clear-cut clinal variation in the characters referred to. The race plowesi Vincent (type locality: Matopos near Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia) is surprisingly similar to nebularum in colouration but easily separated, even in single specimens, by its much shorter and blunter bill. In a series of 12 males of plowesi, the length of the exposed culmen varies from 9.5 to 11.0 mm. (average 10.3 mm.), and the length of bill from nostril is 7 — 8 mm. (average 7.5 mm.). Also, in plowesi the colour of the back is sandy brown, often with some admixture of rufous or pale chestnut, and the streaks are broader (2 — 3 mm.), blackish, and sharply contrasting (cf. description of nebularum above). The difference in colour is immediately seen in a series but not always in single specimens. The colour on breast and belly is perhaps a trifle paler in nebularum. Lucira, the type locality of the new race, is a small fishing village on the coast of Angola, about 130 miles north of Mossamedes. It is situated on a small beach, squeezed in between cliffs and mountains. Even the coast proper is mainly precipitous, and the mountains reach an estimated height of 300 — 400 metres (ab. 1,000 — 1,300 feet). The landscape is gravelly and very stony, with many steep slopes but also plateau-land with big boulders. The vegetation consist of low herbs and scattered bushes including Euphorbias similar to E. gregaria of the Namib Desert of South West Africa (cf. Hoesch & Niethammer 1940, p. 20, fig. 5); but most of the ground is bare. The precipitation is very low, but the mountains are often covered with mist or low-lying clouds. The general type of the country might be described as semi-desert rather than desert. _ The specimens of nebularum were collected on an undulating plateau Vol. 78 152 1958 with an abundance of stones and big boulders, about 2 miles inland from the village and at an estimated height of at least 300 metres above sea level. ee Ore Acknowledgements: Dr. V. FitzSimons, the Director of the Transvaal Museum, — Pretoria, kindly allowed me to take part in the Visser-Transvaal Museum Expedition — to the Kaokoveld and Angola. The expedition was sponsored by Mr. G. Visser, Cape Town. My work at the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia in Bulawayo was ‘ 4 greatly facilitated by the Director, Mr. R. H. N. Smithers, and Miss Mary Paterson. j At the British Museum of Natural History in London Mr. J. D. Macdonald, Senior Scientific Officer, and Mr. Derek Goodwin were most helpful. To all those mentioned — above I express my best thanks. References :— Benson, C. W., 1953: A Check List of the Birds of Nyasaland. Blantyre and Lusaka. Benson, C. W., and White, C. M. N., 1957: Check List of the Birds of Northern — Rhodesia. Lusaka. Bocage, J. V. Barboza du, 1881: Ornithologie d’Angola. Lisbonne 1881. Check List of Birds of the S.W. Cape 1955. Published by the Cape Bird Club. Cape Town. Hartlaub, G., 1857: System der Ornithologie Westafrikas. Bremen. Hoesch, W., and Niethammer, G., 1940: Die V6gel Deutsch-Siidwestafrikas. Journ. fiir Ornithologie, vol. 88, Sonderheft. Lowe, P. R., 1932: Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. lii, p. 144 — 145. Macdonald, J. D., 1957: Contribution to the ornithology of western South Africa. (Original not seen; quoted from Macdonald and Hall, Ann. Tvl. Mus. vol. xxiii, part 1, p. 38, 1956). Plowes, D. C. H., 1951: Ostrich, vol. xxii, p. 35. Praed, C. W. Mackworth-, and Grant, C. H. B., 1955: Birds of Eastern and North eastern Africa. African Handbook of Birds, ser. 1, vol. 2, p. 1094-1095. London. Reichenow, A., 1904-05: Die Vogel Afrikas, vol. ili, p. 288. Neudamm. Roberts, A., 1928: Annals of the Transvaal Museum, vol. xii, p. 318. Roberts, A., 1940: The Birds of South Africa. London and Johannesburg. Sclater, W. L., 1911: Ibis, ser. 9, vol. v, p. 250. Sclater, W. L., 1930: Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, part 2, p. 830, London. Sharpe, R. B., 1904: Ibis, ser. 8, vol. iv, p. 354. Vincent, J., 1950: Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 70, p. 14 - 17. Vincent, J., 1952: A Check List of the Birds of South Africa. Parow, Cape Province. Winterbottom, J. M., et al.: vide Check List of Birds of the S.W. Cape, 1955. Distribution of Eremomela icteropygialis Lafresnaye by Dr. J. M. WINTERBOTTOM Received 17th March, 1958 In his ‘‘Contribution to the Ornithology of Western South Africa,’’ 1957, p.. 136, J. D. Macdonald says of this species : ‘‘The type is in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., and Mr. J. C. Greenway . . said there is inscribed on its label, in Lafresnaye’s handwriting, the words ‘des Elephants’ which was crossed out and the words ‘d’Orange’ added. Lafresnaye in his description says, ‘said to have come from the Orange River.’ It is quite unlikely that the bird was taken on the Olifants River . . . The specimen was probably collected by Levaillant .. .’ | Mr. Macdonald does not say why the type is unlikely to have come from the Olifants, except by implication; and there are two possible implications: (a) that it agrees in appearance with a bird from Otjimbingwe and therefore a a 1958 433 Vol. 78 represents the northern race; (b) that the species does not occur on the Olifants, which his discussion on the previous page seems to suggest. I have no quarrel with (a); but (b) cannot be sustained, as I myself collected an example of E. icteropygialis at Doornbaai, a few miles south of the Olifants River mouth, 27th November, 1956. This bird agrees with a series from Hanover, Beaufort West and other karoo localities in the Cape Province, all of which are considered to be E. i. saturatior O. —Grant, described from Deelfontein. A New Name for a South African Race of Grey Tit. Parus afer Gmelin by Mr. P. A. CLANCEY Received 6th August, 1958 In the Ibis, vol. 100, 3, 1958, pp. 452-454, I recognised Parus afer intermedius Shelley, 1900: ‘Potchefstroom, Transvaal, as a valid race of Grey Tit ranging throughout the Orange Free State, Basutoland, Natal, Transvaal, and Southern Rhodesia to the south of the range of Parus afer griseiventris Reichenow. Unfortunately, P.a.intermedius, 1900, is now found to be preoccupied by Parus major intermedius Zarudny, 1890, and a new name is required for the race. I propose Parus afer orphnus, nom. nov. pro Parus afer intermedius Shelley, Birds of Africa, vol.ii, 1900, p. 241, NOT Parus_ bocharensis var.intermedius Zarudny, Bull.Soc.Imp. Nat. Moscow, 1890, p. 789. | The Paradise Flycatcher. Terpsiphone viridis in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland by Mr. C. W. BENSON Received 24th May, 1958 Seventy-six specimens from Northern Rhodesia in the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo fall into months as follows: January, two; February, three; March, seven; April, two; May, seven; June, six; July, three; August, two; September, nineteen; October, thirteen; Nov- ember, seven; December, five. Mr. R. H. N. Smithers has drawn my attention to those collected in June and July, all of which may in fact be Terpsiphone y. granti (Roberts), Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 68, 1948: 129, the name to be used in place of T. y. perspicillata (Swainson). This form was overlooked by Benson & White, ‘“Check List of the Birds of Northern Rhodesia’’, 1957. While all the specimens collected in the other months appear to be T. y. plumbeiceps Reichenow, four males and three females collected in June and July are quite easily distinguishable in having the crown markedly more glossy, and green rather than violaceous grey in Sheen. In the males the chin and throat are also glossy, but there is no trace of this in any specimen of T. y. plumbeiceps. Two other specimens Vol. 78 134 1958 are apparently immature, and indeterminate, though presumably also T. v. granti. These nine specimens are all either from the Luangwa River in the Mpika District, or its tributaries therein, the Munyamadzi and the Mutinondo, or from Museshya, Mweru Marsh, except that one of the immatures is from Kasama. 7. v. perspicillata is recorded by Smithers et al., ‘‘Check List of the Birds of Southern Rhodesia’’, 1957, from the Sabi-Lundi junction. This is based on three specimens collected in June, agreeing well in colour with those from Northern Rhodesia. Mrs. B. P. Hall has kindly supplied the following particulars of specimens of T. v. granti, all males, all apparently from Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in the British Museum: Kachere, Nyasaland, 8,400 ft., November, 1902, Alfred Sharpe; Malosa, Nyasaland, May, 1902, Alfred Sharpe; immature, Charamba, Zambesi River, Ist August, 1898, Boyd Alexander; immature, no date, **Zambesi’’, Kirk. It is best to discount the record from Kachere 8,400 ft. The specimen may well have been mislabelled, as I know from experience has occurred with some others of Sharpe’s specimens. Kachere is evidently on the Nyika Plateau, see Benson, ‘‘Check List of the Birds of Nyasaland’’, 1953: 91, and it is unlikely that the species would occur so high, or this particular race in November. It may be noted that McLachlan & Liversidge, ‘‘Birds of South Africa’’, 1957, record T. v. perspicillata from the Cape only from October to March, and state that there are only occasional winter records from the Albany district and Natal. Benson, op. cit. did not list this form, thinking (mis- takenly) that specimens from Nyasaland with the coloration thereof were merely aberrant individuals of T. v. plumbeiceps or T. v. violacea Grant & Mackworth-Praed (if recognisable). Breeding records of T. v. granti from Nyasaland, see Mackworth-Praed & Grant, ‘‘Birds of Eastern and North Eastern Africa’’ 2, 1955: 223, are not understood. Chapin, ‘‘Birds of the Belgian Congo’’ 3, 1953: 716, records that T. v. plumbeiceps wanders in the off season northward to the Cameroon and northern Congo. It would appear that T. v. granti ‘‘winters’’ mainly in Central Africa, more especially at low levels, but further data are of course required. I must thank Mr. Smithers for the loan of specimens, and Major I. R. Grimwood for examining them with me. debian sei antes 4s “ ey i Fi Tie ve ne: mele ote edn ee ‘beta Y MEDEY om oF , BRRIOD pit ta, whey: amare to mend AON ni Mice SRT erode Une dl +B; me yy 1 oe ni) Pa ts es ee riyta apd 2 y of e e i hi, Hood} ts oa vA Bee ny tea ; "ii yi See my dear” oan hun nti! Notices BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN”’ Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained a* 2/6 each. Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available. Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ which they no longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., as above. DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1958 21st October, 18th November, 16th December. FREE COPIES Contributors who desire free copies of the Bulletin containing their notes should state so on their MS., otherwise these will not be ordered. These will be supplied up to u maximum of fifty. PUBLICATION OF THE “*BULLETIN”’ Members who make a contribution at a Meeting should hand the MS. to the Editor at that Meeting. It is essential that the MS. should be correct and either typed or written very clearly with scientific and place names in block letters. The first mention of a scientific name should be spelt out in full, 1.e., genus, specific name, racial name (if any), and author. Any further mention of the same name need only have the initial letter of the genus and no further mention of the author. If no MS. is handed to the Editor at the Meeting, a note will be inserted mentioning the contribution. BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS The Club will pay for a reasonable number of black and white blocks at the discretion of the Editor. If the contributor wishes to have the blocks to keep for his own use afterwards, the Club will not charge for them, as has been done in the past. Communications are not restricted to members of the British Ornithologists’ Club, and contributions on taxonomy and related sub- jects will be considered from all who care to send them to The Editor, Dr. J. G. Harrison, “‘Merriewood’’, St. Botolph’s Road. Sevenoaks, Kent. Communications relating to other matters should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, N. J. P. Wadley, Esq., 14 Elm Place, London, S.W.7. SUBSCRIPTION Twenty-one Shillings Annually. Two Shillings and Sixpence per copy. Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent. BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON Volume 78 November No. 8 1958 pc rea ted ¥ Se RGIS), etek 1QdORTARO. Ag aA HEY EA roa 1958 135 Vol. 78 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Volume 78 R Number 8 7 eee aay “Zh Published: Ist November, 1958 terme The five hundred and sixty-seventh meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, on Tuesday, 21st October, 1958, following a dinner at 6.30 p.m. Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACWORTH-PRAED. Members present, 32; Guests, 12; Guests of the Club, 2; Total: 46. Birds, Beasts and Butterflies of Equatorial Africa Mrs. Iris Darnton showed a colour film on the above subject and sent the following summary:— The film opens in the Belgian Congo with various roadside scenes, a colourful native market, and the great rivers of lava which have flowed over the years from a still active volcano, into the waters of Lake Kivu. At Kisenyi, the resident, M. Weber, kindly arranged a Watutsi dance for us to photograph. After a few days spent in the Parc Roi Albert, we revisited the Queen Elizabeth Park in Uganda, and could not resist taking some further pictures of the many water birds which frequent the shores of Lake Edward. , We then drove on to Kenya where we stayed in the various reserves, including the Marsabit in the Northern Province. Here we found the Uaso N-yero in flood, our car fell into a flooded donga and we were marooned in camp with only one tin of soup left and one ounce of cheese! However we managed to film some birds and beasts in spite of the weather. Review Ornithological Nomenclature When Captain C. H. B. Grant died last winter he left a mass of notes on the subject to which he was so devoted. These have now been privately printed by some of his friends under the title: ‘‘Ornithological Nomen- clature and Nomenclatorial Procedure.’’ In this little book Captain Grant gives the answer to practically every question that can arise in scientific Vol. 78 136 1958 denomination. An ardent champion of ‘‘Priority’’ he sometimes found himself in disagreement with the rulings of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, but he has not put forward any new ideas before this and we now have in this publication a vade-mecum and guide to good order and discipline in future taxonomy. It is hoped that it may be adopted and reprinted by some learned society so that all ornithologists—and indeed all zoologists—may have the benefit of the accumulated wisdom of one of the greatest taxonomists of his generation. — W.P.C.T. The existence and causation of colour-preferences in the pairing of Feral and Domestic Pigeons by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN Received Ist June, 1958 Throughout my boyhood and youth I kept Domestic Pigeons (Columba livia) and also spent much time observing those belonging to other people and the Feral Pigeons in towns. I early observed that most individual. pigeons were more strongly attracted to pigeons of a certain colour or colours than to others but did not pay any particular attention to this fact. When I began to keep a few pigeons again in 1952 I thought more about this and realised that in the few instances where I could remember both a pigeons’ sexual preferences and its parents’ colouration there was a pos- itive correlation between the two. I thereupon kept a careful record of some individual pigeons from infancy onwards. Their case histories follow : (1) A barred ice-blue (pale silver grey with Rock Pigeon markings) male was reared by his own parents, a silver (pale creamy fawn with dun wing bars) cock and a barless ice-blue hen until 20 days old. He and his sister—a silver—were then removed and fed by hand together with two young female Rock Pigeons a few days younger than themselves. The parents frequently visited all four young, however, and, on some occasions at least, managed to feed some or all of them. When he became sexually active this ice-blue male was most strongly attracted to silver pigeons and very slightly less so to ice-blues. Only by keeping him out of sight of silver and ice-blue hen pigeons was he induced to show sexual interest in the hen Rock Pigeons, and then he soon paired to one of them. For several weeks — after this took place, however, he would leave his mate at once to court any silver or ice-blue hen pigeon that came near. Later, however, no doubt through habituation, he came to react as strongly sexually towards blue (Rock Pigeon colour) hen pigeons and to display as intensely to them as he did to silver and ice-blue specimens. (2) A blue (Rock Pigeon colour) male was reared (no nest mate) by his own parents, a blue hen and a grey grizzle cock. When sexually mature he was very strongly attracted to his own mother and the two hen Rock Pigeons but showed only slight sexual interest in silver, ice-blue and dark blue chequer hen pigeons. I had no grizzle hens so cannot say whether, as is likely, he would have shown a strong response to them also. He courted the unpaired hen}Rock Pigeon for over two months in spite of her lack of reciprocation,"at the end of which time she accepted him, 1958 137 Vol. 78 (3) Two young female Rock Pigeons were taken from a wild nest when about 18 days old. They were hand-reared in company with two young domestic pigeons, an ice-blue male (see above) and a silver female. They were also frequently visited, and, probably, on some occasions fed, by an | adult silver cock and a barless ice-blue hen. When sexually mature both fell ‘‘in love’’ with and made sexual advances to the ice-blue male with which they had been reared. The loser took over two months before she (apparently) became reconciled to fate and accepted the blue male (a bird just as active and highly-sexed as the ice-blue) who had been persistently courting her throughout all this time. Even after pairing, however, she sometimes enticed the ice-blue cock (who, it must be remarked, did not need much enticing) to copulate with her. Since both her mate and her sister were well aware of her feelings towards the ice-blue cock she did not— so far as I was able to observe—get many opportunities to be ‘‘unfaithful’’, but she made the most of such as did present themselves. It is interesting that although this bird had been reared by her own wild parents to the age of about 18 days, she was more attracted to the ice-blue than to a pigeon of the natural weld colour. This suggests that the conditioning for such preferences probably takes place in the later fledgling stage and/or in the early days after leaving the nest. In this species, where the nest is often in semi-darkness, one would indeed expect this, but I think it probably holds good for other pigeons as well and, of course, hole-nesting is neither a primitive or widespread habit in the Columbidae. It is at anyrate known that there are several instances of wild pigeons of branch nesting species becoming sexually and socially fixated on other species with which they have not been associated with until at and after fledging. (4) A male grey grizzle was reared by his own parents, a white grizzle cock and a blue hen. His parents were given dummy eggs when they nested again. Hence they tolerated the young bird’s presence for a much longer time than they would otherwise have done. Before he was sexually mature his father was lost. His first sexual displays were directed at his mother. She at once responded to them and they paired. Although a very lively and highly sexed bird he very seldom displayed to other hen pigeons (as most cock pigeons habitually do) and when he did so it was usually to one or other of the wild Rock Pigeons, who although a little paler and with much less iridescence on the neck, were otherwise very like his mate and. much more like her than any of my other hen pigeons. He showed some sexual attraction towards a young male of the same colour as his mate (one of his own sons) but as, unlike many young male pigeons, this bird had no bisexual tendencies, he met with only negative response and soon lost interest in it. To try to find out whether any such mating preferences obtained among larger populations not directly under human control I kept a note of all established pairs of Feral Pigeons seen between December 1956 and June 1957. Most of these were in inner London, but a few in Scotland, Yorkshire and Bristol. The criteria used to ensure that only birds truly paired to each other were included were that either the cock must be seen driving the hen or cock and hen be seen co-operating in nesting or parental duties. To minimise the risk of pairs being counted twice no second count was taken in any street, square or field in which only a few individuals were present, Vol. 78 138 1958 In such places as Trafalgar Square and Regents Park counts were made at different times of day and not more than thrice in any one month. If one of the many pairs that I could recognize individually and had already counted were present no count was taken on that occasion. Of 732 pairs the majority of birds of both sexes were ‘‘blue’’ in colour and either barred, chequered or ‘‘velvet’’ in pattern. Dull black birds were numerous. There was a minority of ‘‘dominant red’’ birds with the same patterns (see Goodwin 1957) as in blues and a rather larger minority which showed some degree of albinism. Of these, those with much white in their plumage and at least half the head white I termed ‘‘pieds’’ and those with white only on primaries, belly or tail and with little or no white on the head I termed ‘‘white-flights’’. This does not quite correspond to the conventional pigeon-fancier’s usage of these terms but I wished to distinguish between those pigeons which appeared largely white to the human (and presumably also avian) eye and those which did not. In par- ticular all birds that I classed as ‘‘pieds’’ showed a considerable amount of white when viewed face to face, as a pigeon is seen by the bird it displays to or the fledgling it feeds. As the accompanying table shows there was evidence of a strong tendency . for pied and red pigeons to be paired to mates similarly coloured. There was no tendency for blue pigeons to be paired to birds of the same pattern rather than to others of lighter or darker pattern and there was no tendency for the bluish black specimens to pair with each other rather than with blues. Two mechanisms could be responsible, either jointly or separately, for such relatively selective pairing. Firstly if most or many young pigeons tend to remain in or near their birth-place there would be an increased likelihood of their pairing with relatives, many of whom would be similarly coloured. Unlike some birds Rock and Domestic Pigeons have no inhibi- tions against pairing with individuals that have been personally known to them since infancy. Secondly, imprinting on their parents and/or nest mate might cause pigeons to prefer mates of the same colour as these. The case-histories given show that this can be a decisive factor and it is highly probable that it also operates among feral birds living an entirely uncon- trolled life. It must be remembered in this connection that many red or pied feral Pigeons will have had one blue or black parent, some blue individuals will have had one red parent and blue females may have had two red parents. The fact that, for example, a blue and a red pigeon are paired together does not therefore necessarily prove that each has—either from choice or necessity—paired to a partner coloured differently from both its own parents. Such conditioned sexual preferences have probably played an important part in helping to propogate new colour-varieties in the early days of pigeon-breeding. At least many of the older European breeds—such as the various ‘‘clean-legged’’ German Toys—were at one time expected to find their own food in the fields and were not subjected to the close confinement and highly artificial conditions that are the lot of most fancy pigeons today. Under such circumstances a sexual preference for birds similar to their own parents would have tended to minimise pairing and casual flirtation with the many blue Dovecote Pigeons that they must have | | ! . 1958 139 Vol. 78 associated with on the feeding grounds. In parts of Egypt there is very little, if any, interbreeding between the Rock and Dovecote Pigeons on one hand and the (usually) much larger pied, white or red Domestic Pigeons. Among wild species we find several instances of sympatric and closely related species which differ strikingly in the colouration of the head and/or display plumage but are otherwise very similarly coloured. For example the Snow Pigeon (Columba leuconata) and the Blue Hill Pigeon (Columba rupestris), and the White-crowned and Red-necked Pigeons (C. leuco- cephala and C. squamosa). In such wild species the plumage differences are reinforced by differences of voice and/or ecology but the above observa- tions on C. /ivia suggest that the colour differences have been one of the important factors in the speciation of such wild forms. Colours 3d 29 Pairs Blue 558 555 438 Black 64 57 9 Red 45 27 19 Pied | 20 28 8 White/ Flight 39 55 5 Grizzle 6 8 Nil Other Colours Nil z Nil A Wood Pigeon with an unusual call by Mr. DEREK GOODWIN Received, 18th June, 1958 One morning in March 1958 I heard a pigeon call which | could not identify from an unseen bird somewhere on the roofs near my flat in ~ South Kensington. Each cooing phrase consisted of three notes and I thought at first the bird responsible must be a Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto. After hearing several repetitions of the call, however, it did not *“seem quite right’’ for the Collard Dove in tone, although in rhythym and duration it was very like the latter’s ‘“C66-coo-c66k’’, and decided that a Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus with an aberrant advertising-call must be responsible. Such proved to be the case and a few days later I had very good views of the bird—a typical male Wood Pigeon—as it called from a perch quite near my window. Whether this individual ever used the _ normal advertising call of the Wood Pigeon, I do not know but think not in view of the frequency with which he uttered his unusual three-note variant. I continued to hear this bird daily until I moved to a new address late in May. The call of this individual would appear to have been somewhat similar Vol. 78 140 1958 to that of Iraqui Wood Pigeons (Harrison 1955) but it differed from the latter in that the individual notes were similar in tone to those of a normal Wood Pigeon and not more highly pitched, as in the Iraqui birds. Also the final note of the three-note phrase of this bird was not more abrupt, and struck me as pees rather less so, than the final ‘‘cook’’ of a normal Wood Pigeon’s ‘‘song’”’ | Reference: Harrison, Jeffery G. *‘The Call-Note of lraki Wood Pigeons’? Bulletin B.O.C. Vol. 75, pp. 69-70. 1955. Taxonomic Notes on the Ploceidae by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE AND Mr. R. E. MOREAU Received 18th April, 1958 INTRODUCTION These notes have been prepared in connection with our draft of the Ploceidae section of ‘‘Peters’ Check List of the Birds of the World’’, which we have undertaken at the request of the general editors. The present notes are intended to cover chiefly points of nomenclature, subspecific recog- nition or range, over which we differ from Sclater (1930) or from the later sub-regional works, especially Bannerman (1949, 1951) and Mackworth- Praed & Grant (1955). But we have not felt it necessary to document those numerous cases where it is now possible to define the ranges more exactly as a result of the publication of recent authoritative lists, especially by Cave & Macdonald (1955), Benson & White (1957), Smithers et a/. (1957), McLachlan & Liversidge (1957) and Schouteden in press. Authorities for names are omitted when they are already given in Sclater (1930). The problem of the classification of the Ploceinae section of the Ploceidae is being discussed elsewhere. The sub-families. The Estrildinae are now excluded from the Ploceidae, following the acceptance by Mayr & Greenway (1956) of Steiner’s (1955) arguments for raising the estrildines to family rank. The question of how many sub-families are to be recognized in the remaining Ploceidae is a difficult one. We are not aware that any fresh evidence has become available since that marshalled by Sushkin (1927). Information on the behaviour of the Ploceidae is still most imperfect. Most authors have followed Sushkin in recognizing the following sub- families in addition to the large one of the Ploceinae: Bubalornithinae. Two monotypic genera, of which only one, the nom- inate, has the unique anatomical character of the pseudo-penis (figured by Sushkin)*. Plocepasserinae. Four small genera, two of them monotypic. Passerinae. The sparrows and ‘‘rock-sparrows’’ (see below). Sporopipinae. One genus of two species. Sushkin himself reached his conclusions with some hesitation. He *Bannerman (1949) writes of this as ‘‘an external copulatory organ or penis’’, as if it were a functional organ, but Sushkin describes it as imperforate. So does Hartert, 1917, Bull. Brit. Orn, Cl. 37: 51. 1958 141 Vol. 78 regarded the Plocepasserinae as intermediate between the Passerinae and the most primitive group of the family, the Bubalornithinae, while he placed the two species comprising, the Sporopipinae between the Buba- lornithinae and the Estrildinae. This last view has been compromised by the removal of the Estrildinae to form a separate family. Meanwhile Mayr é& Amadon (1951) have thought it ‘‘unnecessary’’ to recognize sub- families for the Plocepasserinae and the Sporopipinae, which they would unite with the Passerinae and the Ploceinae respectively. Of these two proceedings, that which unites the Sporopipinae with the Ploceinae is the less readily acceptable, since the birds strike us in the field as so unlike; but on the other hand the reasons given by Sushkin for erecting the two Sporopipes spp. into a sub-family are, as Mayr remarks (in Jitt.) not par- ticularly cogent. Provisionally then, and pending further studies of Sporo- pipes, especially in the field, we include it in the Ploceinae. 1. The Passer griseus-diffusus group of African sparrows Opinion has varied on the taxonomic treatment of this group of spar- rows. Lynes (1926) and Sclater (1930) recognized two species, griseus occupying most of the Ethiopian Region, and gongonensis confined to a part of East Africa. Grant & Mackworth-Praed (1944, 1947) regarded suahelicus and swainsonii also as distinct species, as well as by inference diffusus. We have re-examined the whole group, with the help of specimens lent by the Berlin Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, the Stockholm Museum and the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh, to all of whom our thanks are due. We find that most of the well-marked types of variation are allopatric, with intergradation between them, suggesting only a single species, but in at least two areas, coastal Angola and the Luangwa Valley of Northern Rhodesia, two distinct forms do occur together. To meet the requirements of the conventional check list, it is necessary to decide how the situation can best be dealt with within the framework of current taxonomy, and the discussion that follows has that object. It may be stressed at the outset that the differences between the five species recognized by Grant & Mackworth-Praed are of degree rather than of kind, for example, in the amount of contrast between head-colour and back-colour, in ‘‘warmth’’ or ‘‘coldness’’ of brown, or in size of beak. it might perhaps have been supposed that habitat preferences would be a useful guide to relationships, but this can hardly be regarded as reliable since the preferences of the same form (swainsonii) change within so small an area as Eritrea (Smith 1957)—and there is always the example of the Tree Sparrow, P. montanus, a house bird in part of its range, but not in Others (Witherby e¢ al. 1938). (1) P. griseus. Birds from the Sahara to the Zambesi have been regarded as belonging to this species; characters are a rather tawny mantle (con- trasting with the grey head but not strongly with the rufous rump and wing-coverts), an underside with white on throat and abdomen, and a beak black at all seasons in both sexes. Over the eastern third of tropical Africa the birds show considerable variation that is for the most part continuous, and will be discussed below. Vol. 78 142 1958 Over the remaining two thirds the only definite difference seems to be that in the semi-desert belt west of Lake Chad the birds are paler than else- where. They can be called /aeneni Niethammer, while the birds from the remainder of western Africa to Uganda, Northern Rhodesia and Angola are regarded as nominate griseus. Both ugandae and Zedlitzi (type-locality near Benguela, Angola) become synonyms (cf. Benson 1956). Eastwards through the Sudan these griseus birds tend to have the mantle duller, less tawny, and a ‘‘purer’’ grey on the head—in other words their melanin is a little blacker, less brown. This tendency is most marked still further east, in Abyssinia and Eritrea, where the birds have been called neumanni, the type-locality of which is Salamona, 16 miles west of Massawa. In plumage these ‘‘neumanni’’ birds are transitional between griseus and the more southerly swainsonii, which differ in their darker grey head, duller brown mantle and, especially, much greyer underside with only a little whitish on throat and belly. (2) swainsonii. The type locality of swainsonii is a vague one, northern Abyssinia, but most of the birds that have been attributed to this form are from further south and east, as far as British Somaliland. In fact dark *“swainsonii’’ have been collected in both Massawa and Asmara, i.e. on both sides of the type locality of newmanni, and even far to the north, at Port Sudan; while on the other hand the British Museum has a specimen that looks exactly like griseus (not even the transitional ‘‘neumanni’’) from Sheikh, widely isolated in British Somaliland from any similar birds. This intermingling of greyer and duller with more tawny birds is no doubt what caused Grant & Mackworth-Praed to regard swainsonii as a separate species. We prefer to regard the variants as individual and the specimens attributed to ‘‘neumanni’’ as intergrades not meriting a separate name. (3) gongonensis. Further south, mainly in northern and eastern Kenya, there occur sparrows that differ from swainsonii in being larger (16 3g 90-100 mm. against 80-92 in 22 g9), with larger beaks and slightly brighter upper parts (gongonensis, type locality near Mombasa). Actually the heaviest beaks of all seem to occur in the neighbourhood of the Kenya coast and beaks tend to decrease in size inland. In southern Abyssinia birds approximating in this way to gongonensis have been collected within thirty miles of typical swainsonii at Yavello. Elsewhere there seem to be zones of intermediate birds for which the names turkanae Granvik, tertale Benson and jubaensis Benson have been proposed. Benson himself in discussing these birds (“Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl.’ 63: 17), indicates that they are intermediates, but he also mentions that both a heavy-beaked gongonensis and a ugandae i.e., griseus, have been taken at Kisumu. This is another of the cases in which two types of the grey-headed sparrows, which we are inclined to treat as conspecific, have occurred together. In this solitary case off-season straggling might be responsible. Typically heavy-beaked gongonensis extend south to just over the Tanganyika border. A specimen from Mkomasi matches some Kenya birds except that it is whiter on the throat; while thanks to a loan from Stockholm Museum we have been able to verify the record of gongonensis by Sjdstedt (1910) from the base of Kilimanjaro. The specimen shows, however, the same trend as in Kenya, being short-winged (90) and having 1958 143 Vol. 78 the beak a trifle smaller than coastal birds. In any case gongonensis seems not to have been collected again in this part of Tanganyika (Northern Province), where the bird attached to human settlements is, as usual, griseus (cf. H.F.1. Elliott in /itt.). (4) suahelicus. In most of the rest of Tanganyika the situation is remark- ably confused. In considering it we have had the loan of all Berlin material, including the type of suahelicus from the southern shore of Lake Victoria (Bussissi). In this specimen the bright red-brown of the rump and wing- coverts contrasts very sharply with the greyish brown of the rest of the upper parts; while the head is not greyer than the mantle, the throat and breast are dark grey. The only birds we have seen that agree exactly with the type are three from the same locality, but specimens from various parts of Tanganyika—Loliondo, Shinyanga, the Rukwa depression, Iringa—and from the Loita in Kenya are very like them. (But the Northern Rhodesian specimens ascribed to suahelicus by Mackworth-Praed & Grant do not have the same sharp contrast between red-brown rump and grey-brown backs.) Meanwhile specimens from other localities scattered over western and central Tanganyika as far east as Mondul and Iringa cannot be separated from typical griseus, while some intermediate birds occur. Once more then, we have localities in which birds of two types, though differing only in degree of melanization, occur side by side, but we find it difficult to believe that two species are involved. (5) mozambicus. East of the foregoing localities in Tanganyika, the coastal belt (Dar es Salaam, Kilosa, Pangani), together with the islands of Zanzibar, Kwale and Mafia, is inhabited by birds with dark grey heads that contrast with a rich brown mantle. Further, these birds appear to have pale, horn-brown beaks except in the breeding males. Such birds continue southwards into Portuguese East Africa at least as far as the Zambesi and can be called mozambicus (type locality Lumbo). There seems no reason to keep these birds as a species separate from griseus. (6) diffusus. South of the Zambesi right across the continent extend the birds with a dull grey-brown mantle and pale beak, that have frequently been regarded as a distinct species, diffusus. There is a tendency for the birds in the more humid east to be darkest and for those from the dry west to be paler; but we follow Hoesch & Niethammer (1940) and also — Macdonald & Hall (1957) in keeping georgicus (type-locality Damaraland) as a synonym of diffusus; and although birds on the Natal coast have recently been distinguished as stygiceps Clancey on account of their dark colouration we do not think it worth while to recognize nomenclatorially one end of a vague cline. On the eastern side of the continent diffusus seems to intergrade with the birds already discussed above. Nyasaland specimens are variable and difficult to assign, with a tendency in the north to resemble griseus. If diffusus were regarded as a species, there would be no more difficulty in regarding mozambicus as a richly coloured subspecies of it than there is in regarding mozambicus as conspecific with griseus. On the other hand further west, in southwestern Northern Rhodesia, diffusus occurs north to Mongu and east to Mazabuka and shows no transition to the griseus that occupy most of the rest of Northern Rhodesia. Vol. 78 144 1958 General So far, there seem no compelling reasons for keeping griseus and diffusus as separate species; and if this were done it is not clear how their mutual boundary could be delimited. Moreover, although the presence of dis- similar forms side by side in parts of north-eastern_Africa and in Tangan- yika, as described above, causes some hesitation in treating as conspecific all the populations so far considered, we feel fairly convinced that this is justifiable and the best course. But more serious obstacles are provided by two highly localized series of specimens from eastern Northern Khodesia (described as /uangwae Benson) and coastal Angola respectively. Benson’s ‘‘P. diffusus luangwae’’ has been found in an area less than 70 miles long in the Luangwa Valley, on the west side and separated by some 400 miles from the typical diffusus of south-western Northern Rho- desia. Luangwae is a bird of mopane (Copaifera) woodland, not, like the sympatric griseus, of human settlements. in plumage it is intermediate between griseus and diffusus, in that it is paler than the former, but with crown and nape more clearly distinguished in colour from the manile. Further, /uangwae tends to be small, wings of male 74-82, mean 77 mm., compared with 79-86, mean 82, in the neighbouring populations of both griseus and diffusus. If, as appears, /uangwae is contined to the hot valley floor, this small size could be a response to Bergmann’s rule, since the neighbouring populations range on to the plateau, some 3,000 feet above, on both sides. Especially in view of the apparent intergradation of griseus and diffusus in Nyasaland, it would be interesting to know what happens on the borders of the /uangwae range. It is certainly difficult to account for its existence at all unless griseus is a very recent newcomer, in associ- ation with human settlement, from the plateau above. Correlated with this is a possibility that /uangwae has been cut off from diffusus only recently by a spread of griseus through Northern Khodesia to the lower Zambesi Valley. Benson (1956) has also drawn attention to the fact that the British Museum possesses some very small specimens of diffusus from localities in coastal Angola that are the same as, or adjacent to, localities from which there are specimens of ‘‘P.g. ugandae’’, 1.e. griseus. He quotes the size range of these small diffusus as 73-78 mm. In fact only one is a male (wing 78), from Huxe, which is within a dozen miles of Benguela. The others are females from Huxe (75,76 mm.), Luanda (73) and Dondo (75), which is about 100 miles S.E. of Luanda. All have small yellow beaks, except the last, which has a black one. As this is a griseus rather than a diffusus character in the females this specimen may be an intergrade. The sparrow specimens from coastal Angola lent by the American Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh, like the remaining British Museum specimens, are from various localities at or near Benguela, Luanda and Porto Amboim. They are all black-beaked griseus (total size-range of males 77-87, of females 78-83), except two. These are males with small yellow beaks, both with wings 78, thus agreeing with the small male from Huxe (Benguela) to which Benson drew attention; and are labelled as from Benguela localities (Usolo or Nsolo R. and Katenge, not precisely located). These Angola birds are abnormally small for diffusus, equally by comparison with the nearest population of which 1958 145 Vol. 78 we have samples, namely, from northern South West Africa. (Seven in the British Museum range 79-86, the two females being 79 and 82, but they have beaks only 11-13 mm., little larger than the Angola birds.) Most probably diffusus has a continuous range irom S.W.A. up the arid coastal strip of Angola and there is a cline of rapidly diminishing size northwards. We do not think any useful purpose would be served by atfixing a trinomial to these small birds. | It seems clear that griseus ranges down the Angolan coast at least as far as Benguela and there meets an abnormally small diffusus, the ecological relations between them being unknown. There is also a single diffusus, the smallest on record, from much further north, well in the griseus range, at Luanda. This situation is most likely to have arisen if diffusus had been the sparrow in occupation of the arid coastal strip until a comparatively recent invasion by griseus. (The marked difference in size might have helped to retain reproductive isolation, if the birds are not genetically incompatible for other reasons.) This hypothesis is preferred to the reverse because the diffusus show modification (in a direction that conforms with Bergmann’s rule) and the griseus are not modified. The recent southward and seaward expansion of griseus that is implicit in this hypothesis conforms with the hypothesis tentatively put forward above to account for the /uangwae situation. Conclusion Reviewing the whole set of problems posed by this group of sparrows through the Ethiopian Region, we cannot help feeling that the taxonomic situation is still very unsatisfactory. Particularly difficult questions are the status of suahelicus, of luangwae and of the Angola coastal diffusus. We believe that on the present information there is no insuperable objection to treating all the sparrows discussed as conspecific and that this is prefer- able to keeping suahelicus and luangwae as species distinct from griseus, whether /uangwae is treated as conspecific witn diffusus or not. As already noted, the apparent intergradation of diffusus with griseus in the north-east of its range makes it particularly difficult to treat these two birds as sep- arate species. On the whole, while fully aware of the difficulties in the way, we propose to arrange these sparrows as follows, all as forms of griseus: P.g.laeneni. Semi-arid strip west of Lake Chad. P.g.griseus. Remainder of West Africa, south to most of Angola and | east to Ethiopia (where it intergrades with swainsonii), Uganda, extreme western Kenya (Kavirondo), western Tanganyika and most of Northern Rhodesia. P.g.swainsonii. Eastern and Southern Ethiopia intergrading southwards with gongonensis. P.g. gongonensis. Extreme southern Ethiopia; Kenya; extreme north- eastern Tanganyika. P.g. suahelicus. Central Tanganyika from Mwanza to Rukwa and Iringa. P.g.mozambicus. Eastern Tanganyika and the off-lying islands; Portu- guese East Africa; intergrading through Nyasaland with diffusus. P.g. luangwae. Luangwa Valley, Northern Rhodesia, between 11°45’ and 12°37'S. P.g.diffusus. Coastal Angola, northern South West Africa, Bechuanaland, Southern Rhodesia, Transvaal, Orange Free State and Natal. (to be continued) Vol. 78 146 1958 The Status of Eremomela turneri van Someren and the description of a new race from the Belgian Congo by Dr. A. PRIGOGINE Received 10th May, 1958 Eremomela badiceps turneri van Someren was considered until now as a race of E. badiceps. The type came from the Yala River (Kavirondo District, Kenya Colony). Only very few other specimens are known from the Western Kenya. Another one has been collected in the Nyondo forest near the Uganda-Congo border. Some years ago I was surprised to meet furneri at Kalima (26°38’E, 2°41’S) and at Kailo (26°7’E, 2°39’S), in the Belgian Congo. These two localities are situated in the south-east corner of the great equatorial forest which is the normal habitat of E. b. badiceps (Fraser). It seemed to me that £. turneri must be considered as a species different from E. badiceps, but I could prove this only quite recently. Indeed my native hunter Kalinde Musiko collected at Kailo, in December 1957, some adults of E. b. badiceps and, last February, Kalinde succeeded in shooting from the same flock two specimens of badiceps and two specimens of turneri. These two species are breeding side by side at Kailo as shown by the state of the gonads of several males. I have no indication of interbreeding of the two populations and it must now be admitted that E. turneri van Someren is a good species. This conclusion is confirmed by the examination of the foot of turneri. As turneri has a wing about 15% shorter than E. b. badiceps, it is quite natural to expect a stronger foot in badiceps. But turneri is characterised by a surprisingly weak tarsus with slender claws. It also seemed that the claws are shorter in turneri: about 4-5 mm. in my specimens of turneri for the claw of the first toe compared with about 5-7 mm. for badiceps. Dr. Charles Vaurie has confirmed for me that also the type of turneri has a weak foot and short claws. The difference is very striking and proves that the two forms are not conspecific. The bill of turneri is also of a differ- ent shape: more slender, and narrower at the base than in badiceps. Dr. Charles Vaurie kindly compared one male of the Kailo birds with the type of turneri in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. He concluded that the population discovered in the Belgian Congo represents a new race of E. turneri. It is thus convenient to recognise the following two races of Eremomela turneri van Someren: 1. Eremomela turneri turneri van Someren. Eremomela badiceps turneri van Someren, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, 40, 1920, p.92. Type locality: Yala River, Kavirondo District, Kenya Colony. The type of E. ¢t. turneri has the following dimensions: wing 49, tail 32, culmen (from base) 12,5 (measurements by Dr. Ch. Vaurie). The nominate race is known only from a very few localities in the Kavirondo District (Chapin, in Jitt.). 1958 147 Vol. 78 2. Eremomela turneri kalindei subsp. nov. Type: 3 adult, Kailo (Belgian Congo), 470 m, 15th February 1958. In the collection of the Musée du Congo belge (Tervuren). Diagnosis: Similar to E. t. turneri, but the latter paler on head and mantle, distinctly browner, less slate coloured. Wing and tail of nominate turneri are also less dark, browner. The rufous of the fore- head a little duller in turneri (*). Measurements: Wing 4 33 45,5-47 (46,3), 2 92 43-475, (45,3); tail 3 28-30 (28,9), 92 28-31,5 (29,8); culmen (from base) 3 $9 11,5— 12,0. Type: wing 46,5; tail 28; culmen (from base) 11,5. kalindei seems to be smaller than nominate furneri, but the number of specimens of turneri is not sufficient to show it with certitude. It is interesting to compare the dimensions of E. t¢. kalindei with those of E. b. badiceps secured in the same area: 7 J collected at Kailo have 50-53 (51,6) for the wing and 32-34 (32,9) for the tail. Specimens from near Kamituga (28°11’E, 3°3’S) and from Namoya (27°37’E, 4°7’S) are a little larger: 1299 wing 51,5—57 (53,8), tail 32-37,5 (34,4). But the difference is not significative. Range: Known only from Kailo and Kalima (altitude about 500 m.). It is probable that the specimen collected by Fox in the Nyondo forest (Uganda-Congo border), in the collection of the British Museum, belongs to the race kalindei, for Mr. J. D. Macdonald who kindly compared it with a specimen of kalindei, found no appreciable differences. Ecology: My specimens were shot on high trees which remained in clearings or in native plantations. E. t. kalindei forms parties with some- times more than ten or fifteen birds. The association with FE. b. badiceps encountered at Kailo is very remarkable. It seems that the food of the two species is the same: in two stomachs of badiceps I found a cater- pillar, a spider and fragments of insects, in two stomachs of turneri two caterpillars and fragments of insects. It is probable that the meeting of E. b. badiceps and of E. t. kalindei on the same high tree at Kailo was due merely to an abundance of food convenient for the two species. The normal habitat of badiceps seems to be at lower levels of the trees than that of turneri and my native hunter confirmed me that EF. b. badiceps is seen often even in second growth. I have only imperfect indications of the breeding season. Two males taken in February and in August were in condition to breed. Mackworth- Praed and Grant record birds in breeding condition from July and August (Uganda). Specimens of FE. b. badiceps, in breeding condition, were secured in the same area, south of the Equator, in March, July, August, December. This confirms the conclusion of Chapin that near the Equator nesting continues irregularly through most of the year. E. t. kalindei is named after my native hunter Kalinde Musiko who for *Dr. Charles Vaurie says (in /itt.): ‘‘Il est évident que votre spécimen appartient a une autre race que rurneri. En le comparant au type de turneri, ce dernier est plus pale sur la téte et le dos, distinctement plus brun, moins ‘‘ardoisé’’; les ailes et la queue de turneri sont aussi moins sombres, plus bruns, moins noiratres; le chatain du front est aussi légérement plus terne dans turneri,’’ Vol. 78 148 1958 many years has been successful in securing very interesting birds for the collection of the Musée du Congo belge. I am most grateful to Dr. Charles Vaurie who made the comparison at New York and to Mr. J. D. Macdonald who examined the specimen collected by Fox. Dr. J. P. Chapin and Dr. H. Schouteden took as always a great interest in my collection and I am indebted to them for many useful suggestions. I would also like to thank Mr. R. E. Moreau for cor- recting my manuscript. References: Chapin, J. P. (1953), The Birds of the Belgian Congo, IIT, Bull. Amer.Mus. Nat. Hist. 75 A, 275-276. Jackson, F. J. (1938), The Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate, II, 1083. Mackworth-Praed, C. W. & C. H. B. Grant (1955), Birds of Eastern and North Eastern Africa, I], 437-438. Schouteden, H. (1957), Faune du Congo belge et du Ruanda-Urundi, TV. Oiseaux Passereaux (1), Ann.Musée Congo, 8°, Sc. Zool., 57 145. Sclater, W. L. (1930), Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, IT, 541. van Someren, V.G.L. (1922), Notes on the Birds of East Africa, Nov. Zool. 29,224. A New Subspecies of Parisoma layardi Hartlaub by Dr. J. M. WINTERBOTTOM Received 10th June, 1958 In The Ostr., 28, 1957: 235, I drew attention to the fact that the type of Parisoma layardi Hartlaub, Ibis, 1862: 147 was labelled ‘‘Clanwilliam’’ although the type locality given by the describer was ‘*‘Zwartland, Malmes- bury District.’’ At that time, the question was of purely academic interest; but a comparison of recent skins from the extreme South-West Cape with those from further north shows that the former are perceptibly darker above than the latter; and that a bird from Citrusdal, south of Clan- william, agrees with the northern rather than the southern birds. It is interesting to note that this darker colour of southern birds had already been observed by Andersson, Bds. Damaral., 1872: 78-9. The type of layardi is too faded for it to be safe to rely on colour alone, though it does agree with the southern birds in that respect. But there is also a tendency for southern birds to be smaller than those from further north, in which the smallest bird of 19 measured had a wing of 65 mm., whereas two out of the four South-West Cape birds have wings of less than this; and the wing of the type is 64 mm. Under the circumstances, therefore, I propose to regard the type as wrongly labelled and the originally cited type locality as correct. This means that the name /ayardi must be restricted to the birds of the extreme South-West Cape and that the rest of the population, except that in the Basutoland mountains, which has been described as barnesi by Vincent (1948), is without a name. I name it as under: Parisoma layardi aridicola subsp. nov. Differs from P./.Jayardi Hartlaub in its lighter and slightly more olive — colour above, about Deep Olive Gray of Ridgway, as against the Dark to ” 1958 149 Vol. 78 Blackish Mouse Gray of /ayardi. It also averages slightly larger 9 3, 9 2, 1 0, wing 65-68 mm., av., 66.5; culmen, 13-17 mm., av. 15.1 (/ayardi, 4 3, 1 0, wing 63-67 mm., av. 64.8; culmen, 14-15 mm., av. 14.2). There is a suggestion that the ecological preferences are also different, aridicola being a bird of mountain kloofs, /ayardi of thick coastal scrub (see also Winterbottom, /.c.). Type, in South African Museum, Cape Town, 3, Noisabis, Richtersveld, Little Namaqualand, collected by J. M. Winterbottom, 25th March, 1958. Collector’s number, 856; South African Museum number, 21565. Measurements: wing, 67 mm.; tail, 55 mm.; culmen, 16 mm. Range.—The karoo areas of the Cape Province form Citrusdal and the Kammanassie Mts. north to the Okavango River (Andersson), southern Bechuanaland and the southern Orange Free State. Material examined: P.l.layardi, 5 (Swartland (type), Melkbos, Blaauwberg, Ysterfontein). P.l.aridicola, 19 (Citrusdal, Vanrhynsdorp, Lokenburg, Kamieskroon, Numees, Noisabis (type), Wagenaarskraal, Beaufort West, Kammanassie Mts., Lootsberg Pass, Hanover, Swartmodder, Rooiberg). The work on which this paper is based was done while the author held a Senior Bursary of the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The correct name of the Peregrine Falcon by Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED Received, 2nd June, 1958 With reference to previous communications from the late Captain Grant and myself on the correct name of the Peregrine Falcon, Bull. B.O.C.77, pp. 48-49 and p.116, 1957. Mr. H. G. Deignan has kindly written to me pointing out that Falco japonensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1, p. 257, 1788, has considerable page priority over Falco communis same work p.270. Falco japonensis has recently (Ibis,p.253,1949) been identified by Dr. Stresemann as a Peregrine Falcon, a specimen of which flew on board Capt: Cook’s ship off Japan. It seems therefore that the name of the Peregrine Falcon must be Falco japonensis Gmelin, and the name of the Western European race Falco japonensis communis Gmelin. A Species New to South Africa Xema sabini (Sabine) by Mr. R. LIVERSIDGE Received 11th June, 1958 A specimen of Sabine’s Gull Xema sabini has been taken off the Eastern Cape coast. This represents a new species to the seas of Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. Capt. G. M. Le Gras of the trawler ‘‘Cape Infanta’’ recognised the gull ee sOreiA Gig fo Os ie hd te 2 (@) iim Mae “4 a ee ; a — z j5R «10 : Pine) 1958 Hw } or Sia = oe eh ] as a bird that he had never before seen off t ot *Bastern Cape.’ He was fortunately able to collect the specimen and present it to-the Port Elizabeth Museum. It was collected 7 miles off shore at Slang Bay 26th February, 1958. This species is said by Fisher and Lockley (Sea Birds 1954) to winter off the Pacific coasts of North and South America and to a lesser degree off north Atlantic coasts. They point out that the Atlantic population is not properly known and suggest that the wintering grounds may be the Bay of Biscay. Murphy in correspondence suggests that Atlantic records may be casual. A sight record, possibly the same individual was made at Capetown on 29th December, 1957 by K. Morgan and P. Wheeler (Ostrich Vol 29. No 2. 1958). The specimen is in very worn condition and the racial status is uncertain. Acknowledgement is made to Capt. G. M. Le Gras who recognised and collected the bird. I am grateful to Dr. R. C. Murphy for confirming the identity. Herring Gulls in Wales with Partially Amputated Legs by Dr. JEFFERY G. HARRISON Received Ist July, 1958 In the recent papers on aquatic predators of birds '*, the gulls find little mention, although Harrison mentions a Grey-headed Gull, Larus cirrocephalus Vieillot in west Africa, with the skin of its thighs badly torn, probably by a voracious fish and quotes Légendre’s records of a Herring Gull, Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, which was found impacted in the jaws of an Angler Fish and a Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus Linnaeus, which was found in the stomach of another Angler Fish. Harrison adds the Little Gull, Larus minutus Pallas, to the list—an immature found dead in Kent with its belly and intestines badly torn as by a fish, probably a large eel. On 22nd May, 1958 I watched two Herring Gulls with partially amp- utated legs on the coast of Pembrokeshire, near St. David’s Head. The first had lost all the toes except the hind toe on the left foot, through the tarsal joint. It was an adult and was perfectly agile at pitching on the rocks and walked without any limp. The second, also an adult, had the lower third of the right tarsus missing. Once again it was most agile on the stump, but limped badly because of the shortening. From the remarkable degree of compensation for their disabilities, I think it probable that they received their injuries in early life. As to the predator, fish, shellfish or even Grey Seals might be responsible. References :— 1 Harrison, Dr. James M. ‘‘ Fish and other Aquatic Fauna as Predators of Birds’’ Bull. B.O.C.Vol.75,pp.110—-113.195S. 2 Pitman, Captain Charles R. S. ‘‘ Further Notes on Aquatic Predators of Birds’’ Bull, B.O.C. Vol.77,pp.89-97; 105-110; 122-126.1957, ce A FPA CS is ik > 5 i pie ; iets re: . waye ti aes Rs ei! sare men a tps ey aati rie as 0G bo) POR OPIEICE TRS oe R $57 Si heel Aake » AVR et see aire a as pb My oy et pri "i ipsa (ray Cie. out add 4 aut yh re pee POR Pat ne they ad ; Eat it hei ab cab ee PEROT OIL HIS OriOM PSH sy i oe f eT}: ees nee By. Oe | BEMALR ATS SIL A pail ‘ ees ee Oe ea t b fie S01 Gt 8 J " We: rer is ay ow f ee TAS SPORT IRIS, § Ph tedarayov! Bees es Q Ww a bet Bd } ip / p! ») ‘ « \ bestia» : : 7 ' > ry a , fo a'e wet ty NIGER: : eid fat A be o POeck dies ae ; N “ a tee eros 21 ‘ i j e - Te) 4° Pits ; 4 ek ys oa ee, ‘ s ~ , ‘ ¥ cle Soda Saw en deve wclfie bw TM ESO OEE et vt 7. if + a ae ry : ; gine oe ‘5 Ras 4453 Picks uy pad 'f 1 ae ts? RIG3 j rel a Se yt) of oe ity zig Lah? OE Iga }008 ot Bos se vid aie ai wait . oy ee deter’ Rieter ia “ts Pibitena att At. Brae it Phi mL co aphiiers ns is. seis per iit P ngs ot as odet “tow on tata ion ud a +n at Bt ay. aes ee : buon ie : Bai Ghee live hehe) y ae ad baci wotom ee of yaiolea aio uESInErOAE™ Te ae ie ni Ade ere ¥ 54 oe PAs a { iat i ALA La ome ' i rT a be eee sent ¥ ee 2 ty ‘ are Se i R Atatiyer y, Zi2 Lytihe IPERS STIs ‘e : ‘ : pres So Fan “hed Racy’ mh, ws ep : : dw + ‘ Z o om ¥ i - Se ai be’ whe 2 rs pegs yt a, t Dovok TE Oks io ry uae Ri Be Vig 2) Bes iiectes Cia “ e. ’ . A ¢ Ne NG Ate! He pa PT 3) sD ve Vs ~ . % P on 4 “ ‘ Notices BACK NUMBERS OF THE ‘‘BULLETIN”’ Back numbers of the ‘‘Builetin’’ can be obtained a’ 2/6 each. Applications should be made to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. No reply will be sent if parts are not available. Members who have back numbers of the ‘‘ Bulletin’’ which they no longer require, are requested to kindly send them to R. A. H. Coombes, Esq., as above. DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1958 18th November, 16th December. 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If the contributor wishes to have the blocks to keep for his own use afterwards, the Club will not charge for them, as has been done in the past. Communications are not restricted to members of the British Ornithologists’ Club, and contributions on taxonomy and related sub- jects will be considered from all who care to send them to The Editor, Dr. J. G. Harrison, ‘‘Merriewood’’, St. Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent. Communications relating to other matters should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, N. J. P. Wadley, Esq., 14 Elm Place, London, S.W.7. SUBSCRIPTION Twenty-one Shillings Annually. Two Shillings and Sixpence per copy. : Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park. Sevenoaks, Kent. DAC? oer G7 en” BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Edited by Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON | Volume 78 December No. 9 1958 eh ; ie: ris 2 AIQIOMTMAG ki Zu * i yorrinhiers me iye & Piva! TP Ng the cpa aay ba) A oehy ‘ . & is eae ‘ee { if seirnieost! : i : K he ea e sy os 60% te ae ri \ b me i] za : ye 1958 151 Vol. 78 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB Mr, .. Volume 78 : me Sb & Number 9 = 9 Dee ions Le 35d Published: Ist December, 1958 The five hundred and sixty-eighth meeting of-the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7 on Tuesday, 18th November, 1958, following a dinner at 6.30 p.m. Chairman: Mr. C. W. MACKWORTH-PRAED Members present, 32; Guests, 8; Total, 40. Habitats and Distribution of some Angolan Birds Mrs. B. P. Hall gave a talk on this subject, based on species collected on an expedition to Angola in 1957 for the British Museum (Natural History). _ The talk was illustrated with slides of the country and the birds collected, distributional maps and an exhibition of bird skins. A full report of the expedition is being prepared for publication. Finally three new races were exhibited the descriptions of which follow. A lively discussion then took _ place in which Mr. R. E. Moreau, General Sir Gerald Lathbury, Mr. S. ' PI P i | Marchant and Mr. J. D. MacDonald took part. In closing this most stimulating evening, the Chairman commended Mrs. Hall’s colour slides of skins as being a most excellent way for birds to be exhibited to the meetings. A New Race of Honeyguide from Mount Moco by Mrs. B. P. HALL A single female of Prodotiscus insignis collected in open brachystegia woodland on the slopes of Mt. Moco at about 6,700’ could not be matched with any specimen in the British Museum. Mt. Moco is distinguished by having a number of endemic forms and it seemed that this bird might represent another. I accordingly sent it to Dr. H. Friedmann at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, for his opinion. He was able to match it with another female from Mt. Moco borrowed from the Chicago Natural History Museum, and confirmed my view that the two represented an undescribed form. I am most grateful to him for the trouble he took and for the very helpful notes on the characters of the new form which I have quoted from freely in the following description. Vol. 78 152 1958 I have great pleasure in naming the new race after the collector of the type specimen, Lt. Gen. Sir Gerald Lathbury, K.C.B., D.S.O., M.B.E. Prodotiscus insignis lathburyi (subsp. nov.) Description: Nearest to P.i.zambesiae but darker above and below, the mantle and back being darker and greener, less washed with yellow olive (Olive to Dark Greenish Olive of Ridgway in Jathburyi, against Buffy Olive to Olive in zambesiae). The crown and occiput a darker grey with little or no greenish wash. The chin, throat, breast, upper abdomen and sides darker grey. Slightly shorter in wing and tail, females examined of zambesiae having wings 74-76 and tails 47-50 mm. Differing at a glance from P.i.insignis and P.i.ellenbecki in being less olive above on the head and mantle, and paler and greyer below with white, not cream, under tail coverts and outer rectrices. Type: Adult female, collected at 6,700’ on Mt. Moco, Central Angola, on 21st August 1957 by G. W. Lathbury. B.M. Reg. No. 1957.35.1. Noted as in breeding condition. Wing 73, bill 11, tail 46 mm. Distribution: Known only from Mt. Moco (12°27’S: 14°20’E), central Angola. P.i.insignis has been collected at Quiculungo (8°31’S: 15°19’E) . northern Angola, and P.i.zambesiae at Quipungo (14°51’S: 14°30’E), southern Angola, so that the range of P.i./athburyi is probably restricted to the Bailunda highlands. Specimens Examined: The type has been compared in the British Museum with 12 specimens of insignis, 19 of zambesiae and 11 of ellenbecki. Variation in the Angola Lark, Mirafra angolensis Bocage With a Description of Two New Races by Mrs. B. P. HALL Mirafra angolensis has a limited distribution in a narrow strip across central Africa from the Benguela plateau in central Angola to the Marungu highlands of south-eastern Belgian Congo. Within this range its occurrence is sporadic and is limited to suitable grasslands in the highlands and along the Zambesi/Congo watershed; possibly more intensive collecting in some areas will establish more continuity than is at present known. Observations in the field suggest that the species is com- monly found where there is damp ground in the valleys or ditches of open grassland. Examination of specimens collected in 1957 in eastern and central Angola indicated that there was some geographical, as well as much individual, variation within the species, and this was also suggested by Mr. C. W. Benson who collected specimens in the Mwinilunga area and asked me to examine them. Geographical variation was confirmed when a series was brought together by loans from the Chicago Natural History Museum, The American Museum of Natural History, The National Museum of Southern Rhodesia and the Museé du Congo Belge, Tervuren, in all 35 specimens covering the whole known range of the species. The apparent pattern of variation is of dark birds in the centre of the range, eastern Angola and to a less extent north-west Rhodesia, with more rufous birds at either extreme, in central Angola and in Marungu, those from Marungu 1958 153 Vol. 78 being the most richly coloured. It seems useful therefore to recognise three races though it is to be expected that further collecting will show that all three intergrade and that it will therefore be difficult to name birds from intermediate areas satisfactorily. 1. Mirafra angolensis angolensis Bocage. Jorn. Lisbon 8, p. 59, 1880: Caconda. | Description— Male and Female: Head and mantle cinnamon with dark brown or black centres to the feathers; upper tail coverts cinnamon or pink-grey with rarely any black; wings and tail brown with rufous edges to wings and central rectrices, dark vermiculations on inner secondaries, and with white edges on two outermost pairs of rectrices—the white being confined to the outer web on the second outermost pair and covering the outer half of the inner web on the outermost pair. Throat white, underparts buff lightly streaked on breast. Distribution: Benguela highlands as far east at least as 17°30’E. Specimens Examined: Mombolo (34, 32), Dondi (33, 32), Nova Lisboa (13), Vouga (23, 22), Cuambo, 50 miles east of Vila General Machado (19). 2. Mirafra angolensis antonii (subsp. nov.) Description: Appearing generally darker above than the nominate race with a greater proportion of black to cinnamon in the plumage. This is due to a broadening of the black centres to the feathers, particularly in the crown, mantle and central rectrices. In addition the markings on the secondaries are usually darker and heavier, and the upper tail coverts greyish, marked or barred with black, very rarely showing a pinkish tinge. Below, more heavily streaked on the breast. The characters of the new race are most marked in the two females examined, one of which is almost totally black above with only an occasional light edge to feathers of the mantle, and the other is only slightly lighter having a little rufous in the mantle. Type: Adult 3 collected on open plains 5 miles east of Luacano, Eastern Angola, 3rd August, 1957 by A. L. Archer. B.M.Reg.No. 1957.35.2. Distribution: Specimens truly typical of this race are known only from Luacano, but others from Dilolo on the Angola/Congo border, and from the Mwinilunga area, are close to it and should be referred to it until further specimens are available (see notes). Specimens Examined: M.a.antonii 4 3, 2 9 Luacano; near antonii 1 3 38 miles north-east of Dilolo, east Belgian Congo, 6 ¢ Mwinilunga area. Notes: Named after the collector. Unfortunately no specimens examined of this or the nominate race are in really fresh plumage, mostly being fairly worn, or worn and just starting to moult. The series are not therefore ideal for comparative purposes but are nevertheless truly comparable. There are also several specimens in each series stained from burnt grass which may conceal some of the true colouring but does not alter the pattern. The Rhodesian series, though geographically furthest from the nominate race, has the appearance of being intermediate, having more rufous in the mantle and sometimes lighter streaking below than antonii. Though in series Rhodesian birds are appreciably darker than angolensis. the least heavily marked differs little from the most heavily marked angolensis. When some females and fresh-plumaged specimens are available Vol. 78 154 1958 from Mwinilunga it may be necessary to reconsider the systematic position of Rhodesian birds. 3. Mirafra angolensis marungensis (subsp. nov.) Description: Closest to the nominate race but more richly coloured, rufous rather than cinnamon particularly on the nape and lower back, and on the edges of the wings. Below more richly washed with rufous on the breast and with heavier streaking. Possibly averaging larger. Type: Adult 3 collected at Kasidi, Marungu 20-27 June 1931 by G. F. de Witte. Congo Museum Reg. No. 22285. Distribution: Marungu. Specimens Examined: 23, 22 from Marungu. Notes: All are in fresh plumage and not therefore truly comparable with the series of M.a.angolensis. Nevertheless the differences noted seem too great to be accounted for by wear alone and the geographical isolation of the Marungu population makes it more reasonable to create a new name on what is not as adequate material as one could wish for. I am very grateful to Mr. C. W. Benson for observations on the specimens he collected at Mwinilunga, and to the Directors of the Museums from whom specimens were borrowed. Table of Measurements Wing Bill Tail 3 “ rs) & 3 “ angolensis 93 89 82-87 76-87 | 19-21 17-20 | 44-51 42-48 antonii 43 2° 86-88 77,81 | 19-20 16,19 | 49-50 44-46 nr. antonii 63 82-85 18-19 46-51 marunguensis 24 2° 86,87 83,88 | 19,21 18,20 | 46,51 46,49 A New Race* of Cossypha natalensis by Mrs. B. P. HALL Specimens of Cossypha natalensis Smith were collected on the 1957 Angola Expedition in the strips of riverine forest of the eastern districts and in the mist forest at Gabela. The four from Gabela, together with specimens in the British Museum from Ndalo Tando (Vila Salazar), Bembe, Quiculungo and Landana are remarkably uniform in colour having dark heads and rich slate blue mantles, while two from the Luau River on the Angolo/Congo border east of Texeira de Sousa, differ from them in the colour of the mantle and crown and are also dissimilar though both are adult and were collected close together. * Meise’s name and description of the Angola Cossypha were received too late to stop Mrs. Hall’s description of the same bird being published, but it has been possible to eradicate the duplicate name. 1958 155 Vol. 78 Clancey (B.B.O.C. 76, 1956: 115) has discussed variation in this species in southern Africa, and recognised several races, though most authors have considered the species monotypic on account of the high degree of indi- vidual variation found within populations. Examination of the whole series in the British Museum indicates that there are two constant pop- ulations in the southern parts of the range, on the extreme east in Natal and west in north-western Angola. Both these constant populations have dull crowns with the Angola birds darker both on the crown and in the blue of the wings and mantle. Throughout the rest of the range birds are brighter headed but variable, some populations tending to have a higher percentage than others with very richly coloured heads—this is particularly true of the populations of coastal Tanganyika and Mafia Island where rich red crowns are common, while birds of Nyasaland and inland Tanganyika are more usually less bright. The two specimens obtained on the Luau River represent the extremes of variation found within the East African range, the female being as richly coloured as any, while the male is nearly as dull as Natal birds. It seems therefore inadvisable to recognise local races within this variable area, stretching from eastern Angola to Abyssinia and the Transvaal but the name intensa Mearns could be used to cover the whole, while Clancey was justified in restricting C.n.natalensis to Natal and extreme southern coastal Portuguese East Africa. No specimens have been examined of egregior Clancey or garguensis Mearns. The Angola population has been named Cossypha natalensis larischi Meise, Abh. & Verh. Nat. Ver. Hamburg (1957) 1958 p. 73. Description: Similar to C.n.natalensis in being uniform and with a dull olive brown crown, not rufous or rufous-brown as in intensa. Differing from natalensis in being darker on the crown and a deeper slate blue on the mantle and wings, and having a shorter tail, ¢ 67, 2 58-63, against 3 76-81, 2 69-78 mm. (these measurements are those quoted by Clancey for natalensis which cover British Museum specimens examined). Distribution: North-western Angola from Gabela north to the Port- uguese Congo. The eastern limits at present unknown but not extending as far east as Luacano. Specimens Examined: | 3,2, 1 imm. 2 Gabela. 2 2 Vila Salazar, | imm. 2 Dondo, 1 Bembe, | 3 Quiculungo, 1 ‘‘Angola’’, 1 Landana. Compared with ten of C.n.natalensis and a considerable series of C.n.intensa. Notes: I have been fortunate in being abie to examine this series with both Dr. H. Friedmann and Mr. P. A. Clancey both of whom agree that the Angola birds require a name. I am indebted to both of them for observations and advice on the species, though I am aware that Clancey does not share my views on the use of C.n.intensa for all the variable populations, Further Population Studies of the Jay by Dr. ANDREW KEVE Received 15th October, 1956, but held over until normal communication was restored with Hungary. In the Jay, Garrulus glandarius Linnacus, we have a species presenting many taxonomic problems. My study of this in 1939 invoked much discussion, in particular, a very objective critique by Kleinschmidt, which I must accept—naturally in evolutionary problems he holds his own Vol, 78 156 1958 opinions. It is difficult for me to answer many of the points raised, because the greater part of the material on which 1 worked was destroyed when the Hungarian Institute of Ornithology was burnt down in 1945, but there are some with which I can deal. | am grateful to all those who have com- mented upon my study, especially to Professor Erwin Stresemann. .. My original studies were based upon 756 skins and later | have seen many more, including a series of 38 trom Bulgaria and Greece and others from Spain. The Jay is a very vital species with many well diilerentiated races and I fully realise that even this series is insufficient to clarily ail the systematic problems involved. Garrulus glandarius albipectus caused me considerable surprise. | was prepared to describe a new race from Normandy, when | noticed how variable this race is and how near it stands to the British G.g.rufitergum and that the French and Italian populations show a similar variability. This can be compared to the variability of Motacilla flava dombrowskii, and the problem is complicated by winter visitors from northern and central Europe. Many transitional specimens (vide Kleinschmidt) make it impossible to determine exactly the populations of Holland, Belgium and northern France. This is in accord with the opinions of Meinerizhagen (1947), J. M. Harrison (1953), Mayaud (1953), Voous (1953) and Vaurie (1954). The only question now is the correct name for these birds. Mastrovic (1942) agrees that the eastern limit of G.g.albipectus is in Dalmatia, the eastern coast of the Adriatic and the islands of western Greece. This population was named G.g.yugoslavicus by Voous (i953), but Vaurie regards this as a synonym for G.g.albipectus. Migrants cause difficulties in this area too and ringing results from Italian stations show how near is the relationship between these populations. It is not clear how far this race extends eastwards in the mountains of the western Balkans. All my material from here was burnt, but to the best of my recollection the race from Hercegovina is G.g.albipectus, but those from Bosnia belong to the nominate form. On my visit to the Royal Scottish Museum in 1947, material from that country attracted my attention, but I had no time for a detailed study. I agree with Vaurie that coastal populations tend to develop dark forms. I have also remarked that the Iberian Peninsula may have more than one form. I believe that to unite the Iberian, Sardinian and Corsican Jays is wrong. I should even like to separate the Jays of Sardinia from those of Corsica, having studied 13 skins from Corsica and 19 from Sardinia, through the kindness of Professor A. Laubmann. Naturally in northern Sardinia and southern Corsica there lives an intermediate form and movements of these Jays can occasion mistakes. G.g.corsicanus Laubmann belongs to the dark rutous sea coast group and G.g.ichnusae Kleinschmidt to the greyish Continental group, which stands nearest to the other insular form G.g.cretorum Meinertzhagen. I have demonstrated that Meinertzhagen’s race is also different on osteological characters. G.g.graecus mihi is very near to it, but the validity of it was proved by Niethammer and J. M. Harrison. According to Matvejev the north-western limit of its area is the Kopaonik mountain (43 20’, 20 50’) (1955) and G.g.glandarius.is the form in northern Serbia. Pateff (1950) states in his book that the nominate form breeds in the 1958 LS) Vol. 78 greater part of Bulgaria, with which | agree. G.g.graecus is found only in the south-west. Jordans (1940) experienced great difficulty in determining his material, because most of it came from the neighbourhood of Plovdiv (Philip- popolis). | am very grateful to him and to Dunajewski for their kindness in sending me these skins for comparison and | must thank Professor von Jordans again for making it possible for me to continue my work on systematics, even during the war. In the area of Plovdiv three races come into contact—G.g.g/landarius, G.g.graecus and G.g.ferdinandi. Due to the resulting intergradation it is not surprising that his problem was confusing. G.g.ferdinandi (7 skins) is quite distinct from the neighbouring greyish races by its rufous plumage and stands in colour nearest to the lberian population. As yet its distribution is insufficiently known. It is certain that it inhabits the coast of the Black Sea near Burgas, but westwards near Plovdiv birds are no longer typical of that race. Birds from north-eastern Bulgaria and from the Dobrogea have yet to be studied. Unfortunately there is no possibility of considering the three races I have described trom the islands of the east Aegean, because all the skins were lost in the fire. So far | have been unable to replace them. The island fauna of the Aegean is most interesting and I would like to reasses my races in the light of Stepanek’s excellent study on Gymnodactylus kotschii. In 1939 I dealt in detail with the Jays of Asia Minor, except for the south- western part which is ornithologically terra incognita. I offer these additional notes to show that there are still many questions which require elucidation, particularly on the validity of the different races. | think it is important that comparisons should be made on freshly collected material, in order to avoid the pitfalls of the “‘museum races’’ The Jay has such a large literature that 1 am only giving the titles of my own papers referred to in this work :-— 1938 oe a remarques sur les Geais de France’’ L’Oiseau et R. Fr.Orn.,VIIL, 148-9. (one **Systematische Studien iiber die Corviden.l.’’ Aquila,xXLII-XLV,1935-8, pp. 141-226. 1939 ‘‘Ergdnzung zur systematischen Revision des Eichelhdhers’’ Aquila,XLII-XLV, 1935-8, pp.542-549. 1939 *‘A New Jay from the Balkans’’ Bull.B.O.C.,No.CCCCXIX,pp.70-1, 1939 °° kin neuer kicheihdher in der Schweiz’ ’ Orn.Beob.,XXXVi,pp.1i7-8. 1942 ** Der Eichelhaher Luxemburgs’’ Vogelfreund, 1.2.,p.18. 1942 ** Der Eichelhadnerzug in Ungarn im Winter 1939-4V0’’ Aquila, XLVI-XLLX, 1939- 4+2,pp.306—372. 1944 °‘ Ein neuer Lichelhdheraus Siidost-Bulgarien’’ Aquila,L,1943,pp.369-70. 1948 ‘* Uber die ornithologische Sammeltatigkeit Franz Schillinger’s im russischen Reich’’ Annai. Nath. Mus.Wien,LV1i,pp.77-129. I wish to express my thanks to Dr. James Harrison for his help with my manuscript. Notes on the Ploceidae by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE AND Mr. R. E. MOREAU Part Two OTHER NON-PLOCEINE SPECIES Bu b a lornis Received, 2nd June, 1958 Sclater (1930) treats Bubalornis niger Smith as conspecific with B. albirostris (Vieillot); Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1954) keep the latter Vol. 78 158 1958 apart as a monotypic species*. The difference is mainly in the beak, which is red in niger, but in albirostris white in the breeding season, black in the non-breeding. It does not seem to be known what the relations are between the two forms in Abyssinia, where they both occur, or whether they interbreed; but it appears that latitude 10°N. is the approximate boundary between them. On the whole there do not seem to be adequate reasons for keeping these apparently vicariant birds as distinct species. Among the red-bellied birds there is much individual variation in the amount of whitish in the basal half of the remiges and to such variation we ascribe both scioanus (Salvadori), as does Friedmann (1937), and nyansae (Neumann). This latter form (described on absence of white at the base of the primaries) is admitted by Sclater (1930) from Kavirondo (the type-locality) to near the head of Lake Nyasa, but is synonymized by Mackworth-Praed & Grant with intermedius. Since birds from both Shinyanga in north central Tanganyika and from Mkomasi, north-eastern Tanganyika (in the British Museum) are intermedius, Sclater’s distribution leaves a most unlikely long narrow distribution as the possible one for nyansae. However, since specimens have been reported from Saranda, near Dodoma, on the Tanganyika Central Railway, as nyansae (Friedmann & Loveridge 1937), we asked Messrs. H. J. de S. Disney and H. Lamprey if they could kindly supply specimens from critical areas. The result shows that near Kondoa the birds have only a little whitish at the base of the remiges and at Dodoma some birds have much white and some not. The range given by Mackworth-Praed & Grant for B.a. intermedius is incorrect in more than one particular. As Cave & Macdonald (1955) have pointed out, there seems no evidence that it occurs in the southern Sudan, while in Tanganyika there is no record of it from the south-east nor from approximately west of a line drawn from Mwanza to the head of Lake Nyasa. (R. J. Stowell in Jitt. reports it common in Usanga, about 50 miles north of Lake Nyasa, but it seems to be absent from the Lake Rukwa depression, according to L. D. E. F. Vesey-Fitzgerald in litt.) The species is evidently confined to thorn and baobab country but absent from miombo (Brachystegia). Dinemellia dinemelli. There is no confirmation (Chapin 1954) of B6hm’s old record of D.d. béhmi (cit. Reichenow 1902) from Mpala on the south-west shore of Lake Tanganyika and, especially as the area does not seem suitable ecologically, the range of this bird is not taken as extending into the Belgian Congo. D.d. ruspolii, described as having more white on the secondaries, is accepted by Mackworth-Praed & Grant for the birds of southern Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland. They locate ‘‘Banan’’, the type locality, ‘‘about 110 miles west of Dolo’’. This appears to be incorrect. The type was collected by Ruspoli but, according to the rough maps in Boll. Soc. Geog. Ital. 1893,(3)6: 689 and 708, he did not visit a point anywhere near 110 miles west of Dolo on either of his journeys in north-east Africa. Salvadori *There seems however to have been some doubt in the minds of these authors. Although they cite B. albirostris as a monotypic species confined to part of northern tropical Africa (p.859), they say later-on the same page ‘‘over the whole of the rest of Africa this species lays .... ’’; and on the same page the call attributed to a/birostris is quoted without caveat from that in ‘‘Ibis’* 1939:315 from field observations on another term, intermedius, which they place as a subspecies of B.. niger. 1958 159 Vol. 78 himself in his original description says that the specimen had no label and gives the type locality as ‘‘Banan (?)’’, later remarking that he was able to get no idea of the position of **Banan or Barsan’’. Zedlitz (1911: 10) on grounds unknown, places the type-locality in *‘N. Somaliland’’, whatever that may mean. In any case it appears that D.d. ruspolii is not worthy of recognition. As remarked by van Someren (1922), birds of this species somewhat further south, along the Juba River, show exceptionally high individual variation, and at least some specimens from the coast of Italian Somaliland are typical D.d.dinemelli (Zedlitz 1911:10). The British Museum possesses only one specimen regarded by Mackworth-Praed & Grant as showing the ruspol/ii character, namely a female from Dibbit, 100 miles north-west of Obbia. Plocepasser mahali. P.m. propinquatus Shelley, distinguished from the Abyssinia—Kenya population, P.m. melanorhynchus, only by smaller size, was given the type locality ‘‘Somali’’ by its describer. Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1955) cite the type-locality as ‘‘Bardera, Juba River, Italian Somaliland’’, but do not seem to have published their reasons. Professor J. Berlioz informs us that the type is in the Paris Museum, and that its label bears no locality. The specimen is, however, registered as bought from ‘‘Abdou-Gindi, du Pays des Somalis’’. The other species represented in the small collection purchased at the same time support the idea that the type came from close to the Juba River. P.m. pectoralis. Mackworth-Praed & Grant extend the range north through Tanganyika to Kenya Colony, but we can hear no evidence for the bird’s occurrence north of the Tanganyika Central Line. Plocepasser donaldsoni. The original type locality, given as “‘Eastern Africa’’, seems to have been restricted to ‘‘nr. Lasamis, between Lake Rudolf and the N. Guaso Nyiro, Northern Frontier Province, Kenya Colony’’ by Sclater (1930) without publishing the reasons. It has however been accepted by Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1955), who paid special attention to such matters, and we accept it although the basis of the restriction seems no longer ascertainable. Plocepasser superciliosus. Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1955) accept three subspecies as follows, citing distinctions confined to colour of mantle: P.s. superciliosus, (‘‘mantle earth-brown washed with russet’’) Senegal— eastern Sudan (Roseires). P.s. brunnescens Grote (‘‘having a warmer wash of russet on the mantle’’), French Equatorial Africa—western Abyssinia and north- western Uganda. P.s. bannermani Grant & Mackworth-Praed (‘‘differs from the nominate race in having the mantle earth brown’’), Eritrea, south-eastern Sudan, eastern and southern Abyssinia, and north-western Kenya Colony. It will be noticed that the alleged distinctions are the extent of the russet tinge on the mantle, and that the ranges ascribed to the three forms are rather odd. R.E.M. assembled a series of 48 specimens from parts of the ranges of all three named forms and was unable to see any satisfactory geographical Vol. 78 160 | 1958 as distinct from individual differences, though it is true that several of the most warmly coloured specimens come from Bahr-el-Ghazal—West Nile Prov. area. D. Goodwin and C. H. B. Grant, who kindly examined the specimens at different times, agreed. We conclude therefore that P. superciliosus is best treated binomially. Pseudonigrita arnaudi. Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1955) give the range of the typical form (with Aapitensis Mearns as a synonym) as ‘‘western and southern Sudan to Uganda and north-eastern langanyika Territory’’, and of P.a. dorsalis (Reichenow), distinguished by a dark mark on the back, as ‘‘southern Kenya Colony to the Ikoma, Mwanza and Tabora districts, Tanganyika’’. We agree with the sinking of kapitensis, which was described simply on size. Friedmann’s (1930) measurements of 60-63 mm. for typical birds, by comparison with which he was prepared to maintain kapitensis, are based on erroneous data, for seven Sudanese (typical) birds in the British Museum have a wing range of 63.5-67. The map in Mackworth-Praed & Grant for the distribution of P.a. arnaudi shows a connection between the Sudan—N. Uganda and the N. Tanganyika populations via southern Uganda and western Kenya for which there is no evidence; but it omits the connection round the east side of the Kenya Highlands, which is indicated by British Museum specimens from Machakos and Athi River. We have not been able to verify their grounds for bringing P.a. dorsalis into Kenya. Passer iagoensis. Opinions have been divided as to whether the various African sparrows, otherwise placed in the species motitensis, should be treated as conspecific with iagoensis of the Cape Verde Islands or not. The resemblances certainly are very great and the only objection to making them conspecific seems to be the wide geographical gap, the entire width of West Africa, that at the present day separates the insular iagoensis from the nearest similar African population, kordofanicus of the north-western Sudan. We discount this objection and think it preferable to recognize the close resemblance between the Cape Verde and the continental birds by treating them as conspecific. Unlike Sclater, Mackworth-Praed & Grant regarded Passer insularis, of Socotra, as a separate species, with the paler hemileucus, of neighbouring Abd-el-Kuri as a subspecies. As, however, the only difference from iagoensis subspp. is that the insular birds have the rump and upper tail- coverts grey instead of sandy, we think that the grounds for separating them specitically inadequate. The same authors differ from Sclater in treating P. rufocinctus as a separate, monotypic, species. Again we agree with Sclater, for rufocinctus is allopatric to all forms of iagoensis and differs only in having ear-coverts grey, outlined above and behind by sandy instead of with black, which in the contiguous P.a. shelleyi is variable. These African populations iagoensis show several examples of con- vergence of characters. (a) The Kordofan and the South West African (with S. W. Angola) birds are the brightest and most sandy-coloured, with the best-defined black streaks on the mantle. . (b) The Uganda-Abyssinia birds resemble those of the Union of South Africa in being duller above, with broader black streaks. 1958 161 Vol. 78 _(c) The biggest and blackest beaks are those of Socotra with Abd-el-Kuri and of south-western Africa. Passer castanopterus Blyth. The type-locality, ‘‘Somaliland’’, in the original description, is given by Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1955) as ‘“‘northern Italian Somatiland’’, but the grounds for this are not known. The same authors include south central Abyssinia, as well as southern Abyssinia, in the range of the brighter-yellow P.c. fulgens Friedmann, and again we are unable to verily this, tor the British Museum possesses no specimen from so far north and Friedmann’s (1937) only Abyssinian record was at Chatfa on the Kenya border. The discussion about the locality of Hamerton’s bird from *‘Bera’’ in Friedmann (1937) is settied by the tact that it is, according to its original label, 120 miles N.W. of Obbia, not in ‘‘southern Somatiland’’. It is a little more strongly coloured below than any specimen from British Somaliland, but it is with a butfy yellow, not with the clear colour of fulgens. From the southern half ot Somalia there seems to be no record of the species, so that the known ranges of the two subspecies can be cited as: P.c. fulgens: Abyssinia close to the Kenya border; Kenya south to about Lokitaung and Marsabit. P.c. castanopterus: British Somaliland and northern Somalia. Auripasser luteus, A. euchlorus, Sorella eminibey. Sclater (1930) so classitied these birds. Lynes (1924: 686), with excep- tionally good experience of eminibey and Juteus in the field, kept them as two species of Passer, and had reason to think that they had overlapping breeding ranges in Darfur. Meinertzhagen (1954) put all three in Passer and actually made them conspecitic. We agree that there is no adequate reason for keeping them out of that genus, but the evidence of Lynes makes it necessary to keep eminibey and J/uteus as specitically distinct, at least for the present. Since euchlorus is allopatric to /uteus and differs only in the absences of brown on the back and wings these two birds can be treated as conspecific. As regards S.e. guasso, after examining series from the American Museum of Natural History and the British Museum, we agree with those who have synonymized it with the nominate form. Petronia xanthosterna. The subspecies that have been described from East Africa are unsatis- factory. P.x. kakamariae Stoneham (type-iocality, Karamoja, eastern Uganda) is accepted by Grant & Mackworth-Praed, 1944, “Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl.’ 64: 37-39, as being larger than P.x. pyrgita, males 91-92 mm., females 86-90, compared with pyrgita males 8/—9U, females 77-87. They assume, however, that two ‘‘maies’’ from the neighbourhood of Mr. Elgon, reported by Granvik as measuring only 86 and 88 mm., which should on geographical grounds be kakamariae, were wrongly sexed. We find that a male in the British Museum from Moroto (Uganda, close to the type-locality of kakamariae) measures only 87 mm. We conclude that no subspecies can be based on size and we can see no colour differ- ences. We are much indebted to Dr. A. L. Rand for sending measurements of specimens in the Chicago Museum. P.x. massaica is a poor subspecies. Specimens from the range as given by Mackworth-Praed & Grant are just perceptibly darker than Pyrgita Vol. 78 162 1958 but are, if anything, browner rather than more ashy, as claimed by these authors. We do not think the subspecies worth maintaining. Petronia superciliaris Considering the range, from Cape Town to the Central Line of Tangan- yika, the variation is slight. There is evidence that, as might be expected, the birds nearest the Equator are the smallest, and presumably there is a cline of diminishing size up the East African coast. Birds from the Trans- vaal tend to be paler than others, but to the northwest, in the southern Belgian Congo, they are darker again. The best course appears to be to treat the species binomially. Carpospiza Miller is, following Meinertzhagen, 1954, ‘Bds. Arabia’, p.100, treated as a synonym of Petronia. Petronia dentata buchanani appears, as Bannerman (1949) comments, to be very poorly defined and provisionally P. dentata is treated as binomial. Sporopipes squamifrons. Vincent, 1935, Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 55: 98, restricted the type-locality to Graaf Reinet in the central Cape Province; Macdonald, 1957: 158, overlooking this, restricted the type-locality to Kuruman. Although from — the original wording of the describer, Andrew Smith, the restriction to Kuruman is certainly the more natural one, there is no sufficient reason for setting aside ‘‘Graaf Reinet’’, since Dr. G. McLachlan states (in /itt.) that it is just within the southern border of the bird’s range. We follow Hoesch & Niethammer (1940) and M. P. S. Irwin (in Jitt.) in treating S.s. damarensis Reichenow and S.s. fuligescens Clancey as indistinguishable from nominate series. Sporopipes frontalis. R.E.M. has been able to examine 91 specimens, including a loan from the American Museum of Natural History. S.f. pallidior Hartert (type-locality Zinder), which Bannerman (1953) thought a poor form, must be synonymized with the nominate. Although some of the specimens from Damergu and Darfur are exceptionally pale, others, and Bates’s specimens from Tazza Wells, Tawa and Tillia, close to the type-locality, cannot be separated from specimens from further south. We also agree with Mackworth-Praed & Grant (1953) that S.f. abyssinicus is a synonym, so that the range of the nominate form extends from Senegal to Abyssinia. In Kenya and Tanganyika the situation, as described by Mackworth- Praed & Grant, is confused. They extend S.f. emini (‘‘mantle and rump more ashy grey’’ than the nominate form) from the southern Sudan to Kenya, north-eastern and central Tanganyika, while also admitting cinerascens (type-locality near Mwanza) for Uganda and Central Tanganyika (‘‘mantle and rump darker than emini’’). Cave & Macdonald (1955) admit emini for the Sudan south of 6°N. as ‘‘rather darker’’ than the nominate birds. The most richly coloured among the 91 specimens come from the southern Sudan, N.E. Uganda, Kenya and northern Tanganyika. R.E.M. finds it impossible to separate these into two geographical forms and concludes by recognizing only S.f. frontalis and S.f. emini, with cinerascens — and Joitanus van Someren as synonyms of the latter. 1958 163 Vol. 78 REFERENCES Bannerman, D. A. 1949, 1951. The Birds of West tropical Africa. 7 & 8. London. Benson, C. W. 1956. The relationship of Passer griseus (Vieillot) and Passer diffusus (Smith) with the description of a new race of the latter. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 76: 38-42. Cave, F. O. & Macdonald, J. D. 1955. Birds of the Sudan. Edinburgh & London. Chapin, J. P. 1954. The birds of the Belgian Congo, part 4. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 75B. Friedmann, H. & Loveridge, A. 1937. Notes on the ornithology of tropical East Africa. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 81(1). Grant, C. H. B. & Mackworth-Praed, C. W. 1944. On the status of Passer griseus suahelicus. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 64: 36-37. Grant, C. H. B. & Mackworth-Praed, C. W. 1947. On the races of Passer griseus Vieillot and on the status of Passer swainsonii (Riippell). Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 67: 57-58. Hoesch, W. & Niethammer, G. 1940. Die Vogelwelt Deutsch by Siidwestafrikas. J. Orn. 88 Sonderh. Lynes, H. 1924. On the birds of North and Central Darfur... . 2. Ibis (11) 6: 648-719. Macdonald, J. D. 1957. Contributions to the ornithology of western South Africa. London (Brit. Mus.). Macdonald, J. D. & Hall, B. P. 1957. Ornithological results of the Bernard Carp/Trans- vaal Museum expedition to the Kaokoveld, 1951. Ann. Transv. Mus. 23: 35. Mackworth-Praed, C. W. & Grant, C. H. B. 1955. Birds of eastern and north-eastern Africa. 2. London. Mayr, E. & Amadon, D. 1951. A classification of recent birds. Amer. Mus. Novit. 1946. Mayr, E. & Greenway, J. C. Jr. 1956. Sequence of passerine families (Aves). Breviora Mus. Comp. Zool. 58. McLachlan, G. & Liversidge R. Roberts’ Birds of South Africa. Meinertzhagen, R. 1954. Birds of Arabia. Edinburgh & London. Sclater, W. L. 1930. Systema Avium Aethiopicarum 2. London. Sharpe, W. B. 1890. Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum 13. Sj6stedt, Y. 1910. Wissenschaffliche Ergebnisse der schwedischen zoologischen Expedi- tion nach Kilimanjaro .... 3. Stockholm. Steiner, H. 1955. Das Brutverhalten der Prachtfinken, Spermestidae, als Ausdruck ihres selbstandigen Familiencharacters. Act. XI Congr. Int. Orn. (Basel): 350-355. Sushkin, P. P. 1927. On the anatomy and classification of the weaver-birds. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 57: 1-32. A New Lark from Northern Rhodesia by Mr. C. M. N. WHITE Received 14th July, 1958 Mirafra angolensis minyanyae subsp. nov. Description: differs from nominate angolensis Bocage in being lighter above; the red of the crown pinky vinous rather than cinnamon; hind neck and upper mantle greyer, less rusty or sandy yellow; black streaking above less marked, the red areas on the feathers more pinkish vinous, less rufous; the feathers of the back and scapulars with greyish fringes; lower back and rump paler. Distribution: the Minyanya plain, N.W. Balovale district, Northern Rhodesia. Type: male adult, collected on the Minyanya plain, Balovale, Northern Rhodesia on 25th June, 1958. In my collection. Remarks: M.angolensis ranges from Central Angola to the Katanga and Mwinilunga. Birds from this area are not wholly homogeneous, but their variation is being studied by Mrs. Hall. I have seen specimens from all these localities, and compared the new race with a series of Mwinilunga birds, When I explored the Minyanya plain in 1943 I missed this species Vol. 78 164 1958 which inhabits the mid slopes of the plain in contrast to M.africana kaballi White, which keeps to the top of this watershed plain. Although the two species do occur in the same area, they seem to be somewhat spatially separated by having preferences for different levels of the plain. A series of five M.angolensis was collected on the Minyanya plain. Further Breeding Records from Northern Rhodesia Part:{ by Mr. C. W. BENSON AND CAPTAIN CHARLES R. S. PITMAN Received 15th July, 1958 Introduction Since a ‘‘Check List of the Birds of Northern Rhodesia’’ (1957) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Check List’’), by C. W. Benson and C. M. N. White, went to press, many further breeding records have been ~ accumulated. In this paper only those relating to species for which the data in the Check List were particularly scanty, or even completely lacking, are included. A few data in the Check List provided by Mr. G. Wedekind or by C. W. B. have been expanded. All the contributors to this paper are members of the Department of Game and Tsetse Control, except that we must also thank Messrs. R. Liversidge, J. M. E. Took and G. Wedekind for information. All localities mentioned are fully specified, or have already been so in the Check List, except for Msweba, which is at 14°28’S., 26°58’E. Eggs recorded as col- lected are either in the British Museum or will be forwarded there by C.R.S.P. Any birds mentioned as collected are in the National Museum, Bulawayo. The nomenclature in the Check List is followed. General Information This section is confined to the description of four mixed colonies of certain aquatic species, not suitably dealt with in normal systematic order. W. F. H. Ansell, on the Luswishi River at about 13°15’S., 27°18’E., on or about 30th June, 1957, found a mixed colony of nests in riparian ever- green forest in standing water. It was only possible for him to observe the colony for half-an-hour before sunset. No incubating birds were observed. According to local information, the nests are occupied annually from about February to July. The components of the colony were as follows :— Phalacrocorax a. africanus (Gmelin). Apparently the most numerous species in the colony. Nestlings well grown, none in down. Anhinga anhinga rufa (Lacepédé & Daudin). Young in all stages, from still in down to almost adult size. Anastomus I. lamelligerus Temminck. All well grown, some able to fly from tree to tree. Compared to adults, plumage duller and browner, bill — shorter, lacking any space between the mandibles. On 15th March, 1958, N. J. Carr found a colony of several hundred — nests in a group of thorn trees, in a flooded backwater of the Kafue River ~ at 15°45’S., 26°15’E. He took single eggs from selected nests, and further 1958 165 Vol. 78 details, together with the estimated numbers of nests of each species, are as follows :— Phalacrocorax a. africanus. Several hundreds. Three eggs (two fresh, one slightly incubated) are pale blue, almost completely obscured by pale powdery chalky white; size 43.2 x 30.0, 44.1 x 29.2, 42.8 x 30.1 mm. Anhinga anhinga rufa. Twelve. No eggs taken. Ardea c. cinerea Linné. Twelve. One greenish blue egg, almost fresh; size 57.3 x 45.0mm. Egretta alba melanorhynchos (Wagler). Over one hundred. Two pale blue eggs, one slightly incubated, size 57.4 x 38.0, one heavily incubated, size 56.6 x 39.0mm. Anastomus I. lamelligerus. Twenty-four. Five eggs, all fresh except for one moderately incubated, all whitish, tinted grey, with a dirty marbling effect, all of them much nest stained pale brownish; size 59.8 x 40.3, 58.6 x 40.3, 54.1 x 39.3, 55.1 x 38.2, 53.4 x 38.5mm. On the Kafue River at 14°27'S., 26°44’E., on 20th March, 1958, Wedekind found a colony in a large clump of reeds on a sand-bank in the middle of the river. This consisted of at least thirty nests of Butorides rufiventris (Sundevall), likewise ten each of Ardeola ralloides (Scopoli) and Nycticorax n. nycticorax (Linné). Some of these nests contained eggs, others young in all stages of development. All eggs taken were pale blue. Two clutches each of C/3 fresh of N.nycticorax measure :— 52.3 x 33.2, 50.2 x 35.0, 54.0 x 33.3: 47.0 x 34.2, 49.4 x 35.0, 46.7 x 34.3mm. A clutch of C/4 fresh, of B.rufiventris, measure 38.9 x 30.3, 41.6 x 29.5, 39.3 x 28.4, 39.2 x 30.3mm. A C/3 soon to hatch, of B.rufiventris, taken by C. W. B. at Ngoma, 15°54’S., 25°58’E,. 26th July, 1957 is pale blue, and measures 36.1 x 28.2, 36.5 x 29.0, 37.5 x 28.2mm. This was from the Nkala River at 15°54’S., 25°58’E., at this season little more than a series of pools almost discon- nected. The nest was in Phragmites reeds, 3ft. above water level, a flimsy *“saucer’’ of reeds, lined with finer grass. There were probably other pairs breeding within a quarter-mile stretch of the river, but there was no com- pact colony. The call of B.rufiventris seems never to have been recorded. It is therefore of interest that C.W.B., who is very familiar with this heron, and has never previously heard any call, when on a dam at Mumbwa at sunset on 28th February, 1958, saw six circling overhead. From time to time, a muffled, almost corvine-like, ‘‘kar’’, repeated several times, was heard. In 1957, R. I. G. Attwell found a colony of over 150 nests of Jbis ibis (Linné), together with a few of Platalea alba Scopoli and Anastomus 1. lamelligerus, on the left bank of the Luangwa, at Nsefu, in Acacia albida trees. In early June the colony contained well grown young, and there were still a few young left in the last week of August. The 1955 colony of J.ibis and P.alba (see Check List, pp. 8, 9) was again occupied, by the former species only, in June, 1957, and there was yet another colony of J.ibis within six miles. SYSTEMATIC LIST Phalacrocorax africanus africanus (Gmelin). Anhinga anhinga rufa (Lacepédée & Daudin). L.B.S. Estcourt reports a colony of thirty-eight nests of P.africanus from + Posie tat ™ : a°t TEE ER Pw es. i ee Car » VPS ' Ps, Vol. 78 ~ : 166 \z* ‘ee yates z bn 3 ti F > r 3S as = 4 Sk Te Meld ae ; t fy y 1S A 4HIOR, 4 “aq # ee H G n rts 7 Hae | at z. - 2 ns i i ¥e y's i tf ‘ nl Hatt: “S47 ¥ z CAM “pee . = ‘ Tag re sae we % J \ » os a re $ pean is Krasae "a . + ae er A a Pe oP ys ¥ r é whet - : f= 55 ; i. La ¥ ¢ aS Ng eee Se raed L ; * rey + he ¢ ik a ‘ on : * s Je rs z 4 ? A Pa , e Pe é 2 ay bs od , i= ‘ is #24 ron Be : { G x +t ow ; ia ] ¥. Ea é Pint ois i re 3 e ‘ : y ee 4 +3 * ” t ‘ o | \ a \ tS k } i. ’ | se ot ae» t - Te > sa Mo fodasy q iN Sek: i bis: wretTt oil HEL? Rado as oa: oT “sandy # sgze oi on oe oa - ony 3 eines > Pe ee Ts Del bbe © 4, +L + Age PEAS PAM ELS & <2 os ed ie oiia te ey to if aN be SactrethiTer, he a cd i te ‘ Pa hy’ Pine SRLS EAE me N ray Fu Se ta “a ~ wih yaa? 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