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BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH
ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

EDITED BY

BR. SEFRPERY: (Gs HARRISON

Volume 81
1961

PRICE FOUR SHILLINGS

PREFACE

IN WRITING my last Preface, after ten years as Editor, it is first my very
pleasant duty to thank all the many contributors who have supported the
Bulletin during this time. The fact that the Bulletin has been able to expand
steadily is due entirely to their efforts and in these years certain trends
have occurred in the papers submitted for publication. Initially, African
ornithology provided a major proportion of these, but now we have been
able to expand in other fields and the material published is more balanced,
although the African publications are no less and are always welcome.

The number of new species and races being described is falling, as
would be expected. At the same time, broader reviews of interspecific
variation are being made and papers dealing with phylogenetics, variants
and hybrids are increasing. A number have also been published on
functional anatomy and on pathology, as well as several on general
ornithology. The trend therefore is for longer papers, which often have
to be divided between several issues. The short note however, is still most
welcome, particularly when trying to complete the last page of an issue.

The supply of papers remains excellent. The reasons for this are that the
waiting time for publication averages only 7-8 months; all contributors
are now sent proofs and receive up to 50 free copies instead of 10 as
formerly. Now that the Scientific Index is again being published annually,
it is most gratifying that we should have received a Royal Society grant
towards the cost of the proposed index to cover the 10-year gap (1950-
1959).

At a Special General Meeting held in September, it was agreed that
members with fifty years unbroken membership of the Club automatically
become life members and the following are to be congratulated upon
qualifying under the new rule:— Dr. D. A. Bannerman, Major Antony
Buxton, Captain Collingwood Ingram, Sir Philip Manson-Bahr, Colonel
_R. M. Meinertzhagen, Mr. D. Seth-Smith and Mr. N. F. Ticehurst.

Once again, we are indebted to Mrs. B. P. Hall for the annual Scientific
Index and to Mr. C. N. Walter for the List of Authors. Miss E. Forster,
Dr. J. M. Harrison, Captain C. R. S. Pitman and Mr. J. J. Yealland have
also helped me with the present volume, for which I am very grateful.

The numbers attending the B.O.C. meetings in 1961 show an increase
of 76 over last year and were as follows:— Members, 205; Temporary
associates (home), 2; (overseas), 5; Guest of the Club, Maxwell Knight;
Guests, 98; Total 310.

Finally, | would like to thank our publishers, the Caxton and Holmes-
dale Press, Sevenoaks and particularly the Manager, Mr. K. Wiltsher,
for their help and efficiency in dealing with our problems, which are so
often outside the usual run of publishing queries. I would also like to
wish my successor, John Yealland, and the Bulletin every possible success
for the future.

JEFFERY HARRISON,

Sevenoaks, December 1961.

ill
COMMITTEE 1959

Captain C. R. S. PITMAN, Chairman (elected 1959).
Mrs. B. P. HALL, Vice-Chairman (elected 1959).
Dr. J. G. HARRISON, Editor (elected 1952).

Miss E. Forster, Secretary (elected 1960).

Mr. C. N. WALTER, Hon. Treasurer (elected 1950).
Mr. I. J. FERGUSON-LEES (elected 1958).

Mr. P. A. D. HOLLoM (elected 1959).

Mr. R. S. R. FITTER (elected 1959).

Mrs. P. V. UPTON (elected 1960)

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. MACKWORTH-PRAED 1956-1959
Captain C. R. S. PITMAN 1959-
Vice-Chairmen

LORD ROTHSCHILD 1930-1931
W. L. SCLATER 1931-1932

H. F. WITHERBY 1932-1933

Vice-Chairmen—cont.

G. M. MATHEWS

N. B. KINNEAR

H. WHISTLER

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. MACKWORTH-PRAED
Dr. J. M. HARRISON

Sir PHILIP 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
Mrs. B. P. HALL

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

1933-1934
1934-1935
1935-1936
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
1956-1959
1959-

1892-1904
1904-1914
1914-1915
1915-1920
1920-1925
1925-1930
1930-1935
1935-1940
1940-1945
1945-1947
1947-1952
1952-1961

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. MACKWORTH-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

Miss E. FORSTER

Honorary Treasurers

C. W. MACK WORTH-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
1950-1960
1960-

1935-1936
1936-1942
1942-1949
1950-

vi
LIST OF MEMBERS AS AT 3lst OCTOBER 1961

Amended as follows :—

New Members

BairD, D. E., The Edward Grey Institute, Botanic Gardens, Oxford.

BOULTON, Rudyerd, Atlantica Ecological Research Station, Southern Rhodesia.

CALDWELL, Lt. Col. F. G., 0.8.£., c/o National Provincial Bank Ltd., 96/97, Strand,
W.C.2.

CorTrTre.i, G. W. Jnr., R.F.D., 2 Hillsboro, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

Downs, Dr. W. G., 10 Halstead Lane, Pine Orchard, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Eppy, Miss M. G., Tapline, Beirut, Lebanon.

Feeny, P. P., 7 Sir Harry’s Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, 15.

GALBRAITH, C. J., British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W.7.

Goopwin, Miss V., Little Orchard, Rowe Holt, Nr. Wimborne.

Hitt, D. S., Dept. of Zoology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Humpureys, Commander J. N., R.N. Staff College, Greenwich, S.E.10.

Lawson, W. J., Durban Museum & Art Gallery, City Hall, Smith Street, Durban,
South Africa.

Lona, R. C., Chididi Mission, P.O. Box 14, Port Herald, Nyasaland.

LonGuHurstT, Mrs. A. R., 1 Newington Green Road, Canonbury, N.1.

Scott, R. E., Dungeness Bird Observatory, Dungeness, Romney Marsh, Kent.

TROLLOPE, J., 37 Station Road, Hounslow, Middlesex.

VAN OosTEN, Jan R., 3010 North 14th, Tacoma, Washington, U.S.A.

VAN OrDEN, Chr., Zwolseweg 333, Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

VIOLA, Miss P., 27 Earls Court Gardens, S.W.5.

WaArb, P., Regional Research Station, Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria.

Wixuis, G. S., 397 Folkestone Road, Dover, Kent.

Woopcock, M. W., 27 Selborne Road, Sidcup, Kent.

Woopwarp, lan D. W., **‘ Lavrock’’, 66 Oak Street, Hemel Hempstead, Herts.

Resigned or died

ALLEN, J., ‘“‘Cleveland’’, Longfield Avenue, New Barn, Longfield, Dartford, Kent.
BROWNLOw, Lt. Col. H. G., Monomark BM/DIPPER, London, W.C.1.

GILBERT, Capt. H. A., Bishopstone, Bridge Sollars, Nr. Hereford.

SLADEN, Major A. G., Crabtree, Furlong, Haddenham, Aylesbury, Bucks.

LIST OF AUTHORS, Etc. Page
ACCOUNTS, FINANCIAL ... se a +. aha! is pik “fs ¢ 74
A NATIONAL BIRD FOR BRITAIN ous of as ian isd oy Fak 3
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ... a amt ve Sai Pos Ay ~ 77

AN ORNITHOLOGICAL BRAINS TRUST as on Fe =) 7: ma |

Asn, J. S.
A melanistic C opal ih te i colly it in Dorset a ar 81
Dwarfism in a Pheasant eo . ar say 95

Beer, J. V. and Storey, G. W

An ovarian tumour in a Mallard is ¥/ Sad * ve be, 153
Benson, C. W.

A note on Euplectes axillaris ... Ao is 8 Aa ee 6

Jacanas and other birds perching on hippo .. sae ta - 7. 85

Some notes from Northern Rhodesia oes Pe ie fot Sh TS

Vil
Page
BENSON, C. W., BOULTON, R. and IRwin, M. P. Stuart ©
Some records from the Mpika and Serenje Districts, Northern Rhodesia 3
BENSON, C. W. and IRwin, M. P. Stuart
The range of Tchagra minuta reichenowi ic ne ir oe 8
BENSON, C. W. and Pitman, Capt. Charles R. S.
Further breeding records from Northern Rhodesia (No. 2) ae 2 ASG
BOULTON, R.
See BENSON, C. W.
CHAPIN, James P.
What is Tchitrea melampyra Hartlaub, 1857? bi oe = tian fea
_ CLANCEY, BA.
On western Palaearctic Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus) 10
The South African races of the Red-billed Firefinch Lagonostic ta senegala
(Linnaeus) ... 17
A new race of the Violet-eared Waxbill Granatina ‘granatina (Linnaeus)
from southern Portuguese East Africa ... 34
Geographical variation in the South African populations of the Magpie-
Shrike Lanius melanoleucus Jardine 52
On the South African subspecies of the Variegated Honeyguide Indicator
variegatus Lesson... 56

Further comments on the taxonomy of British Anthus pr atensis (Linnaeus) 147
See WILLIAMSON, Kenneth

CLANcEY, P. A. and LAwson, W. J.

On the polytypic variation of the Red-billed Oxpecker Buphagus erythror-

hynchus (Stanley), with the characters of a new subspecies hes 128
CLANCEY, P. A. and WINTERBOTTOM, J. M.
On racial variation in Zosterops pallida Swainson, sens. strict. ... a. 35
Comins, Derek M. a
A note on the Sand Crab bie oe SP as a Bae) of birds in South
Africa .. fs 111
XIII CONGRESSUS INTERNATIONALIS ORNITHOLOGICUS cs. sil a sit 112

COURTENAY-LATIMER, M.
On the races of the Stonechat occurring in the Cape Province, South
Africa, with the description of a new form ts + : We. i14

_DRIver, Pa. e. M.
The behaviour of Sea Ducklings be: iis aig “vs Ai vw. Je

ENGLAND, Derrick
A bird photographer in Spain Mr hah “< ani fe we he

FINNIS, R. G.
Song variation in the Great Tit, Parus major newtoni

Fitter, R. S. R.
Some reflections on the British List, with special reference to the unwritten
rule that rare birds may not now be shot Tt ef “ely id 93

HALL, Mrs. B. P.
Is Muscicapa gabela an Akalat? ies i es = 45
The status of Mirafra pulpa and Mir afr a candida 108
The relationship of the Guinea-Fowls Agelastes meleagric ides Bonaparte
and Phasidus niger Cassin ... at eA 132

Harrison, C. J. O.
A variant plumage of the See Wagtail Motacilla flava thunbergi
Billberg
Note on some eggs and nests attributed to > the Stork- billed Kingfisher,
Pelargopsis capensis (Linne)

HARRISON, Dr. James M.

The significance of some plumage phases of the House-Sparrow, Passer
domesticus amira vac and the stun omusied Passer 1 ene
Temminck

Part I
Part Il

HARRISON, Dr. James M. and Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G.
Variant winter plumage of the female Tufted Duck
Albinistic Paes in the Mallard, bie At. Mandarin a and Savadori’s s
Ducks ; :

Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G.
A comparative study of the method of skull pneumatisation in certain birds
See HARRISON, Dr. James M.

Harrop, J. H.
African Serpent Eagle in Sierra Leone

HorvaTH, L.
The evolutionary significance of pecs imaite aberrations in the si cs sae
Pyrrhula pyrrhula Linnaeus FS x

Irwin, M. P. Stuart
The anomaly of the Sar td al Be Swallows of the oe holo-
melaena-orientalis group of races . i :
See BENSON, C. W.

JOHNSGARD, Paul A.
The systematic position of the Marbled Teal

Keve, Dr. Andrew
A new race of the Little Ow! from Transylvania

KNIGHT, Maxwell
Hand-rearing of birds

KOHL, Stephen
See Keve, Dr. Andrew

Lawson, W. J.

On the question of the occurrence of Peters’ Twinspot Hypargos niveo-
guttatus (Peters) in Sul do Save, Southern Mozambique ...

The distribution of the races of Bradornis pallidus (V. Muller) in Southern
Africa with the description of a new race

The South African races of the Emerald-spotted Wood Dove Turtur
chalcospilos (Wagler)

Comments on the geographical variation in Cc arols’ Penduline Tit Antho-
scopus caroli (Sharpe) in southern Africa . 7 ses -

See CLANCEY, P. A.

Lawson, T. R.
See SaGe, Bryan L.

MARCHANT, S.
Observations on the paveeae of the cae Prerocles one and
senegallus

47
141

96
119

103
168

124

37
51

54
71
87
149

134

Moreau, R. E.
Passerine migration across the Mediterranean and the Sahara

PARKES, Kenneth C.
A substitute name for a Philippine Tailor-bird

_PirMaNn, Capt. Charles R. S.
The Kurrichane Thrush Turdus libonyanus tropicalis Peters a host of the
Red-chested Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius Stephens in Southern Rhodesia
More aquatic predators of birds
Part I a a. it
Part II
Part III
Nile Crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus versus Spurwing Goose se Plectropterus
gambensis ; he ; sie
Birds perching on Hippopotamus
Unusual nesting behaviour of the House Sparrow, Pas ser : domesticus (L.)
See BENSON, C. W.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

Ripcey, S. Dillon
The validity of a substitute name

SAGE, Bryan L. and LAwson, T. R.
Greater Black-backed Gull with massive infestation of a parasitic worm ...

Simpson, C. David
The African Jacana, Actophilornis africanus (Gmelin)

SmiTH, K. D.
On the Clamorous Reed-Warbler Aeracepeatis stentoreus ae &
Ehrenberg) in Eritrea ;

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

Storey, G. W.
See BEER, J. V.

_ TEN YEAR SCIENTIFIC INDEX FOR THE ** BULLETIN”’

TRAYLOR, Melvin A.
} A new race of Parus funereus (Verreaux)
Two new birds from Angola “24
New name for Estrilda jamesoni benguellensis Delacour

VAURIE, Charles

a. A new subspecies of the Nubian Bustard

is Voous, K. H.
‘ ‘Geographical variation in the Black Woodpecker ...

S Wuite, C. M. N.
The African Rough winged Swallows

% A new form of Spike-heeled Lark from Bechuanaland
eh Variation in Macronyx croceus Vieillot ve

>, Notes on :—

Eremomela icteropygialis a ae
African Thrushes Part! __....
2 Part II
African species of Turdus
Oenanthe pileata Gmelin

—

Page

WILLIAMSON, Kenneth

On western Palaearctic Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus) e sh Sy 1]

See CLANCEY, P. A.
WINTERBOTTOM, J. M.

Note on the relations of the species of Wagtails_ ... 2 Ser ay 46

See CLANCEY, P. A.

WooDWARD, lan D.

Pied Blackbird with symmetrical markings ... 7 co es i 20

INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES

_ All generic and specific names are indexed. Only new subspecific names are included:
these are indexed under the generic name in heavy type, and under the subspecific name.

abyssinicus, Turdus 164~-166
Accipiter melanoleucus !58

— rufiventris 145
Acrocephalus arundinaceus 29

— stentoreus 28-29
Actophilornis africanus 80, 82-85, 158
acuta, Anas 171
aegyptiacus, Alopochen 148
aeruginosus, Circus 158
aethiopicus, Threskiornis 148
afra, Pytilia 163
africana, Mirafra 4,110
africanus, Actophilornis 80, 82-85, 185
africanus, Phalacrocorax 80, 85, 148
agaze, Neotis nuba 26
Agelastes meleagrides 132

— niger 132
Agelaus phoeniceus 105
Agrobates 151
aguimp, Motacilla 85, 148
Aix galericulata 168-172

— sponsa 105
alba, Egretta 146
alba, Motacilla 46-47
alba, Porphyrio 80, 106
albicapilla, Cossypha 151
albiceps, Psalidoprocne 29-32, 163
albicilla, Haliaeetus 50
albicollis, Corvus 163
albicollis, Muscicapa 122
albifrons, Amblyospiza 6
albofasciata, Chersomanes 33
Alcedo atthis 4
alchata, Pterocles 133-141
Alethe anomala 152

— castanea 44

— poliocephala 44-45
Alethe poliocephala hallae subsp. nov. 44
-alleni, Porphyrio 80
alleni, Porphyrula 106
Alopochen 79
Alopochen aegyptiacus 148
Amblyiospiza albifrons 6
Anas 32-42
Anas acuta 171

Anas angustirostris 37-42

— bahamensis 155

— capensis 38

— clypeata 168, 172

— crecca 169-170

— erythrorhyncha 80

— flavirostris 39, 169-171

— platyrhynchos 60, 107, 153-156,

168-172 :

— punctata 40

— querquedula 40

— sparsa 60-61, 106-107

— strepera 171

— undulata 106

— versicolor 40

— waigiuensis 168-172
Anastomus lamelligerus 157
anchietae, Buccanodon 4
angolensis, Phormoplectes 5
angustirostris, Anas 37-42
angustirostris, Marmoretta 37-42
Anhinga anhinga 146

— rufa 78-80, 148
anhinga, Anhinga 146
anomala, Alethe 152
anomala, Bessonornis 152
ansorgei, Cossypha 152
ansorgei, Xenocopsychus 152
Anthoscopus caroli 5, 149-150
Anthus caffer 147

— _ leucophrys 4

— pratensis 10-12, 147-148
apivorus, Pernis 4, 133
Apus caffer 161
archeri, Alethe 152
archeri, Bessonornis 152
Ardea cinerea 146

— goliath 85, 146
Ardeola ibis 85, 148
argentatus, Larus 50, 58-59
aridula, Cisticola 4
armatus, Hoplopterus 80, 106
Artomyias fuliginosa 146
arundinaceus, Acrocephalus 29
Athene noctua 51-52

Athene noctua daciae subsp. nov. 5|
atra, Fulica 107
atratus, Cygnus 170
atricapilla, Sylvia 122
atricollis, Eremomela 4
atrogularis, Orthotomos 33
atthis, Alcedo 4
aurantiaca, Pyrrhula 69
axillaris, Euplectes 6-7
Aythya 38-42, 169
Aythya ferina 38, 170
— fuligula 103-105, 170
— marila 170
— novae-zeelandiae 170
— nyroca 40, 170
baboecala, Bradypterus 146
bahamensis, Anas 155
barbata, Tychaedon 151
barlowi, Chersomanes albofasciata 33
bengalensis, Sterna 50
bergii, Thalasseus 58
Bessonornis, anomala 152
— archeri 152
— humeralis 152
bicinctus, Pterocles 160
bicolor, Dendrocygna 60, 79, 106-107
bocagei, Cossypha 152
boehmi, Muscicapa 162
Bostrychia hagedashia 157
Bradornis pallidus 71-73
Bradornis pallidus divisus subsp. noy. 73
Bradypterus baboecala 146
Buccanoden anchietae 4
Budytes flavus 148
bullockoides, Melittophagus 81, 106
Bulweria bulwerii 59-60
_ bulwerii, Bulweria 59-60
Buphagus 86
Buphagus erythrorhynchus 128-131
Buphagus erythrorhynchus scotinus subsp
nov, 130
Burhinus capensis 159

caeruleus, Elanus 158

_ caffer, Anthus 147

caffer, Apus 161

caffra, Cossypha 152
-Cairina moschata 168-172

_ — scutulata 169-170
candida, Mirafra 108-111

_ cantillans, Mirafra 108-111

canus, Larus 50, 60

capensis, Anas 38

; capensis, Burhinus 159

; capensis, Microparra 158
capensis, Motacilla 47

capensis, Pelargopsis 141-143

capicola, Streptopelia 80

Caprimulgus natalensis 4

caprius, Chrysococcyx 161

carbo, Phalocrocorax 50, 78-79

caroli, Anthoscopus 5, 149-150
caryophyllacea, Rhodonessa 41
cassini, Muscicapa 147
castanea, Alethe 44
Cercomela dubia 118

— familiaris 118, 146

— melanura 118

— schlegelii 118

— scotocerca 118

— sinuata 118

— tractrac 118
Cercotrichas 151
Ceryle rudis 143, 148
Chaetops 118-119, 151
chalcospilos, Turtur 86-90
chalybea, Psalidoprocne 31
Charadrius tricollaris 158
Chersomanes albofasciata 33
Chersomanes albofasciata barlowi subsp.

nov. 33
chiniana, Cisticola 4
Chlidonias leucoptera 148
Chlorocichla flavicollis 4

— flaviventris 162
chloropus, Gallinula 79
Chrysococcyx caprius 161
Ciconia nigra 157
cinerea, Ardea 146
cinerea, Motacilla 46-47
cinnamomeiventris, Thamnolea 119
Circus aeruginosa 158
cirrocephalus, Larus 159
Cisticola aridula 4

— chiniana 4

— fulvicapilla 4, 146

— galactotes 6

— melanura 146

— pearsoni 146

— tinniens 146
citreola, Motacilla 47
clanceyi, Saxicola torquata 116
Clangula hyemalis 113-114
clara, Motacilla 4, 46-47, 162
clypeata, Anas 168-172
colchicus, Phasianus 95-96, 121
collybita, Phylloscopus 81-82
Columba livia 17

— oenas 17

— palumbus 17
communis, Sylvia 122
conspicillatus, Pelecanus 79, 106
Coracia pyrrhocorax 13-17
Coracias garrulus 133
corax, Corvus 140
coromandelianus, Nettapus 79
corone, Corvus 12-17
Corvus albicollis 163

— corax 140

— corone 12-17

— frugilegus 12-17

— monedula 12-17

corythaix, Tauraco 161
Cossypha albicapilla 151

— ansorgei 152

— bocagei 152

— caffra 152

— cyanocampter 152

— dichroa 152

— heinrichi 151

— heuglini 151-152
Cossypha humeralis 152

— _ isabellae 152

— natalensis 152

— niveicapilla 152

— polioptera 152

— roberti 152

— semirufa 152
Cossyphicula roberti 152
crecca, Anas 169-171
cristatus, Podiceps 50
croceus, Macronyx 34
cucullatus, Orthotomus 33
Cuculus solitarius 48-49
Cyanecula wolfi 27-28
cyanocampter, Cossypha 152
Cyanosylvia suecica 133
Cygnus atrata 170

— olor 61, 107
cyornithopsis, Sheppardia 45-46

daciae, Athene noctua 51

decoratus, Pterocles 80, 106

Delichon 60, 107

Dendrocopus major 64

Dendrocygna bicolor 60, 79, 106-107
— vidua 148

dichroa, Cossypha 152

divisus, Bradornis pallidus 73

domesticus, Gallus 121

domesticus, Passer 12-17, 96-103, 119-

123, 148-149
Dryocopus martius 62-66
Dryotriarchus spectabilis 52
dubia, Cercomela 118

Egretta alba 146
Elanus caeruleus 158
Emarginata sinuata 118-119
Eremomela atricollis 4
— icteropygialis 90-92
— salvadori 92
Eremomela icteropygialis viriditincta
subsp. nov. 91
ericetorum, Turdus 25
Erithacus suecicus 27-28
erythaca, Pyrrhula 68-69
erythrocephala, Pyrrhula 68-69
Erythropygia 151
erythrorhyncha, Anas 80
erythrorhynchus, Buphagus 128-131
erythrorhynchus, Tockus 161

xii

Estrilda jamesoni kabisombo nom. nov. .
164

Estrilda melanotis 5
Eudyptula minor 57
Euplectes axillaris 6-7

europaea, Sitta 64

expressus, Lanius melanoleucus 54

Falco fasciinucha 145
familiaris, Cercomela 118, 146
fasciinucha, Falco 145

ferina, Aythya 38, 170

flava, Motacilla 47-48
flavicollis, Cholorocichla 4
flavirostra, Limnocorax 86
flavirostris, Anas 39, 169-170
flaviventris, Chlorocichla 162

flavus, Budytes 148

frugilegus, Corvus 12-17

Fulica atra 60, 107

fuliginosa, Artomyias 146
fuliginosa, Psalidoprocne 32-33
fuligiventer, Phylloscopus 82
fuligula, Aythya 103-105, 170
fulvicapilla, Cisticola 4, 146

funereus, Parus 3

fuscata, Sterna 59, 107
fuscatus, Phylloscopus 82
fuscus, Larus 50, 60

gabela, Muscicapa 45—46
gabela, Parus funereus 3
gabela, Sheppardia 46
galactotes, Cisticola 6
galericulata, Aix 168-172
Gallinago nigripennis 159
Gallinula chloropus 79
Gallus domesticus 121
gambensis, Plectropterus 112
garrulus, Coracias 133
Garrulus glandarius 13-17, 147

Gavia stellatus 50

glandarius, Garrulus 13-17, 147

Glareola nuchalis 85, 148

goliath, Ardea 85, 146

Granatina granatina 34-35

granatina, Granatina 34-35

Granatina granatina retusa subsp. nov.
34

grandis, Motacilla 46

grylle, Uria 50, 60

gurial, Pelargopsis 141
gutturalis, Pterocles 160

hagedashia, Bostrychia 157
Halcyon pileata 142-143

— smyrnensis 142-143
Haliaeetus albicilla 50
hallae, Alethe poliocephala 44
heinrichi, Cossypha 151

heterolaemus, Phyllergates 33
heuglini, Cossypha 151-152
Hirundo 60, 106-107
Hirundo rustica 79

hirundo, Sterna 50
hispanica, Oenanthe 133

_ hispaniolensis, Passer 96-103, 119-123
-holomelaena, Psalidoprocne 29-32, 124—
128

Hoplopterus armatus 80, 106
humeralis, Bessonornis 152
humeralis, Cossypha 152
-hyemalis, Clangula 113-141
Hypargos margaritatus 55
— niveoguttatus 54-55

_ hypermetra, Mirafra 110
hypoleuca, Muscicapa 122
hypoleucos, Tringa 86, 148

_ ibis, Ardeola 85, 148
icteropygialis, Eremomela 90-92
Indicator variegatus 56
isabellae, Cossypha 152
Ixobrychus 157

jamesoni, Estrilda 164

kabisombo, Estrilda jamesoni 164
Karrucincla schlegelii, 118-119

Lagonosticta rubricata 5
— rufopicta 5
— senegala 17-19
ee eerns, ees 157
- Laniarius 1
Lanius > ae 52-54

_Lanius melanoleucus expressus subsp.

nov. 54

Larus argentatus 50, 58-59

- — canus 50, 60

_ — cirrocephalus 159

— fuscus 50, 60

‘Larus marinus 49-50, 60

_ — ridibundus 50, 60, 96, 155
_ leucogenys, Pyrrhula 69

_ leucophrys, Anthus 4

_ leucoptera, Childonias 148
leucosticta, Tychaedon 151

_ libonyanus, Turdus 48-49, 164-166

_ Limnocorax flavirostra 86

litsipsirupa, Turdus 166

livia, Columba 17

- longicaudus, Stercorarius 50

7 ~ Lophonetta specularoides 38
Luscinia suecicus 27

_ Macrodipteryx vexillarius 146
-Macronyx croceus 34
eee spatensis, Motacilla
_ magna, Philomela 27
major, Dendrocopus 64

major, Parus 21-25
major, Philomela 28
mangbettorum, Psalidoprocne 31-32
margaritatus, Hypargos 55
marila, Aythya 170
marina, Pelagodroma 58
marinus, Larus 49-50, 60
Marmoretta angustirostris 37-42
martius, Dryocopus 62-66
melaena, Pentholaea 119
melampyra, Tchitrea 144-145
melanoleucus, Accipiter 158
melanoleucus, Lanius 52—54
melanoleucus, Urolestes 53—54
melanotis, Estrilda 5
melanotos, Sarkidiornis 80
melanura, Cercomela 118
melanura, Cisticola 146
meleagrides, Agelastes 132
Melittophagus bullockoides 81, 106
merganser, Mergus 169-170
Mergus merganser 169-170

— serrator 113-114
merula, Turdus 20
Microparra capensis 158
minor, Eudyptila 57
minuta, Tchagra 8-9
minutus, Ixobrychus 157
Mirafra africana 4, 110

— candida 108-111

— cantillans 108-111

— hypermetra 110

— pulpa 108-111

— williamsi 108-111
mollisima, Somateria 113-114
monachus, Neophron 157
monedula, Corvus 12-17
Monticola 119
monticola, Oenanthe 43-44
Monticola rupestris 111
morio, Onychognathus 163
moschata, Cairina 168-172
Motacilla aguimp 85, 148

— alba 46-47

— capensis 47

— cinerea 46-47

— citreola 47

— clara 4, 46-47, 162

— flava 47-48

— grandis 46

— madaraspatensis 46
Muscicapa albicollis 122
Muscicapa boehmi 162

— cassini 147

— gabela 45-46

— hypoleuca 122
Musophaga rossae 16]
Myrmecocichla 118-119

natalensis, Caprimulgus 4
natalensis, Cossypha 152

Nectarinia olivacea 5, 163
verticalis 5, 163
neglecta, Phylloscopus 82
Neophron monachus 157
Neotis nuba 26-27

Neotis nuba agaze subsp. nov. 26
Netta 38-42, 166

Netta rufina 38-40, 170
Nettapus coromandelianus 79
niger, Phasidus 132

nigra, Ciconia 157

nigricauda, Oenanthe ankeoll 43
nigripennis, Gallinago 159
nipalensis, Pyrrhula 69

nitens, Psalidoprocne 29-33
niveicapilla, Cossypha 152
niveoguttatus, Hypargos 54—55
noctua, Athene 51-52
novae-zeelandiae, Aythya 170
nuba, Neotis 26-27

nuchalis, Glareola 85, 148
nyroca, Aythya 40, 170

ochrurus, Phoenicurus 122

Oenanthe 43, 118-119

Oenanthe hispanica 133

monticola 43-44

Oenanthe monticola nigricauda subsp.
nov. 43

oenas, Columba 17

oleaginea, Psalidoprocne 43);

Oligura 28

olivacea, Nectarinia 6

olor, Cygnus 61, 107

onocrotalus, Pelecanus 58

orientalis, Psalidoprocne 29-31, 124-128

Oriolus oriolus 133

oriolus, Oriolus 133

Orthotomus atrogularis 33

cucullatus 33

Orthotomus atrogularis rabori nom. nov.

pallida, Zosterops 35-36

pallidus, Bradornis 71—73

palumbus, Columba 17

paradisea, Vidua 163

paradoxus, Syrrhaptes 136

parasiticus, Stercorarius 50

Parus funereus 3

Parus funereus gabela ubsps. nov. 3

Parus major 21-25

Passer domesticus, 12-17, 96-103, 119-
123, 148-149

hispaniolensis 96-103, 119-123

pearsoni, Cicticola 146

Pelagodroma marina 58

Pelargopsis capensis 141-143

gurial 141

Pelecanus 80

Pelecanus conspicillatus 79, 106

onocrotalus 58

XIV

peli, Scotopelia 161

pelios, Turdus 164-166
Pentholaea melaena 118-119
Pernis apivorus 4, 133

petiti, Psalidoprocne 31
Petronia petronia 133
petronia, Petronia 133
Phalacrocorax africanus 80, 85, 148
carbo 50, 78-79
Phasianus colchicus 95-96, 121
Phasidus niger 132
Philomela magna 27

major 28

philomela, Sylvia 28
phoeniceus, Agelaus 105
Phoenicurus 119
Phoenicurus ochrurus 122
Phormoplectes angolensis 5
Phyllergates heterolaemus 33
Phylloscopus collybita 81-82
fuligiventer 82
fuscatus 82

neglecta 82

Pica pica 12-17

pica, Pica 12-17

Picus viridis 133

pileata, Halcyon 142-143
pileata, Oenanthe 166-168
Pinarochroa 118-119
Pinarornis 151

Platalea 80, 106

platyrhynchos, Anas 60, 107, 153-156,
168-172

Plectropterus gambensis 112

Ploceus 151

Ploceus xanthopterus 6

Pnoepyga 28

Podiceps crisrtatus 50

ruficollis 61, 81
poliocephala, Alethe 44-45
polioptera, Cossypha 152
pomarinus, Stercorarius 50
Porphyrio alba, 80, 106

alleni 80

Porphyrula alleni 106

pratensis, Anthus 10-12, 147-148
pristoptera, Psalidoprocne 32-33
Psalidoprocne albiceps 29-32, 163
chalybea 31

fuliginosa 32-33
holomelaena 29-32, 124-128
mangbettorum 31-32
nitens 29-33

oleaginea 32

orientalis 29-31, 124-128
petiti 31

pristoptera 32-33
Pterocles alchata 133-141
bicinctus 160

decoratus 80, 106
gutturalis 160

_ Pterocles senegallus 133-141
_pulpa, Mirafra 108-111
punctata, Anas 40
pyrrhocorax, Coracia 13-17
Pyrrhula aurantiaca 69
erythaca 68-69
erythrocephala 68-69
leucogenys 69
— nipalensis 69
pyrrhula 64-70
pyrrhula, Pyrrhula 64, 66-70
Pytilia afra 163

—

quadrivirgata, Tychaedon 151
Quelea 106
Quelea quelea 80

~ quelea, Quelea 80
querquedula, Anas 40

rabori, Orthotomus atrogularis 33
retusa, Granatina granatina 34
Rhodonessa caryophyllacea 41
ridibundus, Larus 50, 60, 96, 155
Rissa tridactyla 50
roberti, Cossypha 152
roberti, Cossyphicula 152
rossae, Musophaga 161

-rubricata, Lagonosticta 5

_ rudis, Ceryle 143, 148
rufa, Anhinga 78, 80, 148
ruficollis, Podiceps 61, 81
rufina, Netta 38-40, 170
rufiventris, Accipiter 145

_ rufocinerea, Tchitrea 144-145
rufopicta, Lagonosticta 5
rupestris, Monticola 111
rustica, Hirundo 79

salvadori, Eremomela 92
_ Sarkidiornis melanotos 80
Saxicola 118-119
- Saxicola toquata 114-117
Saxicola torquata clanceyi subsp. nov. 116
schlegelii, Cercomela 118
schlegelii, Karrucincla 118
scotinus, Buphagus erythrorhynchus 130
scotocerca, Cercomela 118
5 Scotopelia peli 161
‘ scutulata, Cairina 169-170
_ semirufa, Cossypha 152
semirufa, Thamnolea 119
_ Senegala, Lagonosticta 17-19
_ senegallus, Pterocles 133-141
-Sericea, Sylvia 28
_Serrator, Mergus | 13-114
Sheppardia cyornithopsis 45
_ — gabela 46
@ sharpei 45-46
* sharpei, Sheppardia 45-46
- Signata, Tychaedon 151
Sinuata, Emarginata 118
+
-

Sitta europaea 64
smyrnensis, Halcyon 142-143
solitarius, Cucullus 48—49
Somateria mollisima 113-114
sparsa, Anas 60-61, 106-107
spectabilis, Dryotriorchis 52
specularoides, Lophonetta 38
sponsa, Aix 105
stagnatalis, Tringa 78
stellatus, Gavia 50
stentoreus, Acrocephalus 28-29
Stercorarius longicaudus 50

— parasiticus 50

— pomarinus 50
Sterna bengalensis 50

— fuscata 59, 107

— hirundo 50
strepera, Anas 171
Streptopelia capicola 80
Sturnus vulgaris 12-17, 60
suecica, Cyanosylvia 133
suecicus, Erithacus 27-28
suecicus, Luscinia 27
Sylvia atricapilla 122

— communis 122

— philomela 28

— sericea 28
Syrrhaptes paradoxus 136

Tauraco corythaix 161
Tchagra minuta 8—9
Tchitrea melampyra 144-145
— rufocinerea 144-145
— viridis 145
Thalasseus bergii 58
Thamnolea cinnamomeiventris 119
— semirufa 118-119
Threskiornis aethiopicus 148
tinniens, Cisticola 146
Tockus erythrorhynchus 161
torquata, Saxicola 114-117
torquatus, Turdus 20
tractrac, Cercomela 118
tricollaris, Charadrius 158
tridactyla, Rissa 50
Tringa hypoleucos 86, 148
— stagnatalis 78
Turdus 151
Turdus abyssinicus 164-166
— ericetorum 25
— libonyanus 48-49, 164-166
— litsipsirupa 166

— merula 20
— olivaceus 162, 164-166
— pelios 164-166

torquatus 20
Turtur chalcospilos 86-90
Tychaedon barbata 151

— leucosticta 151
— quadrivirgata 151
— signata 151

undulata, Anas 106
Uria grylle 50, 60
Urolestes melanoleucus 53-54

vaalensis, Zosterops 36
variegatus, Indicator 56
versicolor, Anas 40

verticalis, Nectarinia 5, 163
vexillarius, Macrodipteryx 146
vidua, Dendrocygna 148
Vidua paradisea 163

viridis, Picus 133

viridis, Tchitrea 145

xVi

viriditincta, Eremomela icteropygialis 91
vulgaris, Sturnus 12-17, 60

waigiuensis, Anas 168-172
williamsi, Mirafra 108-111
wolfi, Cyanecula 27-28

Xanthophilus xanthops 79
xanthops, Xanthophilus 79
xanthopterus, Ploceus 6
Xenocopsychus ansorgei 152

Zosterops pallida 35-36
— vaalensis 36

The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, 24 South Park, Sevenoaks

ines Woe ioe

BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

\¢
Edited by
Dr. JEFFREY HARRISON
Volume 81 January

No. | 196]

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A)

‘2PElIDOIONTMAO

a Tes 2 a See eae

1961 Vol. 81
BULLETIN
OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

42 JAN i: 4 Volume 81
a Number |
PU RCHASEL Published: |! th January, 1961

The five hundred and eighty-sixth meeting of the Club was held at the
Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7., on 20th December, 1960.

Chairman: CAPTAIN C. R. S. PITMAN

Members present, 46; Guests, 14; Total, 60.

An Ornithological Brains Trust

The Christmas meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Club took the form of a Brains
Trust, Sir Landsborough Thomson being the Chairman and Miss Phyllis Barclay-
Smith, Sir Julian Huxley and Dr. W. H. Thorpe making up the panel.

The selected questions ranged over a wide field of ornithological matters and there
were some supplementary questions and comments from a large and appreciative
gathering.

(1) What benefit, if any, has the study of ornithology been to mankind?

After some discussion as to what constituted a benefit, it was agreed that ornithology
had played an important and leading part in fields of biological revelation. A study of
ornithology fostered friendly relations with other peoples and by reason of its many
facets it attracted the interest of many, both amateur and professional. Large numbers
of people derived an aesthetic benefit from the observation of birds. As to the birds
themselves, there were instances of their practical value to mankind and many people
gained pleasure and knowledge from the keeping of them as pets.

(2) Observations on ringed bulbuls in Cape Province have shown that, while young
hens lay a clutch of only two eggs, they graduate to three eggs in subsequent seasons.
Is it not probable that, contrary to usual belief, clutch size in all species is more in-
fluenced by the age of the hen than by good or bad seasons?

The clutch size of, for instance, the short-eared owl is known to be higher in times of
food abundance and undoubtedly the food supply has an effect. Much would depend
on the species of bird and first year statistics. Much would depend on the species of
bird and first year statistics would bulk large because of the mortality factor.

(3) Would it be an advantage if the numbers at International Ornithological Con-
gresses were limited by invitation?

It was considered a mistake to limit numbers by invitation and very difficult to decide
what the limit should be. It is naturally essential that the subjects to be considered
should be adequately covered by those competent to speak upon them. It is important
that the young ornithologist should have an opportunity of attending, but if very large
numbers of people are present, the place tends to become like a ‘‘mad-house’’. There
was a supplementary suggestion to the effect that the numbers of papers might be
limited so as to permit more time for discussion.

(4) Although a high degree of specialisation is usually associated with the least
primitive birds, are not, in fact, the most successful species those which are most
adaptable and therefore least specialised?

Vol. 81 2 1961

This was considered to beg at least six different questions and the whole matter needed
to be examined in relation to specific cases. Adaptability itself might be a form of
specialisation.

(5) What in your opinion are the most distressing features of the modern interest in
ornithology?

At least one member of the panel felt no distress, though he preferred to be alone
when observing rare birds. Undue interest in rare breeding birds can be a danger and
precautions are necessary to guard them against their human watchers. The older
ornithologists had a more general knowledge of nature and this wideness of view is lost
by specialisation. A member of the audience felt that the young ornithologists were often
ignorant of other forms of life.

(6) It was agreed that the family name of the bustards should correctly be Orididae,
not, as given in ‘‘Check-list of Birds of the World’’, Peters, ii, 1934, Otidae.

(7) The true finches, especially the Carduelines, often feed largely on the seeds of
composites such as dandelion, thistle, etc., yet except for the aberrant Estrildine
Nesocharis, the questioner has seen no evidence that seeds of composites are eaten by
other finch-like groups—buntings, weavers, sparrows and Estrildines. Can the panel
say if this is correct and, if so, suggest a reason?

It was agreed that this is in general correct and presumably the birds learn to feed on
the seeds that are most easily dealt with.

(8) Does the panel agree that putting out food for birds, although aesthetically and
morally justifiable, can be biologically harmful by tipping the balance still further in
favour of species that are already successful and abundant?

It was felt that while much depended on circumstances, it was not in general harmful,
but there might be instances (as in the case of the herring gull in Germany) of certain
birds becoming a nuisance because of it.

So far as is known there were not many cases of harm being done by feeding birds in
gardens, though possible that tits, finding food so easily and readily obtainable, may,
as a result of so much leisure time, take to the tearing of wallpaper. Birds other than
common ones would also benefit from having suitable foods put out for them and on
the whole it was felt not to be an important biological factor and to have no moral
implications.

(9) Why does the cuckoo go **cuk-cuckoo’’ in autumn?

This gave rise to some discussion and no parallel case could be thought of. Among
the suggestions were the possibility of a re-starting of a form of sub-song, that part of
the call might be made with the bill closed, that the altered call might have some different
meaning and that there might be some change in the vocal organs. The question brought
forth the story of Dr. Chapin explaining (with imitations) to his companion on a tram-
car in Amsterdam the calls of African cuckoos.

(10) Precise scientific terms have an obvious value to specialists in that branch of
science, but does not their use in publications such as ** The [bis’’ tend to discourage
non-specialists from taking an interest in many of the wider fields of ornithology?

It is important to distinguish what terms are necessary to explain what could not
conveniently be made clear in any other way. Technical terms cannot be avoided and
many of the scientific ones are of international usage. If existing ones were abolished,
others would become necessary and while jargon is to be deplored, proper terms are
essential and may even constitute a challenge to the student. It is the responsibility of
the editor to curb the excessive use of such terms.

(11) In countries such as Britain where there is ‘‘sporting shooting’’, a high per-
centage of ground predators are destroyed by keepers, and a high percentage of flying
birds destroyed by sportsmen. If these conditions continue will the instinct to escape by
ae disappear from game birds? If so, how long will it be before they lose the power of

ight?

One response was to the effect that the answer to the first part was *“No’’, so the
second did not arise. Another was that such birds might learn to fly higher and in any
case it would be a matter of millions of years for such an eventuality to occur. A member
of the audience prophesied that sportsmen would have lost the use of their feet by then.

(12) County reports often contain observations of movements not out to, or in from,
the sea, which are described as migratory or passage. How do the observers know that
what they see are not local weather movements or even just a change of feeding-ground?
_ (We gather here ourselves by way of a change of feeding-ground, but an observant
London starling might think it is a build-up to emigration).

1961 i 3 Vol. 81

_ This brought no appreciable comment beyond a stressing of the need for very careful

observation of such bird movements.

(13) Does the scientific significance of different standards in nest-sanitation really
justify the number of words that have been written on it?

It is interesting that such birds as kingfishers are so unhygienic in their nesting
arrangements. The whole subject was felt to be in need of further investigation.

(14) What advice would you give to the compiler of a regional handbook on whose
sight records to accept, of what species?

Serve on a committee working for a number of years anonymously.

A National Bird for Britain

Lord Hurcomb brought the evening to a very appropriate close by announcing that
the result in the choice of a National Bird for Britain was overwhelmingly in favour of
the robin.

tl a

A new race of Parus funereus (Verreaux)

by MELVIN A. TRAYLOR
Received 9th July, 1960

Among the Angola birds reported by Heinrich (1958, Jour. f. Orn., 99:
322-362; 399-421) was the Dusky Tit, Parus funereus, from Gabela.
Gabela is on the escarpment of the central plateau in Caunza Sul, with a
small area of evergreen forest much of which is now planted with coffee
plantations. The population of Dusky Tits found here is separated by
some hundreds of miles from Gabon, where it is very rare, and by many
more from southern Cameroon, the nearest locality at which it is fairly
common. When compared to Cameroon and Uganda specimens, the

_ Angola males are noticeably paler and may be called:
Parus funereus gabela subsp. nov.

Type: Adult 3 from 15 km. south of Gabela, Cuanza Sul, Angola,
collected 8th August 1954 by Gerd Heinrich; Chicago Natural History
Museum. No. 224676.

Diagnosis: Throat and breast of males dull blackish slate, not black
with a greenish gloss as in funereus. Averages slightly smaller in wing
length than funereus. Females average paler and more bluish slate below.
Wing length:

gabela: 233 86, 86; 299 77, 84.
funereus: 633 82, 86, 89, 89, 91, 91,; 399 80, 83, 83.
. Size of type: Wing 86, tail 60, bill 13, tarsus 20.

Remarks: Besides the four adults of gabela whose measurements are
given above, Heinrich collected two juvenal females. As noted by Chapin
(1954, Bul. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 75B:106) the juvenal plumage is much
darker than that of the female, almost as dark as the males.

Heinrich found these birds frequenting the tops of the taller trees. This

_ accords with observations of the nominate race in Cameroon and Uganda.

. Some records from the

; Mpika and Serenje Districts, Northern Rhodesia

by C. W. BENSON, R. BOULTON AND M. P. STUART IRWIN
Received 7th June 1960

The records which follow supplement information in Benson and
_ White’s Check List (1957). They result from collecting by M.P.S.I. in the

. 4 CE eee
Vol. 81 — a a 1961 —
two districts in March and April, 1960, and by C.W.B. and R.B. in |
Serenje in the latter month. The Kanchibiya River was visited at 11°30’S.,
31°17’E., likewise the Luombwa at 12°24’S., 30°05’E., the Mlembo at
12°33’S., 30° 20’E., and the Musola at 12°38’S., 30°15’E., Co-ordinates —
are given for any other localities not so specified in the Check List. Most —
of the specimens listed are now in the National Museum, Bulawayo. It is
also worth mentioning that specimens of Caprimulgus n. natalensis Smith,
Mirafra africana chapini Grant & Mackworth-Praed and Cisticola aridula
perplexa White were collected at five miles south-east of Mukuku.

_ Pernis apivorus apivorus (Linné).
2, 3rd April, Kondolilo Falls, Brachystegia woodland.
Stomach-contents, large mud-nest building wasps, some adults, but
mostly already pupated grubs, still soft bodied, not fully chitinized, and
in some cases still in cocoons.

Alcedo atthis semitorquata Swainson.

An occupied nesting tunnel was found on the Lubachi Stream, in the -
Mpika District at 11°35’S., 31°17’E., on 31st March. The tunnel was in a
bank rising about 5ft. above the water-level, and itself Ift. above the water.
It apparently contained very small young, as both parents were bringing —
food, and showed great agitation on a close approach, but no sound was
heard from the interior of the tunnel.

Buccanodon anchetae katangae Vincent.
23, 39, 27th/28th March, Kanchibiya River, Brachystegia woodland.

Motacilla clara torrentium Ticehurst.

3, 26th March, Kondolilo Falls.

I. R. Grimwood saw a pair on the Lusiwashi River, at the foot of the
Muchinga Escarpment, at 13°20’S., 31°04’E., on 18th November, 1958.

Anthus leucophrys bohndorffi Neumann.
3g, 7th April, 10 miles south-east of Mukuku; 3, 10th April, Luombwa
River.

Chlorocichla flavicollis flavigula (Cabanis).
3, 12th April, Luombwa River.

Sylvia communis icterops Ménétriés.
2, 31st March, 12 miles south of Kanchibiya River, Brachystegia wood-
land. oi

Eremomela atricollis Bocage.

33, 2, 6th/7th April, Mlembo River; 3, 12th April, Musola River.
Cisticola chiniana fortis Lynes.

3, 5th April, Serenje District at 13°16’S., 30°06’E.

Cisticola fulvicapilla angusticauda Reichenow.

43, 32, 27th/31st March, near Kanchibiya River; 6g, 89, 6th/7th April,
Mlembo River; 2, 12th April, Musola River.

Some of these specimens are juveniles, with skull-ossification not started.
They differ from adults in having the underside tinged yellowish, the
flanks fawn rather than greyish, while the rufous of the crown is not
sharply defined from the mantle and back, which have a strong rusty
tinge, extending to the outer webs of the wing-coverts, Measurements in
mm. as follows :—

— ees Er.
4 -
‘

o +e at : |
pasar: | 5 Vol. 81
’ ‘
> Wing Tail
~ Adults
65 47-49 49-53
89 44-47 44-5]
~ Juveniles
“ 43 . 44-47 46-51
49 43-44 46-47

Anthoscopus caroli subspp.
23, 29, 6th/7th April, Mlembo River; 3, 9th April, Musola River.
Intermediate between A. c. caroli (Sharpe) and A. c. rhodesiae Sclater.
Nectarinia verticalis viridisplendens (Reichenow).
3, 9, 12th April, confluence of Kasanka and Musola Rivers, 12°35’S.,

30°15’E.; 2, 4th April, near Serenje District Headquarters; 9, 14th April,
Lusiwashi River at 13°12’S., 31°02’E.

The Musola specimens were together, and accompanied by a fledged
young bird still under parental care and being fed. The male had testes
measuring 4 x 3, 5 x 4 mm. and therefore apparently shortly to breed again.

Nectarinia olivacea lowei (Vincent).
fg, 10th April, Luombwa River, both testes 5 x 4 mm.
_ Phormoplectes angolensis (Bocage).
3, 9, 2nd/3rd April, Kondolilo Falls, from mixed bird parties in
_ Brachystegia woodland.

_ Lagonosticta rubricata haematocephala Neumann.
3, 6th April, Mlembo River; 3, 9°, 12th April, Musola River.

The Musola specimens were collected with the same shot, and in neither
had skull-ossification started. They resemble adults in the colour of the
tail, upper and under tail-coverts, lower abdomen and thighs. But else-

_where on the underside they are yellowish brown, with only a little red on

the chin and throat. The top of the head is greyish brown, rather than
greyish vinous, and the brown of the mantle and back is warmer, more

“tawny than in adults. A juvenile collected by W. F. H. Ansell at Kabompo
on 10th March is very similar, but probably even younger, since red is
altogether lacking on the underside. The Mlembo specimen is also
juvenile, but apparently rather older than the two from the Musola, red
on the underside being rather more developed.

_ Lagonosticta rufopicta nitidula Hartlaub.
4 2, 30th March, Luitikila River, near Mpika.

_ Estrilda melanotis kilimensis (Sharp).
_ &, 14th April, Musense, top of Muchinga Escarpment at 13°15’S.,
30°05’E , oocytes mostly of diameter | mm.

- P.S.— More recently, at Musense, the last mentioned locality above,
~C.W.B. has collected Cossypha bocagei chapini Benson, Phylloscopus laurae
_ eustacei (Benson) (including a female in almost full breeding condition
on 10th October) and Heliolais erythroptera rhodoptera (Shelley).

Vol. 81 6 . 1961

A note on Euplectes axillaris

by C. W. BENSON
Received 9th July, 1960

Benson & White (1957) record specimens from the Kafue Flats, Northern
‘Rhodesia as near FE. a. axillaris. Further collecting in Kafue drainage,
from near Kalomo north-east to the Lukanga Swamp and Broken Hill,
confirms that this is substantially correct. On the other hand, material
from the Northern and North-Western Provinces, Barotseland and the
Caprivi Strip is easily separable as E. a. bocagei, the patch on the wing-
shoulder in the great majority of adult males being orange-yellow rather
than orange-red, and the cinnamon on the lesser wing-coverts more ex-
tensive and paler. It will also be seen from the accompanying Table that
males in breeding dress tend to have a shorter tail.

Despite recent intensive collecting, there is no evidence of the occurrence
of the species anywhere in the Luangwa Valley or the Zambesi Valley
below the Victoria Falls, though it no doubt occurs in the lower part of
the Zambesi Valley, since specimens have been available from Port
Herald, in the extreme south of Nyasaland. This absence is probably due
to lack of suitable marshy habitat, and is paralleled by several other
swamp-dwelling species, namely Ploceus xanthopterus (Moreau, 1959),
Cisticola galactotes and Amblyospiza albifrons (Benson & White, 1960).
Furthermore, Euplectes a. axillaris is unknown from Southern Rhodesia
except from Mt. Selinda (Smithers ef. a/., 1957).

TABLE
Measurements of males of Euplectes axillaris in breeding dress
Area Number of Range and mean (mm) Mean
specimens wing tail tail/ wing

ratio

E. a. axillaris
1. Pondoland
Natal, Transvaal 13 85-99 (90.9) 63-80 (71.8) 79
2. Portuguese East
Africa south of
Zambesi, southern
Nyasaland 4 82, 85, 86, 87. Gi, Tz jee Snes

3. Kafue drainage,
Northern Rhodesia 10 88-92 (90.5) 69-80 (75.1) 83

E. a. bocagei
4. Northern and North-
Western Provinces,
Northern Rhodesia 17 85—98 (91.3) 57-74 (66.2) 73
(other localities below).

Notes supplementary to Table.

Area 1: One male in non-breeding dress has wing 85, tail 53 mm.

Area 2: Six males in non-breeding dress have wing 85—90 (87.8), tail 51-65 (60.8) mm.;
three females wing 68, 70, 73, tail 41, 43, 44 mm. A male in breeding dress from
Chinteche, northern Nyasaland, has wing 95, tail 80 mm.

Area 3: Six males in non-breeding dress have wing 88-94 (89.7), tail 56-59 (59.3) mm.;

; one female wing 70, tail 43 mm.

Area 4: Fourteen males in non-breeding dress (including six from Barotseland and the
Caprivi Strip) have wing 88—96 (91.4), tail 53-65 (60.4) mm.; seven females
wing 67-74 (70.6), tail 42-49 (45.6) mm,

1961 7 Vol. 81

It is remarkable that males from Kafue drainage should be so similar to
E. a. axillaris, and yet quite easily distinguishable from those from the
neighbouring Caprivi Strip and Barotseland, in Zambesi drainage. But
in view of the habitat of the species, the watershed would be a barrier to
dispersal. Actually, Kafue males do tend to have the cinnamon in the
wing-coverts rather more extensive than in eastern birds, in this one
respect showing some approach to E. a. bocagei, but the difference is not
such as to justify their separation by name from E. a. axillaris. Apart from
this, there is some individual variation in the series of males from all four
areas, in the colour of the shoulder-patch, as well as in the extent of
cinnamon and its intensity. Nevertheless, the subspecific division by name
indicated in the Table is justified.

Both Bannerman (1949) and Chapin (1954) regard E. a. mechowi as a
synonym of E. a. bocagei. Nevertheless, Rand ef al. (1959) recognise
E. a. mechowi as well as E. a. bocagei, on the basis of only eight males, the
distinction given being that E. a. mechowi has the shoulder-patch reddish
orange, E. a. bocagei yellowish orange. Four specimens from the Katanga
are assigned to EF. a. mechowi, one from Balovale to E. a. bocagei. This
appears to be based on individual variation. | have seen a specimen in the
British Museum from the Kabompo River, in the North-Western Province
of Northern Rhodesia, in which the shoulder-patch is as red as in any
specimen of E. a. axillaris. On the other hand, there is a specimen from
Natal and another from the Transvaal in the series now examined, in
which the patch is as orange as in any of E. a. bocagei. Furthermore,
Schouteden (1958) includes the Katanga within the range of E. a. bocagei,
which he states has the shoulder-patch as orange-yellow, rather than
orange-red as in E. a. phoeniceus. He had thirty-five specimens available
of the former, over two hundred of the latter form.

The measurements in the Table indicate considerable variability. This

is also commented on by Bannerman (1949), but like him I consider that

- we are dealing with one, not two, species, both on a basis of my examina-

tion of specimens and on field-observations.

To my personal knowledge, EF. a. bocagei in the Northern Province
of Northern Rhodesia, whence a specimen has been available from as far
east as Mbesuma (32°E.), must be quite isolated from the populations not

_far to the eastward in the Lake Nyasa littoral, believed to be E. a. phoeni-

ceus (Benson, 1953). In Nyasaland the species is unknown above 2,000ft..
whereas in Northern Rhodesia all the occupied habitat is at 3,000—5,000ft.

‘There is no lack of apparently suitable habitat at higher levels in Nyasa-
land.

Immature males, not included in the Table, are similar to females,
likewise lacking any cinnamon in the wing-coverts, but with the feathers

on the wing-shoulder black edged with orange-red in E. a. axillaris, more

orange-yellow in E. a. bocagei. Six such males of E. a. axillaris have wing

80-85 (81.8), seven of F. a. bocagei 82-88 (84.3) mm.

1 am greatly indebted to Messrs. P. A. Clancey, M. P. Stuart Irwin and
A. Prozesky, for the loan of specimens respectively from the Durban
Museum, the National Museum, Bulawayo and the Transvaal Museum.
| must also thank Messrs. W. F. H. Ansell and C. M. N. White for their

comments.

Vol. 81 8 ieee oe 1961

References :— ~
Bannerman, D. A. (1949). The birds of tropical West Africa, 7. London.
Benson, C. W. (1953). A check list of the birds of Nyasaland. Blantyre and Lusaka:

Benson, a W. and White, C. M. N. (1957). Check list of the birds of Northern Rhodesia.
Lusaka.

Benson, C. W. and White, C. M. N. (1960). Discontinuous distributions (Aves and
Mammalia). Proc. First Fed. Sci. Congress, in press.

Chapin, J. P. (1954). The birds of the Belgian Congo, 4. New York.
Moreau, R. E. (1959). Notes on Ploceinae. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 79: 117-124.

Rand, A. L., Friedmann, H. and Traylor, M. A. (1959). Birds from Gabon and Moyen
Congo. Fieldiana: Zool. 41 (2): 221-411.

Schouteden, H. (1958). De vogels van Belgisch Congo en van Ruanda-Urundi, 9.
Tervuren.

Smithers, R. H. N., Stuart Irwin, M. P. and Paterson, M. L. (1957). A check list of the
birds of Southern Rhodesia. Cambridge, England.

The range of Tchagra minuta reichenowi

by C. W. BENSON and M. P. STUART IRWIN
Received 16th July, 1960

It has been usual to include eastern Southern Rhodesia as within the
range of Tchagra minuta anchietae, the latest author to do so being Rand,
in Mayr & Greenway (1960). However, Clancey (1959) described a new
form, 7. m. remota, ranging from the eastern highlands of Southern
Rhodesia to southern Nyasaland. Benson (1960) follows him in using the
name remota, the differences between material from Southern Rhodesia
and Northern Rhodesia (anchietae) being readily apparent. Neither of
these authors, however, was able to examine any material from East
Africa. Thanks to Mrs. B. P. Hall and Mr. J. G. Williams, we have had
the loan of specimens from the British Museum and the Coryndon
Museum respectively, in order to decide whether remota really was distinct
from East African reichenowi. We are also grateful to Mr. O. Prozesky for
the loan of several Nyasaland specimens, in the Transvaal Museum. The
observations which follow are based also on all the material from the
Rhodesias and Nyasaland in the National Museum, Bulawayo. Im-
mature specimens, in which subspecific differences are difficult to perceive,
are not used. They have the centre of the crown mottled with white or
tawny, the mantle streaked with black, and the bill brownish horn instead
of black. Certain little known localities have been verified from Reichenow
(1902) or Swynnerton & Hayman (1950).

Eight specimens from eastern Southern Rhodesia agree well in colour

with three from north-eastern Tanganyika, one being from Mtoni, in the

Bagamoyo District at 6°27’S., 38°49’E., and two from the Usambara
Mts. On the other hand, three from further west in Tanganyika, from the
Uluguru and Nguru Mts. and from Njombe, may be placed with anchietae.
Professor E. Stresemann has kindly informed us that nine specimens from
eastern Tanganyika in the Berlin Museum agree in colour with reichenowi.
These include the specimen which he mentions as the type, collected by
G. A. Fischer on the Pangani River, five from the Usambara Mts., one
from Dar-es-Salaam, one from the Uluguru Mts., and one from Kisaki

(5°30’S., 35°30’E.). On the other hand he reports that four from further —

west, from Songea, Neu-Langenburg and Kissabu (both at the north end

—— 2 oe

* ‘ a
“>

1961 | 9 Vol. 81

of Lake Nyasa), and Urungu-Kitangulu (south-east shore of Lake Tan-
ganyika) are better placed with anchietae. He adds that the colour-
differences between the two series are similar to those between remota and
anchietae as given by Clancey. Of seven Nyasaland specimens which we
have examined, one from Port Herald and one from the Ncheu-Neno
_ boundary, especially the latter, agree best with eastern Southern Rhodesia
(remota) and eastern Tanganyika specimens (reichenowi). On the other
hand, one each from Fort Hill, the Songwe River, 20 miles north-west of
Karonga, Chinteche and Mlanje are nearer to anchietae.
It remains to decide whether remota can be distinguished from reichen-
owi on size. The following measurements are available :-—

Wing Tail Culmen from base.
Eastern Southern
_ Rhodesia (remota)

are eee 14. 755°77, 17 Tae hae POST Te. 2922. 25520) eo

a 73.74; 15 69, 71, 75 24, 22,22
Nyasaland (remota)

lg 76 75 22

12 76 70 22
Nyasaland (anchietae)

3g 73, 74, 75 69, 69, 72 2H 22° 22

22 74, 74 Fai, bo 2EF22
Tanganyika (anchietae)

3g +73, 76, 78 70. 72-92 21,22
Tanganyika (reichenowi)

moti, 75 67). 72 21,22

12 69 67 21

— =

Pypfessor Stresemann has given us the following wing-measurements of
the Tanganyika specimens in the Berlin Museum. A male of reichenowi
measures 70 mm., three females 72, 74, 78 mm., three others, sex not
stated, 69, 69, 73, 74, 74 mm. Three males of anchietae measure 75, 75,
77 mm., one other specimen, sex not stated, 76 mm., and 80 mm. in one

_ from Angola.

It seems to us that, while there is a tendency to larger size in remota,
the difference is not such as to justify its recognition. Accordingly reichen-

_ owi must be regarded as ranging from Lamu, in coastal Kenya, through

eastern Tanganyika to southern Nyasaland and eastern Southern Rho-

_ desia. The position in northern Portuguese East Africa requires further

_ investigation. Reichenowi must occur in coastal areas, but it is possible

_ that anchietae occurs inland, along the east side of the Lake Nyasa, since

a specimen from Mlanje, in south-eastern Nyasaland, certainly agrees

better with anchietae than reichenowi.

Mr. C. M. N. White has examined the specimens with us, and agrees

~ with our finding.

_ References :—

Benson, C. W. (1960). Recent records from north-western Northern Rhodesia. Bull.
Brit. Orn. Cl. 80, in press.

Vol. 81 10 196

Clancey, P. A. (1959). Miscellaneous taxonomic notes on African birds. Durban Mus.
Novit. 5 (16): 197-218.
Mayr, eo gone Greenway, J. C. (1960). Check-list of birds of the world, 9. Cambridge,

wosiexow. A. (1902). Die v6gel Afrikas. Atlas. Neudamm.

Swynnerton, G. H. and Hayman, R. W. (1950). A check list of the land mammals of
the Tanganyika Territory and Zanzibar Protectorate. Journ. East Afr. Nat. Hist.
Soc. 20: 274-392.

On western Paiaearctic Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus)
by P. A. CLANCEY

Received 30th May, 1960

Kenneth Williamson, Bird Migration, vol. 1, 2, 1959, pp. 88-91, dis-
cusses once again the geographical variation exhibited by the western
Palaearctic populations of the Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus),
1758: Sweden, recognising the richly coloured insular populations of
Iceland, the Faeroes, and, presumably, ‘‘Highland’’ Britain as sub-
specifically discrete under the name A. p. theresae Meinertzhagen, 1953:
Achill Island, western Ireland. Earlier but purely taxonomic papers
dealing with the same question are those of Clancey, Bul/. B.O.C., vol.
Ixiii, 1942, pp. 6, 7; ibid., vol. lxviii, 1948, pp. 54-56; and Meinertzhagen,
ibid., vol. Ixxiil, 1953, p. 43. Vaurie, Birds of the Palearctic Fauna, 1959,
p. 69, admits the distinction of A. p. theresae, the range of which he
restricts, following Meinertzhagen, /oc. cit., to ‘‘Western Ireland’’,
while A. p. whistleri Clancey, 1942: Dornoch, Sutherlandshire, northern
Scotland, is placed in the synonymy of A. p. pratensis.

As correctly pointed out by Williamson in his valuable paper the two
names listed above are available for the saturated, western, ‘“Atlantic’’
populations of this common pipit, but he has unnecessarily complicated
the issue by claiming that the Type of A. p. whistleri is subspecifically
indeterminate, and that the name for the enlarged western insular race
should be the much later A. p. theresae. I believe that there are solid
grounds for questioning the validity of the claim that the name A. p.
whistleri is inapplicable to the western, ‘‘Atlantic’’ race of the Meadow
Pipit.

A, p. whistleri was described during the darkest days of the War years
on the basis of a comparison between series of freshly moulted autumn
and breeding birds collected in the Dornoch district of south-eastern
Sutherlandshire in 1938 (August-September) and 1942 (June), and the
limited Continental material at that time available in the collections of
the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) and Dr. James M. Harrison, of Sevenoaks.
It is of importance to note that much of the paratypical series of A. p.
whistleri consisted of actual breeding birds shot at the type-locality in June,
1942, so that as far as the differential diagnosis is concerned, A. p. whistleri
is a name correctly given to the breeding Meadow Pipit of the Scottish
Highlands and no other. Indeed, the distinctions given for A. p. whistleri
in the original description are mainly those to be discerned in a critical
study of breeding material, though later work on A. p. whistleri and
A. p. pratensis has shown that by far the best and most reliable racial
eae separating these two forms are to be seen in autumn-taken
birds.

1961 11 Vol. 81

Williamson bases his main argument in favour of synonymizing A. p.
whistleri on the assumption that the paratypical series was a composite
of two distinct geographical races, and that the 7ype of whistleri is like
Swedish topotypes of the nominate race in juvenile dress. That such a view
is scientifically admissible is open to grave doubt. The Type, which 1s in
the Clancey Collection, now in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh,
is a bird of the year in the final stages of transitional moult from juvenile
to first-winter plumage, and has most of the head, and the whole of the
back, body-plumage, wings and tail more or less completely moulted
through. It is quite incorrect to state that this Type—the actual name-
bearer—is largely in juvenile dress and to compare it with others in such
plumage. I agree that we cannot be absolutely certain in the light of our
new knowledge on migration that this bird was hatched from a nest in
the type-locality in the north of Scotland, but the inescapable indications
are that it was. To argue speciously against the validity or applicability of
the name whistleri on the questionable belief that the bird concerned was
indigenous to continental Europe and not Scotland, seems both unsound
and unnecessary, especially when the specimen is in a perfectly adequate
condition to confirm its initial allocation by me to the western race, of
which it is now the Ho/otype. As recently as the autumn of 1958 I compared
this very Type with the rest of the enormous series of A. pratensis now
available for systematic work in Edinburgh, and can confirm that it
agrees perfectly in the rich rufous olivaceous mantle colouration and
pinkish under-parts with a host of other autumn specimens of the occi-
dental race of Meadow Pipit, and not with the rather greener backed and
whiter bellied A. p. pratensis, which latter race occurs plentifully in the
British Isles, as a breeding form in southern and south-eastern England,
and as a general winter visitor and passage migrant.

It is satisfactory to see recent work confirm my earlier and officially
rejected (sic) findings on subspecific variation in the western Palaearctic
populations of A. pratensis. | submit, however, that the correct name for

Williamson’s ‘‘Atlantic’’ race of Meadow Pipit is actually A. p. whistleri,

as argued above, and not the later A. p. theresae, which name should now
be placed in the synonymy of the former.

Study of the material preserved in the collections of the museums in
Stockholm, Copenhagen and Edinburgh in the autumn of 1958 revealed
that the range of A. p. whistleri is much wider than formerly believed, the
race concerned ranging from Iceland and the Faroes to Scotland and Isles,
the moorlands of northern and western England, Wales, Isle of Man and
Ireland. Specimens from Greenland in the collection of the University

- Zoological Museum in Copenhagen are referable to the nominate race.

On western Palaearctic Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus)

by KENNETH WILLIAMSON
Received 16th June, 1960

| am grateful to Mr. Phillip Clancey for allowing me to see his note on
Meadow Pipits, about which | have the following comments to make :—
the two collections of August-September 1938 and June 1942, though
om the same district of south-east Sutherland, cannot be considered

- r
a!

Vol. 81 . 12 : 1960

together, for two reasons. Firstly, although the second collection must
assuredly represent breeding-birds, Meadow Pipits in June are much too ©

worn and bleached for critical taxonomic assessment. Secondly, the early
onset of Meadow Pipit migration through the British Isles leaves us with
no guarantee that the August-September collection of 1938 comprises
native birds. It may well do so, but of this we cannot be certain. The facts
of the case are that a bird which still has a good deal of juvenile plumage
(and is quite inseparable from birds of similar age from Sweden, Iceland,
the Outer Hebrides, Argyllshire and Lancashire) was selected as type, and
the original description clearly refers to this indeterminate juv. > Ist.
winter phase and says nothing about the greater saturation of colour
above and below which distinguishes the Atlantic race. Thus, whilst it is
abundantly clear that Mr. Clancey was the first to appreciate that two
distinct populations of Meadow Pipit are present in the British area in
autumn, it is unfortunate that he did not revise his diagnosis before
Meinertzhagen described—correctly—A. p. theresae. As matters stand
today, the name whist/eri is technically a synonym of pratensis, and we are
left with no option but to use theresae for the Atlantic race.

A comparative study of the
method of skull pneumatisation in certain birds

by JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Received 10th June, 1960

PART Two

Method of Pneumatisation in the Starling.

There is very little difference in the method of pneumatisation in the
early stages of the Starling compared with the House Sparrow, the
difference being in stages 1!—13 of the Starling, where the two ‘‘windows’’
in the frontal bones divide into four, stages which were not found by
either Nero or myself in the House Sparrow.

The time factor. Ten immature Starlings examined on and October
were already fully pneumatised. Assuming that such birds were hatched in
early May, this would indicate pneumatisation occurring in approximately
five months, but nine others on the same date still possessed ‘*windows”’
four of them being only half pneumatised. Probably therefore, six months
would be the average time as for the House Sparrow.

Method of Pneumatisation in certain Corvidae.

This series of skulls demonstrates that the Carrion Crow, Rook,
Jackdaw and Jay pneumatise by the same method and the smaller number
of Magpies suggests that they also conform to this method. The method is
unlike any of the others studied, notably in stages 9-18, while the last
remaining pair of ‘‘windows’’ (17-18) are more centrally placed in the
frontal bones than the equivalent “‘‘windows’’ in Starlings and House
Sparrows and more irregular than in the pigeons.

The diagram showing the method of skull pneumatisation ‘includes

several alternative methods, as is indicated by the arrows. The following

table gives the number and species examined, corresponding to the stages
illustrated. Stage 19 represents the point at which pneumatisation has just —

reached completion, the outline of the last remaining ‘‘windows’’ to

Pd —_—

=o eee

E 466R 13 Vol. 81

yi pneumatise still being visible. Stage 20, the fully pneumatised adult skull
is included in view of the findings of Verheyen.

20
Red-necked Raven 2
Hooded Crow 10
Carrion Crow 40
Rook 25
Jackdaw 20
Magpie 30
Jay 150
Chough 1

The time factor. The Carrion Crow appears to be one of the quickest
species of those examined to reach full pneumatisation. Four immatures
examined on 4th, 6th, 13th and 18th July respectively were already com-
plete and if one assumes that they were hatched in late April, this means
that they have taken 24-3 months to do this. A Rook was practically
complete on 23rd June, two others were complete on 27th August, giving
a 3-4 month time factor. A Jackdaw was complete on 30th July. Four

young Magpies were complete on 15th August, 4th, 12th and 13th Sep-
tember respectively and a Jay by 28th August, so that these species appear
to reach completion in 4-5 months.

These findings in Corvidae are at complete variance with those of
Verheyen, who gave time factors of just over a year for Corvidae and
included the Jay among those species in which the skull never reaches
complete pneumatisation. It is difficult to understand how these differences
could occur, but Verheyen was working on osteological material only
and of the five skulls of Carrion Crows examined, one dated 28th May
still showed two small ‘‘windows’’ and I would think that he has taken
this to be from a bird already a year old, whereas | have no doubt that the
_ skull was that of an immature bird of that spring. It is an error which can
~ occur when the skull is not examined in conjunction with the plumage.

- Verheyen studied twenty Jays’ skulls, nineteen of them dated between

September and December, one on 9th March. All showed variable
*‘windows’’ from which it was assumed that the species does not develope
complete pneumatisation. My father, Dr. James Harrison and I have
examined between us approximately 150 Jays in adult plumage, all with
fully pneumatised skulls, so that we cannot uphold Verheyen’s findings.

¢ Weiseig

1961

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Vol. 81

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1961 | 17 Vol. 81

EA and Conclusions.

1. The method of skull pneumatisation in a number of different
species is examined.

2. Certain differences are demonstrated between three pigeon of the
Genus Columba and two of the Genus Streptopelia, the Starling, the House
Sparrow and the Corvidae.

3. Two groups of closely related species have been studied and although
the two groups differ, the species within those groups pneumatise by the
same method. (Wood Pigeon, Stock and Rock Dove: Carrion Crow,
Rook, Jackdaw, Magpie and Jay.)

4. The method of skull pneumatisation in those species in which it
reaches completion, seems likely therefore to provide evidence of sys-
tematic relationship.

Acknowledgements. 1 am particularly grateful to Mr. H. J. de S. Disney
for allowing me to see his series of skulls of the Laughing Dove and to
the following for their assistance in obtaining specimens for me:— Mr.
W. E. Crow, Mr. R. Gillespie, Dr. E. Gleadow, Dr. D. L. Harrison, Dr.
J. M. Harrison, Mrs. P. F. Harrison, Mr. J. A. Norman, Mr. G. H.
Pattinson, Mr. West, Mr. Westie and Captain J. V. Wilkinson, D.S.C.,
G.M., R.N. Dr. J. M. Harrison and Dr. D. L. Harrison have both kindly
read through this paper and made helpful suggestions, while my wife has
assisted me with the diagrams.

References :—

Dr. James P. Chapin. ‘‘Pneumatisation of the Skull in Birds’’> The Ibis, Vol. 91,
p. 691. 1949.

2 M. Rene Verheyen. ‘* Contribution a I’ étude de la Structure Pneumatique du Crane

chez les Oiseaux’’ Bull. Instit. Royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Tome
XXIX, No. 27, pp. 1-24. 1953.

% Dr. Jeffery G. Harrison & Dr. David L. Harrison. ‘‘The Development of the Skull
in the Cream-coloured Courser, Stone Curlew and Houbara Bustard’’ Bull. B.O.C..,
Vol. 75, pp. 61-63. 1955.

4 Dr. Jeffery G. Harrison. ‘‘A Review of Skull Pneumatisation in Birds’? Bull. B.O.C.,
Vol. 77, pp. 70-77. 1957.

5 Dr. Jeffery G. Harrison. ‘* Skull Pneumaticity in Wildfowl in Relation to their Mode
of Life’’ The Wildfowl Trust Ninth Annual Report, pp. 193-6 and 232. 1958.

6 Mr. Robert W. Nero. ‘*Pattern and Rate of Cranial ‘Ossification’ in the House

_ Sparrow’’ The Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 63, pp. 84-88. 1951.

? Dr. Jeffery G. Harrison. ‘‘The Development of Skull Pneumatisation in the Wood

Pigeon’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 77, pp. 18-23. 1957.

The South African races of the

Red-billed Firefinch Lagonosticta senegala (Linnaeus)
by P. A. CLANCEY

Received 18th August, 1960

Sclater (1930), Vincent (1952) and McLachlan and Liversidge (1957)
admit two geographical races of L. senegala from within the limits of sub-
continental South Africa (L. s. rendalli Hartert, 1898: Upper Shiré R.,

_ southern Nyasaland, and L. s. pallidicrissa Zedlitz, 1910: Humpata,
Huila, southern Angola), while Roberts (1940) lists only one. Study of
180 skins from southern Africa kindly placed at my disposal by the
Directors of the East London Museum, the Transvaal Museum (through

Vol. 81 18 : 1961

Mr. O. P. M. Prozesky), the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia
(through Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin) and the Chicago Natural History
Museum (through Mr. Melvin Traylor), reveals the variation in the South
African populations to be relatively slight, though sufficient to permit
of the recognition of two races.

L. s. pallidicrissa differs only moderately well from L. s. rendalli. The
adult male of the former race has the red of the sides of the head, throat
and breast rather duller and paler (about Old Rose or Old Rose/Light
Jasper Red (vide Ridgway (1912), pl. x11) as against Jasper Red (same pl.)
in L. s. rendalli), while the lower breast, upper abdomen and flanks are a
little less buffish and more extensively washed with rose than in L. s.
rendalli. The upper-parts are also rather paler, less washed with Brownish
Olive (pl. xxx), than in L. s. rendalli. The differences shown by the females
of the two races are not particularly well-marked, but L. s. pallidicrissa is
generally paler above, and lighter below, the throat and breast rather
greyer, less buff, and the lower breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts
tend to be whiter. There is no size difference between the two taxa.

L. s. pallidicrissa is now found to have a much more extensive range
than formerly believed, and many of the southern African populations
classified under the name L. s. renda/lli by workers must now be transferred
to the former race. The nomenclature and ranges of the two races of the
Red-billed Firefinch dealt with in this report are as follows:

(a) Lagonosticta senegala rendalli Hartert
Lagonosticta senegala rendalli Hartert, Novitates Zoologicae, vol. v,
1898: Upper Shiré River, southern Nyasaland.
Ranges from southern Tanganyika Territory (specimens from Luwipa

R.), northern Portuguese East Africa, southern Nyasaland, and eastern

and south-eastern Northern Rhodesia (mainly in Luangwa R. valley),
southwards to central and eastern Southern Rhodesia and southern
Portuguese East Africa to the north of Sul do Save. Intergrades with
L. s. ruberrima Reichenow, 1903: Bukoba, L. Victoria, over a wide area
in north-eastern Northern Rhodesia, and doubtless in parts of Tanganyika
Territory, and with L. s. pallidicrissa in west-central Northern Rhodesia,
western Southern Rhodesia, and along the southern periphery of its range.
The status of this form in the southern parts of the Belgian Congo is in
doubt (see Chapin (1954)). There is some indication of local movement in
firefinch populations, and such specimens of L. s. rendalli as have been
obtained in the Congo (which is within the breeding range of L. s. ruber-
rima) may have been visitors from further to the south-east. I have before
me a single male of L. s. rendalli from 4 miles N.W. of Molepolole,
eastern Bechuanaland Protectorate, ex the collection of the National
Museum of Southern Rhodesia, taken on 10th May, 1958 (N.M. No.
36422). Molepolole is in the central portion of the south-eastern sector of
the range of L. s. pallidicrissa, and the specimen concerned is clearly a
migrant from elsewhere.

(b) Lagonosticta senegala pallidicrissa Zedlitz,
Lagonosticta senegala pallidicrissa Zedlitz, Ornithologische Monats-
berichte, vol. xvi, 1910, p. 173: Humpata, Huila, southern Angola.
Ranges from southern and south-western Angola, western Northern
Rhodesia: (including Barotseland), and adjacent northern South-West

1961 19 Vol. 81

Africa (Kaokoveld, Ovamboland, northern Damaraland and the Caprivi
Strip), southwards through northern and eastern Bechuanaland and
western Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia, to the northern and north-
western Cape Province (mainly Vaal R. and Orange R. valleys), Orange
Free State, Transvaal, parts of the eastern Cape Province, Natal (local)
Zululand, Swaziland, and Sul do Save, southern Portuguese Eastern Africa.

ORANGE River

= j
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Sketch-map showing the approximate ranges of the two geographical
races of the Red-billed Firefinch Lagonosticta senegala (Linnaeus)
occurring in southern Africa.

Spotted area—Lagonosticta senegala rendalli Hartert
Shaded area—Lagonosticta senegala pallidicrissa Zedlitz

Note: Of the topotypical population of L. s. pallidicrissa, 1 have before
me a sample of 333, 2 22 collected by Gerd Heinrich in 1954, mainly at
Huila. These agree perfectly with specimens from localities as far re-
moved as Prieska, on the central Orange R., Glen, near Bloemfontein, in
the western Orange Free State, and Newington, eastern Transvaal ‘‘low-
veld’’.

Literature cited :—

Chapin, J. P. Birds of the Belgian Congo, part iv, 1954, p. 530.

McLachlan, G. R. & Liversidge, R. Roberts’ Birds of South Africa, 1957, p. 452.
Ridgway, R. Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, Washington, 1912.
Roberts, A. Birds of South Africa, 1940, pp. 356, 357.

Sclater, W. L. Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, part ii, 1930, p. 792.

Vincent, J. Check List of the Birds of South Africa, 1952, p.110.

C%& | iSH Mit=

Vol. 8149 JAN {1961 20 | 1961

Pied Blackbird with symmetrical markings

by IAN D. WOODWARD
Received 10th May, 1960

It is well known that male Blackbirds Turdus merula merula Linnaeus
quite often show partial albinism on the breast, which in some appearances
resemble Ring-Ouzels 7. torquatus torquatus Linnaeus; but the effected
parts in such specimens are usually asymmetrical.

On 17th April, 1960, I had the opportunity to observe an adult male
Blackbird in pied plumage (see Illustration) at Hemel Hempstead, Hert-
fordshire. It should be noted that a certain amount of speckling was
present from the hind neck right around to the breast.

General appearance: As stated, the bird was lightly speckled in parts
above the upper-half of its body. These speckles were of a whitish/greyish
tinge and it was noticed that these took the form of patches, perhaps
more notable on the breast and around the side of the neck.

Throat and head: The most interesting aspect of this bird was the
arrangement of the pied parts. Viewed from the front the most striking
marking on the bird was the off-white throat patch, which was positioned
exactly in the centre of the throat and extending round to the side of the

FIGURE I
Side-view of pied g Turdus merula merula Linnaeus.
Both sides are identical.

neck. This patch, the main part of which was about half an inch wide,
blended gradually into grey/brown below, and this blended into the
speckled portion on the breast.

The other notable features of this bird were the eye-stripes extending
from the eye back towards the nape. The upper-half appeared a greyish
shade and below blended quite abruptly into white—the whole eye-stripe
being rather rhombus-shaped and not at all streamlined. Both eye-stripes
were identical. Other than the details given above, the bird’s field-
characters and soft parts were quite normal for this species.

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Notices

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Back numbers of the ‘‘Bulletin’’ can be obtained at 3/- each.
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Esq., as above.

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So \ Oo vr

BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Ta
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Rat Sex
Edited by
Dr. JEFFREY HARRISON
Volume 8! February

No. 2

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BULLETIN
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BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

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RC ers Published: Ist February, 1961 Re >
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The five hundred and eighty-seventh meeting of the Club was held at
the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, on 17th January, 1961.

Chairman: CAPTAIN C. R. S. PITMAN
Members present, 40; Guests, 26; Total, 66.

The Chairman welcomed Vice-Admiral Nigel Henderson, the new
President of the Royal Naval Bird Watching Association, among the
uests.
; Two films were shown; the edited edition with sound track of Bayar
Read’s The Birds of East and Central Africa, loaned from the Fauna
Preservation Society and The Loch Ness Monster, a short sequence filmed
and enthusiastically explained by Mr. T. N. Dinsdale.

Song variation in the Great Tit, Parus major newtoni
by R. G. FINNIS

Received 24th October, 1960

_ Song variation in the Great Tit is so well known that a list of descriptions
including such terms as ‘‘saw-sharpening’’, or just plain ‘‘sawing’’—
often rendered ‘“TEACHER’”’, ‘‘bell-ringing’’ and ‘‘the anvil note’’ are
used at times. Koch, 1955, stated that he had heard sixty-eight different
songs although at that time he had recorded about twenty only, while
Nicholson (1936) wrote .. . ‘‘for no other British bird uses such a wide
variety of different notes. °” The Handbook, p. 247 gives ‘‘Chief form of
“song’’ is so-called ‘‘saw-sharpening’’, a strongly metallic ‘‘teechu-
teechu-teechu-teechu .. .”’, ‘‘teechuwee-teechuwee.. .’’, etc. Diversity of
vocabulary is most conspicuous in numerous other derivative or distinct
song-phrases, of which same bird may use several in succession. Most
are repetition of one, usually disyllabic or trisyllabic component of gener-
ally more or less loud, sometimes bell-like, notes, but more complex
components of several syllables also occur .. .’’ Also p. 247 it is stated
“Great Tit, which has most varied repertoire of all, (common tits) is so
prolific in variations and combinations, and these seem so little stereo-
typed, as to defy concise treatment, and really adequate analysis has yet
to be made...”’

Vol. 81

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1961 pe Vol. 81

With these facts in mind I have attempted an examination of song types
during the years 1954-59 inclusive, in North Kent, mainly around Graves-
end, using a diagrammatic form of song recording where possible in order
to discover the frequency with which certain song variations occurred
and also to examine the relationship, if any, between these. It should be
stated that I have not observed marked birds during this survey. Songs
were counted as a fresh utterance when either, 7 a bird had changed its
position and started to sing again from a new perch some distance away
or ii had stopped singing its song for a period of time longer than the
natural pauses of a song sequence e.g. when a bird had been singing the
**‘sawing’’ song I have not counted the number of separate sawing phrases,
but only from the fresh start of a sawing sequence irrespective of the
phrases sung. Emphasis was noted by a heavier line, pitch by writing the
symbols at different levels, cf. North M.E.W.

The term Phrase is used here to denote sawing and Component for the
disyllabic and trisyllabic utterances of the second and third variations
described cf. The Handbook, p. XVIII.

The Song Period. The total of all song types for the period surveyed is
shown in Fig. 1. It can be seen that although some song was uttered in all
months of the year, the main Song period occurred between the end of
January and third week of May which agrees well with the song chart
given in The Handbook.

Song Times. The times of singing of four hundred and eighty-one songs
are shown in Fig. 2. Two song peaks occur, between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and
5 p.m. and 6 p.m. There is fairly general singing during the morning and
afternoon.

Main Song types.
During this investigation | have tabulated three main song types,
i. The Sawing Song.
ii. A trisyllabic component with emphasis placed on the single note.
iii. A trisyllabic component with emphasis placed on the double
notes.

i. ‘‘Saw-sharpening’’ is easily the type of song most frequently heard.
During this investigation I have recorded five hundred and eighty-one
examples of it, Fig. 3. It consists of two components,—the ‘‘TEE’’ note,
emphasised, alternating with ‘‘CHU’’, Fig. 6a.

One bird watched at close range ‘‘sawing’’ opened the bill for the
**TEE’”’ and closed it for the ‘‘CHU”’’ notes.

The tempo of this song is varied, it is also pitched variously and with
wide differences in timbre (some songs are very harsh) considerable
variation is achieved.

Sometimes the sawing phrases are of long duration, at other times
much shorter while occasionally a phrase of sawing is interrupted by an
extra note interpolated to give a jerky presentation. Another variant
consists of detached notes Fig. 6b.

On 6th February 1956, I heard a rapid delivery of seemingly detached
Sawing notes Fig. 6c. and it was significant that at about fifty yards range
the accented notes sounded like three disconnected notes.

Vol. 81 24 1961

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FIGS. sa~ 4a 4a

~ 1961 25 Vol. 81

Another interesting variation consists of a curiously yodelled ‘‘CHU’’
note Fig. 6d, alternatively emphasis is placed on the yodelled note, Fig.
6e.
On 16th February 1956 an extension of this variation was heard, Fig. 6f.
Also on this date I heard a variation difficult to indicate which I rendered
as in Fig. 6g.—the wavering note synonymous with the ‘‘TEE”’’ note.
These latter variations are an interesting link with the second song type.
Usually this species sings from cover but occasionally it launches into
flight across an open space singing as it does so.
ii. The second most frequently uttered variation—one hundred and
eight recorded utterances Fig. 4—is a rhythmic trisyllabic with emphasis
placed on the first note, the ‘“TEE’’ of the sawing song, Fig. 6h.
This component is at times pitched differently and with varied tempo.
bs of Once I observed one bird of a pair utter-
e i. ing this song in a flight of about fifty yards.
iii. The third variation—one hundred
b eas 4,8 8, and five examples Fig. 5—is similar to ii.
but the emphasis is reversed. Again as in ii.
x 4wrtu “%w _ there isa variation in which the pitch of the
- disyllabic changes, Fig. 61. The song tempo

See may also vary considerably, e.g. Fig. 6).
d eee Z A bird silhouetted against the sky and
observed at close range kept the bill open

é atte X's all the time it sang while its throat was

working continuously.
f ee i A ic” On a March evening at dusk I heard a
Berm oe ee me mee om Song Thrush Turdus ericetorum, which was
singing strongly, deliberately utter eight
g al aeler and then seven equally spaced examples of
this song. In view of the tendency of both
h Se: AM 1: species to mimic other songs it is possible
that this bird was imitating a Great Tit
j rea Parus major. On the other hand it could
Rais , easily be the reverse. However, considering
the frequency with which this component
occurs in both species’ songs, I suggest
FiG 6. that in this instance mimicking has not

wantonly taken place.
It is interesting to note that I once heard this component from a distance

of about one hundred yards when the ‘‘TEE”’’ note was inaudible re-
sulting in a rhythmic repetition of paired notes.

CONCLUSION

In this investigation I have attempted to tabulate song variations at the
time of utterance by a simple diagrammatic form.

It is suggested that in the area under review there appeared to be three
main song types with greater variation developed from a juxtaposition of
the notes, together with change in pitch and tempo.

Some variation may result accidentally depending upon the distance
from which a singing bird is heard, when weaker carrying notes become
inaudible.

’

J ae ae

Vol. 81 26 1961

References :—

Coward, T. A. 1920. The Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs, Vol. 1. London.

Gibb, J. Feeding Ecology of Tits with notes on Treecreeper and Goldcrest. Ibis 96 513-543.

Hartshorne, C. The Relation of Bird Song to Music. \bis 100 421-444.

Howard, L. 1952. Birds as Individuals. New York.

Hulme, D. C. Alternative song of Great Tit. British Birds XLV 409.

Huxley, J. S. Song Variants in the Yellowhammer. British Birds XL 162-164.

Marler, P. The Voice of the Chaffinch. New Biology 20 70-87.

Nicholson, E. M. & Koch, L. 1936. Songs of Wild Birds. London.

North, M. E. W. A Plea for Standardization in Transcribing Bird Calls. \bis 95, 552-53.

Witherby, H. F., Jourdain, F. C. R., Ticehurst, N. F., Tucker, B. W. 1940. The Hand-
book of British Birds I, London.

A new subspecies of the Nubian Bustard

by CHARLES VAURIE
Received 24th October, 1960

The Nubian Bustard (Neotis nuba) inhabits the scrubby regions of the
semi desert from the Red Sea Hills of the Sudan southwestward to the
region between Abu Hamed on the north and Khartoum in the south, and
then westward to Kordofan, Darfur (perhaps), Chad north to the Ennedi,
and Niger Territory north to southern Air. It is not well known and
relatively few specimens are in collections. The American Museum of
Natural History has five specimens, three adult males and one adult
female captured in Kordofan which died in the Giza Zoological Garden,
and one adult male shot by Captain Angus Buchanan in Niger Territory
at Taberghi, south of Agadeés, ‘‘six or seven days north of Tanout’’, on
4th July, 1922.

This last specimen suggests strongly that a different subspecies inhabits
the western end of the range of the species for which I propose the name:
Neotis nuba agaze’ Vaurie, new subspecies

Type: Taberghi, as above; A.M.N.H., catalogue no. 547514.

Description: Differs from nominate nuba Cretzschmar, 1826, type
locality, Kurgos, near Shendi, Sudan, by being paler and less heavily and
darkly vermiculated with brown on the back, rump, upper tail coverts,
tail, and upper wing coverts, and also by being banded with blue-grey on
the upper breast beneath the chestnut band, with a few feathers speckled
slightly with pale brown, whereas this grey band is lacking in the specimens
from Kordofan, the feathers in the latter beneath the chestnut band being
barred or well speckled with darker brown. Agaze differs also very dis-
tinctly from nominate nuba by being smaller, by having a proportionately
shorter tail, and much weaker feet.

Measurements: Agaze, adult male, wing length 418, tail 177, tarsus
length 114, anterior-posterior thickness of the tarsus measured half way
down its length 7.5, length of middle toe 45, length of the bill from the
skull 63, length of the bill from the anterior border of the nostril 28. In
the three males from Kordofan, these measurements are, respectively,
425, 440, 455; 252, 260; 278; 119, 120, 122: 11; 125513: Sia
74, 75; and 36, 37, 40. In the female from Kordofan, 408, 219, 119, 12, 57,
65333;

The specimen from Taberghi is in the last stages of the moult. Its fourth

1, The native name of this bird in the language of the Tuaregs.

|
’
|
;

1961 27 Vol. 81

primary (the fourth and fifth primaries are longest in this species) appears
to be nearly full grown and the longest tail feathers appear to be full grown
as I cannot find traces of a sheath at their base. I may add that virtually
all the feathers of the body are very fresh and unbleached.

Discussion: Hartert (1924, Novitates Zool., vol. 31, p. 9) has discussed
the specimen from Taberghi and says it may represent a new subspecies
but that he could not decide because the difference {in coloration| might
be individual and that he was ‘‘convinced’’ it had been wrongly sexed,
adding ‘‘should it be a male, it would of course be a very much smaller
form! {than nominate nuba}.’’ Apparently, the females of Neotis nuba
differ from the males only by being smaller, but Hartert’s belief that
-Buchanan’s bird is a female is only an assumption, though perhaps
correct. Buchanan was a most conscientious collector. The many hundred
of his skins that I have seen are ‘‘all they should be’’, as Hartert states,
very well prepared with full data and apparently correctly sexed. At any
rate, whether correctly sexed or not, the specimen from Taberghi differs
quite distinctly from the female from Kordofan and I believe the differ-
ences are too numerous to be merely ‘‘individual’’. Hartert states that
*‘Buchanan says it is a young male’’, but I cannot account for this state-
ment as Buchanan made no notation that it was immature on his label.
It appears to me to be adult as it did to Hartert.

The validity of a substitute name

by S. DILLON RIPLEY
Received 25th May, 1960

In my review of the Thrushes (Postilla, 1952, 1954, No. 13 p. 23 et add.
p. 1) I provided a substitute name for an Iranian subspecies of the Blue-
throat, Erithacus svecicus or, as may be preferred by some authors,
Luscinia svecica.

The original names involved were as follows:

Cyanecula wolfi magna Zarudny and Loudon, 1904, Ornith. Jahrb.
p. 225, Bidesar, Arabistan (—Khuzistan, southwestern Iran vide Vaurie,
Bds. Pal. Fauna p. 385.)

This name I believe is preoccupied in the genera Erithacus or Luscinia by:

Philomela magna Blyth, 1833 (Aug.), Rennie’s Field Nat. vol. 1, p. 355,
a substitute name for Sylvia Philomela ‘‘Temminck’’ = Bechstein, 1802;
which see also, Blyth, 1833 (May), Rennie’s Field Nat. vol. 1, p. 200, here
called Philomela major.

In the Birds of the Palaearctic Fauna, 1959, p. 385, Dr. Vaurie rejects
my substitute name on the basis of Copenhagen Decisions No. 115,
L.C.Z.N. 1953, that a name published as a synonym without independent
description should be rejected as from some future date when the new
International Regles are published. Dr. Vaurie states that Philomela magna
Blyth 1833 is a nomen nudum.

I find I must differ. Philomela magna is not a nomen nudum. Blyth’s
paragraph (tom. cit. 1833 (May), p. 200) is as follows, referring to the
British nightingale :

**This renowned songster is of a size, intermediate, between the thrushes
and the warblers; at least, he is much larger than any of our British

Vol. 81 28 2 1961

warblers; and one of the continental nightingales, the Sylvia Philomela of
M. Temminck, (or, as I should prefer terming it, the Philomela major),
is a still larger bird... .”’

In No. 8 of the same journal, 1833, Aug. on page 355, Blyth published
a note correcting various errata which reads: ‘‘line 22, for ‘major’, read
magna...’

This use of the name Philomela major (later carefully corrected by the
author to magna) as a substitute name for the bird called Sy/via Philomela
by Temminck is not a nomen nudum. Blyth gives evidence in the same
publication, page 199, of knowing what work he was talking about, the
only argument for calling this citation a nomen nudum. If we examine
Temminck’s Manuel d’ Ornithologie, 1820, éd. 2, tome 1, p. 196 and
p. 197, we find the Bec-fin Philoméle, Sylvia Philomela (Becht.) 1802, an
identifiable species. On page 197 Temminck discusses the Bec-fin Soyeux,
Sylvia sericea (Natter, ex MS.), described and therein validated for the
first and only time.

Turning back to Blyth, on page 199 of the May issue of Rennie’s Field
Naturalist Blyth says: ‘‘taken conjointly, and altogether, they seem to
intimate, that our nightingale, with the Sy/via Philomela and S. sericea of
M. Temminck, (species closely resembling it), possess sufficient pecu-
liarities to warrant their being placed as a distinct genus’’. This latter
name in conjunction with the former places Blyth’s current reading
material exactly.

As an example of the validity of a name used in this fashion, I refer to
Zimmer and Vaurie, (1954, Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. vol. 74, p. 41) in which
these authors state that Pnoepyga and Oligura created by Hodgson in
1844 (Zool. Miscellany, p. 82) are not nomina nuda by reason of not being
described, but are in fact valid genera as they are associated by citation
with valid species.

Thus if on the one hand Pnoepyga and Oligura are said to be valid by
Dr. Vaurie by citation and association, then obviously Philomela magna
Blyth a correction for Philomela major Blyth, a substitute name for Sy/via
Philomela ‘‘Temminck’’ = Bechstein, a valid species, is also not a
nomen nudum. Thus I believe Cyanecula wolfi magna Zarudny and Loudon
is a junior secondary homonym of Philomela magna Blyth and as such
deserves a substitute name. This name I proposed in Postilla, (tom. cit.)
as Erithacus svecicus luristanicus.

I am grateful to Mr. H. G. Deignam for help with Rennie’s publication
which is not at Yale.

On the Clamorous Reed-Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus

(Hemprich & Ehrenberg) in Eritrea
by K. D. SMITH

Received 10th August, 1960

Heuglin originally obtained this species in Eritrea, where he found it
breeding in June. The nest was in the fork of a branch in a thick mangrove
swamp on the coast, and contained three fresh eggs. The birds sung there
all through the summer months. Kittenberger states that he obtained a

1961 29 Vol. 81

bird at Assab in 1907. None have been reported since then, and some
doubt has been cast on the records. Both Sclater and Vaurie include
Eritrea as within the range of A. s. stentoreus, but Mackworth-Praed &
Grant mention the species in a note only, with the remark that its occur-
rence on the Eritrean coast requires confirmation.

Mr. Kenneth Williamson has informed me (in. /itt.) that whilst going
through the B.M. collection recently he found that a male collected by
myself at Zula, Eritrea on 26th January 1952 is stentoreus, having been
wrongly identified as Acrocephalus arundinaceus zarudnyi Hart. In plumage
and measurements, wing 85, it matches A. s. brunnescens Jerdon, although
the locality is far outside the known winter range of that form. Vaurie
gives the northern shores of the Persian Gulf and throughout India to
Ceylon. The bird obtained had fully enlarged testes and was singing. I saw
many birds singing in the swamps in late May but unfortunately assumed
them to be a. zarudnyi lingering in winter quarters.

It seems therefore that stentoreus breeds along the Eritrean coast,
whilst brunnescens is a winter visitor. But Williamson also informs me that
a February male from S.W. Arabia, where previously unrecorded, also
matches brunnescens, and as the Zula bird was in breeding condition it
seems possible that birds from the southern Red Sea are sedentary and
may eventually require a new name. I am grateful to Mr. R. E. Moreau
for supplying me with Heuglin’s data.

References :—

Heuglin, T. 1869. Ornithologie Nordost-Afrikas | :287.

Kittenberger, K. 1907. Vogelzug im Danakil-Land. Aquila 14:175-178.

ee eed, C. W. & Grant, C. H. B. 1955. African Handbook of Birds 1 (2):
Sclater, W. L. 1930. Systema Avium Aethiopicarum.

Smith, K. D. 1957. An annotated check-list of the birds of Eritrea. Ibis 99 :333.
Vaurie, C. 1959. The Birds of the Palaearctic Fauna.

The African rough-winged Swallows
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 3rd August, 1960

The genus Psalidoprocne has long been treated as comprising a number
of distinct species of African swallows. Sclater (1930) listed eleven species,
and Peters (1960) listed twelve. One species, nitens, stands apart from the
rest in having a square (not forked) tail, and occurs sympatrically with
fork tailed birds in various places, and is clearly a distinct species. Re-
lationships between the other fork tailed birds have never been analysed,
and the main difference between them is to be found in the colour of the
metallic gloss, the colour of the under wing coverts (white or grey) and in
dimensions. One of them, a/biceps, however differs strikingly from the
rest in having in males a white cap and throat. I shall now present evidence
to show that a number of the black species can be combined in a single
polytypic species. The data is examined in terms of the geographical
distribution in relation to variation.

1. South and East Africa, north to Kenya and Uganda.

It has been widely assumed that two species, holomelaena (with ashy
under wing coverts) and orientalis (with white under wing coverts) occur
sympatrically in part of this area. Thus Grant and Praed (1955 give a map

Vol.’81 30 1961

which shows the distribution of holomelaena as continuous from Natal to
Kenya and Uganda. The facts are quite different. Typical holomelaena
occurs from the coast of the Cape Province north to the east Transvaal and
Sul do Save, and is then replaced by orientalis. No evidence exists to
prove the existence of holome/aena in eastern Southern Rhodesia where all
specimens are orientalis. The latter occupies also Portuguese East Africa
from about Beira northwards, Nyasaland, the eastern province of Northern
Rhodesia, and south east Tanganyika (Lindi, Songea, Tukuyu, Njombe,
north to Kilosa). Holomelaena reappears again north of them (Kilosa,
Morogoro, Dar-es-Salaam, Uluguru, Usambara, Kilimanjaro). The only
evidence for overlap in Tanganyika appears to be (a) the birds collected
by Loveridge at Kilosa, identified as an adult and an immature holo-
melaena, and a male moulting into adult plumage, and identified as
orientalis. Loveridge also records breeding at Kilosa, apparently ho/o-
melaena. | shall discuss below the extent to which these swallows indulge
in extensive wandering; as Kilosa lies on the point of transition from
holomelaena to orientalis in Tanganyika, I do not regard this isolated
record as evidence that the two are in fact sympatric. Secondly (b) the
type locality of orientalis is north west of Pangani and north of Dar-es-
Salaam where holomelaena is recorded. The latter may be a wanderer from
inland and orientalis the coastal from, since holomelaena in East Africa
appears to be mainly a bird of higher levels, whilst orientalis occurs at sea
level in Mozambique and at Lindi. There is thus no evidence whatever to
support the map in Grant and Praed, showing orientalis and holomelaena as
sympatric over a wide area, but two anomalous specimens exist collected
within the range of other forms but close to places from which they

could have wandered. In the interior of Kenya birds like holomelaena —
occur having a range continuous with the northern Tanganyika popu- —
lations. Grant and Praed have treated these northern populations of —

holomelaena as identical with the southern nominate form and there is
very little difference between them, but the northern massaica has a slightly
longer wing, 110-119 against 105-113 mm., although the tail length and
fork is about the same in both populations.

2. Western forms of holomelaena and orientalis.

Each of these forms has a more western representative, ruwenzori for q
the first mentioned, and reichenowi for the second. The first of these —

differs from massaica in its shorter and less deeply forked tail, whilst wing —
length agrees with nominate holomelaena. The second differs from —

orientalis in a precisely similar manner, and also has the under wing —

coverts rather greyish tinged; in the latter respect the sharp division —

between white and grey under wing coverts breaks down as a good —

specific character. Measurements of the races so far discussed are set out
in the following table.

Form Wing Longest t.f. | Fork
holomelaena 105-113 82-90 38-49
massaica 110-119 85—99 39-50
ruwenzori 107-114 73-85 28—34.5
orientalis 105-112 76-90 37-48

reichenowi 103-109 I2218 21—27

“¢

;

1961 31 Vol. 81

3. Northern Congo forms
From Ubangi to the Uelle and Ituri and the Lendu plateau in the

- Belgian Congo, and at the Yei area of the Sudan, just across the border

from the Belgian Congo localities, another pair of forms is found, much

like orientalis but with a stronger oily green wash. The western of these,
chalybea, has grey under wing coverts and occurs from Ubangi and Bamin-
gui to Stanleyville and the Ituri; further north east it is replaced by
mangbettorum with white under wing coverts. Chapin (1953) has shown
that they replace each other between Buta and Titule. The samples of
mangbettorum show some slight size variations in different localities.

Measurements are given below.

Form Wing Longest t.f. Fork
chalybea 93-100 85-94 38-54
mangbettorum (Uelle) 97-100 85-92.5 41-47
2 (Lendu) 101-104 79-84 34-37
is (Yei) 97-100 78-81 33-38

Whilst it does not seem desirable to subdivide mangbettorum on these
slight variations, it would seem reasonable to treat both these forms not
only as conspecific, but also as races of holomelaena in view of the data
already discussed. Another problem of a type locality arises with chalybea
since it was described from Victoria, Cameroons. But all other specimens
have come from Ubangi eastwards. Serle never found chalybea when
collecting in the Cameroons, nor is it represented in the Cameroon
material in the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, nor in Bates’ Cameroons
collections. It seems likely that here again the type locality derives from a
bird which had wandered outside its range. The type of chalybea was
examined by Chapin who considered it to agree with the birds to which
the name is applied by him.

4. P. petiti

This form differs in colour from all the foregoing in its less black, more
brownish general colour and the under wing coverts are white tinged with
grey. The wing, 98-105, agrees with the mangbettorum populations; the
tail, 70-82, averages slightly shorter, whilst the tail fork is shallower,
25-35 mm. The range is from the Obudu plateau of east Nigeria to the
Cameroons and through Gaboon south to Brazzaville. The question
arises as to whether it should also be considered as conspecific with the
birds already considered. Morphologically it would seem to be yet another
allopatric form, and the objections to this course depend upon two con-
siderations. Firstly the type locality of chalybea which is west of the range
of petiti in the Cameroons. In view of what has been said above I do not
regard this as very important. Secondly the type locality of petiti is
Landana and of reichenowi Chinchoxo; these localities are very close
together in the Portuguese enclave of Cabinda. The line of the lower
Congo seems to mark the change from petiti to reichenowi, and in view of
the nomadic habits of these swallows, it would seem better to treat them
as conspecific until actual breeding colonies of both forms have been
found together in this area.

5. The Ethiopian forms
All the foregoing birds have the outer tail feather attenuated, whilst the

Vol. 81 32 | | 1961

Ethiopian forms have it broader and blunter. This might be thought to be
a specific character, but oleaginea of south west Ethiopia in fact is other-
wise just like mangbettorum, and was confused with it by Grant and Praed
and by Cave and Macdonald. Oleaginea has a shorter tail, 67-74 and with
a shallower fork, 24-29 mm. This would suggest that oleaginea can be
treated as another race of holomelaena, and in that event, so must all the
Ethiopian races.
They differ only in their different glosses viz :—

oleaginea (rich oily green); blanfordi (steel blue); pristoptera (purple-blue);
antinorii (purplish bronze). The under wing coverts are white.

6. Other forms

From Portuguese Guinea and Sierra Leone to eastern Nigeria a single
form, obscura occurs, its most eastern locality being Kumba, lying at
about 1,000 feet in the lower Guinea forest. Here it approaches closely
the range of petiti, but has not been collected with it. It differs rather
strikingly from all the foregoing in having the tail as long or longer than
the wing, but in other respects agrees closely with them, being greenish
glossed and with dusky under wing coverts. I regard it as a member of the
same superspecies, perhaps best left at present as a separate species.
Bannerman also lists a specimen from Victoria, suggestive of another
wanderer.

Cameroon mountain and Fernando Po are inhabited by an endemic
form, fuliginosa, dull brown and lacking any gloss. The tail is rather sho
and has the shallowest fork of any of the forked tail edspecies of Psali
doprocne. It seems best to retain it as a species.

Finally there is albiceps which is largely allopatric to the other forms
from the southern Sudan and Uganda through west Tanganyika to North
ern Rhodesia west of the Luangwa Rift as far as Mpika and Fort Rosebery
The female of a/biceps is rather like the other black species but with a
whitish throat, suggesting that the white head of the male a/biceps is not a
very important character. Nevertheless the difference is such that it seems
better to retain a/biceps as a species.

P. albiceps is important in considering the occurance of these swallows
in places which appear to lie outside their normal ranges. In Northerr
Rhodesia albiceps is regarded by Benson and White (1957) as migratory, —
although it is known to breed both in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, ~
and in the north of its range in Uganda.

Moreover there are a number of records of albiceps far outside its
normal range, which must represent wanderers. E.g. near Fort Jamesor
and Lusaka in Northern Rhodesia, and at Kasaji in the western Katanga. ~
One or other of the black forms have also been recorded in Northern
Rhodesia in localities far from the normal range, including Sesheke in-
southern Barotseland. The occurances therefore of birds in places which
appear to be outside the normal range and within the normal area o
another form, which are in any case remarkably few, cannot be regarded
as conclusive evidence of sympatry. What is extraordinary is that severe
of the forms of Psalidiprocne appear to have been described from suc
wanderers, and several type localities are therefore not within the normé
ranges of the forms concerned. On the above evidence I conclude that
there are only two biogeographic species of Psalidoprocne, nitens an

1961 33 Vol. 81

pristoptera. Three forms, fuliginosa, obscura and albiceps are best given
specific rank within the pristoptera superspecies, and all the remainder
treated as races of pristoptera (the oldest name).

In preparing this note I am greatly indebted to Mrs. B. P. Hall for data
upon material in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) and for the trouble she
took in measuring them; to Dr. Amadon, Dr. Rand and Dr. Parkes for
data about the collections in their charge; and to the National Museum,
Bulawayo for the loan of material.

A new form of Spike-heeled Lark from Bechuanaland
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 18th August, 1960

Mr. R. H. Smithers, Director of the National Museums of Southern
Rhodesia has asked me to describe a form of Chersomanes albofascists
which he recently sent to me for examination, and which appears to be
new. I therefore propose :—

Chersomanes albofasciata barlowi subsp. nov.

Description: much paler than either of the other Bechuanaland forms
(kalahariae and bathoeni), and with the upperside much greyer, and
lacking any sandy yellow or brown shade; nearest to erikssoni of Ovambo-
land, but still greyer above and with the upperside plainer, due to the
reduction in dark streaking; below much paler than erikssoni, the middle
of the abdomen whiter, and the breast with fine and diffused brown
streaking. The rufous on the upper tail coverts is very light and only
slightly indicated and the white tip to the tail very narrow.

’ Type: male collected on 18th January, 1959, at Lake Dow, south of
Makaikari, Bechuanaland, by the Barlow-National Museum Expedition.
In the National Museum, Bulawayo. No. 39,872.

Distribution: only known from the Lake Dow ares of Bechuanaland.
The most north eastern form of the species.

Notes: 14 specimens examined. Named after Mr. C. S. Barlow who has
sponsored the National Museum’s work in Bechuanaland.

A substitute name for a Philippine Tailor-bird

by KENNETH C. PARKES
Received 22nd September, 1960

In describing a new subspecies of the tailor-bird Orthotomus atrogularis
from the Philippine island of Negros, I inexplicably overlooked the prior
use in this genus of the subspecific name I had chosen. I hasten, therefore,
to provide a substitute, as follows:

Orthotomus atrogularis rabori, nom. nov.

Replaces Orthotomus atrogularis heterolaemus Parkes, Bull. Brit. Orn.
Club, 80, 1960, p. 77, not Phyllergates heterolaemus Mearns, Proc. Biol.
Soc. Washington, 18, 1905, p. 86, now Orthotomus cucullatus heterolaemus
(Mearns).

This name is proposed in acknowledgment of the great debt all modern
workers on Philippine birds owe to Dr. D. S. Rabor of Silliman Uni-
versity, Dumaguete City, Negros, for his untiring efforts in collecting and
for his many important discoveries of new Philippine forms.

Vol. 81 34 1961

Variation in Macrony Croceus Vieillot
by C. M. N. Wurte

Received 15th October, 1960

Clancey (Ostrich, 1958) has proposed to recognise three forms of this
widespread species, one of them, tertius, described there at p. 77, as a new
form with type locality Hartley, Southern Rhodesia. Examination of the
large amount of material in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) fails to
reveal any regular geographical variation throughout Africa which
merits the recognition of subspecies. There is some irregular variation
with some populations warmer and redder above, others colder and
greyer, and similar variation in the intensity of the yellow underside is
apparent. Wear also affects the colour of the upperside, and quite moderate
wear induces a greyer appearance. On average the coldest populations
occur in the Sudan and in south east Africa. It has been claimed that the
south easternmost population should be recognised as vu/turnus Fried-
mann on account of its rather large size, particularly shown in tarsus and
bill. But West African birds have tarsus 35-38, those of the White Nile
35-38 and those of South Africa 36—39 in birds measured by me. Bills are
similarly variable—West Africa 20-22, White Nile 21-23, Kenya 20-21,
Southern Rhodesia 20—22, Natal 22—24.5 mm. These measurements do
show that the south eastern birds have on an average the longest bills, but
although some selected smallest populations do not overlap with these
south eastern birds, others overlap appreciably. Only about 30% of the
birds known as vulturnus can be distinguished by their long bills. Nothing
is gained by the formal designation by name of such ill defined variation.

I am indebted to Mrs. Hall for examining the British Museum material
with me, and to Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin for informing me that he also has
been unable to see any good grounds for recognising any geographical
variation by name.

A new race of the
Violet-eared Waxbill Granatina granatina (Linnaeus)
from southern Portuguese East Africa
by P. A. CLANCEY

Received 11th November, 1960

In my recent study of geographical variation in the Violet-eared Waxbill
Granatina granatina (Linnaeus) (vide Durban Mus. Novit., vol. v, 18,
1959, pp. 253-257) I recognise two races, namely, G. g. granatina (Lin-
naeus), 1766: Huila, southern Angola, and G. g. siccata Clancey, 1959:
near Okahandja, Damaraland, South-West Africa, based on differences
in colouration in both sexes. During the course of a recent collecting trip
to southern Portuguese East Africa (August-September, 1960) members
of the Durban Museum staff collected a sample of pale, small-sized
specimens of Violet-eared Waxbills in a new area for the species, which
appear to represent an undescribed form confined to the littoral of south-
eastern Africa.

Granatina granatina retusa, subsp. nov.
Type: 3, adult. Near Panda, Inhambane district, Sul do Save, southern

1961 ; So Vol. 81

Portuguese East Africa (24° 02’ S., 34° 45’ E.). 17th September, 1960.
Durban Museum Expedition. In the collection of the Durban Museum.

Diagnosis: Adult male paler throughout than either G. g. granatina or
G. g. siccata. Head-top and nape about Mikado Brown (vide Ridgway,
Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, 1912, pl. xxix) as against a dusty
Russet or Russet/Hazel (pls. xiv, xv) in G. g. siccata, and mantle much
- lighter, being Sayal Brown (pl. xxix) with greyish olive overlay. On under-
parts, rather less black over the chin and upper throat, and with most of
the rest of the ventral surface distinctly lighter (about Tawny (pl. xv) as
against Chestnut/Russet (pls. ii, xv) in G. g. siccata. Adult female rather
paler than G. g. siccata, the head-top slightly more yellowish (Buckthorn
Brown (pl. xv) as against Ochraceous-Tawny (same pl.). A markedly
smaller, shorter tailed race than either G. g. granatina or G. g. siccata,
thus: wings of 3 $9 53.5, 54.5, 54.5, 2 99 53, 55, as against 55.5—60 (57.5)
and 56-58 (56.7) in 20 gd9° of G. g. granatina, and 57-61 (58.8) and
55.5—59 (57.4) in 20 Gg9E of G. g. siccata; tails in 33 62, 62, 66.5, as against
71-77 (74.7) in G. g. granatina and 75-82 (78.6) mm. in G. g. siccata.

Paratypical material: 3 33, 2 29. All adults.

Range: At present known only from the district of Inhambane, Sul do
Save, southern Portuguese East Africa.

Measurements of the Type: Wing 54.5, culmen (exposed) 9.5, tarsus
16.5, tail 66.5 mm.

Remarks: The Violet-eared Waxbill appears to be extremely localized
in Sul do Save, and during the course of two ornithological expeditions
organised by the Durban Museum the species was only once located,
when the paratypical series of G. g. retusa was obtained. Even in the

Panda district the species was only found near one watering point.

Some of the specimens of G. granatina available in collections from
near Lourenco Marques are referable to the nominate race, and appear
to be escaped captives brought from the interior or aviary birds.

The name chosen for the new race is from the Latin retusus, blunted,
blunt, dull, in allusion to shorter, less acuminate tail, when it is compared
with the other two races of the species.

1 am grateful to the Director of the Museu Dr. Alvaro de Castro,
Lourencgo Marques, for the loan of relevant material.

On racial variation
in Zosterops pallida Swainson, sens. strict.

by P. A. CLANCEY AND J. M. WINTERBOTTOM

Received 25th October, 1960

In a recent contribution by one of us (P.A.C., 1960) the characters and
ranges of two racial groups of populations of the White-eye Zosterops
pallida Swainson, 1838, sens. strict. (vide Moreau, 1957), were defined
in the light of information derived from a study of new material available

Vol. 81 ou. y >. 196!

in South African museums. In the note in question the populations of the
moist east were called Z. p. pallida, with a range in the ‘‘valleys of the
Vaal and upper Orange Rivers (not in Basutoland) and their major
affluents (Harts, Modder, etc.),’’ while those of the dry west were placed
as Z. p. deserticola Reichenow, 1905: lower Orange River, the range of
which was given by Clancey, Joc. cit., as ‘‘South-West Africa south to
northern Little Namaqualand, Bushmanland and Kenhardt (Hartbees
River), in the north-western Cape, and south-east to about Prieska and
the Asbestos Mountains of the northern Cape.’’ In the east of its range,
as given, Z. p. deserticola intergrades with Z. p. pallida. The arrangement
of the populations of Z. pallida by Clancey hinged on the accuracy of
Vincent’s (1952) fixation of the type-locality as Rustenburg, western
Transvaal, and, unfortunately, did not take into consideration the recent
change of the type-locality proposed by Grant and Mackworth-Praed
(1957).

Swainson, the original describer of Z. pallida, states that the form
‘‘Inhabits South Africa, Dr. Burchell’s Coll. No. 43’’, and Grant and
Mackworth-Praed record that the single specimen of this species in the
Burchell Collection in Oxford was taken in a grove of acacias about ten
miles east of Prieska, northern Cape Province, on 18th September, 1811.
On the basis of this information, the two workers concerned advocate
the shift of the type-locality from Rustenburg to ten miles east of Prieska.
We are in agreement with this proposal to change the type-locality of
Z. p. pallida, in the light of which Z. p. deserticola must be sunk into the
synonymy of the nominotypical race, while the eastern populations, i.e.,
those of the valleys of the Vaal and upper Orange Rivers and of their
major tributaries, will now require to be known as Z. p. sundevalli Hart-
laub, 1865: Caffraria superiore prope Vaal rivier (Hartlaub, 1865).

Z. vaalensis Gunning and Roberts, 1911: Venterskroon, Potchefstroom,
Transvaal, a form often kept specifically discrete from Z. pallida and
Z. capensis Sundevall, must be placed in the synonymy of Z. p. sundeyvalli.
Moreau, /oc. cit., expressed the view that Z. vaalensis is not a distinct
species but simply a name given to xanthochroic variants of Z. pallida
cropping up irregularly in the eastern populations. With this view we
concur, as recent collecting in the western Orange Free State (Glen,
Modder River) has revealed that Z. vaalensis and Z. pallida occur together
in the same flocks, and that birds intermediate between the two forms are
also to be found in such assemblages.

Literature cited:

Clancey, P. A. Durban Museum Novitates, vol. vi., 2, 1960, pp. 44-45.
Grant, C. H. B. and Mackworth-Praed, C. W. Ostrich, vol. xxvili, 3, 1957, p. 174.
Hartlaub, G. Journal fiir Ornithologie, 1865, p. 8.

Moreau, R. E. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology, vol. 4, No. 7, t
pp. 311-433.

Vincent, J. Check List of the Birds of South Africa, 1952, p. 99.

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BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

Volume 8l | March
No. 3 1961

a Vol. 81

BULLETIN ts
OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 8]

Number 3
Published: Ist March, 196!

_ The five hundred and eighty-eighth meeting of the Club was held at
_ the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, on 21st February, 1961.

Chairman: CAPTAIN C. R. S. PITMAN
_ Members present, 38; Guests, 15; Total, 52.

_ The Chairman opened by thanking Mr. R. A. H. Coombes for all that
_ he had done for the Club in managing the sales of bulk numbers of the
- Bulletin, which had made such a difference to the Club’s finances. Mr.

‘Coombes was having to give up on moving to Scotland and Mr. N. J. P.
_ Wadley was taking over from him.

&- e ° ° °

> Passerine migration across the Mediterranean and

* the Sahara

_ Mr. R. E. Moreau gave a most interesting talk on this subject, of which

_ the following is a summary as a full account will appear in the Ibis.
By far the greater part of all the insectivorous birds of Europe cross
to tropical Africa for the winter. The difficulties of the journey are great,
_ especially in spring. The desert is nearly 1,000 miles wide from north to
south and only a small fraction of its surface offers, in oases or mountains,
the chance of a bird’s resting in the shade by day or of recuperating its
Strength. The winds are predominantly northerly, so that the migrants
have on the whole following winds in autumn, but head-winds in spring,
when an ability to fly for some fifty hours practically non-stop seems
essential.

Far more birds are seen on the southern coast of the Mediterranean
(and in the northern cases of Algeria) in spring than in autumn, when at
least twice as many birds must be travelling. This is interpreted to mean
‘that in spring birds break their journey far more than in autumn. There
8 indeed reason to suppose that a great many birds travel from Europe
‘to tropical Africa non-stop in autumn; but there are baffling differences
between species.

4 The systematic position of the Marbled Teal
<¥ by Paut A. JOHNSGARD

LS Received 9th December, 1960

- :
Vol. 81 38 1961

aspects of its behaviour and the structure of the male’s trachea indicate that
it also has affinities with the pochards, and especially with the genus Netta.
It is therefore suggested that the Marbled Teal be placed in a monotypic
genus (Marmaronetta Reichenbach) and be considered an evolutionary link
between the surface-feeding ducks (Anatini) and the pochards (Aythyini),
but tentatively retained in the former tribe.

The Marbled Teal (Anas angustirostris Ménétriés, Cat. Rais. Obj. Zool.
Caucase, 1832, p. 58) is a species which, perhaps because of its dull-
coloured plumage, has not attracted much attention from students of
waterfowl. However, it is a species which is unusual in nearly every respect,
including its geographic range which, unlike that of any other duck, is
centered around the Mediterranean region. Adults of both sexes are well
described by the term ‘‘marbled’’, and the entire plumage is a creamy
grey, or isabelline, colour. In contrast to other Anas species such as the
outwardly similar Cape Teal (Anas capensis) (which Delacour, 1956, con-
siders a close relative of the Marbled Teal), the contour feathers have dark
grey edges and lighter centres instead of light edges and darker centres.
There is a greater similarity between the adult plumages of the Marbled
Teal and the South American Crested Duck, which has been traditionally —
included in Anas but which Delacour (1954) considers an aberrent shelduck
(Lophonetta specularioides). Both sexes of the Marbled Teal have slight
nape crests and dark postocular stripes, but these are more conspicuous in
adult males. Otherwise, the sexes differ only in bill colour and pattern.
The adult male has a uniformly dark bill except for a narrow lighter
subterminal bar, similar to that found in various pochard species, whereas
the female lacks this bar and has a light yellowish triangular area on each ~
side of the maxilla.

Foremost of the Marbled Teal’s plumage pecularities is its lack of a
metallic coloured speculum; the colouration of the secondaries is not in
any way differentiated from that of the primaries or the upper wing coverts.
No other species of Anas has such a uniformly coloured upper wing sur-
face, which is reminiscent of certain pochard species such as Red-crested
Pochards (Netta rufina) and Common Pochards (Aythya ferina). In this
respect the Marbled Teal differs markedly from the Crested Duck, which
has a conspicuous bronze-coloured speculum with a white posterior
border.

It is now widely recognised that downy plumage patterns are of great
importance in judging evolutionary relationships, and thus the downy
plumage of the Marbled Teal is of interest. This plumage, which has been
illustrated by Peter Scott (in Delacour, 1956), is a weakly-patterned pale
buff and brown, quite distinct from the downy plumages of the Crested
Duck or the Cape Teal. Indeed, the back-spotting and eye-stripe are so
reduced that the overall appearance is almost more like that of a downy
Red-crested Pochard than of a typical member of the genus Anas. The
juvenal plumage is scarcely separable from the adult plumage, and is thus
of no value in judging relationships.

Two aspects of the Marbled Teal’s general behaviour are of importance.
The first is that the pre-flight, or ‘‘flight intention’’, movements of thi
species set it apart from all other species of Anas. Unlike these species,

1961 39 Vol. 81

_ which use repeated ‘‘neck-jerking’’ movements (McKinney, 1953) before
taking flight, Marbled Teal perform rapid ‘‘chin-lifting’’ movements
(McKinney, 1953), exactly as are performed by most and probably all
species of pochards in the same situation. Secondly, the Marbled Teal
dives occasionally when feeding, but normally feeds by up-ending. When
diving, it usually opens its wings to assist in submerging in the manner of
most (but not all) dabbling ducks. The hallux is no more strongly lobed
than in the other species of Anas.

Female Marbled Teal lack the strong ‘‘quacking’’ voice typical of
Anas females, and instead have only a weak note similar to the male’s.
Thus females lack the ‘‘Decrescendo call’’ (Lorenz, 1951-1953) which is
characteristic of every other species of Anas which has thus far been
closely studied. The female’s primary courtship display, in common with
all species of Anas and pochards (Netta and Aythya) thus far observed, is
the display that Lorenz (1951-1953) has termed ‘‘Inciting’’. The actual
movements involved during Inciting vary greatly in different species, but
in all they consist of alternated threatening and escape components. In the
Marbled Teal the threat aspect consists of an overt threatening approach
_ towards a strange or unfavoured drake, followed by a rapid retreat to-
_ wards her mate or potential mate. This form of Inciting is more like that
of some pochard species (e.g., Red-crested Pochard) than any Anas
species known to me. Females also perform somewhat simplified versions
_ of the male’s major courtship displays.

The male’s pair-forming behaviour will not be described in detail here,
but a few points should be mentioned. The first is that the male’s voice is
normally heard only during display, and has been described (Jones, 1951)
as a nasal squeak. This is usually uttered as the head is suddenly jerked
backwards and downwards onto the back, whereas in the Cape Teal and
the other ‘‘spotted teal’’ (Delacour, 1956) the courtship whistle is uttered
as the neck is stretched upwards. No species of Anas known to me has a
male display exactly like this, although the much slower ‘‘Bridling’’ »
display (Lorenz, 1951-1953) of such species as the Chilean Teal (Anas
flavirostris) is outwardly similar. Likewise no pochard species has an
exactly equivalent male display, but the pochard ‘‘Head-throw’’ (Hoch-
baum, 1944) functions in the same manner through producing sound by
suddenly stretching the trachea to its greatest extent as air is exhaled. A
second major display of the male Marbled Teal consists of silently stretch-
ing the head and neck out over the water with the bill pointing towards
the courted female or towards another male. This display is not typical
of any species of Anas known to me, but the ‘*‘Sneak’’ posture (Hochbaum,
1944) of male pochards is similar in every respect. In common with both
the surface-feeding ducks and the pochards, male Marbled Teal ‘‘Turn-
the-back-of-the-head’’ (Lorenz, 1951-1953) towards Inciting females at

every opportunity.

The most significant of all aspects of waterfowl behaviour, biologically
as well as taxonomically, are the behaviour patterns associated with
copulation. No other form of behaviour is so rigidly uniform in each
taxonomic group, and thus so useful in classification, as pre-copulatory
and post-copulatory behaviour. In the species of Anas, excluding the
Marbled Teal, for which I have personal observations (31 out of 35
species), in every case mutual ‘‘pumping’’ (Lorenz, 1951-1953) of the

)

head is the primary pre-copulatory behaviour. In no case has drinking or
preening dorsally been observed, although Cape Teal (Anas capensis)
sometimes preen behind. the wing in the early stages of pre-copulatory
display. Among the pochard group I have observed pre-copulatory
behaviour in 13 out of the 15 species, and in every case the male (and
sometimes also the female) has performed drinking and preening dorsally.
A rudimentary form of mutual head-pumping also occurs in one species
(Netta rufina), and slight head-pumping by one sex only occurs in four
other species. In the Marbled Teal pre-copulatory behaviour consists
entirely of alternately drinking and preening dorsally, performed syn-
chronously by both sexes, without the slightest indication of head-
pumping.

Post-copulatory behaviour is of almost as great taxonomic significance
as pre-copulatory behaviour. In the genus Anas this is somewhat variable,
but in all species thus far observed (19) the male calls once, either with the
neck extended vertically or in the ‘‘Bridling’’ posture, then swims away
from the female or turns and faces her as she bathes. Post-copulatory
behaviour in the pochards is known for 13 out of the 15 species. In every
case the male calls once immediately after releasing his grasp of the
female’s nape feathers, then swims away from her in a special ‘‘Bill-down’’
- posture, with the bill held rigidly downward towards the breast, while the
female begins to bathe. Post-copulatory display in the Marbled Teal is
exactly like that of the pochard group.

In connection with this most unusual copulatory behaviour of the
Marbled Teal, it is of great interest that the only hybrid known involving
the Marbled Teal is not with another species of Anas, but with the Com-
mon White-eye (Aythya nyroca), the hybrid being bred in captivity (Gray,
1958). It seems, because of its pre-copulatory behaviour, that successful
copulation between Marbled Teal and one of the pochards is more prob-
able than between Marbled Teal and a typical Anas species.

One of the most important anatomical differences which separate the
Anas group from the pochards concerns the structure of the tracheal bu//la
in males. Males of all Anas species (34) thus far observed by me or described
in the literature have bullae which are asymmetrically enlarged towards
the left, rounded in shape, and entirely ossified. In all but three of these
species the tracheal tube is relatively uniform in diameter and is not
markedly larger than that of the female. In one of the three exceptional
cases (Anas querquedula) the trachea gradually increases in width towards
the bulla, while in the other two (Anas versicolor and A. punctata) there is
an abrupt enlargement near the middle of the tracheal tube. However, the
structure of the male’s trachea in at least 13 out of the 15 species of
pochards is altogether different. In these species the tracheal bulla is of a
highly distinctive shape, being enlarged towards the left, with an angular
anterior crest, and with several membranaceous fenestreae present, the
largest located on the flattened left surface. In nearly all species the tracheal —
tube of the male is larger than the female’s and has one or more swellings
near the middle, which may be gradual or fairly abrupt. The trachea of —
the male Marbled Teal has been mentioned by Phillips (1924), but an
insufficient detail to be of much value. Therefore the following description,
based on a trachea from a male bred at the Wildfowl! Trust (specimen —
PM 60/421), will be presented here. . aa

Vol. 81 | 4 40 1961.
|

“Un he

St I te .
2 wes
i

1961 Al Vol. 81

The tracheal specimen studied is from an immature bird, whose measure-
ments (culmen 43.9 mm., wing 201 mm.) indicate that it was essentially full
grown. However, an adult male might exhibit slightly greater tracheal
measurements from those presented below. The dried specimen, including
the entire tracheal tube, bu//a, and bronchi, measures 173 mm. The tube

_ length anterior to the bulla is 155 mm. The tube is of gradually varying

diameter, the widest part, with a diameter of 9.3 mm., is 105 mm. from
the anterior tip. There is a diameter of 8.0 mm. or more for a length of
65 mm. near the middle of the tube. The minimum diameter of 3.1 mm.
occurs just behind the anterior tip, while the diameter of the tube a few
mm. anterior to the bu//a is 4.1 mm. Thus the tracheal tube agrees with the
pochard type in its gradual enlargement towards the middle.

The bulla is extremely interesting and is unique, differing from those of
all other waterfowl known to me (Fig. !). Although in its rounded, left-
sided shape it is very similar to that of a typical Anas, it is extraordinary in
that it contains numerous membranaceous fenestrae, of varying sizes, over
most of its surface. One if the largest of these is a roughly triangular
fenestra on the lower left side of the bulla. This fenestra in undoubtedly
homologous with the largest fenestra of the bulla of male Aythyini, which
covers most of the flattened left surface of the bu//a in these species. In
pochards there is also an angular crest of bone above this fenestra, on the

_ other side of which numerous smaller fenestrae occur. Although this crest

is lacking in the bulla of the Marbled Teal, the spacial relationships
between the two types of bulla are fairly obvious.

_ The second major way in which the Marbled Teal’s bulla (and those of
typical Anas species as well) differs from those of pochards consists of the
fact that the right chamber is somewhat inflated in pochards. This is only
slightly indicated in the Marbled Teal, but a distinct inflation of the right
chamber and a corresponding development of an angular crest of bone

. flanked on both sides by fenestrae is clearly apparent in the bulla of the

Fig. 1. Ventral, lateral, and dorsal views of the tracheal bulla of the Marbled Teal.
The ruled line indicates one centimeter.

Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea), as shown in the illus-

trations of Garrod (1875) and Beddard (1898). Thus the very different

tracheal bulla types of Anas and the Netta-Aythya group are neatly bridged
by the intermediate types present in the Marbled Teal and the Pink-
headed Duck, and a close relationship between the tribes Anatini and

Aythyini is thereby indicated.

Vol. 81 42 1961

A summary of the Marbled Teal’s behavioural and antomical charac-
teristics will be listed below, as an aid in a final evaluation of the probable
affinities of the species.

Character Description Suggested Affinities

Body plumage Isabelline, similar to Crested Duck Anatine

Wing pattern Speculum absent, secondaries grey Aythyine

Downy plumage Weakly patterned, with faint Intermediate
eye-stripe

Pre-flight movements Repeated chin-lifting Aythyine

Lobing of hallux Slightly lobed Anatine

Manner of feeding Up-ending, sometimes diving Anatine

Voice and sexual displays Unique, but with a few pochard

features

Pre-copulatory behaviour Mutual drinking and preening Aythyine
dorsally

Post-copulatory behaviour Male swims in Bill-down posture, Aythyine
female bathes

Hybridization One record with Aythya, none Aythyine
with Anas

Tracheal tube of male Varying gradually in diameter, Aythyine
widest near middle

Shape of tracheal bulla of male __Left-sided and rounded Anatine

Structure of bulla With numerous fenestrae of Aythyine

varying sizes

From this list it seems clear that the Marbled Teal is not a member of
the genus Anas, and in the majority of its characteristics approaches more
closely the pochard group. However, because of its weakly lobed hallux,
surface-feeding tendencies, and rather Anas-like adult plumage, I believe
that it should tentatively be retained in the tribe of surface-feeding ducks
(Anatini of Delacour, 1956). I also believe that it should be placed in a
monotypic genus and considered a direct link between the surface-feeding
ducks and the pochards. The generic name Marmaronetta (Reichenbach,
Ay. Syst. Nat., 1852, p. 9), has priority and has frequently been used by
taxonomists until recently.

The information presented in this paper was obtained while the writer
was supported by fellowships awarded by the U.S. National Science
Foundation and the U.S. Public Health Service. My appreciation of these
organizations is gratefully acknowledged. The tracheal specimen described
here has been deposited in the reference collection at the Wildfowl Trust,
and I should like to express my appreciation to the staff of the Wildfowl
Trust for their assistance in my studies, and to Peter Scott for kindly
reading and criticising this manuscript.

Literature Cited

Beddard, F. E. (1898). The Structure and Classification of Birds. Longmans, Green &
Co., London. 548 pp.

Delacour, J. (1954, 1956). The Waterfowl of the World. Vols. 1 & 2. Country Life,
London.

Garrod, A. H. (1875). On the form of the lower larynx in certain species of ducks. Proc.
Zool. Soc. Lond., 151-156.

Gray, A. P. (1958). Bird Hybrids. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau of England.
390 pp.

Hochbaum, H. A. (1944). The Canvasback on a Prairie Marsh. Amer. Wildl. Inst.,
Washington. 201 pp.

Jones, T. (1951). Marbled Teal. Avic. Mag., 57: 183-184.

Lorenz, K. Z. (1951-1953). Comparative studies on the behaviour of Anatinae. Avic.
Mag., 57: 157-182; 58: 8-17, 61-72, 86-94, 172-184; 59: 24-34, 80-91.

tg ea 43 Vol. 81

~- McKinney, D. F. (1953). Studies on the behaviour of the Anatidae. Ph.D. Dissertation,
University of Bristol, 227 pp.
Phillips, J. C. (1924). The Natural History of the Ducks. Vol. 2. Houghton Mifflin Co.,
New York.

Two new birds from Angola

by MELVIN A. TRAYLOR
Received 26th September, 1960

In 1954 Gerd Heinrich collected two males and a female of Oenanthe
monticola from Mt. Moco and Mt. Soque, Huambo, in the highlands of
central Angola, and in 1958 (Jour. f. Orn., 99 :357) listed them without
subspecific designation. These were the first recorded specimens from
inland Angola although the race a/bipileata is found on the arid coast of
Benguela. Two other specimens from inland Angola exist, however: a
male from Mombolo, Cuanza Sul in the American Museum of Natural
History and an immature male from Mt. Moco in the Carnegie Museum,
Pittsburgh. These five specimens differ strikingly from all other races of
monticola (or from any other Oenanthe) in having wholly black tails. They
may be described as:

Oenanthe monticola nigricauda subsp. nov.

Type: adult ¢ from Mt. Moco, Huambo, Angola; collected 11th
October 1954 by Gerd Heinrich. Collector’s No. 15982; Chicago Natural
History Museum No. 225374.

_ Diagnosis: differs from all other races of monticola in having a wholly
black tail with no trace of white. Males differ also in that some specimens
(including the type) have black instead of white lesser and middle wing
coverts. Compared to albipileata the female is a dark slaty gray rather
than brownish; compared to nominate monticola the female is paler and
has the lower belly white. In size nigricauda is smaller than monticola, about
the size of albipileata.

Size of type: wing 101; tail 70; culmen 20; tarsus 30.

Distribution: central Angola, confined to the rocky tops of the highest
peaks in Huambo and southern Cuanza Sul.

Remarks: Considering only the color pattern of the type, black tail and
black wing coverts, a good case could be made for elevating nigricauda
to the rank of species. However, the four known males exhibit the same
type of polymorphism shown by monticola in southern Africa. The two
adult males from Mt. Moco have black wing coverts, but the immature
male from the same locality and the adult from Mombolo have white ones.
Similarly, while three of the males have black crowns, the fourth has a
gray one. The extent of white on the under parts also varies, being restricted
to the lower belly in the two adults from Mt. Moco, but covering the
whole belly in the immature and the Mombolo adult. Longer series might
ay the other south African variants: white crown, black belly and gray
phase.

Mayr and Stresemann (1950, Evolution 4: 291-300) have described
polymorphism in the genus Oenanthe. As they note, one of the chief
characters of the genus has been the white or rusty rump and base of tail.

Vol. 81 : 44 9g ee eas

Nigricauda unfortunately forces us to expand the concept of the genus to
include exceptional forms with black tails. It is also an exception in being
polymorphic with respect to the color of the lesser wing coverts. The most
common characters which show polymorphism in Oenanthe are the color
of the crown, throat and abdomen, and monticola of course varies in

respect to the whole body plumage. No species is recorded, however, in ~

which the wing coverts vary. The black tail and variable wing coverts
would seem to set nigricauda off as a very distinct form, but as noted
above it shows such close relations with monticola that it must be con-
sidered at the very least a representative of that form.

Comparative measurements of the different races are:
wing culmen
monticola (S.W.A.) 43S © 113-117 (114.5) 21.5-22 (21.7)
392 101, 107, 107 21 22

albipileata 433 100-106 (102.5) 19, 19.5, 20
399 98, 105, 105 20,224

nigricauda 33d 101, 101, 101 20, 20, 21
12 99 -—-

Over two years ago Mrs. B. P. Hall wrote to ask me if we had any
Alethe castanea from Angola, since she had a juvenal from Gabela which
she believed to be of this species. I replied with an unequivocal ‘‘no’’,
neglecting to mention that we did have poliocephala from the same locality.
Shortly thereafter she wrote that since Heinrich had recorded poliocephala
from Gabela she felt sure that her juvenal belonged to that species, but she
wondered why her specimen had a few olive feathers on the crown. Now
that I have belatedly examined our poliocephala the answer to her query is
obvious—the Gabela population is a well marked subspecies, characterized
by a reddish-olive crown, which I take pleasure in naming as consolation
for her unrewarded prodding:

Alethe poliocephala hallae subsp. nov.
Type: adult 3 from 15 kim. south of Gabela, Cuanza Sul, Angola; col-

lected 12th August 1954, by Gerd Heinrich. Collector’s No. 15401;

Chicago Natural History Museum, No. 224892.

Diagnosis: differs from all other races of poliocephala by having a
reddish-olive instead of gray or olive-gray crown; differs from all other
races but castanonota of Upper Guinea in having light, chestnut brown ear
coverts. In color of the back, hallae is like akeleyae of Kenya, less rufous
than poliocephala of Cameroon and Gabon but more so than carruthersi
of Uganda. In size hallae is like poliocephala.

Size of type: wing 97; tail 64; bill 19; tarsus 29.

Distribution: known only from the region of Gabela, on the escarpment
zone in Cuanza Sul, Angola.

Remarks: Chapin (1953, Bul. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 75A: 500) reports
that Rudolph Braun has assured him that he collected Alethe poliocephala
at Quicolungo in northern Cuanza Norte. Without specimens it is im-_

possible to anticipate to which race birds from Quicolungo belong;
however, the forests of northern Cuanza Norte are the southern outpost
of a number of Lower Guinea forest birds, and the chances are that this
population would belong to the nominate race.

- tae) ee
ee ee eT,
tw a el ot i :
d ab

meee 45 Vol. 81

Mrs. Hall’s juvenal was taken 12 miles southwest of Gabela, 17th
September 1957. It is fully grown and a few adult feathers are beginning
- to appear on the crown and back. It is a tribute to Mrs. Hall’s discern-
ment that she was able to recognize the subspecific differences on the
three crown feathers available.
Comparative wing measurements are:
hallae 233 95, 97
poliocephala 43¢3 92-97 (94.5).
carruthersi 83d 84-95 (87.5)
akeleyae 53d 96-102 (98.0)
kungwensis ld 96
1 would like to thank the British Museum for the loan of the juvenal
from Gabela and the specimen of kungwensis.

Is Muscicapa gabela an Akalat?
| by B. P. HALL
Received Ist October, 1960

A recent exchange with the Chicago Natural History Museum has given
the British Museum an example of Muscicapa gabela Rand (1957, Fieldiana
39: 41), a species discovered by Heinrich in secondary forest 15km south
of Gabela, western Angola. The rich bright brown of the upperparts and the
long legs distinguish gabela from all African members of Muscicapa, as

_ Rand pointed out, and in subsequent correspondence he has said that he
is not wholly satisfied that it was correctly ascribed to this genus.

I believe that gabe/a is not a Flycatcher but an Akalat, and the rep-
resentative in western Angola of Sheppardia, a genus found sporadically —

~ in both lowland and montane forest throughout tropical Africa, apparently

_ frequenting the same sort of tangled undergrowth as that in which gabela
was found. Rand tells me that his chief reasons for not discussing gabela in
relation to Sheppardia were its ‘*weak, slender feet and ‘flycatcher’ bill’’.
The British Museum is fortunate in having the rather rare genus Sheppardia
well represented, including good series of S. c. cyornithopsis from the
Cameroons, and S. sharpei usambarae, and these series show there is
considerable variation in both these characters within the genus, and even
within populations. While I agree that the legs of gabe/a are thinner (and
also darker) than those of cyornithopsis, they can be matched in strength
and size with individuals of usambarae, while the darker colour may be
due only to freshness. Similarly in individuals of cyornithopsis the bill is as
wide at the base, or even a trifle wider, than that of the one gabela ex-
amined, while all forms of Sheppardia have, like gabela, strong, forward-
growing bristles.

In neither of these characters therefore is gabela generically distinct from
the Akalats, nor can I find any other structural difference. In size it is
smaller than most Sheppardia, with relatively shorter wings, but the

-measurements overlap those of usambarae, as the Table shows.

_ Similarly there are no differences in colour or pattern that seem of more
than specific importance, for though on the underparts gabela lacks the
bright orange-buff on the throat and breast, characteristic of other forms
of Sheppardia, traces of an orange wash can be found in the under wing-
-coverts, on the chin, and in some of the olive feathers of the breast-band
and flanks, showing that orange pigmentation is present but greatly

Vol. 31 46 1961

reduced. Indeed usambarae shows a close approach to gabela below,
having also an olive breast-band and flanks, but having a dull orange
wash on the throat and breast which overlies the olive, making the contrast
between the throat and breast less marked than in gabela.

In colour the upper parts of gabela are close to cyornithopsis: the head
and mantle are slightly more rufous, less olive, but have the same minute
dark edges to the feathers which give a faintly scalloped appearance: the
tail is less rufous, closer to that of usambarae.

Thus while gabela shows significant differences in both structure and
colour from Muscicapa, it shows none from Sheppardia, and | recommend
that it should be transferred to that genus. It should be considered as a
species, Sheppardia gabela (Rand), with affinities to both S. sharpei and
S. cyornithopsis.

The specimens have been examined with me by Derek Goodwin, R. E.
Moreau and R. W. Sims, who agree with these conclusions.

TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS

wing bill tail tarsus
3 2 3 7 3 $ 7
cyornithopsis 72-77 67-71 15-16 14.5-16 51-56 45-48 23-26 22-24
103 92
Seo 67-74 65 14-15 14-15 52-55 4648 22-23 2021 —
5
ieee 66-67 61-62 14-15 14 50-54 4648 21 20-21 |

33
(from Rand)

Note on the relations of the species of Wagtails

by J. M. WINTERBOTTOM
Received Ist November, 1960

This note is prompted mainly by Irwin’s interesting paper (1960). The
genus Motacilla dates back to the Oligocene and present-day species fall
into several groups. In the first, the tail is about the same length as the
wing and the plumage is predominantly black and white. The number of
species in this group is open to dispute, but Vaurie (1959) puts the Palae-
arctic forms into three species, alba, grandis and madaraspatensis, and
considers the Ethiopian aguimp as conspecific with the first of these.
Voous (1959) is more doubtful about this last and I would personally
keep them separate. Be that as it may, it is relevant to notice that the
Palaearctic forms of a/ba number eleven, whereas the Ethiopian forms
number only two and madaraspatensis, which is really a tropical species,
only just entering the Palaearctic, has no subspecies.

The second group is characterised, in most forms, by having the tail
decidedly longer than the wing and by its preference for clear, running,
rocky streams. There are two species, the Palaearctic cinerea and Ethiopian —
clara, sometimes united. The Palaearctic form is further distinguished by
its yellow underparts; and it may be noted that in one Palaearctic sub-
species, M. c. robusta, the tail is shorter than the wing. There are five
subspecies of the Palaearctic cinerea and only three of clara. |

The third group is characterised by having the tail decidedly shorter
than the wing and a strong development of yellow. It consists of two

1961 47 Vol. 81

Palaearctic species, citreola and flava. The first of these comprises three
subspecies and the second is so notoriously variable that no two system-
atists agree on the number of subspecies admissible and there is con-
siderable disagreement on whether these constitute one species or more
than one, and, if so, how many.

The remaining species is the Ethiopian capensis. Irwin (1960) has given
reasons for regarding it as closely related to flava, being, in his opinion,
an isolated representative of a form of wide Palaearctic distribution and
derived from that form. There are certainly resemblances between the
two species but these are not, in my opinion, proof of so close a relation-
ship as Irwin infers. M. capensis agrees with the alba group in having a
tail of medium length; it has some slight infusion of yellow in its plumage;
and it is divisible into three valid subspecies.

From the foregoing, | would suggest that the genus as a whole has
evolved largely in the Palaearctic; that aguimp and clara are indeed
isolated representatives derived from the Palaearctic alba and cinerea
stock respectively; but that capensis must be very close to the original
form from which the Palaearctic wagtails have diverged, the a/ba group
by suppression of yellow and intensification of black; the flava group by
shortening the tail and increasing the amount of yellow pigment; and the
cinerea group by lengthening the tail, and increasing the yellow pigment
in some cases; and that the variation shown in this last group in respect
of both these characters (M. cinerea robusta in tail-length and M. clara
in pigmentation) suggest that these changes have all been fairly recent.
References :—

Irwin, M.P.S. (1960), “Aspects of Relationship between Palaearctic and Ethiopian
Wagtails’, Bull. B.O.C., 80: 61-4.
_Vaurie, C. (1959), ‘The Birds of the Palaearctic Fauna’, i. London.

Voous, K. H. (1959), ‘The Relationships of the European and Ethiopian Avifaunas’,
Proc. P.A.O.C., The Ostrich, Suppl. 3: 34-9.

A variant plumage of the

Grey-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava thunbergi Billberg

by C. J. O. HARRISON
Received 26th October, 1960

On the 4th August 1960 while studying birds along the Torne River in
Northern Sweden, near Haparanda, I observed a variant individual
among the local Grey-headed Wagtails Motacilla flava thunbergi Billberg.
These wagtails were present in scattered family parties along the meadows
beside the river. The typical juveniles appeared dark brown on head,
mantle, back, and wing-covert, with pale buff on the underside and yellow
on the under tail-coverts. The eye-stripe and throat appeared almost
_ white, and the dark stripe on either side of the throat, joining across the
_ breast, almost black.

The variant individual had plumage in which the brown colour was re-
placed by aclear grey, darker than that of the juvenile White Wagtails
Motacillaalba alba L. which werealso present in that locality. The underside,
‘throat and eye-stripe appeared white, but the under tail-coverts retained.
their yellow colour.

eet '. atte, eee & ra”

yt Stet ’)
,

Voli et.) | Pa is; ) 196

From its behaviour and call-notes | had no doubt that it was one of a
family of Grey-headed Wagtails that were with it. :

Had it not been for the locality in which it was seen it would have been
impossible to separate it from similar variants which have been described
for the Yellow Wagtail Motacilla fiava flavissima (Blyth). Smith (1950) has
a coloured illustration of a pair of such birds seen in Norfolk in 1941. The
cock has some degree of yellow colour on the underside and head, but the
hen shows none.

I saw a similar hen at Mitcham in Surrey on 24th May 1947, and
Milne (1959) records one at Beddington in Surrey in 1957.

There has been a tendency to associate such birds with those which
show abnormal head colouration. But the latte: varies within the genus,
resulting in visible specific differences: Milne (op. cit.) suggests that the
abnormal head colouration is the result of intraspecific breeding.

The variant plumage already described appears to be independent of
head colouration, and seems to be the result of the absence of a brown
pigment in the plumage as a whole.

In many psittacine birds the mainly green colour of the feathers is the
result of the combination of a yellow pigment and a blue structural colour
in each feather. These are inherited through different genes and it is pos-
sible to breed birds which possess one and not the other, being either
yellow or blue.

It seems possible that something similar may occur in these wagtails,
the olive-brown of the back being a combination of brown and blue-grey,
each controlled by a different gene. The yellow colour appears to be either
linked with the blue-grey, or independent of either.

References :—
Smith, Stuart. Tie Yellow Wagtail. London 1950.

‘
‘

7
4

Milne, B. S. Variation in a population of Yellow Wagtails. Brit. Birds 52 (1959): 281-295. —

The Kurrichane Thrush Turdus libonyanus tropicalis Peters a

host of the Red-chested Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius Stephens —

im Southern Rhodesia

by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 4th November, 1960

There appears to be no previous published record of the Red-chested |

Cuckoo Cuculus solitarius victimizing the Kurrichane Thrush Turdus

libonyanus. In a communication received from Mr. H. M. Miles, who is

the Organising Secretary in Southern Rhodesia of the South African

3
1
4

Ornithological Society Nest Record Scheme, he tells me that Mr. C. K. —

Cooke has recently twice found this Cuckoo victimizing the Kurrichane
Thrush at Khami, near Bulawayo, where he has examined dozens of this
thrush’s nests.
On 14th December, 1958 one of these cuckoos was found alone in a
Turdus libonyanus nest near his house, which is surrounded by forest.
Next year, on 20th December 1959, he found another Kurrichane
Thrush’s nest in a Jacaranda tree in his garden. Of the two eggs in the

pale green with a few spots. These spots were all alike rusty brown, some —
very pale and very small; the eggs were not measured. J

;
F
nest one was a normal egg for this thrush, but the other one was a very

49 Vol. 81

~ On the 22nd December one young had hatched. On the 23rd there were
two young in the nest, the cuckoo dark skinned and the thrush pink, but
on the 24th a cuckoo nestling was the only occupant. On 3lst December
it became feathered and the orange mouth was noticed, as were the striped
breast and spots on the wings and tail. On 20th January it was fully
-plumaged, with tail growing larger and some signs of red on upper breast.
‘It was later identified as the Red-chested Cuckoo,
On the Ist January it was removed from the nest and was hand fed ona
diet of worms and moths. The cuckoo fluttered to the ground on the 15th
day from hatching, but was never heard to make the ‘Piet-my-Vrou’ call,
only feeding noises, It started to feed itself on the 20th day, when it could
fly strongly, but it flew a little from the 17th day. it was ringed (with a
Pretoria Zoo number C.662).

According to Liversidge, Ostrich XXVI (1), Feb. 1955, the nestling
period of C. solitarius is 20 days + 6 hours. In the Revised Roberts’
Birds of South Africa, 1959, the nestling period is given as 174 to 20 days,
which this record also confirms.

Cooke’s son taught the cuckoo to fly by making it exercise its wings
whilst it was on his hand. |

! . Greater Black-backed Gull with
a massive infestation of a parasitic worm

by BRYAN L. SAGE AND T. R. LAWSON
Received 2nd November, 1960

q On i9th March 1960, a first-winter Greater Black-backed Gull, Larus
rinus Linnaeus, was found freshly dead at the King George V Reservoir,

- with extensive deposits of fat. The peritoneal cavity contained a small

quantity of blood-stained fluid. An abcess, about 4 centimetres in dia-
“meter walled off by loops of inflamed intestine, was present on the right
_ side under the liver, and contained blood-stained pus with large numbers
of a strigeid (trematode) worm subsequently identified as Cotylurus
_ platycephalus (Creplin 1825). In several places the abcess cavity was in
direct communication with the lumen of the surrounding gut. The oeso-
phagus was normal, and the stomach, which contained a small quantity of
bile-stained fluid, was also normal. The intestinal loops in the vicinity of
the abcess were inflamed and Cotylurus platycephalus was adherent in
_ large numbers to the mucosal wall from the duodenum to the recto-

‘intestinal junction, with a maximal concentration in the terminal 15
‘centimetres of the intestine. The intestine, when opened, presented a
_ somewhat similar appearance to that shown in the plate illustrating the

‘paper by Soulsby and Harrison, to which we refer below. The rectum
itself was free from infestation.

be .3 x 0.4 centimetres. The cause of death was ascribed to peritonitis from
an intra-abdominal abcess and enteritis secondary to massive infestation
_ with Cortylurus platycephalus.

Vol. 81 50 a ) 1961

DISCUSSION

According to Szidat (1929) Strigeids feed at the expense of their hosts, ©
partly on blood and partly on the altered tissue of the mucous membrane,
to which they attach themselves by means of the powerful sucking and —
clinging apparatus situated on the anterior portion of the body. The
breakdown of the cellular structure of the mucosa is apparently caused by
a secretion from certain glands in the clinging organs of the worm. This
trematode was originally found by Creplin in the bursa of Fabricius of the
Red-throated Diver Gavia stellatus (Pontoppidan). Its life history is still
imperfectly known, but it seems highly probable that the sequence of
hosts is mollusc—fish (probably freshwater species only)—fish-eating bird. —

As may be expected Cotylurus platycephalus has been found in a wide
variety of fish-eating birds, and it has been recorded previously from the
Greater Black-backed Gull by Mihling (1898). A recent case in a Herring
Gull, Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, found on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent,
in June 1957 has been described by Soulsby and Harrison (1958). This
bird had a large fusiform distension in the upper part of the large in-
testine, and death was due to acute obstruction. In the present case there
was no sign of intestinal obstruction at post mortem. The most remarkable
occurrence of this parasite so far reported in the British Isles appears to be”
that described by Baylis and Lowe (1934) from Littleton Reservoir,
Staines, Middlesex, where the death of a large number of Razorbills,
Alca torda Linnaeus, was found to be due to this cause.

In addition to the species already mentioned other recorded hosts include
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus (Linnaeus); Cormorant, Phala-
crocorax carbo (Linnaeus); White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla
(Linnaeus); Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus (Linnaeus); Pomatorhine
Skua, Stercorarius pomarinus (Temminck); Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius
longicaudus Vieillot; Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus Linnaeus;
Common Gull, Larus canus Linnaeus; Black-headed Gull, Larus ridi-
bundus Linnaeus; Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla (Linnaeus); Common Tern,
Sterna hirundo Linnaeus; Crested Tern, Sterna bengalensis Lesson; and
Black Guillemot, Uria grylle (Linnaeus).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are indebted to Mr. Stephen Prudhoe of the Department of Zoology,
British Museum (Natural History) for identifying Cotylurus platycephatim
and for drawing our attention to references in the literature.

References :—

Baylis, H. A. (1934) Fatal Parasitic Enteritis Among Razorbills. Veterinary Record
XIV: 1472-1473. @

Lowe, Percy R. (1934) On a Flock of Razorbills in Middlesex Found to be Infested
with Intestinal Flukes. Brit. Birds. XXVIII: 188-190.

Mihling, P. (1898) Die Helminthen Fauna der Wirbeltiere Ostpreussens. Arch. Natur=
gesch Berlin 64 Jahrg. 1: 1-118.

Soulsby, Dr. E. J. L. and Harrison, Dr. Jeffery G. (1958) Intestinal Obstruction in a
Herring Gull caused by Parasites. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 78: 28-29.

Szidat, L. (1929) Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Gattung Strigea (Albidg). Zeitschr.
Parasitenk., Berlin 1: 612-764.

1961 51 Vol. 81

A New Race of the Little Owl from Transylvania

by Dr. ANDREW KEVE AND STEPHEN KOHL
Received 14th November, 1960

The Little Owl of Transylvania has always been regarded as belonging

‘to the nominate form Athene noctua noctua Scopoli. However Madarasz
(1900)! commented concerning this population as follows: ‘‘In Sieben-
burgen kommen etwas lichtere mit mehr rétlichem Anflug vor, welche
indessem von der mediterraner Form A. g/aux sehr entfernt stehen.’’
Later Dombrowski (1912)? expressed his opinion in the following terms:
*‘Die siebenbiirgischen und west rumidnischen Stiicke sind von den
Dobrogeavigeln etwas verschieden, indem selbe zwar auch teilweise
etwas licht gefarbt sind, deren Farbung etwas ins ROtliche zieht.’’
-_ Unaware of these opinions Keve reached the same conclusion as
Madarasz after investigating 10 examples from Transylvania with Hun-
garian specimens, and, quite independantly Kohl noted precisely the same
differences, the freshly collected material consisted of 13 adult $3, 12
adult 99, 6 adult unsexed individuals, 5 juvenile 93, 3 juvenile 29 and
1 unsexed juvenile.

The above material substantially supports the earlier descriptions of
Madardsz and Dombrowski and the opinion that the Little Owl of
Transylvania is new to science; for this population we propose the
name :—

Athene noctua daciae subsp. nov.

Diagnosis: A. n. daciae resembles A. n. noctua except that it is somewhat
lighter and has a rufous wash on the mantle, though this is not so marked
as it is in A. n. indigena the rectrices are similar to those of the latter in
that they are never barred but only spotted: sometimes even these are
lacking. The underparts are slightly paler, in this respect different from
A. n. noctua.

_ Type: 2 Reghin, East Transylvania, 10th July 1957. Coll. St. Kohl, in
the collections of the Hungarian Institute of Ornithology. Registered No.
D 650.

Allotype: $ Dodrad, near Reghin, East-Transylvania, 19th November
1958, Coll. St. Kohl, in the collections of the Hungarian Institute of
Ornithology. Registered No. D 651.

The Little Owl of Transylvania is intermediate between A. n. noctua and
A. n. indigena. The upperparts are pale soil-brown lightly washed with
rufous. The crown has long whitish striations, the rest of the back is
spotted with white. The spotting of the primaries is less contrasting than
in A. n. noctua. The rectrices are of the same colour as the upperparts or
slightly paler. The transverse bars are yellowish and never complete
being often reduced to roundish spots or even lacking. A terminal bar is
seldom noted. The only difference between the sexes is one of size, the
females being the larger. The birds are darkest when in freshly moulted
autumn plumage, October to December, and then show a slight violet
reflection; this latter character is lost by January. The white underparts
also have a slight yellowish wash, but this too disappears by January. The
birds are palest in July when also the striations of head become accentu-
ated. The spotting of the underparts is darkest in fresh plumage and fades
in July. The greatest variability is found in the rectrices.

‘Vol. 81 : sf | 1961

Wing Measurements :

dh 153, 157, 157, 158, 160, 160, 160, 160, 161, 162, 162, 163, 164, 165,
166 mm. ‘Average — 160. 37 mm.
92 160, 160, 160, 160, 160, 160, 162, 162, 162, 164, 164, 165, 166, 168
mm. Average—162. 78 mm.
Distribution: Transylvania as far as the inner slopes of the Carpathians,
both in the lowlands and in the hills. In the west as far as the western
Transylvanian Alps: in the north as far as the Alps of Radna. The valley
of the river Strigy (Streiul) would appear to be the zone between A. n.
daciae and A. n. indigena. :
Our thanks are due to Dr. James M. Harrison for reading our paper
before publication.

References :—
1. Madarasz, J., 1900. Die Vogel Ungaras. p. 546.
2, Dombrowski, R., 1912. Ornis Romaniae. p. 406.

African Serpent Eagle in Sierra Leone
by J. H. HARROP

a Received 29th November, 1960
Mattru, the headquarters both of the Jong Chiefdom and of the
Bonthe District, is situated in the South Western Province of Sierra Leone, ©
rather more than thirty miles up the Jong river from Bonthe. Most of the
surrounding countryside is ‘‘farm bush’’, though there are some big trees.
left along the riverside. :
On 31st March 1960, while I was stationed at Mattru, Ronald Albrecht
and Ronald Baker, both sons of local missionaries, brought me a bird ~
which they had shot three or four miles north of there, not far from the ~
rapids at Willai. I examined the bird and found it to be a Gold Coast ©
Serpent Eagle, Dryotriorchis spectabilis spectabilis (Schlegel). When I saw
that this bird was not listed from Sierra Leone in the first volume of
Bannerman’s Birds of Tropical West Africa, | decided to measure and
photograph it. Inside the bird’s bill I found the end of the tail of what
proved to be a Night Adder (Causus rhombeatus—Lichtenstein). 1
was therefore able to take a colour photograph of the Serpent Eagle, with
the snake which had been its last prey protruding from its bill.
During the summer, this transparency was sent to Dr. D. A. Bannerman,
who fully confirms my identification of the bird as belonging to the Upper
Guinea race.

Geographical variation in the
South African populations of the Magpie-Shrike
Lanius meianoleucus Jardine
by P. A. CLANCEY

Received 31st October 1960

The Magpie-Shrike Lanius melanoleucus is a large-sized, pied, gregarious
laniid of southern and eastern Africa, of which two geographical races.
are currently admitted by workers, these being nominate L. melanoleucus
Jardine, 1831: Orange River, and L. m. aequatorialis (Reichenow), 1887:
Gasa Mts., 12-14 miles south-west of Kondoa, Kondoa-Irangi district,

1961 53 Vol. 81
j 2

‘north-central Tanganyika Territory. At the present time only the nominate
‘race is believed to occur within South African sub-continental limits,
though years ago Neumann (1900) arranged the austral populations in
two races, when he proposed the name Urolestes melanoleucus damarensis
‘Neumann, 1900: Rehoboth, Damaraland, for the populations of South-
West Africa and the Kalahari Desert, Bechuanaland Protectorate.
-Reichenow (1902-1903) rejected Neumann’s U. m. damarensis, which he
placed in the synonymy of L. m. melanoleucus, and all subsequent workers
have followed Reichenow’s example in recognising only the nominate
‘race from Africa south of the Zambesi River. Study of a large panel of
skins in the collections of South African museums (East London Museum,
Durban Museum, Natal Museum, Transvaal Museum, and the National
Museum of Southern Rhodesia) suggests that Neumann’s findings are not
without some factual basis, and confirms that two races of L. melanoleucos
‘can be admitted from within South African limits, one of which will
‘require to be given a name.

_ The populations of the Magpie-Shrike occurring in Africa south of
the Zambesi River can be arranged in two races mainly on the basis of
differences in wing-length, and the nomenclature, characters and ranges of
these are as follows:

(a) Lanius melanoleucus melanoleucus Jardine

_ Lanius melanoleucus Jardine, Edinburgh Journ. Nat. Geogr. Science,

ol. iii, 1831, p. 209: Orange River, Cape Province. Synonyms: Urolestes

oth 1 damarensis Neumann, Journ. f. Ornith., 1900, 3, p. 262:
ehoboth, Damaraland, South-West Africa. ? Urolestes melanoleucus

angolensis Meise, Abhandl. Verhandl. Naturwiss. Ver. Hamburg, N.F. Bd.

- 1957 (1958), p. 77: Chibia, Huila, southern Angola.

Head, neck and back glossy black, the feathers with a slightly oily
‘texture; scapulars and rump white, the latter with an overlay of pale grey.
Under-parts sooty black, the lanceolate feathers of the lower throat and
breast with a greyish bloom in freshly moulted plumage. Wings black,
the primaries with a prominent white speculum over their basal surfaces,
and all primaries and secondaries (including the tertials) broadly tipped
with white. The sexes are alike, but the female differs in having large
patches of white plumes on the flanks. Wings of 20 34 137-145 (140.3),
15 22 137-145 (140.0), tails of 10 $2 298-351 (320.6) mm.

Material examined: 59.

_ Range: Central and northern South-West Africa, including the Caprivi
Strip, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, Bechuanaland (northern Cape
Province), western Orange Free State, western and north-western Trans-
vaal, western and north-western Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia, and
extralimitally in southern and south-western Angola and Northern
Rhodesia. Irregularly south of the Orange River, having been recorded
from Colesberg and near Aliwa!l North. Intergrades to the east of its
established range in the central and northern Transvaal and parts of
Matabeleland with the next race.

Remarks: Meise (1957) has recently separated the population of
southern Angola as a new race under the name U. m. angolensis Meise,
1957: Chibia, Huila, southern Angola. I have not been able to examine
any material of this proposed new taxon, so can offer no worthwhile

Vol. 81 54 ' 1961

opinion as to its discreteness, but Mrs. B. P. Hall, in /itt., kindly informs
me that she does not believe that it is valid, a view which is apparently
shared by Dr. Austin L. Rand in his treatment of this species in his
revision of the shrikes for the continuation of Peters Check-List. In the
event of these views being followed, U. m. angolensis will require to be
treated as a synonym of the nominate race. However, Meise, in his original
description of U. m. angolensis, shows that the name was given to a popu-
lation of large-sized birds, similar in wing-length to those of South-West
Africa, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and contiguous areas to the east
and north- east, though shorter-tailed [247-280 (Meise, /oc. cit.) as against
298-351 mm. (Clancey)! and with the plumage colouration much as in
L. m. aequatorialis. It seems to me that the status of U. m. angolensis is
still unresolved and warrants further study.

(b) Lanius melanoleucus expressus, subsp. nov.

Type: 3, adult. Game Farm ‘‘Malamala’’, near Newington, eastern
Transvaal lowveld, South Africa. 20th July, 1952. Collected by P. A.
Clancey. In the collection of the Durban Museum.

Diagnosis: Similar to the nominate race as defined above, but of
markedly smaller size, most noticeable in the shorter, rounder wing
($$ 127-137.5, 99 125-137, as against 137-145 and 137-145 mm.). Also
with a pronounced tendency to have the white apical spots to the primaries
and secondaries (including the tertials) smaller, and with the white of the
rump more sullied with grey. Rectrices tending to be narrower.

Wings of 20 3g 127-137.5 (133.1), 15 29 125-137 (132.2), tails of 10 g9
273-353 (305. 2y mm,

Material examined: 58.

Measurements of the Type: Wing 132, culmen from base 25.5,
tarsus 38, tail 328 mm.

Range: Natal and Zululand from about the basin of the Tugela River,
Sipe in the eastern lowlands through Swaziland, Sul do Save,
southern Portuguese East Africa, and the eastern and north-eastern
Transvaal to south-eastern and eastern Southern Rhodesia, the lowell
Zambesi River valley, and southern Nyasaland.

Remarks: The name of the new race is from the Latin expressus, clear,
evident, prominent, etc.

Literature cited:—
Meise, W. Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in

Hamburg, N.F. Bd. IL, 1957 (1958), pp. 77-79.
Neumann, O. Journ. f. Ornith., 1900, 3, p. 262.
Reichenow, A. Die Vogel Afrikas, vol. ii, P1902 1903, pp. 627-628.

On the question of the occurrence of
Peters’ Twinspot Hypargos niveoguttatus (Peters) in
Sul do Save, Southern Mozambique

by W. J. LAWSON

Received 8th October, 1960

Pinto & Lamm (Ostrich 30, (2), 91, 1959.) in fixing the type-locality of
H. niveoguttatus at Tete, Mozambique, state, “‘We are satisfied that i

4
.
:

Bere
1961 | 55 Vol. 81

Mozambique niveoguttatus does not occur south of the Save River.”’
During a recent expedition into southern Mozambique, organised by the
Durban Museum, it was learnt from Mr. C. H. ‘‘Jack’’ Scheepers, of
Bela Vista, of the occurrence of H. niveoguttatus in the Sul do Save at
Chimonzo, in the Macia district, about 100 miles north of Lourenco
Marques. This area was well worked by the Durban Museum party, and a
number of specimens of H. niveoguttatus were collected. This species was
found to be abundant in the evergreen forest at Chimonzo and especially
in scrub tangles around native cultivations. On examination of the speci-
mens of H. niveoguttatus in the Museu Dr. Alvaro de Castro, Lourenco
Marques, a single male specimen (No. 5873) from Macia was found. It
had been collected by Dr. A. A. da Rosa Pinto on 22nd August, 1956, in
an area obviously close to that in which we operated.

In making the above quoted statement, Pinto appears to have overlooked
the fact that he had collected H. niveoguttatus south of the Save River, in
an area in which we found the bird abundant. Mr. C. H. Scheepers, who
knows the area well, informs me that the Chimonzo and Macia popu-
lation is an isolated pocket of the species, restricted to the Macia district,
and that to the best of his knowledge does not-occur elsewhere in this
region. Hypargos margaritatus (Strickland) is not known from the area
in which H. niveoguttatus occurs.

It is of interest to note that many years ago H. F. Francis collected a
specimen of Peters’ Twinspot at the type-locality. Through the courtesy
of Dr. J. M. Winterbottom, Honorary Ornithologist of the South African
Museum, Cape Town, I have been privileged to examine this specimen. It
is an adult male collected on the Ist October 1899 at an unspecified
locality ‘‘North of Port of Inhambane’’, at which locality Francis stated
that it was ‘“Not uncommon’’. (see also J/bis 1899, p. 285). In addition to
this D. T. Cole (Ostrich 28, p. 192) records observing a single male speci-
men in dense bush at Chicumbane, a locality approximately 125 miles
north of Lourenco Marques, slightly further north than Chimonzo,
where I found the species to be common in 1960, indicating that the
populations of Peters’ Twinspot in the littoral of Sul do Save to the north
of Delagoa Bay is reasonably extensive.

The occurrence of this isolated population of H. niveoguttatus within
the established range of H. margaritatus makes it doubtful if these two
species can be correctly regarded as conspecific, as has been suggested. All

specimens of H. niveoguttatus from Chimonzo and Macia are typical of
the species.

The finding of Peters’ Twinspot far south of the Limpopo River is a
noteworthy extension of range, and raises the question of the wisdom of
adjusting the original type-locality as given by Peters (J.f.0., 1868: 133)
from Inhambane to Tete as given by Pinto & Lamm, /oc. cit. Indeed, there
1s NOW every reason to believe that Peters did obtain the original specimens
where he stated (Inhambane) and that no error occurred. Very large
numbers of H. niveoguttatus have been captured at Chimonzo for avi-
cultural purposes, so the population in this area is large and no doubt of
considerable antiquity. Peters may have travelled south of Inhambane to
collect his birds, or he may have purchased them from natives peddling

Vol. 81 TS Uh ag re a

them from the south. This may explain the absence of notes on this bird
in his field diary. On the other hand the forest, now found at Chimonzo,
may once have been far more extensive prior to its being cut out by
natives for agricultural purposes, and may have once extended further
north, to Inhambane.

On the South African subspecies of the
Variegated Honeyguide Indicator variegatus Lesson
by P. A. CLANCEY

Received 11th November, 1960

In the topotypical populations of Jndicator variegatus variegatus
Lesson, 1830: Knysna, southern Cape Province, South Africa (vide
Vincent, Check List of the Birds of South Africa, 1952, p. 50), the wings of
dod measure 108-114, 22 104-109 mm. Study of a limited amount of
material of this rather elusive species kindly placed at my disposal by the
Directors of the following museums: South African Museum, Cape
Town (through Dr. J. M. Winterbottom), East London Museum, Trans-
vaal Museum, Pretoria (through Mr. O. P. M. Prozesky), and the National
Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo (through Mr. M. P. Stuart
Irwin), shows that birds agreeing with the topotypical populations occur
north in the eastern tropical littoral of south-eastern Africa to about
Inhambane, Sul do Save, southern Portuguese East Africa, and as far
north as the south-eastern Sudan and south-central Abyssinia in the
interior of the African continent. In Portuguese East Africa to the north
of the established range of J. v. variegatus occur populations of rather
smaller-sized birds which appear referable to the subspecies J. v. virescens
Reichenow, 1889: Lewa, Usambara Mountains, eastern Tanganyika
Territory (see Reichenow, Journ. f. Ornith., vol. xvii, 1889, p. 247), as
recognised by Friedmann, Bul/. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 208, 1955, pp. 89-115.
A male from Mt. Gorongoza and another from Macequece, in the Vumba
Highlands, have wings 104.5, 105, an unsexed adult from Coguno has a
wing of 101, while an adult female from Beira has a wing of 103 mm.
Friedmann (p. 115) gives the wing of the male of /. v. virescens as 100-105,
and the female 98 mm. (apparently only one measured). This author also
writes (p. 91), °* It is possible that the birds of eastern Mozambique may
yet prove to belong to this race (J. v. virescens) rather than the nominate
one,’’ and this observation is here confirmed by the finding of populations
with the mensural characters of the race concerned as far south as northern
Sul do Save in the eastern lowlands of south-eastern Africa. J. v. variegatus
and J. y. virescens should both be admitted to the South African list on
the basis of the above findings.

In a series of 2 9d, 4 99 from Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland occur
-some extremely greyish backed examples, completely devoid of the olive
lake colour to the fringes of the feathers of the mantle, rump and wings,

so typical of the majority of /. v. variegatus. The specimens concerned are.
not worn, so that the significance of this development is at present obscure,
but it is interesting to note that Zedlitz (vide Journ. f. Ornith., vol. \xiil,
1915, p. 8) has already recorded such variants from elsewhere in Africa. —

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Notices

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1961 gh | Vol. 81
BULLETIN
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Club was held in March.

More aquatic predators of birds
by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN

Received 2nd January, 1961

_ Sufficient additional data, received mainly in the course of correspon-

dence, have now come to hand to justify publication. In particular, there
is much information from Southern Africa about predation by otters.
These notes follow the previous pattern, ibid 77 (°, 7 and §).

PART I
MARINE
(1) MAMMALS

ANTARCTIC. Several correspondents have drawn attention to the
fact that penguins are frequently taken by Leopard Seals.

AUSTRALIA: TASMANIA. John Warham (': p. 607) suggests that
seals are a major enemy of the Little Penguin, Eudyptula minor (Forster)
at many breeding stations off Tasmania. But on a visit to Cat Island—a
Bird Sanctuary in the Furneaux Group, in the Bass Strait, he only saw
one Fur Seal, Arctocephalus tasmanicus Scott & Lord (=Gypsophoca
fasmanica) and came across only one dead penguin bearing wounds
consistent with the bite of a seal. Besides A. tasmanicus, the Australian
Sea-lion, Neophoca cinerea (Péron) is the only other seal in Australian and

New Zealand waters which is known to prey on penguins.

(Il) SHARKS

EUROPE: BRITAIN. Brigadier J. A. L. Caunter, President of the
Shark Angling Club of Great Britain, writes that he has ‘‘never heard of
| a bird being found in the stomachs of blue sharks’’. The sharks caught
| at Looe (Cornwall) are nearly all Blue Shark, Carcharhinus glaucus L.
and during the 4 years 1957-1960 their landed total was 21,480. The
majority are small, 25-60 Ibs. but many are over 75 lbs., and a small
| proportion (about 2.4 per cent.) over 100 Ibs. Quite a number are cut up
for crab-pot bait. It is possible that the Blue Shark may be an occasional

VELBD Oo sy" i 1961

predator of sea-fowl, for Brig. Caunter also writes ‘‘I have seen blue
sharks apparently stalking herring gulls on the water on warm, sunny
days, but have never seen one caught or even in dire peril. Possibly, blue
_ sharks would pick up dead gulls and other dead birds’’.

SOUTH AFRICA. Professor J. B. L. Smith (*: p. 44) refers to a 14ft.
Tiger Shark, Galeocerdo cuvier Lesueur landed at Durban which contained
amongst a medley of vertebrate and other objects, 3 sea gulls.

Ranger M. A. Steele (”: pp. 41-42) at St. Lucia estuary, Natal, in May
1956, saw a Pelecanus onocrotalus L., one of a flock of over 200 fishing
and swimming at the edge of the open sea, attacked by a shark (species
not identified) as it submerged its head. The bird died immediately the
jugular vein having been severed and the corpse was washed ashore.

Senior Ranger I. C. Player (*: pp. 41-42), also in May 1956 at St.
Lucia estuary, saw a Pelecanus onocrotalus, one of a large group fishing
in the open sea, taken by a ‘‘Lazy Grey”? Shark, presumably the Grey
Shark Eulamia limbata Muller & Hinde (formerly Carcharhinus limbatus),
which attains a length of 9ft. The others were unperturbed and continued —
fishing. It is possible that the preceding observation also refers to the
Grey Shark which is well-known as a frequenter of estuaries along the
South African coast.

ARCTIC. Dr. Kai Curry-Lindahl, Director of the Nordiska Museum,
Stockholm, in a letter, states the Greenland Shark ‘‘Somniosus micro- —
cephalus (Schneider) is known to prey on diving birds’’. But he could give ~
no details, as in the literature* available to him in which the predation
of birds by this shark is mentioned there are no references to any published —
records about avian prey. Bigelow & Schroeder (*: p. 520) referring to —
the food of the Greenland Shark ‘‘sometimes sea birds are captured’’,
but they too do not quote specific cases, nor do they say whether this
shark eats birds extensively.

CENTRAL PACIFIC: CHRISTMAS ISLAND. Gallagher (**: p. 495) _
saw an almost fully fledged Crested Tern, Tha/asseus bergii (Licht )
‘attacked by a large sand shark (possibly Eulamia) and was pulled under
after two attempts... Another youngster was found on the beach with |
half one wing missing, possibly through a similar accident’’

(111) OTHER FISH
No further records

(IV) CRUSTACEANS
OCYPODE CRABS.

AFRICA: CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. Dr. D. A. Bannerman (*: p. 83)
quotes from Dr. Murphy’s Marine Ornithology of the Cape Verde Islands
that the Sand Crab Ocypoda ippeus Olivier, now Ocypoda cursor (L.), on
Rhombos Islet, seasonally subsists on the flesh of petrels, in particular
the White-faced or Frigate Petrel Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca (Webb,

*Pfaff, J. R. 1950. Hajer. In Vort Lands Dyreliv, II. Kobenhavn. 4

Nybelin, O. 1954. Hakdring, Laemargus borealis (Scoresby)—In Andersson: Fiskar
och fiske i Norden, I. 2nd edition, Stockholm.

Curry-Lindahl, K, 1957. Fiskarna i fare. 3rd edition. Stockholm,

ae
1961 59 Vol. 81
Berthelot and Moquin-Tanden), which it hunts in their holes at night

during the breeding season. Many of these birds were found torn to pieces
in the nest chambers. The crabs, which have a shell width of two inches

and a total span of about one foot including the long legs, were watched
_ picking birds’ bones, or dragging out fresh victims that had been captured.

It was ‘‘noticed that the crabs regularly introduced themselves into the
burrows at evening, leaving at once and moving to another nest if their

search was not rewarded. Sometimes they would spend a whole night
hunting in this way, often getting a rich harvest’’.

AFRICA: SEYCHELLES. J/bid 77 (°), p. 91, the depredations caused
by Ocypode crabs at a breeding ground of terns in the Laccadive Archi-
pelago are described. So it is interesting that Ridley and Lord Richard
Percy (°: p. 43), at a seafowl breeding ground on Desnoeufs Island,
Amirantes group, where Ocypoda cordimana Desmarest occurs ‘‘well
inland, burrowing in the guano or living under rocks, they appear to be
quite harmless to the birds and their eggs’’. This Ocypode and another

land crab, Geograpsus grayi H. M. Edwards, similar in habits and habitat,
they considered to be harmless scavengers.

ROBBER CRAB.

AFRICA: SEYCHELLES. According to Ridley and Percy (°: p. 43),
the Coconut Crab or Robber Crab, Birgus latro L. on Cosmoledo Island
of the Aldabra Group, is said by Mr. H. Savy to eat the eggs of the Sooty
Tern, Sterna fuscata L.

The pugnacious and carnivorous Land Hermit Crabs, of which Birgus

is by far the largest, one would expect more likely to attack live prey,
rather than injured or dead creatures which are the usual prey of the
smaller Ocypode Crabs.

GENERAL. CHRISTMAS ISLAND. Gallagher (*: pp. 492-493)
records that the hermit crabs are sometimes found within the breeding
colonies of ground-nesting seafowl, on which they are reputed to prey
(Murphy ef a/ 1954). Further, he doubts if the larger and more numerous
land crab causes much damage as he has not only seen a Sooty Tern,
Sterna fuscata L. chase one away, but saw a chick hide without injury in
a hole next to a crab.

Presumably the hermit crab is a species of Coenobita and the land crab
is probably Geisiccoidea humei (Wood Mason).

GENERAL. SEAFOWL WITH DAMAGED LEGS.

MADEIRA. Bannerman (‘: p. 161) records that in 1925, on the Desertas,
in the Madeiran Islands group, Meinertzhagen examined 27 examples
of Bulwer’s Petrel, Bu/weria bulwerii (Jardine and Selby) eleven of which
had a leg severed at the junction of the tarsus and femur or slightly above
it. The local boatmen, who had noticed this before, could offer no ex-
planation. Meinertzhagen suggested that the leg had been lost when the
bird, while ‘taxi-ing’ along the surface of the ocean was snapped at by
some large fish—a logical conclusion in the case of a small pelagic species.

BRITAIN. DEFORMITIES IN BIRDS. Dr. H. L. Rogerson (of
Norwich) (°: p. 561) ‘‘The loss of a leg is very common in sea birds. One-
legged birds are maimed by the fish from the sea.’’ At gull breeding sites
in N.W. Scotland, in 1958, he observed that there was one one-legged
bird to each 15 normal Herring Gulls, Larus argentatus Pontoppidan and

Vol. 81 60 1961

to each 15 Common Gulls, Larus canus L. There appeared to be less
damage among the Black-headed Gulls, Larus ridibundus L. and Black-
backed Gulls, Larus fuscus and Larus marinus. Despite many expressed
views to the contrary, he claims that the gulls are not principally maimed
by gin-traps. A few years previously in the same area he had seen a young
one-legged Black-backed Gull fly out to sea in fairly rough weather. As it
was about to settle some 40 yards out a large fish leapt out of the water
and got hold of its remaining leg. But the Gull managed to fly away though
it was not possible to see whether it was then legless.

A puzzling feature of this observation is the identity, in British waters,
of a fish which would attack so large a bird as a gull; but ibid 75 (°) Glegg
has recorded a Cod, Gadus callarias . that had taken a Black Guillemot,
Uria grylle grylle L. It is a different matter in the case of Bulweria bulwerii,
which frolics and feeds in a locality much frequented by voracious packs
of large predatory fishes.

FRESHWATER

(1) MAMMALS
OTTERS.

EUROPE: SWEDEN. Dr. Kai Curry-Lindah! ‘‘From Sweden there
are records of Lutra lutra L. preying upon Sea birds but this must be very
rate.’ +:

In a further communication ‘‘The predation of otters on birds is rare.
We have some data from Sweden. They are not yet published. Mr. Sam
Erlinge, Zoologiska institutionen, Lund, is working with an investigation
on the otter. He has found by examining the droppings that this carnivore
may prey on juveniles of Anas platyrhynchos and Fulica atra in summer
and on adults of the same species in winter. Also, Sturnus vulgaris and
Delichon or Hirundo have been found in the material.”’

I have not included references to the predation of waterfowl by otters

in Britain as this is well known.

AFRICA: SUDAN. Mr. R. C. H. Sweeney (now in the Dept. of
Agriculture, Nyasaland) describes predations by the Spotted-necked

Otter, Lutra maculicollis Lichtenstein. In Nov. 1953, on the bank of the ©

Bahr-el-Arab an otter was found with a Fulvous Tree-Duck (or Whistling

Teal), Dendrocygna bicolor (Viellot), the neck partially eaten. In the same —

area a month later and again in Jan. 1955 respectively, another D. bicolor
was found in a similar state and one with part of its breast eaten as well.

Though not seen otters were believed to be responsible for both these

casualties. Again, in this locality, in Dec. 1955, an otter, probably L

maculicollis, was seen to take a duck, Dendrocygna sp., one of a large —

number. The otter reared out of the water to catch it as the duck tried to

fly, and then submerged with its prey in its jaws and was not seen again. —

NORTHERN RHODESIA. W. F. H. Ansell (7: p. 35) referring to the —
Clawless Otter, Aonyx capensis Schinz ‘‘Has been known to kill poultry’’. —

SOUTHERN RHODESIA. Valuable records have been received from
Mr. P. St. J. Turnbull-Kemp, the Warden i/c Fisheries, Rhodes-Inyanga —

‘flapper’ Black Duck, Anas sparsa Eyton taken in the Inyanga river

Estate and National Park concerning depredations by A. capensis. Ae

61 Vol. 81

5,900 ft., 1956. Four fowls and (probably), two Mute Swans, Cygnus olor
(Gmelin) and 6 domestic ducks and geese, at Inyanga, during 1956-57.
One little Grebe, Podiceps ruficollis capensis (Salvad.) seen to be taken in
‘the Mare dam, 6,350 ft., 1957. /

Vide (*: p. 135) ‘‘a stock-killing otter can be exceedingly destructive,
destroying birds up to the size of swans or geese. Some become ‘‘Per-

‘sistent poultry raiders’’.

_ SOUTH AFRICA. A. Haagner (°: p. 40) referring to otters, species not
‘mentioned, ‘‘ravished poultry runs, devouring the eggs and killing fowls
and ducks’’.

_ G. C. Shortridge (°: p. 192) with reference to A. capensis ‘*Otters
‘destroy a considerable number of wild duck and other water fowl, even
‘swans sometimes, these being either pounced upon among the reeds or
seized by the feet in open water and held under. When opportunity offers
they will sometimes raid poultry yards”’.

Both in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia the Mute Swan is an
introduced species.

C. T. Astley Maberly (?°: p. 159) referring to the Cape or Clawless
‘Otter, Aonyx capensis hindei (Thomas) ‘‘it also catches waterfowl’’. The
Reports of the Department of Nature Conservation, in the Administration
of the Cape of Good Hope, indicate the extent of avian depredations by
Otters, mainly the Clawless Otter, Aonyx capensis, which is the only
‘Species in the region south of Knysna, where it meets the Spotted-necked,
Lutra maculicollis.

The 1952 Report (7": p. 26) refers to the high losses of birds on a two-

acre dam, from otters, as well as the raiding of water fowl nests by the

‘Partially aquatic Grey Mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon L. and Marsh
Mongoose, Atilax paludinosus G. Cuvier.

_ In the Jonkershoek Reserve (**: p. 27), where special predator control

measures are taken, not a single nest of waterfowl survived, and in some
cases even the parent birds too were destroyed.

In the 1957 Report (*: p. 16), referring to the Worcester region, ‘‘the
worst enemy of both wild duck and fish is the otter which, due to its shy
nature, is extremely difficult to eradicate’’. At Plettenburg Bay (?*: p. 18)
otters caused a lot of damage killing in one night the cob of a pair of
swans and a fiock of ducks; and a turkey the next night.

In the 1958 Report (**: p. 65) it is emphasized that the Clawless Otter
is undoubtedly the worst predator of waterfowl in the Jonkershoek Nature
Reserve and it ‘‘appears to indulge in an orgy of killing whenever it gains
access to the Reserve. On two occasions 30 and 45 birds respectively were
lost’”. But on p. 72 it is recorded that not everywhere is this species so
destructive to waterfowl.

Mr. A. C. Harrison, who until recently was Fisheries Officer in the
Department of Nature Conservation, in /itt. finds it a mystery ‘‘how the
Black River Duck, Anas sparsa manages to survive in the otter infested
reaches of our rivers’’. He describes how in a wired-in enclosure near
such a river otters one night destroyed a flock of domestic ducks turning
the place into a shambles.

Vol. 81 62 1961
MONGOOSE.

AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA. Reference has been made already to
depredations by the Grey Mongoose and the Marsh Mongoose.

The Cape Grey Mongoose (**: p. 72) at the Provincial Wild Life Farm,
at DeHoop, is responsible for destroying many waterfowl nests.

SUDAN. Sweeney, at Lake Keilek, in March 1953, found the feathers
and bones of a small wader, which was not identified, in the stomach of
a Marsh Mongoose.

(To be continued )

Geographical variation in the Black Woodpecker

by K. H. Voous
Received 2nd December, 1960

The Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius, has a characteristically
palaearctic distribution, ranging continuously from the shores of the
Pacific Ocean almost to those of the Atlantic. Geographical variation in ©
this huge area is very small. Apart from an isolated group of populations
in western China, where the birds have a distinctly more glossy plumage
and on this account are referred to as to a separate geographical race
khamensis, the geographical variation consists of differences in body size,
expressed in the length of the wing. Dementiev (1939) was the first to
summarize details of measurements from which he concluded that a small
form inhabiting the southwestern parts of the range should be separated
from the main group of continuous northern populations. The populations
- mainly inhabiting the boreal climatic zone remain rather uniform in their
measurements and are known under the name martius Linnaeus (1758), —
type-locality Sweden. According to Dementiev (1939) birds from southern, |
western and central Europe eastwards to western Poland, also Asia Minor, ©
Caucasia, and northern Iran, represent a group of smaller size for which |
the subspecific name pinetorum from Brehm (1831) is available, with type-
locality Black Forest, western Germany. Peters (1948) in the VIth volume
of his Check List of Birds of the World followed Dementiev in the
recognition of the race pinetorum and of the range assigned to it.

The present author became interested in the geographical variation of
the Black Woodpecker by two different reasons: firstly, in view of the”
preparative work for a check list of the birds of the Netherlands under-_
taken by a special committee of the Netherlands Ornithological Union; -

variation of the species a hypothesis of the post-glacial history of dis-_
tribution in Europe, comparable to similar histories previously studied for
the Spotted Woodpeckers, the Bullfinch, and the Nuthatches. From 195€
onwards he has been collecting measurements of specimens (reaching a
number of 147) in at least 16 museums and private collections, including
the museums in Amsterdam, Basel, Bergen (Norway), Bonn, Goteborg,
Leiden, London, Oslo and Stavanger. |

Vol. 81

_ The results have been summarized in the table of wing measurements

and in the accompanying maps | and 2, using the distribution map in the

_ Atlas of European Birds Voous (1960) as a basis. Other measurements,

notably those of the bill and the tail, have proved to be of no use in dis-
covering additional trends of geographical variation.

Rea S , 63

ms
'

Table of Measurements of Dryocopus martius
UB, Those marked with an * are from Dementiev 1939.

Note: measurements taken by Dementiev and by the present author are
noteworthily alike; see also map 2.

. MALES
; region variation number of mean
specimens
: *Northern Russia 236-257 9 245.2
*Central Russia 240-255 13 246.3
a *Western Russia 235-248 7 241.1
‘ *Poland 232-243 5 238.4
4 Sweden 236-250 23 242.6
7. Norway 238-245 6 242.6
A Germany 233-243 5 237.0
z Switzerland 234-242 5 237.7
r) Vosges Mountains 232-240 4 237.1
i" Netherlands 231-236 4 234.0
PA
%
f FEMALES
5 region variation number of mean
‘ specimens
; *Northern Russia 238, 250 2 244
*Central Russia 233-252 17 240.8
*Western Russia 233-243 10 239.4
*Poland 228-240 3 233.6
Sweden 234-247 16 240.8
Norway 237-247 9 240.3
'y Germany 225-241 10 234.7
4 Switzerland 233-237 7 235.1
an Vosges Mountains 231-242 6 235.4

i Netherlands 230-237 14 Pa

ii
a The conclusions appear as follows:

|. The characters of the isolated Chinese populations are confirmed,

th as regards the larger size and the deep black gloss of the plumage.
These populations therefore must have been isolated for a relatively long
time.

Vol. 81 64 - 1961

2. There is a trend of decreasing size from east to west in the continuous
boreal populations over at least 10,000 km., but individual overlap is
considerable.

3. The birds from central Europe are on an average of a smaller size,
but again, individual overlap is considerable. In this case, however, the
geographical differences, which run from Sweden to central Germany,
cover a distance of no more than about 500 km.

4. Measurements of the birds from Asia Minor appear intermediate
between those from the boreal region and central Europe.

As regards nomenclature, there is apparently no justification for the use
of different trinominals for central and northern European populations,
as the overlap of the theoretical frequency distribution with central
European populations covers 43% of the number of Scandinavian males
and 40% of Scandinavian females’. In the receding tide of trinominal
nomenclatorial splitting this situation reflects what systematists are
heading for: populations covered by one and the same subspecific name
may show certain amounts of geographical variation, mostly of a gradual
or a clinal type and often showing a distinct geographical trend. Thus, as
many of us hope, the disciplines of the study of geographical variation and
of taxonomy (sensu stricto) will be driven back to their own fields of
competency and will no longer be allowed to cause confusion and mis-
understanding in fields which are not their own.

As regards history of post-glacial distribution: the present isolated
populations in the Iberian and Italian peninsulas and the wide dis-
tribution of Black Woodpeckers in southeastern Europe clearly indicate
that populations of that species must have survived in southern Europe ~
during the last glacial period. The small-sized central European popu-
lations therefore seem to have re-colonized the central European range
from the south. The present distribution of this group has unfortunately ~
suffered greatly from the enormous deforestation throughout western ;
Europe and hence has become more or less disintegrated (Voous 1960). .
The large-sized boreal group on the other hand has come somewhere from —
the east, probably as a post-glacial Asiatic immigrant. Thus, the small- —
sized group is wholly comparable to the populations of the European ~
type of Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major, subspecies —
candidus, italiae, arduennus, anglicus, and pinetorum, in Voous 1947), the —
small forms of Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula, subspecies coccinea, in Voous ©
1949) and the brown-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta europaea, subspecies —
dalmatina, harrisoni, cisalpina, hassica, caesia, affinis, in YVoous & Van —
Marle 1953). Similarly the large-sized group of Black Woodpeckers
belongs to the same immigrant fauna of eastern origin of which the Siberian
forms of Dendrocopos major (major), Pyrrhula pyrrhula (pyrrhula), and
Sitta europaea (europaea) at present living throughout Russia and Scan- —
dinavia also form integrant parts.

Although, according to this theory the small-sized and large-sized —

1 According to statistical calculations kindly undertaken by Prof. Dr. J. P. Van Rooyen —
(Free University, Amsterdam), for which the author is most thankful. ¥

1961 65 Vol. 81

population groups of Black Woodpecker are of different post-glacial
origins, still they have to be treated on purely taxonomic grounds under
one and the same subspecific name.

eo «#4 = 6 » ~~” “
ee

Figure 1. Distribution of Dryocopus martius and the average wing lengths of
males. Figures with an * are taken from Dementiev 1939.

r
BT Siege tial SETI
' <hr eal fri
ee ¥ ov < > . 4
E : i”
® ee Meg a A Py hy \hin
me: 5 Rg od | le §
A “Coe ry
4 Es ' wi yr
as t o oe be! Be \
:
mM ! ¥ { a
~. s ;
’ < ee dep ce oe
~ ad D> * Bs H : “-
F : Ye 7 }
pe 7 os tae se ae |
' ame | Bs ‘ ‘ | i & »
b; fe Pt Te BRS i Soa /
. + : y
7 ont SE i igs cee eae ene Ne icy th an one - 4 . g hatnd 3 t, wh : a
ve te "aa xe = Tal { : e2 = ; 4:
: “ Pn hd Dt ill : eet fi ; che )- =
oe ZN Bes + Es a cae tor : ” - > ee :
i oe dokey = hte ST ik: ts i 43 SF a

Figure 2. Distribution of Dryocopus martius in Europe and the average wing
lengths of males. Figures with an *® are taken from Dementiev 1939.

References :
Démentieff, G., 1939, Remarques sur la variabilité geographique du Pic noir Dryocopus
martius L. dans la région paléarctique orientale. Alauda 11, pp. 7-15.

Vol. 81 66 1961

Peters, J. L., 1948, Check List of Birds of the World. VI. Cambridge.
Voous, K. H., 1947, On the history of the distribution of the genus Dendrocopos.
Limosa 20, pp. 1-142.

Voous, K. H., 1949, Distributional history of Eurasian Bullfinches, genus Pyrrhula.
Condor 51, pp. 52-81.

Voous, K. H. & J. G. van Marle, 1953, The distributional history of the Nuthatch,
Sitta europea L. Ardea 41, extra nr., pp. 1-68 .

The Evolutionary Significance of Reversionary Aberrations
in the Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula Linnaeus

by L. HoRAVTH
Received 3rd June, 1960

Even at a cursory glance one may observe abnormalities in the plumage
of the bullfinch which deserve a thorough investigation. These aberrations
are of colour, pattern and the relative size of the rectrices and remiges. I
must emphasise that these aberrations may be arranged in groups. This
may be expressed more exactly by saying that certain colour and pattern
deviations are associated with differences in the relative length of the
wing and tail feathers. Considerations like these lead me to the conclusion
that these aberrations or variants have an atavistic or reversionary sig-
nificance and provide data of the phylogeny of the species.

The starting point in the sequence of ideas for the verification of this
assumption is the indisputable fact that if aberrations occur in a species,
of a type which are found as normal characters in another species of the
same genus, then the aberration denotes a relationship between the two
species, either by indicating that they descended from a common ancestor,
or that the progenitor of the species displaying this aberration is the one
which possesses it as a normal character.

After this outline of the principle, I will give the data of the aberrant
specimens. I examined a total of 66 birds; 36 males and 30 females.
Aberrant specimens occurred only in the males. Of these 33 were of the
nominate form, one of the race P. p. europea Vieillot, one of the race
P. p. rossikowi Derjugin and Bianchi and one of the race P. p. cineracea
Cabot. Of the 33 birds of the nominate race, 32 originated from Hungary,
collected between 1957-60 and one was from the vicinity of Voronesh,
U.S.S.R. The aberrant specimens were all nominate birds from Hungary
as follows :— |

1/59.1595.1 Csomad, near Budapest, 22.X1.1958.
2/59.1593.1 Alségéd, near Budapest, 15.11.1959.
3/60.93.1 Adony, Transdanubia, 2.XII.1959.
4/60.151.1 Gydngyés, Matra Mts. 6.XI1.1959.
5/60.152.1 Budapest, 26.XII.1959.

6/60.87.1 Szentendre, in Pilis Mts. 27.XII.1959.
7/60.153.1 | Didsjend, Borzsény Mts. 19.1.1960.
8/59.1599.1 Szigetmonostor, near Bp. 8.I1.1959.
9/60.91.1 Adony, Transdanubia, 12.XI.1959.
10/60.154.1 | Szigetmonostor, near Bp. 10.1.1960.
11/59.1594.1 Budapest. 1.11.1959.
12/60.97.1 Budapest. 9.1.1960.
13/60.155.1 | Didsjend, Borzsony Mts. 20.1.1960.
14/60.156.1 © Didsjené, Borzsény Mts. 21.1.1960.

1961 67 Vol. 81

A detailed examination of these aberrant specimens demonstrates that
the variations occurring in colour, pattern and the relative lengths of the
remiges and rectrices can be divided into six groups.

In the first group, the tail is slightly forked, the middle rectrices are
2-3 mm. shorter than the outer ones and there are several reddish feathers
in the blue-black plumage of the crown. Three specimens (1, 2 and 5)
belong to this group.

The second group is represented by a specimen with a strongly forked
tail, the middle rectrices are more than 5 mm. shorter than the outer ones
and there are in the blue-black feathers of the crown, white feathers
representing the discontinuous tracks of the white streak separating the
black forehead from the blue-black crown, with also numerous pale grey
and several reddish feathers intermingled with the blue-black ones of the
crown (3). This one is illustrated in the accompanying plate.

60.235.1 Magyar Nemzeti Buzeum

. Species Pyrrbula rR. pyrehula Lig
Nee a: Locations Adonyi aalustavals
Datum 4959. 2:.
Catieotor Murely Roperl

Aberrant specimen No. 3 showing pale feathers in the crown and the strongly forked tail.

Of the two specimens placed in the third group of aberrations, one has
a square tail as in normal birds, but there are about five orange-red
feathers in the blue-black crown, while the other has a slightly forked tail,
but a normally coloured crown; moreover there is a striking orange-red
discolouration on the greater wing-coverts and in the grey colour on both
sides and on the lower part of the back of both specimens (4, 13).

There are two further birds which show the aberrations of the first
group, but in addition have some black feathers appearing in the dividing
line of the white rump and the grey back (6, 7). These represent the fourth
group.

In the fifth group there are four birds with black feathers above the
white rump; thus this character is common with that of the specimens
constituting the former group (8, 9, 10, 14).

Vol. 81 68 1961

In the sixth group of aberrant individuals the variation may be minimal
from the normal characters of the bullfinch, the only deviation being
that of a slightly forked tail (11.12).

As can be seen from this description of the fourteen aberrant specimens
No. 3 shows the greatest departure from normal. In addition to the
enumerated characteristics, there is yet another striking feature exhibited
in the plumage of the specimen, namely, while in all bullfinches including
normal as well as aberrant specimens, the second primary is equal in
length to the sixth, the longest feathers of the wing are the third, fourth
and fifth primaries, all of about equal length, in this bird the second and
fifth are equal and the tip of the wing is formed by the third and fourth
primaries, which are equal in length.

The results of these findings lead to the following conclusions :— First,
the aberrations occur in about 43% of male bullfinches, which indicates
a high degree of plasticity of characters. This plasticity is attested as
variation of a reversionary character and cannot be classed as colour
aberrations due to albinism, melanism, erythrism, chlorochroism, etc.
or as colour deviations due to hybridisation.

The following arguments will prove this assumption. Specimen No. 3
displays the most suggestive and the most numerous aberrant peculiarities.
Namely, the white feathers behind the black forehead which represent a
throwback to the whitish streak in this place in P. erythaca Blyth, and the
pale grey feathers mingling with the blue-black ones of the crown also
correspond to the plumage of the crown in this same species. The strongly
forked tail and the shape of the wings also suggest a reversion towards
P. erythaca. On the other hand the single reddish feathers appearing in
the crown are referable to P. erythrocephala Vigors.

The group of aberrations represented by specimens Nos. 1, 2, 5, revert
entirely towards P. erythrocephala. The reversionary features here consist
of the red feathers among the blue-black ones of the crown and the slightly
forked tail.

Specimens No. 4 and 13 show decided inclinations towards P. aurantiaca
Gould, partly by the reddish-orange feathers occurring on the blue-black
crown (4) and partly by the orange suffusion on the greater wing-coverts
and the back. One may also consider as reversionary the colouration of
the underparts which are more vivid than in normal specimens and of an
orange hue. Specimen No. 4 does not appear to show reversionary trends
either on colour or in the shape of its tail which is square to erythaca or
erythrocephala, while specimen 13 on account of its slightly forked tail has
some affinity with these forms.

_ The reversionary peculiarities of specimens 6 and 7 representing the
fourth group, relate partly to the species erythaca, wherein the white rump
is separated by a black streak from the grey colour of the back; also, the
black feathers at the upper edge of the white rump confirm this. On the
other hand characteristics of erythrocephala are revealed in the reddish
feathers among the blue-black ones of the crown and also the tail is some-
what forked. Aberrant specimens Nos. 8, 9, 10, 14 show undoubted
affinities to erythaca. The last two and also the least aberrant birds. a
and 12) show in slight degree the forked tail of Asiatic po

ii}
i

#
4

'
j
,

1961 69 Vol. 81

32 specimens of the nominate form P. pyrrhula show reversionary charac-

ters relating to the species P. erythaca, erythrocephala and aurantiaca. The
presence of these reversionary features in this relatively high number of
specimens in this explicit form provide evidence of decided and close
relationship.

However, in the exposure and evaluation of the origin of these charac-
ters, we cannot rest content with the conclusion that the ancestors of
P. pyrrhula are the three species P. erythaca, erythrocephala and aurantiaca,
but we must go further and conclude that the last three species are also
descended from each other or that, together with the species P. pyrrhula,
they are derived from an earlier common ancestor or ancestors. This
statement is supported by the fact that more than one specimen showed
features common to two distinct species of the present time.

Six distinct species of bullfinch are generally accepted to-day; the
present study investigating reversionary aberrations disclosed the close
relationship of four of them. There remains the question of the degree of
distinctness in the two remaining species. This will only be answered by
further investigation, but this much is certain however, that the present
studies provide some clues suggesting that these two species are also

closely related to the four already mentioned. In P. nipaleniss Hodgson

the upper half of the rump is black and the lower half white, which
suggests the species erythaca. Although the crown is greyish-brown, the
base of the feathers is blackish; the tail is forked, the innermost secondary
reddish. These features are shared partly by erythaca and partly by
pyrrhula. The colouration and pattern of P. /eucogenys is also similar to
that of the other species.

We must now add a few words on the red colour, the striking character
of males of the bullfinch, P. pyrrhula. The red colour of the undersides of
the male is absent in only the two southernmost species, namely P.
nipalensis of the Malay Peninsula, and P. leucogenys of the Phillipine

Islands. In two races of P. pyrrhula, namely P. p. murina Godmanson

of the Azores and P. p. cineracea Cabot, south of lake Baikal, the red
colour of the underparts is always absent, while it is only sometimes
present in P. p. griseiventris Lafreynes ranging over the northern islands of
Japan. There is much data attesting to the fact that the orange colour of
the underparts of the male in P. aurantiaca is at times red. All this indicates
that this character is still labile and consequently the red colour is un-
reliable as a specific character. However some authors regard cineracea
as a species, but the variability of the red colour makes others hesitant in
accepting this character as of specific value.and therefore prefer to regard
it as of racial value only.

The degree of variations is also rather wide not only as regards colour
and pattern, but also in measurements and shape of the bill, which again
indicates that these characters have not as yet become stabilized suf-
ficiently to allow the drawing of sharp demarcating lines between the
allopatric species of the bullfinch. In the present state of our knowledge
and with reference to the results of the present reversionary studies, it
seems best to designate the bullfinch at the present time as a superspecies.
By this | mean that the species are rarely allopatric and are descended
from a single species. In view of the fact that P. pyrrhula is a species which

Vol. 81 : 70 | 1961

ranges over an enormous area and which displays extremely variable
characters of colour and measurement, it is readily understandable that
this has lead to a large number of races being described, compared with
the other five species with a much smaller range. Between 1758 and 1951, —
31 races of P. pyrrhula were described as against only 6 races of the other
five species, described between 1832 and 1921.

Partly on this account and partly on the basis of the reversions, we
must look for the common ancestor among the other five species or in a
still earlier form, closely related to one of them. Only a thorough study
of the Asiatic species, including further investigation of their reversionary —
trends, will bring us nearer to the discovery of the common ancestor of
the species.

In further support of this I might add that several biological features
for instance the voice, are very similar among all the species in question.
The soundness of these ideas is also supported by the fact that the number
of aberrant specimens is high; furthermore they were collected over the ©
course of three years (1958-60) and from widely separated localities.
Moreover, the dates of collecting extend over four months from November
to February. It is also clear from this that none of the aberrant specimens
can be considered as a moulting abnormality, since this occurs only from ~
August to October and in spring there is only an abrasion of the plumage,
added to which all are adult and not first year specimens.

As a result of this investigation we can formulate the following rules.
The higher the number, extent and intensity of reversionary aberrations
in a given species, so much later did it separate from the one or more
species to whose features it reverts. It follows that the incidence of re- ~
versionary aberrations is indicative of the age of the species. .

It also follows that a decrease in reversionary aberrations indicates —
a stabilisation of the specific characters. If several characters of all species |
constituting a genus can be observed among the reversionary aberrations
of one or other species, they denote that on the one hand the genus is of a ©
homogenous origin and on the other hand, the species exhibiting the
mixed reversionary aberrations is in a flourishing state of specialisation. —
An excellent example of such a species is Pyrrhula pyrrhula Linnaeus.

I am most grateful to Dr. James Harrison for his assistance in the —
preparation of this paper.

References :—

Bannerman, D. A. 1953—‘‘The Birds of the British Isles.’’

Delacour, J. and Mayr, E- 1946. ‘‘Birds of the Philippines. ’’

Dementiev, G. P., Gladkov, N. A. and Spangenberg, E. P. 1951-54. a ¢

Sovietskogo Sojuza’?’ (in Russian).

Glenister, A. G., 195i. ‘‘The Birds of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and Penang.”’

Hartert, E. 1910, 1921-22. ‘‘Die Vogel der Paldarktischen Fauna.””

Hartert, E. and Steinbacher, F. 1932-38. ‘‘Die Vogel der Palaarktischen Fauna.’’

Harrison, J. M. 1958. ‘‘On the Populations of the Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Brisson in Western Europe, and the possible Significance of certain Aberrant
Characters in that Species.’’ Bull. B.O.C., 78, 9-14 and 23-28. me)
Horvath, L. et al., 1958. ‘‘ Aves’’ (in Fauna Hungariae) pp. VII, 456.

Vaurie, C. 1956. "«* Systematic Notes on Palearctic Birds No. 21. Fringillidae: t

Genera Pyrrhula, Euphona, Coccothraustes, and Mycerobas.’’ American oe: a
Novitates. 1788, 124. <

Vaurie, C. 1959. ‘‘ The Birds of the Palaearctic Fauna.’’
Witherby, H. F., Jourdain, F. C. R., Ticehurst, N. F. and Tucker, B. W. 1952. —
‘*The Handbook of British Birds.’”’ 3

1961 71 Vol. 81

The distribution of the races of Bradornis pallidus (V. Muller)
in Southern Africa with the description of a new race
by W. J. LAWSON

7" Received 23rd December, 1960

As a result of a recent study of geographical variation in the South
African subcontinental populations of the Pale Flycatcher Bradornis
pallidus (von Muller) based on the series of this species in the collections

_ of the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, Bulawayo, and the Durban
Museum, it has been ascertained that the present subspecific arrangement
_ of the populations in the standard literature is unsatisfactory and in need
_ of revision. For the loan of material from the interior of southern Africa
I am indebted to Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin, Zoological Assistant of the
National Museum of Southern Rhodesia, and to Dr. Austin L. Rand,
_ Chief Curator of Zoology, Chicago Natural History Museum, I am
grateful for comparing and identifying specimens submitted to him.

Three races are currently accepted as occurring in southern Africa,

_ these being B. p. subalaris Sharpe, 1873: Mombasa, Kenya Colony, which
is asserted to range from Natal, Zululand, eastern Transvaal and Portu-
-guese East Africa northwards ‘in the eastern lowlands; B. p. murinus
_ Finsch & Hartlaub, 1870: Caconda, Angola, with its stated range as
Bincols. Bechuanaland, Ovamboland and Southern Rhodesia northwards,
while B. p. aquaemontis Stresemann, 1937: Waterberg Plateau, South-

- West Africa, is reputedly confined to the Waterberg Range of north-
eastern South-West Africa.

_ B. p. subalaris is found to be a very small race confined to the eastern
tropical littoral and probably does not come within the limits of sub-

~ continental southern Africa. The wing-measurements of specimens of this
‘race from coastal Kenya Colony in the collection of the Durban Museum
are gd 82.0-84.5 (83.1) and 99 79.5-81.0 (80.0), which are considerably

_ smaller than any of the many south-eastern African birds measured by me.

- The populations of Natal, Zululand, southern Swaziland, the eastern

_ Transvaal and extreme southern Sul do Save usually incorrectly placed as
B. p. subalaris, are now found to be inseparable from the brown-backed

_ B. p. murinus of Angola, the identification being kindly confirmed by Dr.

Austin L. Rand, who compared material from the area concerned with

- samples of the Angola populations. In the course of this study the south-
eastern birds were compared in the Durban Museum with others from

eastern Southern Rhodesia and a single specimen from Angola, with
which they were found to agree in all subspecific characters. The range of
_ B. p. murinus has now been determined as from central and northern
_ Angola, the southern Congo, the North-Western, Western, Northern and
~ Southern districts of Northern Rhodesia,? Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesia,
except for Matabeleland, south to the eastern Transvaal, southern

Swaziland, the extreme southern part of Mozambique, Zululand and

Natal (rare). The wing and tail measurements of specimens of B. p.

_ murinus as measured by me are 10 33 wing 89.0-98.0 (94.6), tail 69.0-80.5

(74.4), 10 99 wing 83.0-91.0 (87. 2, “tail 62.0-69.0 (66.8) mm. The speci-
mens from ‘Natal, Zululand, southern Swaziland and the eastern Transvaal

average smaller in size, but are not subspecifically distinct.

Vol. 81 72 1961

B. p. aquaemontis, based on specimens from the Waterberg, South-
West Africa, is a large pale race, differing from B. p. murinus in size and in
the grey upper-parts, which are about 00S—8-2° (vide Villalobos, Colour
Atlas, 1947) as opposed to a reading of 0OOS—6-3° in B. p. murinus, which
is distinctly darker and browner in comparison. Chapin (Birds of the
Belgian Congo, part ili, p. 613, 1953) suggested that B. p. aquaemontis may

WALVIS
BAY sa

SSS

ORANGE RIVER

z
de (C=

Ke }
WP. o CY
AS AE ere

PRs
Figure 1. Sketch Map to show the distributions of the races of

Bradornis pallidus in Southern Africa,

92° CAPE TOWN PORT ELIZABETH

Be Pe murinus Finsch & Hartlaub

ses Be Pe aguaemontis Stresemann
Bon B. pe divisus mihi

extend to Balovale on the upper Zambesi River, and this supposition is
probably correct. Specimens examined from the northern Bechuanaland
Protectorate and Matabeleland are now found to be referrable to this
large grey race, thus extending its distribution far to the east of its pre-
viously restricted range in the Waterberg. The populations of Barotseland,
Northern Rhodesia, placed as B. p. murinus by Benson & White (Check
List of the Birds of Northern Rhodesia, 1957) probably belong to this race
as well. The wing and tail measurements of B. p. aquaemontis are 11 33
wing 96.0-102.5 (98.6), tail 72.5-81.5 (75.5); 5 9° wing 88.0-90.5 (89.2),

¥
*

May 4 ~ q

11961 73 Vol. 81

_ tail 66.5-70.0 (68.2). The established range of this form is from northern
South-West Africa and adjacent southern Angola, eastwards through the
northern Bechuanaland Protectorate, to Matabeleland, Southern Rho-
desia, and probably parts of the western Transvaal and Barotseland,
Northern Rhodesia.
During the course of a recent collecting trip organised by the Durban
Museum to southern Portuguese East Africa (August, September, 1960)
_it was ascertained that in the lower reaches of the Limpopo River occurs
a grey form of Bradornis pallidus, inseparable from B. p. aguaemontis in
colouration, but of considerably smaller proportions. This small grey form
appears to be restricted to the lower reaches of the Limpopo River Valley,
specimens having been examined from Beit Bridge, Southern Rhodesia,
and from Panda near Inhambane, Chimonzo in the Macia district, and
Manhica, southern Mozambique. It appears as if this small-sized, grey
coloured innominate race of the middle and lower Limpopo River Valley
is interposed and completely divides the populations of B. p. murinus into
two blocks, north and south of the watercourse concerned. This eastern
grey form, while similar to B. p. aguaemontis in colouration, is con-
siderably smaller in size, and though localised in its distribution is
sufficiently distinct to deserve nomenclatural recognition, and for it |
propose the name
Bradornis pallidus divisus, subsp. nov.

Type: 3 ad. Panda, near Inhambane, Sul do Save, southern Mozambique.
Collected 10th September, 1960 by the Durban Museum Expedition. In
the collection of the Durban Museum.

Diagnosis: Similar to B. p. aquaemontis in colouration of head-top, nape
and mantle, but distinctly smaller in size, thus, wings of $¢ 91.5-95.0
(92.7), 92 84.5-85.5 (85.0) mm. as against 33 96.0-102.5 (98.6), 9° 88.0-
90.5 (89.2) mm. in B. p. aquaemontis, and tails 33 67.5—76.0 (69.7), 99
~65.0-65.5 (65.2) as against gg 72.5~81.5 (75.5), 29 66.5-70.0 (68.2) mm.
in B. p. aquaemontis. Differs from B. p. murinus in having the upper-parts
grey and not brown, and lacking the buffish suffusion to the ventral
surface.

Material examined: B. p. divisus: Southern Rhodesia 3, southern
Mozambique 10, B. p. aquaemontis: Bechuanaland Protectorate 1,
Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia 22, B. p. murinus: Angola 1, Southern
Rhosedia 17, eastern Transvaal 5, southern Swaziland 7, southern
Mozambique 11, northern Zululand 2.

Measurements of Type: wing 94.0, tail 76.0, culmen 18.0 mm.

Range: Lower reaches of the Limpopo River from about Beit Bridge to
Sul do Save, southern Mozambique. In the littoral from about Panda,
near Inhambane, north of the Limpopo River, to Chimonzo near Macia,
and Manhica, south of the Limpopo River. A single specimen from Bela
Vista, in the Maputo district, seems to belong to this small-sized grey race,
but other specimens from the same place are referrable to the larger,
brown B. p. murinus.

Remarks: This subspecies divides the populations of B. p. murinus into

| two blocks, one north and one south of the Limpopo River Valley, and
from this fact derives its name,

1959
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Vol. 81 TG. 8. 1961

British Ornithologists’ Club

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

MEETINGS

The Club held seven meetings during the year at which the total atten-
dance was 246. In addition there were two meetings, in March and
October, held jointly with the British Ornithologists’ Union. The amend-
ments to the Rules which were approved at a Special General Meeting
held on 20th September 1960 have effected a greater measure of co-
operation between the Club and the British Ornithologists’ Union.

MEMBERSHIP

The Committee very much regret to record the death during 1960 of |
W. W. Naumberg and N. Williams.

There were twelve resignations and seventeen new members were
elected, bringing the total membership to 250, an increase on the vear of
three.

One subscriber resigned but there were six new subscribers to the
‘*Bulletin’’.

FINANCE

The Accounts of the Club for the year 1960, presented herewith show
an Excess of Expenditure over Income of £75 18s. 11d.; this is partly set-
off by the sale of old ‘‘Bulletins’’ which amounted to £59 14s. 1d., leaving
a deficit on the year of £16 4s. 10d. This has been made good by a transfer
from the ‘“Bulletin Fund’’.

There were two major fluctuations during the year. The cost of the
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and to the inclusion of a Scientific Index; on the other hand the amount
received from Deeds of Covenant is less by £51, as the previous year
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The Club will need more income for the future now that entrance fees
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C. R. S. PITMAN,
Chairman.

Notice

Will all contributors please note the new instructions on the back cover
as from this month,

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DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1961

18th April, 16th May, 19th September, 17th October, 21st November,
19th December.

Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by -
The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent.

& \oow

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’

Volume 81
No. 5

BULLETIN

OF THE

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

CLUB

1961

1961 ges 71 ) Vol.,8}
ts? . .. BULLETIN ©.
- OF THE.

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

grt ne a
Al [F>

Volume 81 Aa
Number 5 i
: Published: .Jst May, 1961: .

Annual General Meeting |

The Sixty-ninth Annual General Meeting of the British Ornithologists’

- Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, at 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday,
18th April, 1961. Captain C. R. S. Pitman took the Chair and there were
nine Members present.

(1) The Minutes of the last Annual General. Meeting held on 19th

April, 1961 were passed and signed. |

(2) The adoption of the Report for the year ending 31st Decsnbbe: 1960

_ was ‘carried unanimously. Proposer, Mrs. Upton, seconded by Mrs: Boyd
Watt. |
_ (3) The adoption of the Accounts for the year ending 31st December,
1960 was carried unanimously. Proposer, Miss E.’ Leach, seconded by
Mr. C. W. Mackworth-Praed.

_ (4) The re-election of Mr. C. N. Walter as Honorary Treasurer and
. Miss E. Forster as Honorary Secretary was carried unanimously. Pro-
poser, Mr. C. W. Mackworth-Praed, seconded by Mrs. Boyd Watt.

(5) The election of Mr. J. J. Yealland of Editor as from the Ist January,
1962, vice Dr. J. G. Harrison whose period of office expires at the end of
1961, was carried unanimously, and was coupled with a vote of thanks to
‘Dr. Harrison. Proposer, Mrs. Upton, seconded by Mr. C. J. O. Harrison.
_ (6) A vote of thanks to the Auditors, Messrs. W. B. Keen & Co. was
Carried unanimously. Proposer, Mr. C. N. Walter, seconded by Mr. C.
W. Mackworth-Praed.

_ The meeting was then adjourned.

[ The five hundred and eighty-ninth meeting of the Club was then held.
* Chairman: Captain C, R. ‘S. Pitman

OY Members. present, 22; Guests 6. Guest of the Club, Maxwell Knight.

x:
¢

Hand-rearing of Birds

‘ After the dinner Maxwell Knight gave a short talk on some of the prob-
lems of hand-rearing birds, paying special attention to feeding, nest
Sanitation and the time and thought that needs to be given to ‘‘de-
ening” hand-reared birds prior to releasing them.

_ The talk was illustrated with films and slides of hand-rearing a Great-
tted Woodpecker, a cygnet, and a cuckoo, which included some
ightful and unique shots of the woodpecker drying itself on a towel

after bathing.

Vol. 81 78 1961
More aquatic predators of birds
by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 2nd January, 1961
PART II
(iI) FISH
(A) INDIGENOUS .

(a) Large SILURIDS ‘

(i) Clarias ‘

AFRICA: UGANDA. Dr. Kai Curry-Lindahl, in Lake Edward |
(April, 1952), saw a dead Marsh Sandpiper, Tringa stagnatilis (Bechstein),
which had been thrown into the water to attract a lung-fish (Protopterus),
taken by a Clarias sp., probably C. lazera Cuv. and Val. ,

LAKE VICTORIA. Dr. Philip S. Corbet, when in the East African —
Fisheries Research Organisation at Jinja, took from the stomach of a
Clarias mossambicus Peters, 89 cm. in length, a cormorant chick just 4
hatching from the egg—from its size probably that of the White-necked
Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo lugubris (L.), vide (**: pp. 58-59). Corbet
also claims that ““Large C. mossambicus are known to congregate beneath |
ambatch trees in which cormorants are nesting, and to feed on disgorged ©
Haplochromis dropped by the adult birds when feeding their young’’; but
see, ibid 77 (*), p. 93, the views of African fishermen, and also the next note.

NORTHERN RHODESIA. Mr. V. J. Wilson, a Tsetse Control —
Officer, when visiting by boat a nesting colony of ‘the African Darter, —
Anhinga rufa rufa (Lacépede et Daudin), saw several nestlings fall into
the water, where large Clarias mossambicus could be seen swimming just ©
below the surface. The fish swallowed the chicks immediately they struck —
the water. The fish were not in the least afraid and were evidently waiting —
to receive casualties, for if he agitated the water with his hand a fish came ©
along at once to investigate.

SOUTH AFRICA. Miss M. Courtenay-Latimer, Director of East
London Museum, tells of a shot bird which fell into the Orange river and
was at once seized and swallowed by a Clarias sp.

(ii) Silurus glanis (L.), sometimes called the Sheetfish or Wels.

EUROPE. According to Dr. Kai Curry-Lindahl this silurid ‘‘is cer-
tainly able to take birds from the surface when pai in the night, and
there are published records of swallowed ducks’”’

(b) LUNGFISH (Proptoterus).

AFRICA: UGANDA. Mr. D. H. Rhodes, Senior Fisheries Officers .
describes how a shot snipe which fell in a dam could not be recovered for
20 minutes, during which time nearly all its feathers and most of the flesh —
had been stripped off. This was believed to have been the work of a
Protopterus.

But Dr. Curry-Lindahl found no remains of birds in any of the Pro-
topterus stomachs he examined on Lake Edward, and he is of the opinion
that ‘‘Objects floating or swimming on the surface do not in general
release attacks from lung fishes”’

AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA. Lieut. Col. J. Stevenson-Hamilton Cee
129) referring to Tiger Fish “‘I have seen large ones rising at swallovaal
as the latter skimmed the surface of a deep pool’’.

¥
4
i
3

;

7
ES se>
rt 7 |

a
1961 79 Vol. 81.

E Ranger T. B. Oatley (: pp. 37-38), in January 1957 at the Ndumu
Game Reserve, Natal, records how drinking Swallows, Hirundo rustica L.
were frequently taken—up to 5 or 6 times in the same afternoon—by an
unidentified predator which could only have been a Tiger Fish, Hydrocyon,
but which was never seen. As a Swallow, one of many, dipped there would
be a sudden loud splash, a curtain of spray and one bird less.
_ (d) NORTHERN PIKE, Esox Lucius L.
~ NORTH AMERICA: CANADA. There is a paper by A. D. Bajkov
and A. M. Shortt on ‘‘Northern Pike as Predator on Waterfowl and Musk
_rat’’ which was sponsored by Ducks Unlimited (Canada). This, together
with other records of Pike predation in Canada, is being dealt with in a
separate note. This species is also the Pike of Britain and Europe where
it is a well-known bird predator.

: (B) INTRODUCED
— (a) RAINBOW TROUT, Salmo gairdneri Richardson.
~ AFRICA: SOUTHERN RHODESIA. Turnbull-Kemp found a
fledgling weaverbird, Xanthophilus xanthops (Hartlaub) in a rod-caught
trout in the Inyangombe river, at 6,000 ft., in 1955. Fledglings had pre-
viously been found in trout stomachs by other members of the staff of the
-Rhodes-Inyanga Estate, who believe this is not uncommon when young
birds leave too early or fall from the nest.
_ He also has ‘‘a record of an unidentified and injured swallow being
en) by a Rainbow Trout”’
— (b) TROUT.
_ AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA. J. B. Shephard ("*) describes how a
-gosling (Alopochen) disappeared in the middle of a dam. It appeared to
dive, but never came up and it was believed that a large trout had taken it.

: (11) CROCODILES
~ (a) Crocodylus palustris Lesson, Marsh Crocodile or ‘Mugger’.

ASIA: INDIA. In the Central Provinces, A. A. Dunbar Brander (?7)
**Once found eight teal duck inside a crocodile, which had evidently been
all swallowed at the same time’’. The duck in question was presumably
the Whistling Teal or Fulvous Tree-Duck, Dendrocygna bicolor, for a
‘crocodile would have little opportunity of capturing so many of the much
“more alert little Cotton Teal, Nettapus coromandelianus (Gmelin).

(b) Crocodylus porosus Schneider, Estuarine Crocodile.
_ BRITISH SOLOMON ISLANDS. Mrs. Diana Bradley refers to an
irruption of the Australian Pelican, Pelecanus conspicillatus Temminck in
1952 during a severe gale in the Solomon Islands. When she visited these

islands in 1953 few had survived and it was claimed locally that many had
fallen victims to crocodiles.

~ (ce) Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, Nile Crocodile.

AFRICA: UGANDA. Corbet, during May/June 1956, when examining
ba stomachs of crocodiles killed in Napoleon Gulf, Lake Victoria,

und four containing bird remains:— 118 cm. long—feet and culmen
of black bird, probably African Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus (L.); (ii)
120 cm.—black feathers and filo- -plumes; (iii) 162 cm.—black feathers;
(iv) 280 cm.—one large White-necked Cormorant, Phalacroc orax carbo.

KENYA, Richard Tjader (*: p. 273) found ‘‘two pink-coloured

Vol. 81 80 1961

flamingos’’ in the stomach of a crocodile which was shot at Lake Han-
nington. Mrs. Susan McKay writes ‘‘Several times we have found flamin- |
go feathers in the stomachs of crocodiles’’ shot in Ferguson Gulf, Lake
Rudolf. On Central Island in this lake a crocodile about 6 ft. long was
seen to stalk a spoonbill, P/atalea sp. standing on a rock a few feet above ©
the water. The crocodile came behind it and with a sudden snap caught it;
then it plunged back into the water with the white feathers clearly visible
either side of its jaws like a huge set of whiskers. It swam with its head up —
for some time and then suddenly submerged complete with bird and was
not seen again.

Colonel R. Meinertzhagen ('°: p. 475) records an interesting case of
a crocodile preying on the Black-faced Sandgrouse, Prerocles decoratus
(Cabanis).

TANGANYIKA. The late Capt. C. H. B. Grant told me of an astonish-
ing experience in 1930 on Lake Tanganyika when he noticed that a Knob-
nosed Goose, Sarkidiornis melanotos (Pennant) flying close to the surface
was directly approaching a basking crocodile. The crocodile opened its
mouth and into it went the bird, the crocodile immediately dived and was ~
not seen again. Capt. Grant remarked that the blow on the crocodile’s
throat must have been tremendous.

NYASALAND. In Sept. 1957, in the Ruo river, Sweeney shot a four- —
foot crocodile which contained the remains of what was believed to be a —
Red-billed Duck, Anas erythrorhyncha Gmelin.

NORTHERN RHODESIA. According to Mr. C. W. Benson, the
‘‘waterhen’’ ibid 77 (°), p. 122 was identified by him as Allen’s Gallinule, —
Porphyrio alleni (Thomson). Benson has also provided details of avian —
remains in eleven other crocodiles out of the large number examined by —
Dr. Hugh Cott:— (i) goose remains; (11) fragments of Streptopelia or —
Turtur feathers, from the Luangwa area; (iii) also from the Luangwa,
feathers of possibly an Estrildine finch; (iv) from the same area, Strep-
topelia feathers, probably the Cape Turtle Dove, S. capicola (Sundevall); —
(v) feathers of the Darter, Anhinga rufa in two specimens from the Luangwa —
Valley; (vi) remains of a Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio alba (White) from —
Kafue Flats, near Mazabuka; (vii) feathers of Anhinga rufa, from two —
Barotseland specimens; (viii) mangled remains of probably Phalacrocorax ~
sp. from Kafue Flats, near Mazabuka; and (ix) feathers of the Long-
tailed Cormorant, Phalacrocorax africanus (Gmelin), from Kafue Flats. q

Mr. J. M. C. Uys, on 2nd November 1960 in the Busanga Flats region ©
(approx. 14° 10’ S.: 25° 46’ E.), saw a small crocodile of 0.73 metres with —
an Actophilornis africanus (Gmelin) in its mouth. As he approached it
dropped the bird and submerged. But it quickly resurfaced, grabbed its —
prey and disappeared. ye

SOUTHERN RHODESIA. Observations made by Mr. Gerald
Davison and his father in the Wankie National Park :— (i) 7ft. crocodile
shot in Sept. 1957 in the Chowe river contained 26 Red-billed Quelea,
Quelea quelea (L.); (ii) 44 ft. crocodile was seen to catch a Blacksmith
Plover, Hoplopterus armatus (Burchell) at Nyamandhlovu Pan; and (iii) —
on Dom Pan, 84 ft. crocodile was seen to take a pelican, Pe/ecanus sp. 4

SOUTH AFRICA: ZULULAND. About 1904-05, Capt. C. H. B.-
Grant was after flighting ducks by the Umfolosi river. He shot thirteen,

& | eS a Vol. 81

: all falling into a small pond, and as each bird struck the water and turned |
_ over head down it was seized by a crocodile and disappeared.
(lV) MONITOR LIZARD (Varanus niloticus)
AFRICA: SUDAN. In July 1953, in the Nuba Mountains, Kordofan,
Sweeney saw a Nile monitor devouring a small wader.

UGANDA. In March 1956, Corbet found bird remains in the stomach
_ of a specimen killed in a garden at Jinja (Lake Victoria) ('*: p. 59).

KENYA. Corbet, in April 1956, also found bird remains in a specimen
which was floating dead in Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Nzoia river
et: p, 59).

TANGANYIKA. In 1950, on the Mkulumuzi river near Tanga,
Sweeney saw a monitor eating a “‘largish’’ bird, which was not identified.

SOUTHERN RHODESIA. In 1953, at the Robert Mcllwaine National

Park (4,495 ft.), Turnbull-Kemp found two domestic fowl eggs in the

stomach of a V. niloticus; and he also has a record of one of these monitors
seizing and carrying off a Dabchick, Podiceps ruficollis (Pallas).

_ Gerald Davison saw one of these monitors dash out of a hole in a
breeding colony of the White-fronted Bee-eater, Melittophagus bullockoides
(Smith) in a river bank and plunge into the water. It was immediately
mobbed furiously by the bee-eaters, who evidently regarded it as an
enemy, though it was not possible to confirm that it had been raiding the

nests. /bid 77 (*), pp. 123-24, see reaction of Pied Kingfishers.

(to be concluded)

A melanistic Chiffchaff ( Phylloscopus collybita) in Dorset
by J. S. ASH

Received 19th December, 1960

On 17th April, 1960, several observers staying at the Bird Observatory
at Portland Bill, Dorset, watched a small very dark warbler which they
- were unable to identify. | found the bird in the afternoon and watched it
at close range in the field, where it could be compared with several typical
_ Chifichafts (Phylloscopus collybita). The following field description was
later confirmed in the hand after the bird had been caught in a mist net :—
similar in size to Chiffchaff, the general colour being smoky (greyish)
brown, the underparts paler; top of crown dark greyish brown (darker
than mantle); cheeks and ear coverts much mottled with darker coloura-
tion, and much the same colour as the greyish brown mantle; rump,
olive green, showing up distinctly in flight; a shiny grey area on each
closed wing was formed by the pale edges of remiges; a yellow patch at
Carpal joint; whole of underparts dark greyish white except for tinge of
‘yellow on under tail coverts and a much paler throat (in the hand, the
breast, flanks and belly were flecked with a few indistinct streaks of yellow);
the faintest trace of a paler supercilium reaching from half-way between
the base of the mandible and eye to just above the eye, and no prominent
dark line through the eye; a dark brown bill with a pale streak along the
junction of the mandibles; legs very dark, but not shiny; and a forked tail
which was seen in the hand to be due to very abraded central rectrices.

Vol. 81 ay 1961

The following measurements were taken:— wing: 59 mm.; weight:
9.00 gms. (1800 G.M.T.). Primaries: 4th longest; 3rd and Sth equal and >
0.5 mm. shorter; 6th and 7th, 1.5 mm. shorter; thus the 2nd fell between —
6th and 7th. |

The following dark-coloured species of Phylloscopi were ruled out for
the reasons given :— fuligiventer (1st primary too short and 2nd too long, ©
and moreover has more yellow on supercilium and underparts); fuscatus
(2nd primary too long, etc.); neglectus (the wing formula is wrong and
the bird too large). It was decided at the time, and again after more
careful study of the notes later, that in spite of some minor inconsistencies
of wing formula, the bird must be an aberrant Chiffchaff with marked
deposition of melanin in its plumage pigmentation. Mr. Kenneth William-
son, to whom I sent the original notes, agrees with this identification, and
has suggested it was a female, remotely co//ybita, much more probably
abietinus.

The African Jacana, Actophilornis africanus (Gmelin)
by C. DAVID SIMPSON
Received 23rd December, 1960

The following notes supplement those by Pitman (Bul/. Brit. Orn. Cl.
80(6), 1960: 103-105). In a small bay on the Kariba Lake, 27th September
1960, two adult African Jacanas (Actophilornis africanus) were feeding on
the exotic weed Salvinia auriculata which already covers so much of the ~
lake. Hoping to get some photographs, I waded into the weed and hid
behind a bush to wait for the birds to come within range of my camera.
One of the pair soon flew off, but the second remained, when I saw that

it had four tiny chicks. I took some photographs and was sitting quite
still when I heard a clicking whistle behind me. I turned round and found
that the bird which had flown off was within ten feet of me. It was ap-
parently quite unafraid but extremely curious. It made a half circle
around me in a series of movements, standing perfectly still while —
watching me, then stalking a few yards before stopping to look again. I
did not disturb it and it slowly fed along towards its mate.
I managed to circle around the bay unseen by the birds and stalked
up to them once again behind a small bush. The chicks, along with
what was presumably the mother, were on a small peninsula of salvinia,
and as the family would have to pass within ten feet of me to get out onto’
the main mass of salvinia, I settled down to wait for some more photo-—
graphs. :
At this stage I must have moved, as the mother saw me and flew off in—
alarm. The chicks immediately crouched down, snuggling into the hollows
in the salvinia, then crept extremely slowly towards a small tuft of grass”
emergent from the salvinia. The mother had in the meantime flown about
thirty-five yards, landed on the salvinia and begun an interesting dis-
traction-behaviour. She jumped up and fluttered through the air for a fi =
feet, then ‘collapsed’ on the surface of the salvinia, uttering a quavering
shrill piping note. She then lay for about a minute on her breast, the win
stretched horizontally, fluttering and vibrating them from time to time.
As I kept quite still, she got up, ran towards me, taking a short flapping
run and then collapsed again, repeating the previous behaviour-patte

Vol. 81

1961

Jacana mother with chicks (note erected feathers on her nape)

Jacana chick hiding in salvinia

Vol. 81 84 1961

This manoeuvre was repeated twice more, the bird coming closer on
each occasion. On the last occasion, however, she staggered along,
weaving on her feet with one wing trailing (similar movement to a rooster
displaying to a hen). She then collapsed again and lay weakly flapping her
horizontally stretched wings. She next rolled over, half on her side, held
the other wing up in the air at an angle and at the same time pushed her-
self along at an angle.

The entire display lasted about five minutes on each occasion, then the
bird would stand up perfectly normally, peck at a few bits of weed and
launch into the behaviour-pattern once again, the shrill piping being
uttered at short intervals.

The bird calmed down after about thirty minutes, got up from the end
point of the display and began making her way towards the grass tuft
where the chicks were sheltering. She did not go there directly, but ap-
proached in a series of zig-zag movements. The call had changed to a
series of short chatters, completely different to the piping during dis-
traction-activity. At this new call the chicks got up and looked around,
but did not leave the cover of the grass clump.

At this juncture I must have moved, as the mother suddenly flew off
and the chicks crouched down becoming motionless. She did not indulge
in any more distraction-activity but worked her way cautiously back to
the chicks. As she got to the clump, they came out and I managed a
family group photograph (see A). She then led them off slowly over the
salvinia.

I might point out here that what was presumably the male took no part
in either the distraction-behaviour or in leading the young, but merely
walked about feeding in the vicinity of the female.

I waited until the birds were out of sight behind some bushes before I
went back to the shore. I then stalked the female and young. The chicks
immediately hid under a small bush, and the female began the distraction-
behaviour again. As the water was only two or three inches deep, I
followed her and found that she would let me get extremely close before
she moved away, wing trailing with a marked stagger. All the distraction
pattern mentioned before was repeated, also including short, jerky flights
of two or three yards.

I next went over to the bush under which the chicks were hiding and
watched them for a short period. They lay perfectly still, crouched flat
on the salvinia, but with their large legs held up at an angle of 45° from the
horizontal. The growth was too thick for them to dive or hide under the
weed, as mentioned in Pitman’s note. I moved the surrounding leaves and
twigs away, letting the sunlight play through directly onto them. They
did not move, even when prodded with a twig.

I next caught a chick and examined it. Its body-size was that of a small
domestic fowl’s egg, the legs about 23 inches long from junction with
body to base of tarsus and the feet with claws about | inch in length. The
legs were a dark grey grading into browny-pink towards the feet. The
background colour of the down was an off white with chestnut stripes
down the back, the head chestnut with white sides. The beak was pale
pinky grey. During the examination the chick made no move or sound,
but on being picked up initially and on release, it struggled and gave a few

1961 85 Vol. 81

cheeps. I then left the bush and watched the mother. She came back
crouching down with her wings spread. The chicks went underneath her.
She got up and stalked off in a crouched position and I distinctly saw a
leg of one of the chicks sticking out from under one wing.

She went about seventy yards but soon deposited the chicks by simply
opening her wings. The whole family then began to feed again on the
salvinia.

An observation communicated to me by C.C. Tait seems ‘to indicate
the advantage of the dorsal stripes in chicks. In Natal, Tait observed three
chicks all behaving in the same way, grasping longitudinally a broad-
bladed sedge-leaf, with only the nostrils and bill above the water-level, and
the body pressed into the V of the blade. The dorsal stripes were thus in
line with the ribbing of the blade. The tarsi and feet were bent forwards
clasping the blade, the feet reaching to the sides of the head.

I am indebted to my colleague C. W. Benson for his assistance in the
preparation of this note, and to L. A. Titchener, of the Northern Rhodesia
Information Department, for assistance in the preparation of the photo-
graphs. Also R. I. G. Attwell, of my department, to whom a copy of this
note in draft has been shown, informs me that he has made generally
similar observations at Lundazi, Northern Rhodesia, in March 1955.

Jacanas and other birds perching on hippo
by C. W. BENSON

(Received 23rd December, 1960)

Simpson’s note immediately above has prompted me to bring together
various records previously unpublished, by members of my department,
of birds perching on the Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius),
especially as North (Jbis, 1944: 171-176) makes no definite mention of it
being used for perching by any species of bird.

On 29th August 1960, on the Lufupa River, Kafue National Park, W.
F. H. Ansell saw two African Jacanas (Actophilornis africanus) standing
on the heads and backs of partially submerged hippo for several minutes.

On 27th September 1960, on the Lochinvar Ranch stretch of the Kafue

River, J. J. Soulsby saw one perched for nearly one minute on the head of
a hippo showing just above the surface of the water. J. M. C. Uys has a
record of a Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath) perched for about one minute
on the back of a hippo standing in shallow water in the Kafue River, in
the Kafue National Park on 23rd September 1960. He has a similar
observation for an African Pied Wagtail (Motacilla aguimp), 16th August
1960. In July 1954 R. I. G. Attwell, in the Nsefu Game Reserve, Luangwa
Valley, observed three cattle-egrets (Ardeola ibis) perched on the back of
a single hippo, remaining thereon as it waded concealed through a channel
in a pan for at least fifty yards.

B. L. Mitchell, in August 1957, on a rocky stretch of the Kafue River
near Meshiteshi, watched two White-collared Pratincoles (G/areola
nuchalis) which remained on the head of a hippo for several minutes, the
animal being otherwise completely submerged. Also, one day in May 1957,
between 4.30 and 5.15 p.m., on the Zambesi some forty miles above the
Victoria Falls, he watched two Reed-Cormorants (Phalacrocorax africanus)

| accompanying a school of six hippo, fishing in their vicinity. When not

Vol. 81 86 1961

fishing, the cormorants would climb onto a hippo’s neck from behind
and rest on its head. Fishing followed by resting was observed six times.

In the Luangwa Valley, several observors have recorded both species
of oxpecker (Buphagus) on hippo. No further details will be given here, as
the associations of these two species as a whole are under current study by
Attwell. But in the case of the other birds mentioned it would appear that
hippo are used for perching in the same way as are rocks or other stationery
objects in water.

J. M. Feely, who has recently joined my department, informs me that
at Lake St. Lucia, Zululand he has frequently seen the Common Sandpiper
_ (Tringa hypoleucos) perched on hippos, and on one occasion he even saw
one taking and eating leeches (Hirudo sp.) off a hippo.

P.S. A couple of further records may also be mentioned. On 23rd
March 1958, at mid-day, on the Luangwa at about 12°40’S., Attwell saw
one Common Sandpiper and one Cattle Egret perched on the backs of
a school of hippo lying in shallow water off a sandbank in the middle of
the river. On 2nd July 1959, by the Luangwa at about 13°S., Senior Game
Scout H. William saw three Black Crakes (Limnocorax flavirostra) running
about on the back of a hippo which was out of the river, warming itself
in the sun at 8.15 a.m.

See Article opposite page

The three races of the Emerald-spotted Wood Dove in Southern Africa. From left
to right: 7. c. volkmanni, T. c. zambesiensis and T. c. chalcospilos.

oA re ‘ea
ae
q Ei y

1961 | 87 | Vol. 81

The South African races of the
_ Emerald-spotted Wood Dove Turtur chalcospilos (Wagler)
by W. J. LAWSON

Received 23rd December, 1960

Recent authoritative works on South African ornithology, viz., Peters
(1937), Vincent (1952), McLachlan and Liversidge (1957), recognise two
races of Turtur chalcospilos (Wagler), these being Turtur chalcospilos
chalcospilos (Wagler) 1827: Eastern Cape Province, whichisstated to range
from the eastern Cape Province, norththrough Natal, Zululand, Swaziland
and the eastern Transvaal to Abyssinia, and Turtur chalcospilos volkmanni
(Reichenow) 1902: Damaraland, which has its range usually restricted to
South-West Africa, east to Lake Ngami. From a cursory examination of
material in the Durban Museum it became evident that the usually
accepted distributions of the races were not entirely satisfactory, and that
three reasonably defined forms of Turtur chalcospilos could be admitted
as occurring in sub-continental southern Africa. These new findings in the
main confirm the earlier observations made on the South African popu-
lations by Clancey (1952).
The series in the Durban Museum has been augmented by the loan of
additional material from other museums, for the loan of which | am
indebted to the Directors of the following; Chicago Natural History
~ Museum (through Mr. Melvin A. Traylor), National Museum of Southern
_ Rhodesia (through Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin), Transvaal Museum (through
Mr. O. P. M. Prozesky), Natal Museum and the East London Museum.
lam also indebted to Herr G. Mauersberger, writing on behalf of Pro-
fessor Dr. E. Stresemann of the Zoological Museum, Berlin, for kindly
supplying information on the Types housed in that Institute. | am also

indebted to Mr. P. A. Clancey, Director of the Durban Museum, for
_ much valuable assistance in the preparation of this paper. I have been

fortunate in having no less than 165 specimens on which to base my
BRnclosions.
T. c. chalcospilos is found to be a dark race inhabiting the eastern Cape
Province, Natal and Zululand, while from southern Angola, Damaraland
and northern Great Namaqualand, eastwards through the Bechuanaland
Protectorate to the drier western and southern districts of Southern
Rhodesia and the western Transvaal, occur markedly paler populations,
‘which constitute the race T. c. volkmanni. This race is considerably paler
than nominate 7. chalcospilos of the south-east, being a race of the arid
interior and west. In northern Zululand, Swaziland and eastern lowveld
of the Transvaal, Mozambique and Southern Rhodesia occur populations
which are intermediate in colour between the dark nominate race of the
south-east and the pale 7. c. vo/kmanni, but sufficiently distinct from either
as to warrant independent nomenclatural recognition. To this form the
name 7. c. zambesiensis (Roberts) 1922: Zimbiti, Beira District, Mozam-
bique, is considered applicable, the Type of which has been studied. This
_ little dove has been liberally provided with names by workers, but none of
those proposed, by Reichenow (er/angeri, 1902), Oberholser (acanthina,
_ 1905), and Mearns (intensa, 1915) appear to be applicable to the popu-
| lations I propose to call 7. c. zambesiensis. T. c. erlangeri, a name given to

a
-

Vol. 18 88 1961

the northern Angola population, represents very small-sized birds.
Reichenow (1905) gives the wing length of this race as 100-105 mm., and
the accuracy of this is confirmed by two virtual topotypes examined by
me, both from Nogui, northern Angola, wings 3 103.5, 2 103.5 mm. A
single similarly small-sized bird from Kilifi, coastal Kenya Colony (wing
106 mm.), on the eastern side of the continent, suggests that this small-
sized race of 7. chalcospilos extends right across central Africa in the
wooded savannas lying to the south and east of the Lower Guinea Forest,
and T. c. acanthina, a name given to the Mt. Kilimanjaro population, is
almost certainly a synonym. A single specimen from the Luwipa River,
Tanganyika Territory, resembles 7. c. zambesiensis in size and general
colouration, but is warmer and more buffy brown over the mantle and
wings, and may yet be shown to represent an undescribed race of this
small dove from the southern highlands of Tanganyika Territory. It is
quite clear that the present arrangement of the populations of T. chalcos-
pilos lying to the northward of 10° S. lat., in Africa is eminently un-
satisfactory, but in the absence of adequate series I cannot undertake a
complete racial revision of the species. Within the limits of sub-continental
- South Africa the characters and ranges of the three acceptable races are
now reasonably well-known, and these are as follows:

(a) Turtur chalcospilos chalcospilos (Wagler)
Columba Chalcospilos Wagler, Syst. Av., 1827, Columba, sp. 83: South
Africa = Eastern Cape Province.

Synonym: Chalcopelia chalcospilos caffra Reichenow, Journ. f. Orn.,
50, 1902, p. 134: Kaffernland, i.e., Eastern Cape Province. .

The darkest race. Top of head Deep Neutral Gray (Ridgway (1912)
pl. LIIJ), nape and mantle Brownish Olive (pl. XXX). On under-parts,@
breast Cinnamon-Drab (pl. XLVI) or slightly more violaceous.

Measurements: 7 33 wings 110.5-116.0 (112.9), culmens 17.5- 19.5
(18.8), tails 81.5-89.0 (85.2), 6 92 108.0-111.5 (109.8), -17.0-18.5 (17.6),
75.0-88.0 (81.5).

Material: 29 (Eastern Cape Province, 20; Natal, 7; Eastern Transvaal, 2). ;

Type: Not traced.

Range: Eastern southern and eastern Cape Province to Natal and Zulu-—
land, north of which it intergrades with the next race. y

Remarks: The two specimens from the eastern Transvaal (Lydsdorp) —
are probably wintering birds from further south. The Type of T. c. oi
is not in the Zoological Museum, Berlin G. Mauersberger (in /itt.), and 1 1S x
presumed to have been lost. ,

(b) Turtur chalcospilos zambesiensis Roberts 5;

Turtur chalcospilos zambesiensis Roberts, Ann. Transy. Mus., 8, 1922, p.
197: Zimbiti, Beira district, Mozambique.

Head-top rather lighter coronally than Deep Neutral Gray (pl. LUD,
nape and mantle paler than in the nominate race, being Buffy-Brown
(pl. XL) or slightly greyer, under-parts lighter, about Light Cinnamon-
Drab (pl. XLVI).

Measurements: 10 3g wings 110.5-114.5 (112.4), culmens 17.0-18.5_
(17.6), tails 77.5-88.0 (83.0), 10 92 106.0-113.5 (109.0), 16.5-18.0 (17. 3),
74.0—84.5 (79.2).

Material: 111 (Eastern Transvaal, 33; Swaziland, 6; Zululand, 10; 4

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Sketch=map showing the approximate ranges of the three races of the
? Fmerald=spotted Wood Dove ‘urtur chalcospilos (Wagler) in Southern
Africa.

furtur chalcospilos chalcospilos (Wagler)

Turtur chalcospilos zambesiensis Roberts

1 Yurtur chalcospilos volkmanni (Reichenow)

“Mozambique, 21 Southern Rhodesia, 22; Caprivi, 1; Northern Bechuana-
dand Protectorate, 7; Nyasaland, 11).

Type: In the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria.

Range: Northern Zululand (unstable), Swaziland (unstable), Eastern
insvaal, Mozambique, most of the Southern Rhodesian ‘plateau’,
Northern Bechuanaland Protectorate (in Ngamiland) and adjacent north-
‘eastern South-West Africa (Caprivi), Northern Rhodesia (T. c. volkmanni
probable in southern Barotseland), and Nyasaland. Perhaps ranging to
parts of western Angola in the west, and southern Tanganyika Territory
in the east, but available material is inadequate for the determining of the
northern range limits.

Chalcopelia chalcospilos volkmanni Reichenow, Journ. f. Orn., 1902, p.
134: Damaraland.

The palest race. Compared with 7. c. zambesiensis markedly paler,
being noticeably whiter over the face; coped of head Gull Gray (pl. LITI),
oes Drab (pl. XLVI) and breast Ecru-Drab (pl. XLVI).

Vol. 18 90 | 1961
Measurements: 11 33 wings 110.5-117.0 (113.2), culmens 16.5-19.0
(17.6), tails 77.5-84.0 (81.5), 3 92 107.0-109.0 (108.3), 16.0-18.0 (17.0),
75.5-83.5 (79.2). 7
Material: 15 (South-West Africa, 1; southern Angola, 1; Bechuanaland
Protectorate, 1; Southern Rhodesia, 12). :
Type: In the Zoological Museum, Berlin.
Range: The desertic regions of south-west Africa, ranging from southern —
and south-western Angola and the northern half of South-West Africa, —

eastwards through the Bechuanaland Protectorate to the western Trans- .

vaal and most of Matabeleland, and perhaps to Barotseland and adjacent :

parts of south-western Southern Rhodesia. Intergrades to the west of its —
stated range with the previous race.

Bibliography :

Clancey, P. A., ‘‘A Systematic Account of the Birds Collected on the Natal Museum —
Expedition to the Lebombo Mountains and Tongoland, July, 1951,’ Ann. Natal 4
Mus., xii, (2), 236-237, 1952. :

McLachlan, G.R., & Liversidge, R., Roberts Birds of rc h Ate: p. 173; 1957. /

Peters, 342, C heck List of Birds of the World, 3, 113,

Reichenow, 'A., Die Vogel Afrikas, 3, 812, 1905. 2

Vincent, J., A Check List of the Birds of South Africa, p. 37, 1952. q

:
3
1

Notes on Eremomela icteropygialis (Lafresnaye)
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 14th December, 1960

This widely distributed African warbler presents a number of taxonomic —
uncertainties which are discussed here.

(a) The type locality and range of the nominate form.

Macdonald (1957) has drawn attention to the uncertainty which ~
surrounds this point. The type locality was given as Orange river, but —
the label of the type originally read ‘‘des Elephants’’; this locality was —
crossed out and ‘‘d’Orange’’ substituted. Lafresnaye actually said that —
the type was ‘‘said to have come from the Orange river’’, implying some —
doubt. A. British Museum specimen matched with the type is a very pale
bird from Otjimbingwe. Macdonald concludes that the name should be —
applied to the South West African form. |

Clancey ( 1959) disagrees with this and recognises the nominate form —
as ranging from the Asbestos Mountains to the Orange river and southern ~
South West Africa with perimacha as a synonym. In a letter to me dated ~
3rd October 1960 he argues that the type locality should not be changed,
and that the type is very old, probably faded, and no longer useful for
comparison. He considers that there are two forms in South West Africa,
of which the more northern and paler should be called sharpei.

Type localities, once declared should not be amended without very good
reason, but in this case there is very real doubt as to the provenance of
the type of icteropygialis in view of the amended locality on the label,
and Lafresnaye’s own words ‘‘said to have come from the Orang
river’’. Moreover the matched B.M. specimen is an old Andersons a
and therefore there is no question of comparing a fresh bird with an old
foxed type.

_
196) 9] Vol. 18

I consider that Macdonald’s arguments are therefore convincing and
‘that icteropygialis refers to the paler South West African form. The
series in the British Museum does not support the existance of two forms
in South West Africa.

(b) The Bechuanaland form.

Clancey considers that Bechuanaland birds should be referred to the
pale form which he calls sharpei and which I regard as icteropygialis. But
British Museum material and a series of 19 others loaned by the National
Museum. Bulawayo are clearer yellow on the lower belly and a little
darker in general, and must be referred to the form E. i. perimacha
Oberholser.

Mr. C. W. Benson asked me to investigate the correct name for this
form since he had found difficulty in naming it. It is a distinct and un-
named form for which I propose

Eremomela icteropygialis viriditincta subsp. nov.

Description: nearest to polioxantha Sharpe, but the yellow of the under-
side more restricted (though less so than in perimacha), and less clear
yellow, being somewhat tinged with green; breast and upperside more
brownish grey than in polioxantha, but upperside decidedly greyer than in
perimacha.

Type: adult female collected 15 miles west of Victoria Falls on 27th
July, 1957 and in National Museum, Bulawayo. N.M. number 31, 270.

Range: from the Caprivi Strip and west of Victoria Falls to Barotseland
from Sesheke north to Mongu and Mankoya.

_ (d) The range of E. i. polioxantha.

_ This form with grey upperside and yellow of abdomen reaching up to

the lower breast has a very wide range from the eastern Transvaal and

Zululand northwards. It extends west into Bechuanaland to Makarikari

and Panda Matenga. Grant and Praed (1947) separated a single specimen

from Liwale in south Tanganyika as E. i. belli. The supposed long wing of

68 mm. is a slip for the type has a wing of 58 mm., and the more extensive

yellow on the lower breast is suggestive of immaturity. Polioxantha occurs

at Isoka on the Tanganyika border, at Iringa and Morogoro in Tan-
nyika and in Nyasaland and Portuguese East Africa, and there seems
to be no good reason for recognising be//i as a distinct form. However

the birds commonly united as polioxantha are not wholly uniform for 15

cimens from the northern areas of Northern Rhodesia average a more

sky grey above than Southern Rhodesian birds and also average

er deeper yellow below. In these respects they tend to bridge the small

erences between polioxantha and abdominalis Reichenow. It is thus

t possible that be/li might be used for an intermediate form. However

I find the differences between polioxantha and abdominalis rather poorly

fined, and cannot see any reason for recognising an intermediate
between them.

_ (e) The status of E. i. abdominalis Reichenow.

_ The correct allocation of this name is surrounded by some doubt. The

form was described from Tabora but I have been unable to trace other

Material from anywhere near the type locality. I have examined a series

in the Coryndon Museum from Isiolo, Lokitaung, Simba, Ukamba, Athi

Vol. 18 ‘geet 1961

river, Chyulu hills and Magadi in Kenya. Compared with polioxantha
they seem a little darker and more. brownish on the sides of the breast
and none shows any white stripe over the eye. Dr. A. L. Rand has kindly
sent me details of another similar series in the Chicago Natural History
Museum from Maungu, Camp ya Bibi, Meru, Archer’s Post, Mt. Lucania —
and Magadi which also lack any white over the eye. The British Museum —
has two more from Kitumbeine and Longido, also without eye stripes.
Some polioxantha also show no white over the eye or a mere trace, not —
always symmetrical. The supposed smaller bill of abdominalis is a rather —
poor average character in long series, so that the difference between the
latter and polioxantha rests upon the eye stripe’s presence or absence. .

(f) The status of E. salvadorii Reichenow.

Mrs. Hall (1960) has drawn attention to the possible overlap of green
backed salvadorii and grey backed polioxantha in central Angola, and,
suggests that the former is a distinct species. On the other hai material
collected by Benson in N.W. Northern Rhodesia on the Lungwevungu
river suggests intergradation between the two. Further collecting and
field work in Angola is needed to elucidate this question, and possibly
the two forms behave more like good species in central Angola than they
do in Northern Rhodesia. In the latter area both Benson and | regard
them as clearly conspecific and intergrading forms.

(g) Variation in north east Africa.

Grant and Praed place all the forms from.the Sudan and Ethiopia to
British Somaliland and Uganda and west Kenya as a, single form,
griseoflava Heuglin. Four additional. names have been applied to’ birds
from this area. | am not convinced that all these birds should be un,ted
as a single form, but series in good condition both of plumage and of
preparation from critical areas are lacking, and statements in the literature
are somewhat confused and contradictory. Adequate material should, be.
collected to elucidate this question. The nature of the transition from
abdominalis to these much less yellow forms needs special investigation
as the ranges appear to approach each other quite closely.

(h) Doubtful ranges.

Grant and Praed (vol. 2) omit Kenya from the range of abdominalis
_ despite the considerable range of that form in Kenya. They also extend
E. flavicrissalis Sharpe into British Somaliland, although I have been
unable to trace evidence of this. There are no flavicrissalis from British
Somaliland in either the British Museum or the Coryndon Museum.

I am greatly indebted to the National Museum, Bulawayo for the
generous loan of material used in this study, to Mrs. B. P. Hall for notes
on British Museum material arising out of queries after I had examined
it, to Dr. A. L. Rand and Mr. P. A. Clancey for information on several |
points, to the Coryndon Museum, Nairobi for the opportunity to examine
their material, and to Mr. C. W. Benson for assisting in the study of
material.

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DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1961
16th May, 19th September, 17th October, 21st November, 19th December.

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

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~~ BULLETIN |
“OF THE PURCHASED
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 8l

Number 6
Published: Ist September, 196!

The five hundred and ninetieth meeting of the Club was held at the
Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday, 16th May, 1961.

Chairman: CAPTAIN C. R. S. PITMAN

Members present, 26; Temporary Associates (Home), 2; (Overseas), 1;
Guests, 11; Total, 40.

The Chairman opened with a welcome for Mr. Jack Livingstone,
President of the Canadian Audubon Society; Mr. Roger Tory Peterson
and Mr. Richard Pough from America and Mr. Claude Austin from
Australia.

Some Reflections on the British List,
with special reference to the
unwritten rule that rare birds may not now be shot

Summary of a talk by R. S. R. FITTER

The British List covers all species of wild birds which are found or have occurred
naturally within the geographical area of Great Britain and Ireland, i.e. not including
the Channel Isles. It also includes subspecies, but this aspect is not discussed here.

In 1952 there were 426 full species on the British List, but since then no fewer than
24 have been added and three deleted or amalgamated (hooded crow, black-winged

-pratincole, meadow bunting), leaving a total of 447.

_ The question arises of whether or to what extent it is scientifically valuable to maintain

such a list, taking into account the considerable energies needed to compile it and
validate the records, or whether it is perhaps an outmoded idea of limited scientific
value. It is obviously useful to have a list of the regular breeding birds, winter visitors
and passage migrants occurring in any territory. The difficulties arise with the irregular
‘Visitors and vagrants, where we are up against the problems inherent in the validation
of individual records.

The List Sub-committee of the Union judged the authenticity of records by (i) the
credibility of the evidence and (ii) the probability of the occurrence being natural.

In considering the credibility of evidence, we must take into account the virtual
impossibility of validating specimen records once they have passed into history and on
the other hand the immense recent increase in skill in field identification, which makes
many recent sight records more reliable than many old specimen records. The current
revival of the controversy about the so-called ‘* Hastings records’’ of rare birds alleged
to have been shot mainly in the district between Hastings and Dungeness in the first
two decades of the present century shows that no specimen records can be regarded as
100%, certain once (or even before) those familiar with the immediate circumstances
have passed away. On the other hand, the classic case of the Berkhamsted grey shrike
in 1940-42 shows that sight records vouched for by even the most eminent field ob-
servers may yet be erroneous. Finally it is necessary to take into account the possibility
of confusion between vagrants which are likely to occur in the British Isles and those
which are almost indistinguishable in the field but highly unlikely to occur here, The

Vol. 81 94 1961

1960 report of the Rarity Records Committee cites three instances of this uncertainty,
viz. duck blue-winged teal and cinnamon teal, great reed-warbler and Acrocephalus
stentoreus and little egret and snowy egret.

It is in these last cases that the so-called unwritten rule that rare birds may not now
be shot purely to establish their identity may be considered to be a special hindrance.
This rule, incidentally, is of very recent origin, for only in 1948 the first British specimen —
of Bonelli’s warbler was killed to make certain of its identity. Obviously trapping is the
answer in many cases, if the bird can be trapped. (But in the subsequent discussion Mr.
H. G. Alexander cited an instance where identification in the hand by two leading field
observers had later been proved wrong by a third.) :

The case of the alleged lesser scaup, which on being shot turned out to be a hybrid
pochard x tufted duck, appears to be a limiting one. It was not just an isolated rarity, but
one of several which had appeared more or less simultaneously. If it were to be held
that the Nature Conservancy was unjustified in issuing a licence to shoot this bird, then
the Conservancy might as well be deprived of its powers ever to allow a bird to be shot
to settle its identity. Since, however, mistakes can happen alike with dead specimens,
live specimens in the hand, and birds seen in the field, future ornithologists may well
feel that shooting a bird does not really settle the question as firmly as used to be thought.

Turning to the List Sub-committee’s second set of considerations, relating to whether
the bird has occurred naturally or not, the main problem relates to escapes. The 1960
report of the Rarity Records Committee cites five species where the possibility of
escapes could not be ruled out, viz. night heron, white stork, red-crested pochard,
ferruginous duck and snow goose. It is in fact impossible ever to be absolutely sure that
any rare bird seen anywhere has not escaped from captivity. This argument has most
conspicuously been used to keep off the British List the great black woodpecker, with
over 80 reported occurrences in the British Isles, although the bird is very rarely kept in
captivity, and in fact only three instances of it escaping or being released are on record.

A further question arises when birds that have undoubtedly escaped from captivity
establish themselves as breeding species. It took the Canada goose about 100 years to
qualify as a British bird, and recently the mandarin duck was turned down with a
residential qualification of about 30 years. As a result, protection could not be obtained
for it, and it may well be wiped out again by shooting before it attains the apparent
qualifying period of 100 years.

The formerly contentious question of whether North American passerines could reach
the British Isles by natural means had now been settled by agreement that some of them
certainly can and do, while if others have an assisted passage on board ship this does
not affect the issue of naturalness.

The upshot of the foregoing considerations is that there can be no 100% certainty of
any individual record, whether or no it is backed by a specimen. Too much depends on
the veracity and credibility of individual witnesses, which cannot be judged after a lapse
of time, any more than the credulity of former editors of journals can be definitively
judged by those who never knew them. This would seem to support the unwritten rule.
What are the implications for the British List?

I should like to put forward some tentative proposals, first for a decinneal revision,
since such substantial changes are now taking place, especially in the status of certain
passage migrants and breeding birds such as the collared dove, osprey, wryneck and
black-tailed godwit, and second for the division of the List into two parts, viz.

Part I, the scientifically most important part, to contain breeding birds and regular
winter visitors and passage migrants.

Part II, scientifically less valuable because inevitably based on records which
cannot all be 100% certain, for the irregular visitors and vagrants. These might
well be classified into those of which 10 or more had occurred in the past ten
years, those of which fewer than 10 had occurred in the past ten years, and those
of which none had occurred in the past ten years. This might give a more realistic
look to the British List, which at present does not even reveal which birds have
not been recorded during the 20th century.

Finally, in view of the fact that no individual record can be 100% certain for all
time, I would like the List Sub-committee to consider the inclusion, possibly in a
separate category, of records which it considers at least 95% certain, but with a scintilla
of doubt remaining. It would be especially valuaers if ¢ extreme rarities in this catesoms
could be officially placed on record. ~-.

1961 95. Vol. 81

In the discussion which followed, Mr. Fitter’s ideas were supported by Mr. Jack

Livingstone, while Mr. Roger Tory Peterson pointed out that there was little harm to
_ the species in shooting a vagrant, apart from its aesthetic value, as it would be unlikely
to survive in any case. Dr. Ian Nisbet (‘‘ British Birds’’ Rarities Committee) supported
this view in special circumstances, such as the shooting of the pochard x tufted duck
hybrid, where one of a group was being collected and he felt that the American oriole
ringed on Bardsay Island should have been collected, as it remains unidentified. Mr. H.
G. Alexander (B.O.U. Records Committee) stressed the great skill with present day
field identification, but quoted the problem of the Fair Isle western sandpiper, which
was wrongly identified, although examined in the hand by himself and Mr. Kenneth
Williamson, for Dr. Nisbet now considered it was a western sandpiper, whereas it was
originally recorded as a semi-palmated sandpiper. Mr. Max Nicholson spoke of the
excellent work done by both the B.O.U. Records Committee and the ‘‘ British Birds’’
Rarities Committee. He did not support Mr. Fitter’s ideas for changes in the official
List, while Mr. C. J. O. Harrison thought that the use of the List results in some ab-
surdities in the law. Dr. James Harrison strongly disapproved of the rejection of the
** Hastings records’’, stating that as a boy he had seen a rujous warbler in his garden
at Hastings and three days later, the bird being mounted in George Bristow’s shop. He
could see no point now in doubting the word of well-known ornithologists, who investi-
gated those records at the time, particularly in view of the many rarities identified in
the same area since the last war.

Dwarfism in a Pheasant
by J. S. ASH

Received Sth November, 1960

-A very small cock Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) in its first winter
plumage was recently sent to me by D. J. Cowen, Esq. It had been shot on
about 24th October, 1960 at Oundle, Northamptonshire. Except for its
small size and light weight, the bird was normal; there was no sign of the
emaciation which is characteristic of most birds having a low body weight,
there were good deposits of subcutaneous fat, and there was no evidence of
disease or injury. Except for a post-mortem change in colour, the testes
Were normal in appearance.

As the condition of dwarfism is apparently extremely rare in birds, it
is of interest to compare a few of its standard measurements with those
given in The Handbook. The weights are taken from Blank and Ash (in
preparation) :—

Measurements in mm.
The Handbook Oundle bird

4 Wing 235-260 219

4 Tarsus 60-78 50
Bill (from feathers) 28-32 26
Tail (central) 420-520 419
Weight 1394 gms.* 510.3 gms.

* average of 1668 wild first-winter cocks, range 850.5—2069.6 gms.

On the basis of wing moult, the bird was between 15 and 16 weeks of age.

As far as I know, the presence of the growth hormone has not been
demonstrated in the pituitary of birds: although hypophysectomy retards
the growth of birds, this does not mean that the retardation is specifically
due to the absence of the growth hormone. Unfortunately, decomposition
Was too advanced in the present specimen to permit an examination of the
region of the pituitary.

Landauer (1929) has described in detail a case of thyrogenous dwarfism
(Myxoedema infantilis) in the domestic fowl. This was ‘proportionate’

Vol. 81 96 1961

dwarfism comparable with dwarfism of a pathogenic origin in humans. —
The few measurements taken of the Oundle bird suggest, however, that
this was a case of ‘disproportionate’ dwarfism, and the causal factor
should perhaps be sought elsewhere. This example is probably more
closely parallelled by the dwarf Larus ‘‘capistratus’’ variety of the Black-
headed Gull (L. ridibundus) discussed by Hazelwood and Harrison (1953).
References :
Blank, T. H. and J. S. Ash (in preparation). Body weights of Pheasants (Phasianus
colchicus), Red-legged Partridges (Alectoris rufa) and Partridges Perdix perdix).
Hazelwood, A. and J. M. Harrison (1953). A Note on Larus ‘* capistratus’’ Temminck.
Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 73: 98-100.
Landauer, W. (1929). Thyrogenous dwarfism (Myxoedema infantilis) in the Domestic
Fowl. Amer. J. Anat. 43: 1-44.

The Significance of some Plumage Phases of the
House-Sparrow, Passer domesticus (Linnaeus) and the
Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis Temminck*

PART ONE

by JAMES M. HARRISON
Received 2nd January, 1961
I. INTRODUCTION

The above research was prompted by the report of a meeting of the
British Association in Bristol in 1955 when subsequently, in an article in
The Daily Telegraph (3rd September, 1955), a claim was made by Robin
Cormack, then a pupil at the Bristol Grammar School to the effect that the
sexes of young House-Sparrows, Passer domesticus domesticus could be differ-
entiated in the field by the presence in the males of a white, or pale spot
behind the eye. In so far as this claim is concerned it may be said to have
been substantiated by this investigation though, in the material examined
by the writer, this character was not absolutely constant for in some
individuals it was absent, in others unilateral only and in none did it seem
to constitute a good field character; while these were the findings on the
material for this paper, one cannot rule out the possibility that Cormack
may have handled a population in which the white eye spots were apparent-
ly more pronounced.

The present study was suggested to me by Mr. J. D. Macdonald to
whom I am indebted for the loan of the British Museum file with the
original reference and certain correspondence.

Full juveniles of P. domesticus are sadly lacking in most collections,
both public and private it would seem, and before any progress could be
made at all it was necessary to collect and prepare specially some 70
specimens of positively, i.e. anatomically, sexed individuals to augment
such other material as was available; in all about 100 juveniles came under
review. The total material seen, i.e. birds of both sexes and all ages
amounted to approximately 500. It must also be mentioned that unless
meticulous care is taken in the preparation of the material, the white spots
and other head characters can easily be effaced. In the course of these
investigations it became apparent that there were other characters of very

*A Summary of this paper was read at the British Ornithologists’ Union York Con-
ference on 25th March, 1961.

1961 97 Vol. 81

considerable interest and the scope of the enquiry was therefore broadened
to embrace the possible significance of certain of these characters, which
were found not only in the juveniles and in birds of the year, but also in
adults.

li. SCOPE

It is not intended that this communication should deal exhaustively
with individual variation for this, both in P. domesticus and P. hispanio-
lensis is considerable in so far as colour shades, bill colour, etc. are con-
cerned, nor is it intended to deal primarily with geographical races, in fact
this aspect of the problems involved will only be mentioned in so far as
it is related to the bearing on phylogeny and affinity.

This latter aspect had indeed already been recognised, for Bodenstein (*)
(1953) recorded a hispaniolensis-like head pattern in an example of
P. d. domesticus from Central Europe, while one need only refer to such a
recent work as A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe (*) to
see the hispaniolensis pattern of the head portrayed. However, it should
at the same time be stressed that the fully developed pattern is by no
means a constant character in P. domesticus, for it is mostly vestigial,
sometimes on one side only and by no means infrequently absent. It is to
be noted particularly however, that it is almost constant and usually well
developed in the race P. d. italiae, so that one can state that this is linked
with the chestnut crown as in P. hispaniolensis, a combination of characters
of important phylogenetic significance.

Hil. SALIENT SPECIFIC CHARACTERS

The approach to the problems of phylogeny and affinity is to be made
along orthodox lines, viz: the recognition of the salient characters of the
two species and the observation of the incidence of what would appear to
represent specific unit characters occurring in one or the other, as indi-
cating possible phylogenetic relationship. The general characters of the
two groups are as follows :—
(A) THE PASSER DOMESTICUS COMPLEX

Juveniles: Although in general there is little overall difference between
the sexes, there are some differences by which certain individuals may be
presumed to be of one sex or the other, but such sexual dimorphism as
there is is not constant and a state of juvenile intersexuality is apparent.

Very broadly the following table sets out such differentiating characters
as exist even if only inconstantly :—

Characters: Ye" ue,
Chin and throat: Dusky Whitish
White spots behind Present Absent
eyes:
Post-ocular stripe : Usually more As arule ash to
colourful, cinna- drab or bistre
mon to bay or range.

russet range.

(See Plate 1)

Vol. 81 98 1961

Stress must be laid again on the fact that the white eye spots, in the ©

material examined were often very inconspicuous, sometimes unilateral and
occasionally absent as already stated. The fact that this character is not
very constant is in itself significant. In fact, again on the material examined
there was no secondary sexual character in the juveniles which could be
stated to be absolutely constant and reliable. The most one can say is that
most of the males show a dusky throat patch, pale or whitish spots
behind the eyes and a more colourful post-ocular stripe than the females,
and that the latter usually lack the dusky throat patch, rarely apparently
have white eye spots and have a dull post-ocular stripe.

On the freshly collected juvenile material forming the basis of this
paper it was found that approximately 5% of males lacked the dusky
throat patch and 6% of females showed the character, thus indicating a
degree of intersexuality. Nichols (*) in his excellent paper on seasonal
individual variation in this species, classifies the juveniles into three types
as follows :—

Type-A. which ‘‘is not noticeably different from the adult female’’.

Type-B. which ‘‘is characterised by a slight mark which is yet dis-
tinctive when attention is called to it, a narrow, sharply defined pale or
whitish arched streak from the eye to the bill (nostril-ward) (See Plate II B).

This was more or less regularly correlated with whiter underparts than |

usual, the whitish extending on to the cheeks, and a faint but evident
dusky chin-and-throat patch, and noted in six or seven young birds out
of sixteen trapped from 9th to 17th June 1932. It was thought at the time
to be the plumage of the juvenal male but it probably has not that sig-
nificance.’’ Since, of course, these birds were not controlled by anatomical
sexing the observation could not be significantly assessed and the recog-
nition of a juvenile intersexuality was not, under these circumstances,
possible.

Weaver (*) commenting on the dusky throat patch remarks ‘‘By the
tenth day after hatching the color pattern is evident, showing a wing bar,
and in some males a black bib’’. From this it is apparent that this author
also recognised the fact that as a secondary sexual character the dusky
throat patch in males is not invariable.

Since the exposure of certain homologous characters occurs at different

stages of development the material of this study was divided into two
groups, viz: (a) full juveniles and (4) first winter, first summer and adult
individuals.

Having considered the morphology and the unreliability of the sexual
dimorphism in the juveniles, it is necessary now to detail the specific
and subspecific characters of the more mature birds, which, of course,
show very marked differences in the two sexes, already striking even in
freshly moulted birds of the year.

The characters of the males in these more mature ages are too well
known to demand detailed description and it is sufficient to enumerate the
grey crown and black gorget as characteristic of this sex and the absence
of the contrasting crown and black gorget in the females, while it is, of
course, necessary to note again that the crown colour of the males of the
race P. d. italiae is rich chestnut, a fact which, in the writer’s opinion, is not
devoid of phylogenetic significance as already mentioned.

1961 99 Vol. 81

Very briefly it can be stated that the first winter males of the species,
with the exception of the race italiae, can be recognised by the less pure
grey crown and the broader chestnut edges to the secondaries particularly,
this latter distinction applying also to the race italiae, in which the chest-
nut is less rich.

First summer birds are less easy to be certain of and it is doubtful
whether they can in most cases, in fact, be differentiated from adults.

Adult males have black throat and gorget, grey crowns, chestnut
lesser and median wing-coverts and brightly striated mantles which show
chestnut in varying amount.

Females in their first winter plumage show the broad edges to the
secondaries which are lacking in the adults while they have, of course,
normally uniform sombre brown coloured crowns, drab _ post-ocular
stripes, no white eye spots and no black gorget. A very recent study into
the individual variation in Passer domesticus was made by Keve (1960) (°)
which also contains a valuable assessment of the vexed question of the
geographical races of the species. There is also a very full bibliography of
recently published literature.

(B) THE P. HISPANIOLENSIS COMPLEX

Although very few juveniles were available, the juvenile morphology
of this species conforms very closely to that of the former species group
and need not, therefore, receive detailed description here. However, it
must be noted that a percentage of the first winter and adult females are
morphologically distinct, while others are scarcely to be differentiated
from those of P. domesticus.

This is a point in the writer’s opinion of special significance and will be
discussed in a later section. In those female individuals of P. hispaniolensis
which closely resemble those of P. domesticus it has been noted that the
mantle striations are, brighter and more contrasting (fide Mendelssohn in
litt. 18th September, 60) and this appears to be the only distinction. The

morphology of the adult males of P. hispaniolensis assume a great im-

‘portance in relation to this problem for to them can be referred certain

of the recurring homologous characters observable in juveniles of P.

domesticus males and also in some later plumage stages of that species.
The characters which invest P. hispaniolensis with this importance are

in the males :—

(a) the chestnut crown,

(5) the white lines which run from base of bill backwards over and

behind the eyes,

(d) the striations of the breast and flanks.

Mention has already been made of the fact that certain females of this

| Species are easily distinguished from those of P. domesticus and the

characters which make this possible are (1) the presence of a dusky throat

patch and (2) some degree of striation of the breast and flanks.

IV. EVIDENCE OF PHYLOGENY AND AFFINITY

| There are certain homologous characters which, occurring in one or
the other of the two species have great value in assessing relationship, and
_ these can be grouped as to whether they find exposure during the stage of

Vol. 81 100 1961

full immaturity or in birds after completion of the post-juvenile moult,
i.e. as first winter, first summer or as adult birds.

It is now probably generally accepted that homologous characters of
a transient nature can occur in the juveniles of different species and may,
therefore, reflect the phylogeny of the group and the following instances
in P. domesticus illustrate this hypothesis excellently.

The evidence as afforded by the full juveniles of this species is provided
by the exposure of the following characters; firstly we may consider the
white eye spot; this is undoubtedly the remnant of the white markings
which are so constant in P. hispaniolensis males and which extend from
the base of the bill backwards over and beyond the eyes. These in P.
domesticus, as has been already stressed, are often inconspicuous and
vestigial, not infrequently only on one side and sometimes completely
absent, as may also be the post-ocular stripes; secondly an important
feature especially of the juvenile males of P. domesticus is the dusky

throat patch. This is, of course, quite distinct from the black gorget which ~

is acquired by the post-juvenile moult. It is the writer’s opinion that the
dusky throat patch is indicative of an affinity to P. hispaniolensis in which
species a throat patch occurs in all males and in a certain percentage of
females. Finally in 10%, or possibly even in a higher percentage of full
juvenile males of P. domesticus striations in distribution similar to those

of the adults of P. hispaniolensis occur. These striations are, of course, a —
‘“ghost’’ pattern but are nevertheless very definite. (See Plate III). Nichols —

(/oc. cit.) describes in his type-—B juvenile ‘‘a narrow sharply defined pale
or whitish arched streak from the eye to the bill’’. This character is rare
in juveniles of P. domesticus but more common in first year and adult
males though usually incomplete or vestigial and sometimes entirely
lacking: it is undoubtedly derived from P. hispaniolensis, (See Plate II B).

If we now come to the first winter and adult males of P. domesticus the
characters to which attention is to be directed are the following :—

(a) the white markings in the head already described for P. hispaniolensis

(b) the white eye spots,

(d) the colour of the crown.

With regard to (a) this is by no means always present and may be said
to be more usually vestigial, unilateral or absent. In its most vestigial
form even when apparently absent, remnants can often be detected by
scrutinising the bases of the feathers arising near the nostrils and at the
rictus; (b) the white eye-spots may be conspicuous or the reverse or, again,
may be unilateral or absent; this state of affairs suggests that it is a phylo-
genetic character which is in the process of being eliminated. The characters
observable in (c) the black gorget assume a considerable importance, for
both in extent and character it shows variation. The most significant of
these is that type in which the lower border does not end as a straight line
but shows a series of arrow-heads directed downwards towards the breast
and flanks, while some specimens also show suggestions of striations
arising from them which at once recalls the hispaniolensis pattern, especi-
ally in individuals in which the striations are present even if weakly
developed, (See Plate IV). Although (d) the colour of the crown is less
liable to reflect phylogeny there are nevertheless some instances of isolated

es ee.

:
—-:1961 101 Vol. 81

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PLATE I. Juveniles of Passer domesticus domesticus (Linnaeus).

A. Male with dusky throat patch.

B. Male showing dusky throat patch moulting into black gorget of first winter plumage.
C. Female, no dusky throat patch.

D. Female with dusky throat patch illustrating juvenile intersexuality.

Ye ope
. x
+? Ax ?
= $
=
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uF Se
S2 >
a'.§ A
i oi

PLATE Il. A. Juvenile showing conspicuous white eye spot.
B. Juvenile showing pale arched line from base of bill to beyond eye.

Vol. 81 102 1961

ey
—
ASS

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sone ght oF aw

WIL bay

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erty 4
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Wp PAS

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HR Same ag 3

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wear

PLATE I. Juvenile males A—F showing dusky throat patches and variable striations
of underparts, ‘‘ghost’’ hispaniolensis pattern: all specimens from the Sevenoaks

district of Kent.

ay i «: he moat
O- J wt
¥ Wsyfoen
pei / 20.

~h eV AAS

PLATE IV. Overlap of characters in the adult males of the two species. Lower borders of
gorgets in P. d. domesticus showing ‘‘arrow-heads’’ and striations of breast and flanks.
A. Passer hispaniolensis hispaniolensis Temminck Malta.
B. Passer domesticus domesticus (Linnaeus) British Isles.
C. Passer domesticus domesticus (Linnaeus) Switzerland.

1961 103 Vol. 81

chestnut feathers occurring on the top of the crown where normally no
chestnut is found in P. domesticus, except, of course, in the race P. d. italiae.
In this connection the position of P. d. italiae is of importance for if, as I
contend, P. domesticus has evolved from P. hispaniolensis then this race
in its evolution has retained the chestnut crown of the latter species. Some
support to this theory is lent by the fact that in P. d. italiae the white
markings on the head which are so characteristic of P. hispaniolensis are
almost as strongly marked and constant in P. d. iftaliae. These findings
point to P. d. italiae being very close to P. hispanioleasis.

Occasional adult males of P. d. domesticus from Europe can be found in
which the centres of the crown feathers are dark sepia giving the appear-
ances found in some less strongly differentiated examples of P. d. tingitanus
from North Africa. Nichols in his paper (/oc. cit.) has the following
comments to make upon the inheritance of homologous characters:
**They suggest potential more or less complete and unlike patterns in
House Sparrow heredity which crop out in young birds, less standardised
than adults. Strangely enough I find a white streak from eye to bill ob-
viously homologous with that in type-B birds in normal males of P.
Jagoensis from Cape Verde Islands and its race ruficinctus of the South and
East African mainland.’’

Having now considered the broad morphological characters of the two
species groups there yet remains to be discussed the interesting position
of the sex anomalies.

(to be concluded )

Variant winter plumage of the female Tufted Duck

by JAMES M. AND JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Received 3lst December, 1960

With regard to the discussions! ? following our original communication?
on variant plumage of the female Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula Boie, we
are now in a position to take this matter a stage further. In the spring of
1960 a brood of Tufted Duck was hatched in captivity. One of the young
when moulting into its first winter plumage showed signs of the dark
brown flecking of the white underparts, which E. H. Gillham considers
to be a normal type of summer plumage, as described in The Handbook".
_ The bird was kept in captivity and it unfortunately died of an acute
| aspergillosis, without loss of weight or general condition on 5th December,
| 1960.

The skin was prepared and careful note was made at the time of the
| state of moult. This was in effect complete and there was no evidence of
any active moult anywhere. It is now in the collection of J.M.H.

When it died in mid-winter, this specimen possessed underparts more
heavily flecked with dark brown than any of the three specimens originally
illustrated by us and it proves conclusively that the plumage we described
is neither that of the adult nor the immature female, nor is it a summer
plumage. It is, in fact, an unusual variant first winter plumage. It yet
remains to be seen, from captivity birds of known age, what the subsequent
| adult seasonal plumages of this mutation may be or whether it is a phase
| restricted to homologous recessive individuals, during the first winter
| plumage only.

Vol. 81 104 1961

Variant first winter female Tufted Duck; 5. xii. 1960, showing heavy brown flecking
of the underparts.

Three young Tufted Duck of the same brood. The upper and lower birds show
the normal subdued barring of the immatrice. The centre bird shows abnormal dark
flecking.

The specimen now described is illustrated in the accompanying plate and
we are also publishing a plate showing three first winter Tufted Duck of the
same brood, which should have appeared in our second paper on this
subject?. Two show the accepted type of immature plumage, presenting
the barred belly and vent, while the centre bird, which was also the centre
bird of our original plate*, shows in addition to the normal subdued
barring of the belly and vent, the coarse and more generally distributed
dark flecking to which we originally referred.

~ ——————————eee

1961 105 Vol. 81

We are indebted to Dr. Edmund Gleadow for the new specimen.

References :

1 Gillham, E. H., *‘ Remarks on the female plumages of the Tufted Duck and a com-
parison with the Ring-necked Duck’. Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 80., pp. 140-1. 1960.

2 Harrison, James M. and Jeffery G. **Further remarks on Female Plumages of the
Tufted Duck’’. Bull, B.O.C., Vol. 80, pp. 141-2. 1960.

5 Harrison, James M. and Jeffery G. **On Varieties of the Tufted Duck, with an account
of an unrecorded type of variation’’. Bull, B.O.C., Vol. 80, pp. 25-28. 1960.

4 Witherby, H. F. et a/. *‘ The Handbook of British Birds’*. Vol. 3., London, 1939.

More aquatic predators of birds

by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 2nd January, 1961

PART Ill
(V) CHELONIANS

AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA. Miss Courtenay-Latimer writes ‘‘Our
Fresh Water Tortoises, Pelomedusa subrufa Gray are extremely common
on all our water courses. They consume young waterfowl and their eggs’’.
Specific cases quoted are:— A water tortoise (20.10.41) ate a two days’
old duckling of the Black Duck, Anas sparsa, near Port Elizabeth. Also,
on the Thomas river, Eastern Cape, at least on four occasions whilst
studying the breeding habits of the Yellow-billed Duck, Anas undulata
Dubois, water tortoises either ate the eggs or devoured the ducklings
when two to three days’ old.

According to African Wild Life (°°), the carnivorous water tortoise,
Pelomedusa subrufa is disliked because of its habit of seizing small duck-
lings, etc. by the leg as they swim on dam or river, and then drag them to
the bottom to drown before devouring them. Many a farmer has lost
much of his young feathered stock to this underwater thief.

In ('*: p. 65) it is recorded that other predators of waterfowl which
from time to time require control include water tortoises. A. C. Harrison,
Secretary of the Cape Piscatorial Society, with reference to aquatic
predators of birds, writes “‘the water tortoise is a minor predator’’.

NORTHERN SNAPPING TURTLE, Chelhydras serpentina (Linn.)

NORTH AMERICA: CANADA: ONTARIO. In a communication

from the Chief, Fish and Wild Life Branch, Department of Lands and

Forests, Ontario, a biologist Mr. H. G. Lumsden recalls having found a
half-grown Mallard Duck in 1949 at Lake St. Clair with one leg severed
above the tarsal joint. The bird although drowned was still warm. He
believed that it was the work of a Snapping Turtle. It is well-known that
this chelonian, which attains a size of 15 inches across the carapace and a
weight of 30 lbs. (occasionally as much as 60 or 70 Ibs.), will prey on
waterfowl as opportunity offers.

NORTH-EASTERN UNITED STATES. (?': p. 63) In the stomachs of
470 Snapping Turtles examined, the only birds found were Wood Duck,
Aix sponsa (L.) .5 (volume) and Red-winged Black bird, Agelaeus
phoeniceus (L.) .6. The percentage frequency of their finding was respec-
tively .4 and .2. This would suggest that the Snapping Turtle is not a
serious predator of waterfowl, though the general belief is to the contrary,

Vol. 81 106 1961

Once again I am greatly indebted to all those who have so kindly
provided me with such a wealth of information based either on their own
experience or on that of others, or who have invited my attention to
relevant references. In particular, | am most grateful for the help afforded
by various correspondents in Canada, which has opened up for me a vast
new field of highly rewarding research.

SUMMARY

In continuation of ibid 77 (°, * and *) several points of special interest
emerge from these notes; first, the claim that ‘‘there is no evidence that
African Otters prey on birds’’ is entirely erroneous; secondly, the South
African Water Tortoise, Pelomedusa subrufa as a predator of ducklings,
such as the Black Duck, Anas sparsa and the Yellow-billed Duck, Anas
undulata, and waterfowl eggs is a serious pest; and thirdly, Ocypode Crabs
may or may not be guilty of serious predation. There is additional con-
firmation that the Nile Crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus of sizes between
one metre and four metres in length preys to a certain extent on birds; and
it seems possible that not infrequently the crocodile takes its toll of the
drinking Quelea swarms. Interesting information has also been obtained
on the predacious habits of some species of sharks, not previously men-
tioned.

HABITUAL PREDATORS OF BIRDS
(To add to previous list)

MARINE FRESHWATER
Fur Seal, Arctocephalus Otters—Lutra maculicollis and
tasmanicus Aonyx capensis

South African Water Tortoise,
Pelomedusa subrufa
PREY

An additional predator of penguins, in particular the Little Penguin,
Eudyptula minor, is the Fur Seal (Arctocephalus); marine predators are
known to take gulls.

Additions to the Nile Crocodile’s avian prey include Flamingos; Spoon-
bill (Platalea); Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio alba; Allen’s Gallinule,
Porphyrula alleni; African Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus; various Ducks;
Blacksmith Plover, Hoplopterus armatus; Black-faced Sandgrouse,
Pterocles decoratus; various doves (Streptopelia and Turtur); and an
Estrildine Finch. There is reference to the Estuarine Crocodile, Crocodylus
porosus taking Pelecanus conspicillatus and the Indian Marsh Crocodile,
Crocodylus palustris taking (presumably Whistling) Teal.

The Nile Monitor, Varanus niloticus, in the vicinity of a breeding
colony of the White-fronted Bee-eater, Melittophagus bullockoides is
recognized as an enemy.

There is more evidence of C/arias and Trout preying on nestling birds.

Silurus glanis is said to take waterfowl as large as ducks. Tiger Fish
(Hydrocyon) are recorded rising to and taking Swallows. The Northern
Pike, Esox lucius, in Canada, is a predator of waterfowl.

OTTERS AND VIVERRIDAE
In southern Africa the Otters, Aonyx capensis and Lutra maculicollis,
particularly the former, can be ruthless, wasteful killers, their prey in-

1961 107 Vol. 81

cluding the Mute Swan, Cygnus olor; Black Duck, Anas sparsa; Whistling
Teal, Dendrocygna bicolor; Little Grebe, Podiceps ruficollis; and various
other waterfowl; also domestic geese, ducks and fowls.

The European Otter, Lutra lutra is said sometimes to prey on seabirds.

In Sweden, the remains of Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos; Coot, Fulica
atra; Starling, Sturnus vulgaris; and Delichon (House Martin) or Hirundo
(Swallow); have been found in its droppings.

The Marsh Mongoose, Afilax paludinosus and the Grey Mongoose,
Herpestes ichneumon, too, can be very destructive to waterfowl and their
eggs.

LESS IMPORTANT PREDATORS

MARINE. Greenland Shark, Somniosus microcephalus.

FRESHWATER. Sheetfish, Si/urus glanis; and Northern (American)
Snapping Turtle, Chelhydras serpentina.

INVERTEBRATE PREDATORS: CRUSTACEANS

Disastrous predation by some species of Ocypode Sand Crabs—for
instance on the White-faced Petrel, Pelagodroma marina—is confirmed;
on the other hand there are species of these Sand Crabs which inexplicably
do not molest the young and eggs of seafowl.

The Coconut Crab or Robber Crab, Birgus /atro, which is one of the
predacious Land Hermit Crabs, eats the eggs of the Sooty Tern, Sterna
fuscata.

Crabs of the genera Ocypoda and Birgus, although found on sea-girt
islands, are mainly land creatures.

INJURIES
Further recorded cases of injuries on a somewhat extensive scale to the
legs of seafowl are as before of obscure origin.

References :—
1 Warham, John. Ibis 100 (4). 1958.
2 Smith, J. B. L. ‘‘The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa’’, 1950.
3’ Bigelow, H. B. & Schroeder, W. C. ‘‘Fishes of the Western North Atlantic—
Sharks’’. Mem. Sears Found. Mar. Res., 1948.
Bannerman, David A. **‘The Birds of the British Isles VII1’*, 1959.
Ridley, M. W. and Percy, Lord Richard. *‘The Exploitation of Sea Birds in Sey-
chelles’’. Col. Res. Studies. No. 25. H.M.S.O., 1958.
Rogerson, H. L. ‘*The Field’’, 26th March 1959.
Ansell, W. F. H. ‘‘Mammals of Northern Rhodesia’’, 1960.
Haagner, A. ‘‘South African Mammals’’, 1920.
Shortridge, G. C. *‘The Mammals of South-West Africa’’ I, 1934.
1 Maberly, C. T. Astley. ‘‘ Animals of Southern-Africa’’. 1959.
™ Report of the Department of Nature Conservation, Provincial Administration of
the Cape of Good Hope, 1952.
Report of the Department of Nature Conservation, Provincial Administration of
the Cape of Good Hope, 1957.
1 Report of the Department of Nature Conservation, Provincial Administration of
the Cape of Good Hope, 1958.
4 Corbet, Dr. Philip S. Uganda Wild Life and Sport I (3), 1957.
15 Stevenson-Hamilton, Lieut. Col. J. ‘*The Low Veld’’, 1929.
16 Shephard, J. B. Field and Tide, March 1959,
Brander, A. A. Dunbar. ** Wild Animals in Central India’’, 1923.
18 Tjader, Richard. *‘The Big Game of Africa’’, 1920.
19 Meinertzhagen, R. Ibis 102 (3), 1960.

oo =

ono UD

Vol. 81 108 1961

20 African Wild Life 4 (1), 1950.
21 The Food of Predaceous Animals in North-eastern United States. Pennsylvania
Game Commission, 1950.

22 The Lammergeyer, Vol. I, No. |, May 1960. The Journal of the Natal Parks, Game
and Fish Preservation Board.

Turnbull-Kemp, P. St. J. Wild Life of the Trout Streams. Bull. No. 2016, Rhodesia
Agricul. Journal. Vol. 57, No. 2, March-April 1960.

Gallagher, M. D. Ibis 102 (4), 1960.

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s
-

The status of Mirafra pulpa and Mirafra candida
by B.. PF. HALL

Received 26th January, 1961

Mirafra pulpa Friedmann, 1930 (April), Occ. Papers Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 5: 257—
Sagon River (north side), southern Shoa, Abyssinia. (Here restricted to Sagon River at
long. 37° 30’ E. from map of expedition, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 153, 1930: 7.)
Mirafra candida Friedmann, 1930 (July), Auk 47: 418—northern Guaso Nyrio River,
River, Kenya. (Here restricted to Archer’s Post from map of expedition.)
History

Mirafra pulpa was described on a single specimen collected on 19th
May, and M. candida on one adult and two young birds collected in early
August 1912, on the Childs Frick Abyssinian Expedition. M. pulpa was
considered closest to M. passerina of southern Africa, a form now believed
to be conspecific with M. cantillans by White (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 76,
1956: 3). Friedmann compared M. candida with M. cantillans marginata,
also collected on the expedition, but mentioned no comparison between
candida and pulpa. Grant and Mackworth-Praed (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 49,
1939: 157), from photographs of the type of pu/pa, concluded it represented
only a rufous phase of M. cantillans marginata, and both candida and
pulpa were listed in the synonymy of M. c. marginata in the African Hand-
book of Birds, vol. 2. White (Peters in Check List of Birds of the World,
vol. 9), left the status of both species in doubt, but subsequently (Bull.
Brit. Orn. Cl. 80, 1960: 22), also without having access to the type, con-
sidered pulpa to be conspecific with M. williamsi Macdonald (Bull. Brit.
Orn. Cl. 76, 1956: 71—Marsabit) and an earlier name for it.

Material examined (see Map)

Through the kindness of Dr. Friedmann | have been able to borrow
from the United States National Museum the type of M. pulpa, the type
and one immature specimen of candida, an adult M. cantillans marginata
from the south end of Lake Rudolf and young birds from the east of Lake
Stephanie and the Indunamara Mts south of Lake Rudolf, all collected on
the same expedition. Mr. M. A. Traylor has also kindly sent me from the
Chicago Museum four young birds from Marsabit, out of a larger series
collected there by Van Someren. I have compared all these in the British
Museum with the type and three other specimens of M. williamsi, and a
series of M. c. marginata which includes adults from Mega, Yavello and
Alghe, southern Abyssinia, and the Baringo district, western Kenya.

The adults of M. c. marginata are alike but the young birds from the
Indunamara Mts. and Marsabit are in series more sandy orange
than those from further north, which is partly, but may not be
wholly, due to soil-staining. Apart from this colour difference they are
similar to the others and, although there is always a possibility of error

1961 109 Vol. 81

in the identification of young larks without their parents, I believe them to
have been correctly identified as young of M. cantillans.

psd Marsabit

xXx Micantillans marginata (adult) PM pulpa (syn. candida)
a Guv.) W M williamsi

Vol. 81 110 1961

Relationship of M. pulpa and M. candida

When sending me the types of pulpa and candida Dr. Friedmann wrote
that he could no longer feel certain that the two species were distinct, and
after examination I also believe them to be conspecific. Some differences
in colour and pattern are due to the type of candida being in very fresh
plumage, in which moult is not quite complete: the dark tones appear
rather brighter and richer than in the type of pulpa, and the pale edges
broader, giving a more patterned effect. There is little difference in size
(see Table) none in feet and claws, and the bills are similar though not
identical, that of pu/pa being a trifle more pointed and narrower across the
culmen. I therefore propose that candida be considered a synonym of
pulpa, and hereafter the name pu/pa only will be used in discussing the
relationship of the four specimens of pu/pa/candida to other species.

Relationship of M. pulpa to M. cantillans marginata

The specimens of M. pulpa, both adults and young, are distinguished
from all of M. cantillans by the rich rufous of the mantle and the edges of
the wings. There are however other small differences which have not
received much attention.

(a) The innermost secondaries and central rectrices of M. pulpa have
a dark line separating the brown centres from the pale edges, giving a
pattern similar to that found in M. rufocinnamomea but not in adult
cantillans. Young birds of cantil/lans have an indication of this line
but it is narrower and less pronounced than in young pulpa. Also, in
fresh plumage, the head feathers of pu/pa have wide light edges with
the dark centre narrow and tapering to a point at the tip of the feather,
whereas in M. cantillans marginata the light edges are narrower with
the dark centre broad and rounded at the tip, following the contour
of the feather. This makes pu/pa appear more streaky on the head and
marginata more scalloped. |

(b) The rectrices of pu/pa are narrower and more pointed than those
of marginata.

(c) The bill of pu/pa, in even the smaller of the two adults, is heavier
than that of marginata, broader at the base and wider across the
ridge of the culmen, though the lengths are similar.

(d) As White pointed out pu/pa is longer in the wing and tail than
marginata. (see Table).

These differences, each small, are together sufficient to make it difficult
to accept that pu/pa is either a colour phase or a subspecies of M. cantillans.
Also the occurrence of marginata east of Lake Stephanie and south of
Lake Rudolph suggests that pu/pa and marginata are partly sympatric. I
believe it is therefore best to consider M. pulpa as a distinct species. It may
possibly be related to M. cantillans much as M. hypermetra is to M.
africana.

Relationship of M. pulpa to M. williamsi

White points out the similarity in size between pu/pa and williamsi: in
addition wi/liamsi has a similar patterning on the secondaries and central
rectrices. Nevertheless I do not believe they are the same bird, nor that
pulpa can represent an immature plumage of williamsi, for williamsi has a
stronger bill, legs, feet and hind claw: the under wing-coverts are more
rufous: the retrices are similar in shape to those of cantillans, not narrow

1961 111 Vol. 81

as in pulpa: also, as far as can be judged on worn specimens, the mantle is
more vinous and may be less patterned. They may also be ecologically
distinct for williamsi is known only from Marsabit and the Didd Galgalla
lava desert 36 miles to the north, while pul/pa was collected in rather less
arid country.

Conclusions

There is reason to regard M. pulpa (of which candida is a synonym) is
specifically distinct from both M. cantillans and M. williamsi and it should
provisionally be regarded as such until further field study and collecting
provide adequate data on which to assess both the taxonomic and eco-
logical status of the three larks.

TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS
(where published measurements differ from mine they are given in vo ier

Wing Bill Tail
3 3 ¥ ms
M. c. marginata 93 69 77-81 75-78 14-15 13.5-15 46- So 46-49
(Abyssinia & Kenya)
M. williamsi 33 1° 84 83 15 15 52-55 (56) 50 (54)
M. pulpa
type 85 (84) 14.5 (14) 54 (60.5)
type of candida 81 + (80) 14 (13.5) 54 (55.5)
(moult)

~ A note on the Sand Crab (Ocopyde sp.) as a predator of
birds in South Africa

by DEREK M. ComINs
Received 10th March, 1961

Captain Pitman (1957, 91) refers to two ‘‘kinds of crabs which have

a
7
ri

__ been seen to attack young birds and pick the skeletons clean, namely
racing crabs or sand crabs, two species of which, Ocypoda cordimana and
O. ceratopthalmus (sic) are common on East African shores”’.

A specimen of a sand crab (EL. 128 3, O. ceratophthalmus (Pallas)) was
collected by Miss M. Courtenay-Latimer and Mr. G. G. Smith, of the
_ East London Museum, at about I a.m. on the 17th May, 1953 at Mboynte
BBincicated as Embotyi on certain maps) near Lusikisiki on the Pondoland

coast. The crab was found attempting to drag a dead female adult Cape
Rock Thrush (Monticola rupestris (Vieillot)) into its burrow which was
situated in beach sand just above high tide mark. The bird was not
_ decomposed; it was skinned and prepared as a museum specimen that
evening. The bird and crab now compose an exhibit on display at the East
London Museum.
* There is no proof that the sand crab had actually caught the Cape Rock
‘Thrush. It should be noted that the Cape Rock Thrush is known to occur
“right down to the seashore’’ at least in the southern Cape (McLachlan
and Liversidge: 1957, 296) which indicates that the bird at Mboynte had
not necessarily arrived in sifu as tide drift. A well authenticated report of a
sand crab having been observed to catch and kill a bird would be of great
interest and worthy of publication. Barnard (1950, 87) gives the distribu-
tion of O. ceratophthalmus as **Mauritius, east coast of Africa to Red Sea,

Vol. 81 112 1961

Indo-Pacific’’. Workers in these localities are urged to publish any —

observations of predation by sand crabs on birds.

Bibliography :

Barnard, K. H. 1950. ‘‘ Descriptive Catalogue of South African Decaped Crustacea
(Crabs and Shrimps)’’, Ann. S. Afr. Mus.

McLachlan, G. R. and Liversidge, R. 1957. Roberts Birds of South Africa.

Pitman, C. R. S. 1957. ‘‘ Further notes on Aquatic Predators of Birds’’, Bull. B.O.C.
77, 6 (1957), 89.

Nile Crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus versus
Spurwing Goose Plectropterus gambensis

by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 18th February, 1961

In the River Nile, in the Murchison Falls National Park in northern
Uganda, a flightless (moulting) female spurwing goose took to the water —
on the approach of a boat. Immediately, a crocodile already in shallow
water made for the bird at speed, swimming on the surface with the head
just showing. The bird saw the crocodile’s approach and started to flap
along the surface. Other crocodiles began to converge on the goose from —
all directions. The crocodile’s swimming speed at the surface was faster
than the goose and each time one closed with her she dived, changed
direction under water and surfaced some twenty yards away. When she
re-surfaced the crocodiles were slow to see her, but when they did so,
immediately they started to close in again. Eventually there were eight
crocodiles hunting her. One crocodile managed to approach close and
then dived, only to surface again immediately behind the bird, which too
had dived, just in time, and eluded its pursuer under water. Usually the
goose dived when a crocodile had closed to within fifteen or twenty yards,
and the crocodile then did not bother to dive. Finally, the goose made
its way to deep water in mid stream and the crocodiles gave up the chase.
Their reluctance to continue may have been influenced by the proximity
of the boat.

XIII Congressus Internationalis Ornithologicus

The Thirteenth International Ornithological Congress will convene at
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, from 17th to 24th June, 1962.

The official announcement and application for membership in the
Congress are now ready for distribution. Interested persons who have
not already done so should send their names and addresses to the Sec-
retary General as soon as possible.

A small fund has been obtained to provide partial support for the
travel of a few persons coming from outside North America. Application
forms will be sent to persons requesting them. (Citizens of the United
States and Canada are not eligible.)

All applications for membership, travel grants and places on the
programme should be returned to the Secretary General before 1st Decem-
ber, 1961.

Charles G. Sibley, Secretary General
‘ _.. Fernow Hall, Cornell University
fe q SEP 1069 , 4 Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

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CONTRIBUTORS

paragraphs for ‘‘Description’’, ‘‘Distribution’’, ‘“Type’’, ‘‘Measure- —

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DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1961
19th September, 17th October, 21st November, 19th December.

Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by
The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent.

a =e rt

— Seer 4”

BULLETIN

OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Edited by
Dr. JEFFERY HARRISON

= 4 OCT 1961 <enWR,
PURCHASED . ;

folume 8! October
1961

(1961 113 Vol. 81 |

BULLETIN
OF THE

BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 8l

Number 7 ~ 4 OCT 1964
Published: 2nd October, 1961“ # ifag~py ASED

The five hundred and ninety-first meeting of the Club was held at the
Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday, 19th September, 1961.

Chairman: Mrs. B. P. HALL,

Members present, 21; Temporary Associates (Overseas), 1; Guests, 12;
Total, 34.

Special General Meeting

In accordance with the notice circulated previously, a special general
meeting was held immediately following the dinner at which the following
resolution, proposed by Mr. C. W. Mackworth-Praed and seconded by
Mr. C. J. O. Harrison was carried :-—

Rule 4.

The following to be added to the third paragraph :— ‘‘A Member who
has had an unbroken membership of the Club for fifty years, shall become
a Life Member, and shall not be réquired to pay any further Annual
Subscriptions. ’’

At the conclusion of the special general meeting, the monthly meeting
ontinued as usual. Mrs. Hall pointed out that she thought that tonight
was the first occasion on which a Club meeting had been presided over
a Madam Chairman, an announcement which was greeted with warm
pproval.

The behaviour of Sea Ducklings

Dr. P. M. Driver then gave a most excellent talk on this subject, a
ary of which follows :—
During the summers of 1958 and 1959 observations were made on the
ehaviour of Eider ducklings in the Ungava Bay and Hudson’s Bay regions
f northern Canada. Detailed studies were made of Eiders, Somateria
Mollissima, from shortly before hatching until fledging, ten birds being
mprinted to the investigator. Many other wild Eiders were watched for
arposes of comparison, and also three imprinted Red-breasted Mer-
ganser ducklings, Mergus serrator, and two broods of wild Long-tailed
Ducklings, Clangula hyemaiis.
Emergence from the shell is conclusively shown to involve the agency of
the egg-tooth, which is brought into contact with the inner surface of the

Vol. 81 114 1961

shell by means of an ‘upward nod’. This movement later takes on other
important functions, being used in drinking, in brooding under the female
in the ‘greeting ceremony’ and in adult displays.

Vocalisations begin before the duckling has hatched, when they are
rather nondescript. After emergence the Eider duckling has a vocabulary
of six discrete innate acoustic signals: the distress call, the complaint, the
cohesion call, the contentment call, the brooding note, and the investi-
gatory note.

A rich supply of invertebrate food, such as mosquitoes and aquatic
Crustacea, is present at the time of hatching, and the ducklings’ feeding
mechanisms develop rapidly. To begin with the duckling shows an innate
interest in any “potential food object’, that is, anything small or dark or
moving, or with any combination of these characters. By experience the
duckling soon learns that some of these objects are edible and others are
not, and it thus comes to concentrate on the small invertebrates. It is
assisted in the development of feeding on aquatic organisms by an innate
‘under water search’ in which the head is partially submerged with the
eyes beneath the surface but the external auditory meatus above. The bird
can thus see its prey and hear acoustic signals at the same time.

As soon as the duckling reaches water after hatching it is able to crash
dive, but a ‘juvenile feeding dive’ takes two or three days to develop fully.
This involves an acrobatic leap from the water and re-entry head first, but
it is replaced by a less agile ‘adult feeding dive’ as the bird fledges.

The mechanism of attraction to the female upon hatching is named the
‘brooding refiex’. This involves a positive response to the feeling of contact
around the head—as when the duckling pushes up into the female’s
feathers—resulting in quiescence of the duckling. It is suggested that the
“brooding reflex’ may be of fundamental importance to proper imprinting.

On the races of the
Stonechat occurring in the Cape Province, South Africa,
with the description of a new form

by M. COURTENAY-LATIMER
Received 23rd December, 1960

The present arrangement of the South African populations of the
Stonechat Saxicola torquata (Linnaeus) into two races (S. ¢t. torquata
(Linnaeus), 1766: Cape of Good Hope, and S. t¢. caffra (Keyserling and
Blasius), 1840: Uitenhage, eastern Cape Province) rests on the pioneer
work of Sclater, Jbis, 1911, pp. 409-410. Later revisers, namely, Meinertz-
hagen, Ibis, 1922, pp. 20-29; Sclater, Syst. Av. Aethiop., part ii, 1930,
p. 467; Bowen, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., vol. Ixxxii, 1931, pp. 7-9;
Roberts, Birds of South Africa, 1940, p. 240, Vincent, Check List Birds of
South Africa, 1952, p. 73; and McLachlan and Liversidge, Roberts’ Birds
of South Africa, 1957, pp. 306-307, all follow Sclater’s original work
closely, though Bowen and Roberts admit a third race (S. ¢. stonei Bowen,
1931: Villa General Machado, Angola) from the drier interior of South
Africa.

- Study of the pertinent literature reveals that the respective ranges of
S. t. torquata and S. t. caffra have never been accurately determined by

1961 115 Vol. 81

workers. Sclater (1911) gives the range of the ‘‘western’’ race (S. ¢.
torquata) as ‘‘from Namaqualand and the Cape Town neighbourhood’’,
while some later workers, notably Roberts (1940), Vincent (1952) and
McLachlan and Liversidge (1957), admit a much more extensive dis-
tribution, which is generally given as the ‘‘western and southern Cape
Province’. I have recently studied a comprehensive series of this small
‘chat from various localities in the south-western, southern and eastern
Cape Province, with results which do not support the present subspecific
arrangement of the populations in the Cape Province of South Africa.

_ §. t. torquata is supposedly different to S. ¢. caffra in having the flanks
largely white in the breeding male, which parts are variably overlaid with
hazel brown in the latter subspecies, while the female has the throat
whitish and the lower breast and abdomen white and not buffish as in
S. t. caffra. Careful study of specimens of both sexes from localities in the
‘south-west Cape (topotypes) (Cape Flats, Muizenberg, Bellville, Malmes-
‘bury, Somerset West, Citrusdal, Tulbagh, Clanwilliam, Calvinia, Swellen-
dam, Grootvadersbosch (Swellendam, etc.) and other parts of the Union,
reveals that the topotypical populations of the nominate race do not have
the characters generally attributed to them. Furthermore, I cannot
discern the slightest valid subspecific difference between the populations
breeding in the south-western Cape Province and those of the coastal
areas of the southern and eastern Cape, Natal and Zululand. Indeed,
birds from the south-western Cape can be matched exactly by examples
in a precisely similar condition of plumage from as far afield as coastal
Pondoland, Natal, eastern Swaziland (Big Bend) and southern Portuguese
East Africa (wintering birds). Bowen, /oc. cit., also noticed that in a series
of six specimens of S. ¢. torqguata available to him from the Cape of Good
Hope some of the specimens did not seem typical of the race (as defined
Dy Meinertzhagen, following Sclater).

Muscicapa torquata Linnaeus, 1766, is based on the ‘‘Gobe-mouche a
collier du Cap de Bonne Espérance’’ of Brisson, and on the finding that
eastern Cape Province and Natal birds are the same as those of the
outh-western Cape, Pratincola robusta Tristram, 1870, Pratincola caffra
Keyserling and Blasius, 1840, and Pratincola torquata orientalis Sclater,
911, are all now placed as synonyms of the first named. Pratincola pastor
Strickland, 1844, based on a Levaillant reference, is also a synonym of
f. torquata. In the light of these decisions, it becomes necessary to return
> the original work of Sclater (1911) in order to determine on what
‘material his so-called ‘‘western’’ race was founded. Reference to this

york shows that Sclater had ten breeding birds from Port Nolloth,
ittle Namaqualand, collected by Claude Grant in July and August, 1903,
‘and four from Durban Road (Durbanville), near Cape Town, taken in
farch and September in the same year by Grant. Other specimens in the
ritish Museum (Nat. Hist.), London, also used by Sclater, came from
Kugelfontein and Komaggas, Little Namaqualand, and from Cape Town.

‘rom this information it can be deduced with reasonable assurance that
the characters given by Sclater for the ‘‘western’’, race of the Stonechat
were based largely on or influenced by a preponderance of material from
Little Namaqualand. This point is very important, because I now find
that the Little Namaqualand series before me from Strandfontein, Garies,

2
Vol. 81 116 1961
Kamieskroon, Wallekraal, Port Nolloth and Alexander Bay, at the mouth .
of the Orange River, shows the characters generally ascribed by workers —
to the nominate race in having the hazel brown on the ventral surface of
the male restricted in breeding birds to the middle and the sides of the ©
breast; the females with whitish throats and sharply demarcated white
over the lower breast and abdomen. This very distinctively marked race
appears to be largely restricted to the dunes and sea-fog region of western
Little Namaqualand—a region already well-known for its number of
endemic races, most of which tend to be greyer or whiter than their
congeners from further east or south. The characters of the Little Nama-
qualand Stonechat are in keeping with this general trend of variation in
western Cape bird forms.

Now that the topotypical populations of S. t. torquata have been shown
to be the same as the S. ¢. caffra of authors, the S. t. torquata of Sclater
and subsequent workers, as understood on the basis of Little Namaqua-
land birds, will require to be given a name. I propose:

Saxicola torquata clanceyi, subsp. nov.

Type: 3, adult. Wallekraal, western Little Namaqualand, north-
western Cape Province (30° 21’ S., 17° 27’ E.). 8th August, 1960. Collected
by E. Hayden. In the collection of the East London Museum. E. L. Mus.
No. 8291.

Description: Similar to S. t. torquata (Linnaeus), 1766, of the south-
western and eastern Cape, Natal and Zululand, from which it differs as
follows: Adult male in breeding plumage with the hazel brown of the
ventral surface restricted to the median surface and the adjacent sides of
the breast, thereby exhibiting much more white laterally. Pure white
extends from the sides of the neck and the edges of the breast down the
sides of the body and over flanks, mid- and lower- breast, abdomen,
crissum and under tail-coverts. Adult female: differs from that of S. t.
torquata in having the throat whiter (when worn usually showing a lot of
basal black over the lower throat), not buffy, and with the lower breast
abdomen, caudad surfaces of the flanks, crissum and under tail-coverts
white, not buffy. Also rather greyer and less warmly coloured on the
upper-parts. Distinctions best marked in the breeding dress. Similar in
size.

Paratypical material: 11 33, 2 29. All from the following localities in
western Little Namaqualand: Wallekraal, 3 $3, 2 99; 20 miles S.W. of
Garies, 1 §; Garies, 1 3; Strandfontein, 1 3; near Kamieskroon, 1 3;
Port Nolloth, 3 $3; Alexander Bay, 1 ¢. Also examined—a long series of
S. t. torquata, and series of S. t. stonei and S. t. oreobates Clancey, 1956,
described from Basutoland.

Range: The dune area of western Little Namaqualand from about the
mouth of the Orange River (Alexander Bay), to just south of the mouth
of the Olifants River (Strandfontein), south of which it intergrades with
S. t. torquata (A series of breeding birds from Clanwilliam shows this
intergradation clearly).

Measurements of the Type: Wing 71.5, culmen 17, tarsus 22.5, tail 52 mm.
Remarks: 1 name this new race in honour of Mr. P. A. Clancey,

1961 117 Vol. 81

Director of the Durban Muesum, in recognition of his help in elucidating
the taxonomy of the Cape Stonechats and the vast amount of work he has
done to help ornithology in southern Africa.

Apart from S. ¢. torquata and S. ¢. clanceyi, two other races of this
species occur within the political limits of the Cape Province. The two
taxa just mentioned are actually coastal in their distribution, while in the
interior of the Cape Province rather paler birds occur. Breeding males in
a series in the East London Museum from the drier interior of the eastern
Cape (mainly Albany division) are distinctly lighter and more yellowish,
more cinnamon coloured, over the breast, sides of the body and flanks
than in S. ¢. torquata of the coastal strip, while the central portion of the
lower breast, the abdomen, crissum and under tail-coverts are buffy white,
not pure white, thereby presenting a less strongly contrasted chromatic
effect over the median ventral surface. Mr. Clancey has kindly compared
these specimens at my request with material in the Durban Museum,
and has pronounced them as applicable to S. ¢. stonei, which race ranges
from Angola and Northern Rhodesia, southwards in the interior of
south-central Africa to the northern and eastern Cape Province, Orange
Free State, the Transvaal and most of Southern Rhodesia. As Stonechats
are given to much seasonal movement, further collecting of breeding
birds will be necessary in order to clear up the precise distributions of
S. t. torquata and S. t. stonei in the eastern Cape Province.

S. t. oreobates also occurs within the limits of the Cape Province, the
East London Museum collection possessing two females of this race from
localities in the north of the eastern parts of the province from localities
in the mountains lying adjacent to Basutoland. Males of S. t. oreobates
resemble S. ¢. stonei over the abdominal surface, but are much darker and
more saturated. The racial distinctions are, however, better marked in the
female, which is a more vinaceous grey, less buff, on the upper-parts than
in either S. ¢. torguata or S. t. stonei, and on the under-parts the throat is
distinctly darker and the rest of the ventral surface more vinaceous tinged.
It is a restricted montane race, occurring in two widely separated regions,
namely, the highlands of Basutoland and the eastern highlands of
Southern Rhodesia.

Acknowledgments

For the loan of camparative material I am grateful to the Directors of
he following museums: South African Museum, Cape Town; Durban
useum; and the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria.
Iam deeply grateful to Mr. P. A. Clancey, of the Durban Museum, for
is help and guidance in the preparation of this report and for effecting
rtain critical comparisons for me.
To Mr. G. G. Smith I extend gratitude for making possible the col-
ection of the valuable series of ornithological material in this Museum.

Notes on African Thrushes
PART ONE
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 15th January, 1961

The present series of notes arise, from the preparation of a revised check
list of the African Turdinae. As with most other Passerine groups of any

Vol. 81 —-118 1961 _

size a simple linear sequence of the genera is impracticable, but genera
may be arranged in groups of apparently closely related genera. This —
raises in varying degrees the question of what genera should be recognised. —
The present note deals with an assemblage of Turdine genera which may
conveniently be termed the charts and wheateas. j
The genera recognised by Sclater (1930) which comprise this group are
Saxicola, Myrmecocichla, Thamnolaea, Pentholaea, Pinarochroa, Kar-
rucincla, Emarginata, Cercomela, Oenanthe. Ripley (Postilla, no. 13, 1952)
proposed to add to it Chaetops. These genera are of very unequal value,
and only three or four of them can be accepted without reserve. Two of
these which may be admitted without further discussion are Saxicola and
Oenanthe. :
Cercomela was originally used for certain rather small brownish species
found in dry areas of the Middle East, N.E. Africa and the southern edge
of the Sahara (melanura, scotocerca and dubia). Structurally they are very
like Oenanthe but lack the boldly patterned tail and plumage, live inside”
bushes to a greater extent and have a distinctive ethological character in
that they frequently open their tails in a fanwise manner. Since 1926 it has
been usual to include also familiaris in Cercomela. In 1950 I pointed out
that the monotypic Emarginata was so closely related to familiaris that the
two species should be included in the same genus. In 1957 Macdonald
pointed out that Karrucincla schlegelii and ‘‘Oenanthe’’ tractrac were so
closely related that they should be placed in the same genus although
Oenanthe might not be the correct genus for them. Ripley had in 1952
recognised Emarginata with Karrucincla as a synonym, an unnatural
arrangement apparently based on the emargination of the primarie
which is clearly not a good generic character and occurs also in tractrac.
In 1958 the S.A.O.S. List Committee proposed that Oenanthe tractrac,
Karrucincla schlegelii and Emarginata sinuata all be included in Cercomela
Cercomela as thus enlarged becomes more difficult to separate from”
Oenanthe than the Cercomela of Sclater. Pattern ceases to be a very good |
guide for the tail pattern of tractrac is like that found in Oenanthe, whilst
schlegelii was found by Macdonald to frequent the tops of bushes like a™
Saxicola although it twinkled its wings like C. familiaris. Cercomela in its
present form comprises a rather varied group of species, and although I I
retain it in its enlarged form, I believe that it virtually merges into Oenanthe
and the distinction between these genera is rather an artificial matter of
convenience. Ripley (1952) proposed to merge Pinarochroa with Cer=
comela; Goodwin (1957) preferred to retain Pinarochroa on the ground
that it was as close to Oenanthe as to Cercomela. If tractrac and schlegelii
were kept in Oenanthe, I would include Pinarochroa there too on account
of its tail pattern, but with these two species assigned to Cercomela, there
can be little ground for claiming that Pinarochroa 1s more like Oenanthe, |
especially as Cercomela and Oenanthe virtually merge into each other.
Consequently I consider that Pinarochroa should be included in Cercomela.
Myrmecocichla, Thamnolaea and Pentholaea form a closely related
group of chats typified by most often having black plumage in at least
males, with varying development of white on the head and wing. Pen-
tholaea consists of two rather small species; they do not really show any
differences from Myrmecocichla apart from their small size. Thamnolaea

1961 119 Vol. 81

- as usually accepted contains two species. The chestnut on the abdomen
in males seems to be the only character by which they differ from Myrme-
cocichla. T. cinnamomeiventris is associated with rocky hills but the other
species T. semirufa occurs on open grasslands like some species of Myrme-
— cocichla. A further peculiarity of Cinnamomeiventris is its habit of nesting
in old nests of swallows. The habitat peculiarity of cinnamomeiventris
among rocks is paralleled by that of Pentholaea melaena which is found
among rocky ravines although the other Pentholaea frequents open
savanna woods. The differences between these three genera of black chats
are thus very unsatisfactory; two of the three genera only contain two
species each and their characters are specific rather than generic. Mr. C.
W. Benson who has had field experience of all three genera agrees with
me that there is no good ground for separating Thamnolaea and Myrme-
cocichla, and no obvious reason for not also uniting Pentholaea with them.
I propose to do so. Thamnolaea and Myrmecocichla were described by
Cabanis at the same time in 1850, but without designating any types of
the genera. This was done by Gray in 1855 in Cat. Gen. Subgen. Bds. He
designated a type for Myrmecocichla on p. 35 and for Thamnolaea on
p. 36. I therefore select Myrmecocichla as the name under which to place
these black chats.

Ripley (1952) places Chaetops between Thamnolaea and Myrmecocichla
in his arrangement. He gives no reason for this, and Chaetops with its
_ graduated white tipped tail and peculiar pattern does not appear to belong

in this group of the Jurdinae. The genera of the chats and wheatears found
in Africa can thus be reduced from Sclater’s 9 to 4, viz. Saxicola, Oenanthe,
Cercomela and Myrmecocichla.

A second group of genera occuring in the Ethiopian region may be
touched upon in conclusion: these are Phoenicurus (migrant only) and
Monticola. I agree with those ornithologists who regard these as probably
related genera, The status of neither is disputed, and they may be regarded
as forming a self contained group.

The Significance of some Plumage Phases of the
House-Sparrow, Passer domesticus (Linnaeus) and the
Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis Temminck*
PART Two

by JAMES M. HARRISON
Received 2nd January, 1961

V. INTERSEXES

As some of the secondary sexual characters are anomalous in full
_ juveniles of P. domesticus it will be found impossible to assign any indi-
- vidual, which could not be anatomically sexed, with any degree of con-
fidence to its correct sex.

But the real anomalous intersexes have occurred in birds in their first
winter plumage.

Hartert (°) in Vég. pal. Fauna described as species No. 251 Passer

*A Summary of this paper was read at the British Ornithologists’ Union York Con-
ference on 25th March, 1961.

Vol. 81 120 1961 |

pak et a House-Sparrow collected by Sarudny (*) in Baluchistan in.

As this so-called species was from its original description a complete
enigma Professor Mayr (8) and Dr. Charles Vaurie scrutinised the Koelz
collections of Passer domesticus from Persia, Afghanistan and various
parts of India, in all about 350 specimens. In the series examined they
‘‘found two kinds of specimens that show indication of intermediacy —
between male and female plumage’’.

Amongst the first year males in rather female dress in the Koetz col-
lections there were four specimens, while amongst the adult females there
were six showing a degree of maleness. They comment that ‘‘It is thus
evident that specimens of both sexes occur in Western Asiatic House- —
Sparrow populations that are somewhat intermediate between the typical
male and female plumage’’. Mayr (/oc. cit.) states ‘‘Although no male
was found without a dark throat patch, as the type of P. enigmaticus the
available evidence suggests that the types of enigmaticus are intersexes of
P. domesticus. (See Plates V and VI).

As it is known that the only secondary sexual character in P. domesticus
which is under hormonal control is the bill colour of the male in summer a
fact experimentally established by Keck (°) the assumption of the black
throat by females of the species invests this character with genetic, and
therefore pari. passu phylogenetic significance. This represents in all
probability an evolutionary pointer back to P. hispaniolensis for, as has
already been shown, in the latter species both sexes can normally have
this character. In the more mature plumages of the male the black throat
and gorget are invariably present and in the same plumages of the female
it is by no means unusual to see a dark throat patch. (See Plate VII).

The writer has two or three such specimens of P. domesticus, amongst
them an adult female taken in the breeding season in the British Isles
which shows this character to an equal extent as is found in some female
examples of P. hispaniolensis, while Nichols (/oc. cit.) refers to ‘‘an
aberrant bird which was banded on 13th May 1930’’ and recovered on
14th May 1932, i.e. ‘‘at least three years old when it had a dark throat
patch faintly indicated’’. The ovary was said to be moderate, but not in
breeding condition.

Such cases, it would seem, must be regarded as genetic intersexes,
essentially mutational and therefore important phylogenetically. In
P. domesticus females such cases are to be regarded as very rare.

Mayr (loc. cit.) states ‘‘Nothing since has been heard of this ‘enigmatic
species’ (as Hartert had called it) except that Sarudny and Harms (*°
gave some additional details of the capture of the only two known speci-
mens’’.

To the intersexes listed by Mayr (loc. cit.) can now be added the follow-
ing :—

dS 8th April 1881 Candahar, Afghanistan.

Swinhoe Coll. B.M. Register No. 81. 12.1.153.
® 23rd Sept. 1907 50 miles west of Samarkand, Turkestan. 4
Carruthers Coll. B.M. Register No. 1909. 10.26.444.
@ 23rd Sept. 1907 50 miles west of Samarkand, Turkestan.
Carruthers Coll. B.M. Register No. 1909. 10.26. 522.

ik?

1961 121 Vol. 81

2 18th Oct. 1954 Habbaniya, Iraq. B.148.
Collected by Jeffery G. Harrison.
In coll. James M. Harrison.

It is known that with transient endocrine imbalance the secondary
sexual characters in some species, notably in Gallus domesticus, Phasianus
colchicus and some of the Anatidae, a swing in these characters towards or
away from one or the other sex may result. But as already stated this basis
cannot be accepted as responsible for such cases in P. domesticus and Mayr
(loc. cit.) comments in this connection, ‘‘Rather, it seems probable that
most of the sexual dimorphism is genetically fixed in the feather papillae’’.

We know that an appearance of pseudo-feminisation can result from an
imbalance of the thyroid secretion. This has been produced experimentally
by Zawadowsky (?") and his colleagues and has been recorded in the wild

Plate V

PLATES V. AND VI. _ Intersexes of Passer domesticus (Linnaeus) Passer ** enigmaticus’’.

A. Male, Passer domesticus indicus Jardine and Selby. 14th October, 1937. Kalat i
Ghilzai, Afghanistan. Koelz Collection, American Museum of Natural
History, No. 467226.

B. Female, Passer domesticus indicus Jardine and Selby. 23rd September, 1907. 50 miles
west of Samarkand, Turkestan, 1,500 feet. Carruthers Collection. Brit. Mus.
Reg. No. 1909. 10. 26, 4444.

C. Female, date and locality as B, Carruthers Collection. Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 1909. 10.
26. 522. Both specimens in the Collections of the British Museum, (Natural
History).

D. Female, Passer domesticus biblicus Hartert. 18th October, 1954, Habbaniya, Iraq.
Collected by Jeffery G. Harrison. No. B. 148. Collection James M. Harrison.

Note to the above specimens of intersexes can be added a further example in the British

Museum series :—

Male, Passer domesticus indicus Jardine and Selby. 18th April, 1881 Candahar, Af-
ghanistan. Swinhoe Collection. Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 81-12. 1. 153.

Vol. 81 122 1961

state (Harrison (77) 1961) so the aetiology of the intersexes in P. domesticus
is possibly complex. Undoubtedly the genetic basis is the primary factor
while the possibility arises of some other factor as yet to be determined
which might affect the reaction of the feather papillae.

VI. DISCUSSION

It is evident that a close study of aberrant and homologous characters
in birds is desirable, and that particular attention should be given to the
juvenile and subadult plumages.

The complexity of all such cases is emphasised by the present study into

nt Hoge goals 72

ee Bro x
ia 2} |
fe et

net os

Plate VI

this subject in Passer domesticus, for here recent research has eliminated
very largely any question of hormonal influence and has focused attention
on heredity and on the genetic potential of the feather papillae which, it is
suggested, may be held responsible for the sexual dimorphism—where
sexual dimorphism is under hormonal control histological investigation
gives the complete answer in any anomalies.

In further recent studies stemming from the work of Stresemann (?°)
into the anomalous plumages of certain species, e.g. Phoenicurus ochrurus,
Muscicapa hypoleuca, M. albicollis, Sylvia atricapilla and S. communis, he
coined for such the term “‘Hemmungskleid”’, for which Mayr (?*) later
suggested the term ‘‘retarded’’ plumage, where the male of a species in
definitive plumage shows two different types, one of which resembles the
immature or female dress. Nichols (oc. cit.) refers to his type—B juvenile in
P. domesticus as foreshadowing the male plumage. He further suggested that
they might be called ‘‘a juvenal with progressive plumage’’. This seems to

1961 123 Vol. 81

the writer inappropriate in that the subjects concerned are /fu// juveniles
and that Stresemann’s ‘‘Fortsschritskleid’’, Mayr’s ‘‘Progressive’’
plumage, refer to birds which have passed the post-juvenile moult and
might therefore even be breeding birds; in fact Mayr (/oc. cit.) comments
*‘such plumages may also occur in adult birds: namely, ‘‘retarded’”’
plumages in adult males and ‘‘progressive’’ plumages in adult females’’.
Therefore in the use of the above terms the operative condition is the
implied breeding of the individual.

The dusky throat patch in P. domesticus juveniles while affording a
clue to the sex of the individual is, in the writer’s opinion, of far greater
significance as a phylogenetic expression for the reasons already advanced
(vide supra).

bis bee

may arev FZ, —
a Sef *

sche

ID Oy rene Ny id

sorry Sf

weet

aot eine
Swat Poa,

Plate VIT

PLATE Vil. Overlap of characters in females of Passer domesticus domesticus (Linnaeus)
and Passer hispaniolensis hispaniolensis Temminck. A. B. and D. Passer
hispaniolensis hispaniolensis Temminck, Thrace. Collection of James M.
Harrison.

C. Passer hispaniolensis hispaniolensis Temminck, Malta. Collection W. H. Payn.

E. Passer domesticus domesticus (Linnaeus). Breeding adult British Isles. Collection
James M. Harrison.

F. Passer domesticus domesticus (Linnaeus). Full juvenile female showing dusky throat
patch and ‘‘ghost’’ hispaniolensis pattern of breast and flanks, British Isles.
Collection James M. Harrison.

VII. SUMMARY

This paper describes certain plumages in the House-Sparrow, Passer
domesticus (Linnaeus) and relates these phylogenetically to the Spanish
Sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis (Temminck).

The implications drawn from the study of certain races and intersexes

Vol. 81 124 1961

of P. domesticus, and their bearing on the question of Phylogeny are
discussed in the light of recent relevant research.

The occurrence of certain homologous recurring characters both in the
juvenile and later stages of P. domesticus lends strong support to the
explanation of such as reversionary atavistic phenomena.

The value of the study of juvenile and immature plumages is stressed,
as calculated to advance the knowledge of avian phylogeny and affinity.

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgments are made to the following for the presenta-
tion or loan of specimens, or other valuable assistance, and particularly to
Mr. J. D. Macdonald for suggesting that I should undertake this re-
search :—

Dr. Jeffery G. Harrison, Mr. Haim Hovel, Mr. J. D. Macdonald,
Professor Ernst Mayr, Professor H. Mendelssohn, Mr. A. G. Parsons,
Major W. H. Payn, Mr. J. D. Summers-Smith, Mr. F. C. Sawyer, Miss
G. M. Thomas and Dr. Charles Vaurie for the loan of a specimen from
the Koelz Collection in the American Museum of Natural History.

References :

1 Bodenstein, G., 1953. Auftreten einer Aispaniolensis-ahnlichen Zeichnung bei einer
Mitteleuropdischen Haussperling. Orn. Mtsbr., 5, 72.

2 Peterson, R. T., Mountford, G., and Hollom, P. A. D., 1954. A Field Guide to the

Birds of Britain and Europe. Plate 63.

Nichols, J. T., 1953. Seasonal and individual variation in young House Sparrows.
Bird Banding, 6, 11-15.

4 Weaver, R. L., 1942. Growth and development of English House Sparrow. The
Wilson Bulletin, 54, 3, 183-191.

Keve, A., 1960. Variations-Studien Uber die Populationen des Haussperlings, Passer
domesticus domesticus L. Proc. XII. Int. Orn. Congr. Helsinki. 1, 376-395. 4 Plates.

Hartert, E., 1910. Species No. 251. Passer enigmaticus Die Vég. paldark. Fauna. |. 154.

7 Sarudny, N., 1903. Einige neue Spezies und Subspezies paldarktischer Vogelarten.
Orn. Mtsbr., 129-131.

8 Mayr, E., 1949. Enigmatic Sparrows. /bis, 91, 304-306.

® Keck, W. N., 1934. The Control of the Secondary Sex Characters in the English
Sparrow, Passer domesticus (Linnaeus). J. Exp. Zool., 67, 2, 315-347.

10 Sarudny, N., and Harms, M. 1913. Bermerkung uber einige VOgel Persiens. II. Die
Sperlinge Persiens. J.f.O., 61, 644-645.

11 Zawadowsky, M. M., 1929. Die Rolle der Schilddriisse bei der Bestimmung des
Geschlechtsdimorphismus nach dem Gefieder von V6geln. Endocrinologie, V.,
253-362.

12 Harrison, James M., 1961. Some Aberrant Plumages in the Covert Pheasant, Phasianus
colchicus Linnaeus. Orn. Pheasant Trust—First Annual Rep., Avicult. Mag. 67, 1.
21-25. 2 Plates.

Stresemann, E., 1920. Avifanua Macedonica.

Mayr, E., 1933. Birds collected during the Whitney South Sea Exped. XX VII. Notes
on the variation of immature and adult plumages in birds and a physiological
explanation of abnormal plumages. Amer. Mus. Novit. No., 666, 1-10.

1
1

m ©

The anomaly of the Rough-wing Swallows of the
Psalidoprocne holomelaena—orientalis group of races
by MICHAEL P. STUART IRWIN
Received 28th January, 1961

White (1961: Bull. B.O.C. 81; pp. 29-33) in his recent review of the
interspecific relationships of the species of Psalidoprocne lumped the various

1961 125 Vol. 81

_ populations of Psalidoprocne holomelaena and Psalidoprocne. orientalis
occurring in Eastern, Central and South Africa, at the same time merging
into this enlarged species, an assemblage of largely allopatric and monotypic
or near monotypic forms, thus greatly reducing the number of species.
Pending a greater understanding of the evolutionary history of the genus
and this group in particular, this step appears eminently satisfactory,
though additional researches may necessitate some future modification.

In discussing the apparent mutually exclusive distribution of those
forms possessing either grey or white under wing coverts (reichenowi and
orientalis), and those that are wholly black (holomelaena); living in
East, Central and South Africa, it is shown that these two easily dis-

- tinguishable groups are, (allowing for apparent off-season wanderings)
always allopatric to one another as far as the breeding populations are
concerned. Holomelaena is shown by White to consist of two geographic-
ally distant populations living in South and East Africa, the latter popu-
lations ranging across to the eastern Belgian Congo. The intervening area
from central Tanganyika Territory to Southern Rhodesia and adjacent
Portuguese East Africa being occupied by orientalis populations. (Note
that the supposed occurrence of holomelaena in the Matengo Highlands
of south-western Tanganyika Territory as reported by Sassi and Zimmer
(1941 : 316-317) in an area otherwise known to be inhabited by orientalis

1 populations, is almost certainly an error, as it is wholly based on visual

_ evidence).

_ Since the appearance of White’s review, the existence of a further
isolated population of holomelaena-like birds has been brought to light in
Southern Rhodesia. The first report of the existence of all-black rough-
Wings in this territory was made by Priest (1935: 321), but has been
subsequently generally ignored. This author reported collecting two birds,
an adult and a juvenile at Zimbabwe, in the Midlands in 1932. However,

_ when compiling the Check List of the Birds of Southern Rhodesia, Smithers

et al. (1957: 130) did not then accept its occurrence for lack of material

_ evidence, as Priest’s skins could not be traced. On the other hand, several

reliable observers subsequently reported it on the basis of visual evidence

in that area. In view of this and the original record by Priest, a few days
were spent in early November, in the Bikita Native Reserve, just south of

Bikita at about 3,400 ft. a.s.l. at approximately 20° 06’ S., 31° 37’ E., this

~ is some 45 miles east of Zimbabwe, but in country even more ecologically

_ suitable for the occurrence of rough-wings.

Collecting activities centred along a small perennial stream running
_ through rich Brachystegia woodland, and within an hour of arrival the first
_ pair of rough-wings were spotted flying lazily upstream, level with the tops
of the trees. On the following morning a party of about eight were noticed
- flying about over a closely cropped sward dotted with dead trees, on the
| same stream, just below a strip of retreating forest. Henceforth they were
' observed on numerous occasions, but were invariably on the move either
' upstream or downstream, flying at about tree height. Under such conditions
| they were not easy to collect, but finally on the 7th, a pair were obtained as
| they were about to go to roost in a sandy bank on the same stream, where
they had been noted at the same time on the previous evening. Both proved

Vol. 81 126 ; 1961

to be fully adult, one being a male with slightly enlarged testes and the
other a female with ovaries undeveloped.

The general habitat in which they occurred was one of rich Brachystegia
woodland bisected by forested or semi-forested water courses, otherwise
lined with Syzygium trees, or flanked by Brachystegia. Due to its topo-
graphical position the whole region is one of locally high precipitation,
ranging on the average of between 40 and 50 inches of rainfall per annum,
and this in turn is reflected by the richness of the vegetation and through
the continued existence of isolated patches of montane evergreen forest in
sheltered positions on the higher hills. Botanically the region shows a
marked phytogeographical affinity with eastern Southern Rhodesia;
forming, as demonstrated by Wild (1956: 53-62), part of an east-west —
extension of the Inyangani Subcentre, but isolated from similar such areas
by tracts of drier country. In addition to other designated areas to the west,
this particular region is termed the Bikita extension. Likewise the Zim-
babwe area is similarly constituted, both forming extensions 2 and 3 of the —
' same complex as given on the accompanying map. The entire Bikita-
Zimbabwe region receives not less than 32 inches of rainfall per annum.
It is therefore apparently over this tract of country between about 3,000—
5,000 ft. a.s.l. that holomelaena-type birds are restricted.

The affinities of this isolated population of all black birds must now be —
considered in relation both to the other more distant populations of
holomelaena-type birds occurring over a thousand miles to the north in ©
Tanganyika and in coastal Portuguese East Africa 350 miles to the south- ~
east, as well as to the geographically much nearer orientalis populations ©
living less than 40 miles distant across the Sabi Valley. Orientalis-type birds ~
are generally distributed along the eastern border of the territory, where —
they occur between 1,000 and 7,000 ft. a.s.]. living usually in close associ-—
ation with evergreen forest, though often too, found in Brachystegia. They
also range locally, if only through sporadic wandering, as far west as
Tsungwesi at 18° 48’ S., 32° 13’ E., and the Inyamapamberi River near |
Inyazura, (personal visual record and R. K. Brooke in litt.) and to”
Rusape, slightly to the north (A. N. B. Masterson, verbal comm.). They
are also stated to occur on Wedza Mountain at 18° 45’ S., 31° 36’ E., (R.~
K. Brooke in /itt.) and Priest also recorded them from thence, but resident
populations are still not known definitely elsewhere in Mashonland to
the west, though on visual evidence some form is stated to occur near
Sinoia, but supporting evidence has never been forthcoming; and R. K.
Brooke recorded a single wanderer in November, eleven miles N.N.E. of
Salisbury. Otherwise the only physical barrier separating the two popu-}
lations is the arid rain-shadow region of the Sabi Valley which must be
largely ecologically unsuitable, but the barrier cannot by any means be
complete as R. K. Brooke again informs me that he has seen orientalis at
1,450 ft. a.s.I. to the south of Birchenough Bridge along the Sabi River.
Likewise holomelaena would be equally likely to wander down into the”
Sabi Valley. . |

A similar set of circumstances exists in Northern Rhodesia, where
orientalis occurs generally east of the Luangwa Rift, though also known
from the lower Munyamadzi River in the valley itself; but to the west on
the plateau is replaced by the race reichenowi.

1961 127 Vol. 81

In analysing this distributional pattern it might at first seem that these
more or less mutually exclusive populations would indicate the existence
of strong interspecific competition and a general ecological incompat-
ability, with holomelaena in part with a relict distribution. However, a
relatively simple set of genetic factors may influence the occurrence and
dominance of either the one type or the other; thus, until more is known
about these swallows it seems preferable to follow White in regarding
them as conspecific.

I have closely compared the various populations of orientalis and
holomelaena and have been quite unable to detect any differences in colour
gloss between one and the other, nor as in the case of reichenowi, is there any
consistent size difference. White recognises the East African suahelica as
being larger, but one South African specimen examined, with a wing of
118 mm., is only one mm., smaller than the largest East African specimen
measured by White.

The following table of measurements which supplements that of White,
is based on the adult material in the National Museum of Southern
Rhodesia, plus a series of holomelaena kindly loaned by Mr. P. A. Clancey,
Director of the Durban Museum and Art Gallery.

TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS

holomelaena populations
Eastern Cape, Natal wing 65 105, 106, 108, 111, 112, 112, 112, 118.
and Northern Zululand Q 104.
tail 33 =: 82, 82, 83, 86, 86, 88, 89, 92.
Q 82

Bikita, Southern wing $ 109,298; tail 3 82, 2 69.

orientalis populations
Eastern Southern wing 33 104, 105, 106, 109, 109, 110, 112, 112, 113.
Rhodesia and adjacent GO 95, 97, 98, 99, 99.
Portuguese East tail 33 77, 79, 79, 79, 82, 83, 85, 86, 89.
Africa 2° 65, 66, 68, 68, 69.

Though White fully discussed the distributional pattern of the various
forms, attention should perhaps also be drawn to a further instance of
different races approaching each other closely. This is provided by ru-
wenzori, the western representative of the all black holomelaena, which
penetrates down the west side of Lake Tanganyika in the eastern Belgian
Congo to Mount Kabobo at 5° 06’ S., 29° O1’ E., (Prigogine 1960: 38); and
must therefore be closely approached by reichenowi which in turn is the
western representative of orientalis, as this form occurs at Lubilu at
4° 40’ S., 27° 48’ E., (Schouteden 1955: 482). Here again different forms
approach each other from widely separated geographical regions, further
emphasising the rather complicated evolutionary history that this genus
must have undergone in the past, preceding the establishment of the
existing distributional pattern.

Vol. 81 128 1961

References :

Priest, C. D. 1935. The Birds of Southern Rhodesia. 3. London.

Prigogine, Dr. A. 1960. La faune ornithologique du Massif du Mont Kabobo. Ann. du
Musée Royal du Congo Belge, Tervuren. 85: -146.

Sassi, M. and Zimmer, F. 1941. Beitrage zur kenntnis der Vogelwelt des Songea-
Distriktes mit besonderer Berucksichtigung des Matengo-Hochlandes. Ann.
Naturhist. Mus. Wien 51: 236-346.

Schouteden, Dr. H. 1955. De Vogels van Belgisch Congo en van Ruanda-Urundi. Pt. 7.
Ann. du Musée Royal du Congo Belge. Tervuren Zoologie 5: fasc. 2, 227-518.

Smithers, R. H. N., Irwin, M. P. S., and Paterson, M. L. 1957. A Check List of the
Birds of Southern Rhodesia. Cambridge, London. |

White, C. M. N. 1961. The African Rough-winged Swallows. Bull. B.O.C. 81: 29-33. —

Wild, H. 1956. The principle Phytogeographic elements of the Southern Rhodesian
flora. Proc. Trans. Rhod. Sci. Assoc. 44: 53-62.

On the polytypic variation of the
Red-billed Oxpecker Buphagus erythrovhynchus (Stanley),
with the characters of a new subspecies :

by P. A. CLANCEY AND W. J. LAWSON

Received 17th January, 1961

The Red-billed Oxpecker Buphagus erythrorhynchus (Stanley), 1814:
northern Abyssinia, is the more restricted in range of the two species of
Buphagus, ranging from the southern Sudan, Uganda, the eastern borders
of the Congo, Abyssinia, Eritrea and the Somalilands, southwards through
eastern Africa to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, Southern Rhodesia, the
Transvaal, Orange Free State, Swaziland, Natal and Zululand, and south-
ern Portuguese East Africa. In many parts of its range, particularly in the
south, it has been completely eradicated or sorely depleted in numbers
through human agency in the form of game elimination and the mass
dipping of cattle and other domestic stock. At the present time the popu-
lations of this species are arranged in two rather imperfectly understood
subspecies, resulting from the original work of the German systematist,
Hermann Grote (1927), who recognised two races: a pale northern form
(B. e. erythrorhynchus) with a somewhat limited range, and another ©
larger and darker one, B. e. caffer Grote, 1927: Palala River, Zoutpansberg, —
northern Transvaal, distributed from about the southern limits of the —
highlands of Kenya Colony south to the austral parts of the species’
range. Grote’s findings have been largely followed by later workers {see —
Sclater (1930); Sclater, in Jackson (1938); and Mackworth-Praed and
Grant (1955)], though Chapin (1954) found the overlap in wing-measure-_
ments between the two taxa to be considerable and the differences in
colour to be relatively slight, and was unwilling to accord recognition to -
B. e. caffer. Study of the variation is this species is complicated by the fact
that considerable change is wrought in the colour of the feathers through
the bleaching agency of the sun, series in museum collections from single
localities are seldom extensive enough, while skins are extremely prone to
rapid post-mortem cabinet colour change. 3

A direct comparison between recently taken material from the Transvaal

(near topotypes of B. e. caffer) and specimens only a few years old from
Abyssinia, Somaliland, and parts of Kenya Colony shows that B. e.

1961 129 Vol. 81

erythrorhynchus and topotypical B. e. caffer are only slightly differentiated
in the colouration of the body plumage and scarcely at all in size. In
topotypical B. e. caffer the wings of 10 3 2° measure 119-124 (121.3), and
the tails 87-95 (91.0) mm., and the colour of the upper-parts is about
Deep Greyish Olive/Hair Brown [Ridgway (1912) (pl. xlvi)|, and the tail,
when viewed ventrally, shows no suffusion of cinnamon, being wholly
Hair Brown. In specimens of B. e. erythrorhynchus before us from Abys-
sinia, northern Kenya Colony and Somaliland the upper-parts are slightly
lighter than in B. e. caffer, particularly over the head, the colour of the

_ mantle being about Drab (pl. xlvi) or slightly greyer. On the under parts,
the throat is rather paler than Drab (a greyish olive in B. e. caffer), the
breast is rather less dusky, and the lower breast, abdomen and flanks are
usually rather more suffused with warm buff, less whitish, than B. e. caffer,
but the best racial character seems to be in the colouration of the rectrices,
the series of B. e. erythrorhynchus before us having the under surfaces of
the tails distinctly cinnamon tinged. In some of the better marked speci-

_ mens the inner webs of the two outer pairs of rectrices exhibit a 4—6 mm.
wide lateral band of Sayal Brown (pl. xxix), which feature does not occur
in B. e. caffer, as understood on the basis of Transvaal topotypes in the
Durban Museum collection.

While B. e. erythrorhynchus is not readily separable from B. e. caffer on

the basis of size, some of the populations currently grouped in this taxon
are indeed aggregates of much smaller sized birds than the latter race,

- particularly those of Somalia and adjacent coastal Kenya Colony. Three
3 2 from Somalia (Iscia Baidoa; Mogadishu) have wings 108, 110, 110.5
- (all rather worn), while a single example from Lamu, north-eastern Kenya
Colony coast, has a wing of 113, and another one from M’koi a wing of
108 mm. The tails of these five birds measure 79-84 (82.6) mm. The

_ Somali examples are also on the whole paler and more ‘‘desert-coloured’’
than any other specimens examined by us. The rumps are particularly

_ pallid. In the high interior of Kenya Colony, Uganda and Abyssinia
(highlands) the populations are composed of very much larger birds
- (wings of 11 3 9 115—125.5 (118.4), tails 84.5-93 (87.5) mm. Chapin gives
the wings of Abyssinian birds as 105—120 mm., but some of his specimens
were obviously not from the highlands of that country, or else partially
moulted birds still carrying juvenal remiges. It seems to us that B. e.
erythrorhynchus auct., is a composite form of two quite well-marked
subspecific taxa: a large-sized race of the elevated interior of north-eastern
Africa with wings over 115 mm. in length, and a markedly smaller and
rather paler one apparently more or less confined to the arid region of
Somaliland and immediately adjacent areas in other territories. It is
evident from a study of the pertinent literature that some workers have
considered the latter populations to represent the nominate race, while the
former are often placed along with the southern B. e. caffer—now seen to
be incorrect in the light of the characters found to differentiate Transvaal
topotypes of that race from the Abyssinian and Kenya Colony highland
populations of the species. The question of allocating names to the two
‘subspecies which comprise the taxon B. e. erythrorhynchus auct., will
require to be held in abeyance pending the examination of much more
extensive material from north-eastern Africa than presently available to us.

Vol. 81 7 130 1961

The northern limits of the range of B. e. caffer are not readily fixed on
the basis of existing material, but two recently taken skins from the Kenya
Colony highlands (South Kinangop; Lake Naivasha) collected by Mr. J.
G. Williams seem to be intermediate between that race and the nominate
one. Sclater, in Jackson, also observed that the birds of Kenya Colony and
Uganda are often intermediate. B. e. caffer is now found to be a race of
the interior savannas of east central and southern Africa, ranging from
the interior of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, northwards through
Northern Rhodesia, adjacent Nyasaland, and parts of western northern
Portuguese East Africa to the interior and western districts of Tanganyika
Territory, north of which it intergrades with the slightly differentiated
occidental populations of B. e. erythrorhynchus as at present accepted.

In dealing with the characters of B. e. caffer, Mackworth-Praed and
Grant describe the race as differing from the nominotypical form by being
browner above, and warmer in tone of colour. As will be appreciated
from a study of our observations on the actual differences segregating
B. e. caffer of the Transvaal and B. e. erythrorhynchus, the former race is
slightly darker and colder in tone on the upper-parts, and paler if anything
below. It would appear that the two authors concerned based their
assessment of the characters of B. e. caffer on material emanating from the
populations of the humid eastern littoral of eastern and south-eastern
Africa, and not wholly on the birds of the southern interior plateau. We
now find that the populations of this oxpecker from the littoral of north-
eastern Kenya Colony (Kilifi) and Tanganyika Territory, southwards
through the lowlands of Portuguese East Africa to Zululand and (?)
Natal are distinctly darker and more richly coloured than interior birds.
In the case of the coastal Kenya Colony birds there is also a marked size

difference (wings of 3 3 2 109, 109, 110.5 mm.), and the rectrices are

suffused with cinnamon, in these respects agreeing with the small-sized
Lamu, M’koi and Somali birds discussed earlier in this paper, although,
of course, differing abruptly in their darker, more saturated colouration.
It seems to us that such populations are in all probability no more than
minor links between the well differentiated populations of Somalia and the
adjacent littoral of Kenya Colony and the darker and larger sized birds
occurring slightly further south in coastal East and south-eastern Africa,
which latter are readily distinguishable on the basis of much darker
colouration from both B. e. caffer and B. e. erythrorhynchus. As no name
seems to be available for this richly coloured coastal form of the Red-
billed Oxpecker, we propose to name it

Buphagus erythrorhynchus scotinus, subsp. nov.

Type: 3, adult. Panda, Inhambane district, Sul do Save, southern Portu- —
guese East Africa (24° 02’ S., 34° 45’ E.). 21st September, 1960. collected

by P. A. Clancey. In the collection of the Durban Museum.

Diagnosis: In newly moulted dress differs from B. e. caffer Grote, 1927:

Palala River, Zoutpansberg, northern Transaval, in being much darker
and blacker on the upper-parts, wings and tail (mantle centre about
Fuscous (pl. xlvi) as against Deep Greyish Olive/Hair Brown in B. e.
caffer); darker over the sides of the head and neck, and on the under-parts,

—————————

darker on the throat and breast; on the lower breast, abdomen and flanks
more richly coloured, being slightly more dusky than Chamois (pl. xxx)
(whitish buff in B. e. caffer). Averaging slightly smaller in size.

Measurements: Wings of 10 3° 115-125 (118.7), tails 85.5-92 (89.0) mm.

Paratypical material: 16. Portuguese East Africa, 14; eastern Tan-
ganyika Territory, 2.

Measurements of the Type: Wing (flattened) 125, culmen 20.5, tarsus 22,
tail (moult) 80 mm.

Range: Humid coastal area of south-eastern and eastern Africa,
ranging from (?) Natal (no recently collected specimens available),
Zululand, southern Portuguese East Africa, and the northern parts of the
same territory to the littoral of north-eastern Tanganyika Territory
(west as far as the Usambara Mts.). Intergrades in coastal Kenya Colony
with the small-sized, pale coloured populations of B. e. erythrorhynchus
auct., and presumably to the west of its established range with B. e. caffer.

Remarks: The name chosen for the new race of Red-billed Oxpecker
is from the Greek oxorwos, dark, swarthy, etc., which is descriptive of
its darker and more saturated colouration when compared with the other
two named races.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Mr. John G. Williams, Ornithologist of the Coryndon
Museum, Nairobi, for assistance and the toan of material from eastern
and north-eastern Africa. We also extend our profound thanks to Dr.

M. Corinta-Ferreira, of the Museu Dr. Alvaro de Castro, Lourencgo

Marques, for the loan of the Portuguese East African material housed in

the collection of that institution.

_ References:
t Chapin, James P. Birds of the Belgian Congo, part iv, 1954, p. 177.
Grote, H. Ornithologische Monatsberichte, vol. xxxv, 1927, p.13.
Mackworth-Praed, C. W. and Grant, C. H. B. Birds of Eastern and North Eastern
. Africa, vol. ii, 1955, p. 721.
Ridgway, R. Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, 1912.
Sclater, W. L. Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, part ti, 1930, p. 671.

Sclater, W. L. in Jackson, F. Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate, vol.
iii, 1938, p. 1302.

ADDENDUM

Since the above report on the polytypic variation of Buphagus erythror-
hynchus was written, the Durban Museum has received ten further speci-
mens from Kenya Colony, collected in January and February, 1961, by
our taxidermist, Mr. M. O. E. Baddeley. This additional material con-
rms that two perfectly discrete races occur in the territory concerned.
Four 3 ¢ 2 from Kachileba, Suam River, north-east of Mt. Elgon, have
' wings 116 (worn), 120, 121, 121.5, whereas 6 3 3 from Garissa, Tana River,
“have wings 109.5, 110, 110.5, 111, 111, 113.5 mm. The Garissa birds are
also much paler, especially on the ventral surfaces, than those from near
Mt. Elgon, and agree with the other xeric populations occurring further
east in Somalia in respect of colour and size. P.A.C. W.J.L.

i»
a

Vol. 81 132. 1961

The relationship of the Guinea-Fowls
Agelastes meleagrides Bonaparte and Phasidus niger Cassin
by B. P. HALL

Received 21st February, 1961

In West Africa and the Congo two monotypic genera of guinea fowl
are recognised: these are Agelastes meleagrides, the White-breasted or —
Turkey-like Guinea-fowl of forests from Liberia to Ghana, and Phasidus —
niger, the Black Guinea-fowl of the Congo forest from the Cameroons to
Ituri.

In structure and size the two birds are remarkably alike differing most
notably from other guinea-fowl of Numida and Guttera in the texture of
the plumage and the length and shape of the tail. From the few field notes
available both seem to have similar habits, being denizens of thick forest,
very shy, and keeping in small flocks or family parties rather than large
flocks like other guinea-fowl.

The differences on which the two genera have been recognised lie in the
colour and pattern, and in the extent or lack of feathering on the head and
neck.

The adults of Agelastes have the head and upper neck bare except for
a few sparse white feathers on the neck and throat, and the bare skin is
recorded as rose-red in life: the lower neck and breast are white and the
remainder of the body plumage slate grey with fine vermiculations. In
Phasidus there is a band of short, soft black feathers from the nostrils to
the hind crown, the sparse feathering of the throat and neck is black and ~
slightly more prolific on the hind neck than in Agelastes: the bare skin is
recorded by Bannerman as yellow in life, and by Chapin as light red to
pinkish grey on the throat: the plumage is uniform dark, sooty brown,
with obsolescent vermiculations.

These differences alone seem small grounds for distinguishing two
genera and furthermore are not so pronounced in the young. An immature ~
specimen examined of Agelastes has the sparse feathering of the head and
neck black with a greater concentration of feathers on the crown following —
the line of the band in Phasidus, while younger birds are described as —
having the white of the lower neck and breast replaced by blackish-brown
feathers with no vermiculations, but with the rest of the plumage more
like that of the adult.

It seems indeed that the two birds, far from being members of different
genera, may be closely related. Mr. R. E. Moreau, who has examined
specimens with me, agrees with this view, and when I consulted Dr. J. P.
Chapin he replied (in /itt). ‘‘I can readily agree that Agelastes and Phasidus
are geographic representatives of one line of the guinea-fowl family and
might be included under a single generic name.’’

I therefore propose that Phasidus be considered a synonym of Agelastes
and that the Black Guinea-fowl shall be known as Agelastes niger.

References:

Bannerman, D. A. 1930. Birds of Tropical West Africa, 1: 356-358. WH MUS
Chapin J. P. 1932. Birds of the Belgian Congo 1: 657-660. Keb eo

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CONTRIBUTORS

Authors introducing a new name or describing a new species or race
should indicate this in their title and display the name prominently in the
text followed by nom. nov., sp. nov., subsp. nov. as appropriate. In these
descriptions, the first introduction of the name should be followed by
paragraphs for ‘‘Description’’, ‘‘Distribution’’, ‘‘Type’’, ‘‘Measure-
ments of Type’’, ‘‘Material examined’’ and further sub-headings as
required.

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DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1961
17th October, 21st November, 19th December.

Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by
The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent.

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BULLETIN

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Volume 8! November
No. 8 1961

OF THE PURCHASED

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Volume 8l

Number 8
Published: Ist November, 196!

The five hundred and ninety-second meeting of the Club was held at the
Rembrandt Hotel, S.W.7, at 6.45 p.m. on Tuesday, 17th October, 1961.

Chairman: CAPTAIN C. R. S. PITMAN

Members present, 31; Temporary Associates (Overseas), 2; Guests, 14;
Total, 47.

Ten Year Scientific Index for the Bulletin

The Committee have agreed to produce this very necessary Index,
covering the ten year period prior to Volume 80, for which a Scientific
Index was published. We are very pleased to announce that the Royal
Society have most generously awarded us a Grant of £100 towards the
production costs, but as these are likely to be about £250, any further
_ contributions will be most gratefully received.

}
A bird photographer in Spain
_ Mr. Derrick England gave an entertaining talk illustrated by excellent
colour transparencies, of his experiences in the Almiria area of Southern
_ Spain. It was unfortunate that we were unable to see all the photographs
- Owing to a projector failure. Mr. England referred to the Bluethroat,
Cyanosylvia svecica in Spain as being quite different in habit, stance and
_ song from those he had seen elsewhere and the males all appeared to lack
any white spot. Interesting shots were shown of an incubating female
Golden Oriole, Oriolus oriolus, a very old bird by her feet and in advanced
male plumage. The young all died during hatching. In the same conifer
forest the remains of a Roller, Coracias garrulus was found beneath the
nest of a Honey Buzzard, Pernis apivorus and some excellent photographs
of the former included one of the bird caught by its wing when leaving
the very small nesting hole and Mr. England thought that this might have
peer the way in which the Honey Buzzard had caught a Roller. In the
“Same forest, a Rock Sparrow, Petronia petronia was found nesting in a
Green Woodpecker’s Picus viridis hole. We were also shown photographs
of a young male Black-eared Wheatear, Oenanthe hispanica, vhich had
been reared by Mr. England, the male parent of which was_ he black-
throated variant of the species.

Vol. 81 134 Bulletin B.O.C.

Observations on the breeding of
the Sandgrouse Pterocles alchata and senegallus

by S. MARCHANT
Received 16th January, 1961

SUMMARY
Observations on 23 nests of Pterocles alchata and 5 nests of P. senegallus, found
between 4th June and 18th July, 1960 in an area south-east of Baghdad, Iraq, are
described, including details of the incubation and its share between the sexes, as well
as some remarks on the nest, clutch-size and laying.
What is taken to have been the watering of the young by the male, bringing water
in his belly feathers, was once observed for a brood of P. senegallus.
The length of the breeding season and lack of breeding success are also mentioned,
as well as the food of P. senegallus.

INTRODUCTION

Although unable to make an exhaustive search of the literature, I have
not found anything except essentially casual references to the breeding of
sandgrouse in the wild. Most of the standard works on the birds of the
areas in which sandgrouse occur, describe the eggs, nests and breeding
habitats of some or all species, but go very little further; and in this con-
nection I refer to such authors as Bannerman (1931), Archer and Godman
(1937), Bates (1930), Cave and Macdonald (1955), Hume and Marshall
(1879), Jackson (1938), Meinertzhagen (1930, 1954), Praed and Grant
(1952), Roberts (1940), Stuart Baker (1935) and Witherby et al. (1940). For
Iraq itself the only reference to the breeding of these species is by Ticehurst
et al. (1921-2), where there is some conflict between different accounts. At
the same time most authors mention other aspects, such as the share of
incubation by the sexes, the incubation period and care of the young, with-
out referring to the observations on which their statements are based. In
particular there is doubt as to how the parents provide the young with
water, if they do so at all, though recent expressions of opinion (Meinertz-
hagen, 1954; Hiie and Etchécopar, 1957) have been that the idea of the
male bringing water in his belly feathers is fantasy.

On the other hand J am grateful to Mr. D. Goodwin for referring me to —
papers by Meade-Waldo (1896, 1897, 1906) and St. Quintin (1905) on the ©
breeding of certain species in captivity. These accounts are the only ones
which I have found, not only giving details of incubation, but also saying ©
quite precisely that the male brings water to the young in its feathers.

In view of this apparent lack of recorded observations in the wild, the —
following notes on the breeding of Prerocles alchata and Pterocles senegallus
in an area near Baghdad in the summer of 1960 may be of interest.

BREEDING HABITAT 7
The area was about 40 km. south-east of Baghdad on the eastern side of
the road to Kut and from 2 to 5 km. distant from the road. Here the land ©
is absolutely flat, in summer time a desert of hard, baked clay with in-_
significant sandy or finely gravelly patches, only interrupted by low
irregular ridges which represent the remains of canals built by ancient —
civilisations. Between these ridges the desert is often totally barren without
a single plant over many acres, but in places the Arabs are able to use areas"
where the winter rains formed shallow flashes, for cultivation and by May
when the sandgrouse breed, these ploughed-up areas are either covered —

z
S

Bulletin B.O.C. 135 Vol. 81

with barley, barley stubble or low, thorny or prickly, xerophytic plants.

Nearer the Kut road this cultivation is continuous and assisted by irri-

gation from the Tigris. One large area alongside the continuous cultivation,

itself uncultivated, supported a thin scatter of low tamarisk and other
woody plants.

Both species were breeding throughout this area and as far as I could
judge, neither showed any preference for particular types of terrain. I
found nests of both close to one another not only on the flat barren

wastes, but also in the area supporting the thin tamarisk growth. I only
_ saw one nest (of alchata) in the patches of old or new cultivation, but
_ admittedly I hardly searched such sites at all. It was easiest for me in the
limited time at my disposal to drive over the open desert and spot the
sitting birds.
The birds were numerous in my study area and indeed over a much
_ wider area, but could not have been called abundant or in really large
-_ numbers. In all I found 23 nests of alchata and 5 of senegallus, as well as
some broods of both, and I think that this ratio is representative of the
_ proportions of the two species in the area.

Broadly speaking, the area lies about 10 km. distant from the Tigris,
though I never located it precisely in relation to the river: yet at the same
time for much of the breeding season irrigation water occurred much
closer to the nesting area. Some water was certainly available not more
than 3 km. from some of the nests, but I have no idea whether the birds

made use of it: in fact, | never watched the birds drinking and had no
knowledge of where they did so nor of that aspect of their behaviour.

NEST

Many of the authors quoted say that the nest is a scrape. For instance,
Meinertzhagen (1954), discussing senegallus, says: ‘‘The nest is a small
scratching in absolute desert.’’ Now, four of my five senega//us nests and
fifteen of my twenty-three a/chata nests were in natural hoof-marks
unaltered by the birds. In the remainder the ground could have been
scratched out slightly by the birds, especially in the case of the only four
nests (all a/chata) found alongside a small tuft of vegetation. No nest had a
trace of material added by the bird (Ticehurst e¢ a/., 1921; Allouse, 1953).
I would conclude therefore that it is unusual for either species to prepare
a nest, but that the birds normally select a suitable natural hollow or
foot-print in which to lay their eggs. The foot-prints vary considerably in
depth, probably depending on the state of the ground when the animal
passed, rather than on the sort of animal, because I do not think they were
formed by anything other than camels. The shallow ones were evidently
so formed, but the oldest and deepest were merely shapeless or conical
depressions, up to three inches or so below the general surface, and gave
no clue to their origin. On the most barren desert which had not been
disturbed except by the passage of solitary animals, it was worth while to
ollow a line of foot-prints because somewhere along it I often found a nest.

CLUTCH SIZE
Most authors agree that the full clutch is usually three eggs for most
Species of sandgrouse, including the two of this study, but ‘‘two or three

Vol. 81 136 Bulletin B.O.C.

eggs’’ are mentioned often enough and occasionally only two are credited

to the birds (Meinertzhagen, 1954, generally and for a/chata), For alchata
I saw 1 x C/2, 15 x C/3 and for senegallus 5 x C/3, all being nests in which
I saw the full complement repeatedly. Several other a/chata nests were
found with one or two eggs only, but had been destroyed on the next visit.

LAYING

The only reference found is by Meade-Waldo (1897) who says am-
biguously that the eggs are laid ‘‘with the interval of a day between each’’.
I believe this was intended to mean an interval of about 48 hours, as my
own observations at one alchata nest suggest either this or irregularity, i.e.
48 hours between one pair and 24 between the next. The details are of
interest. About 1000 on 7th June I saw a pair of birds on the desert by a
line of foot-prints, but noticed no nest, though I looked along the foot-
marks. At 1105, when again passing, the cock was standing on the open
desert and the female was crouched in a foot-print on a single egg. Un-
fortunately I cannot be certain that the egg was not there on my first visit.
At 1730 on 9th June two eggs were in the hollow, but neither adult was
present. At 0604 on 10th June there were still two eggs, cold, and no sign
of the adults, but to my surprise at 1032 the female was on the nest with
three eggs. At the time I did not realise the obscurity of this point and
subsequent opportunities of proving the routine failed by destruction of —
the nests, but two things seem evident, one, that the eggs are not laid
particularly early in the day, and two, that they are not all laid at regular
24-hourly intervals.

INCUBATION

It is generally agreed that for all species of sandgrouse the female in- —
cubates by day and the male by night; but Meade-Waldo (1897, 1906) and ~
St. Quintin (1905) are the only authors I have read who quote their own
observations. Moreover, Meade-Waldo (1906) says that the change-over —
occurs about 5 p.m. It is also stated that incubation in the wild is perforce
continuous, otherwise the eggs would be baked by the sun, since the ©
temperature on the ground in full sunlight may well be 180—200°F. in thes
deserts where the sandgrouse breed (Archer and Godmen for exustus,
1937: Hume and Marshall, 1879, for the same species, quoting instances — 2
of finding eggs with the albumen semi-coagulated by the heat). Pitman’s
similar opinion for al/chata is given by Ticehurst et al. (1921), who also—
quote Logan Home as saying that they sit very little. Certainly there has
been some difference of opinion on this matter, perhaps arising from
Sushkin’s much quoted opinion for Syrrhaptes paradoxus (Bannerman, —
1959) that development of the embryo is helped considerably by the sun s
heat.

However, my own observations show beyond doubt that incubation —
is continuous. In alchata the male goes onto the eggs at about 1800, as I
observed three times at three different nests. On each occasion the male—
which had been nowhere in sight, flew in and landed at varying (20-300 m.)
distances from the nest: the female left and flew away directly from the
eggs at 1750, 1804 and 1810 on the different occasions, while the male
was still 30-60 m. away. The male then settled on the eggs from 3 to 15

—=—-

Bulletin B.O.C. 137 Vol. 81

minutes later and remained there till next morning, as I once proved by
sitting alongside in my car the whole night. On three other occasions in the
evening I found males incubating after 1800, twice as early as 1730 and
twice at 1750. In the morning I often saw the sitting male before 0800 and
four times at three different nests watched the change-over. Each time the
female flew in from out of sight, landed about 200-300 m. away and ran
up to the nest with hesitation, taking 6-28 minutes in the process, even
flying to and fro at times, though this may have been caused by my being
too close to the nest. It finally settled on the eggs at 0808, 0817, 0835 and
0837 on the different occasions, on three of which the male stayed on the
eggs till the female was alongside, stepped off, waited at the distance of
about | m. till the female was well settled and then departed for 500-600 m.
or out of sight. On the other occasion it flew away when the female was
30 m. distant. Thereafter until the evening relief the female incubates. I
once watched the female on her eggs from 0830 to 1400, and at another
nest from 1300 till the evenign change, during which periods she remained
motionless, facing the brisk northerly breeze and with no signs of distress.
She never left the eggs except when deliberately or accidentally disturbed
by me (thrice) or on the approach of an inquisitive Arab (once). I am
thus convinced that normally the eggs are never left once incubation has
started, except perhaps for short periods at the change-over or when the
bird is disturbed by passing animals or men. When animals or men on
foot approach, the sitting bird leaves the eggs when they are 80-200 m.
distance as I twice observed: but it seems to have little fear of a car, as I
was repeatedly able to drive slowly right up to the nest and often the bird
would only leave when I got out. Moreover I only found some nests
when the bird flew up in front of the bonnet of the car.

For senegallus the routine is very similar. The male sits till 0930-1000 or

_ thereabouts, when I twice saw the change-over at 0927 and 1018 re-
spectively, the female having spent 5 and 20 minutes approaching, the
second time being rather nervous and flying to and fro several times. The
actual change took place as for alchata, the male staying on the eggs till
the female was alongside, then stepping off the eggs, waiting for the
female to settle and finally fiying away out of sight after a short pause. The
female then incubates until about 1900, when I witnessed one change
precisely at that hour, the female leaving the eggs, calling, when the male
was still 80 m. distant. I have no doubt that the male then continues to
incubate till the next morning, as several observations showed that he was
on the eggs late in the evening and always there first thing in the morning.
For neither species did I establish when continuous incubation started,

but I suspect that until the last egg is laid, there is a period of less simple
and regular behaviour than that suggested by my observations of fully
incubating birds. For one thing once the female is on the eggs during full

_ incubation I never saw the male approach the nest nor even suspected its
presence within the range of ordinary observation. Thus I am convinced
that for these two species there is no truth in the suggestion that the male
_ supplies the sitting female with water by regurgitation (Meinertzhagen,
1954 for senegallus). Yet at nests in which I subsequently knew that a full
clutch had not been laid or where | believed that the last egg had recently
been laid, the male attended the female closely. The first nest which I

Vol. 81 138 Bulletin B.O.C. —

found was the C/2 alchata, mentioned above, and my attention was at-
tracted by a group of five birds on the desert—four males and one female.
The males kept walking around the female which eventually squatted on
what proved to be the full clutch of two eggs. The males then flew away
one by one, till a single one remained, still walking round the female
which kept turning round on the eggs to face him, at times stretching out
her head along the ground to point at him, or peering round over her
shoulder to follow his movements. I saw a very similar occurrence at
another nest with three eggs which was destroyed at my next visit. Further,
at the nest mentioned above, when discussing the laying routine, the male
at times evidently attended the female while laying took place, and it
seems certain that on one night when there were only two eggs, they were
unattended all night. I found a similar probability with one senegallus nest
from which I watched the female fly away with the male at 1723: that nest
was unattended at 1830 and the two eggs could well have been left un-
covered all night. Thus I believe that until the last egg is laid, incubation
only occurs by the female during daylight, of necessity to prevent over-
heating of the eggs, and that during that time the male often attends the
sitting female closely.

INCUBATION PERIOD

_ Witherby et al. (1940) give (22) 23-24 (27) days under hens and 28 days —
in incubator for S. paradoxus and Meade-Waldo (1906) says 21-23 days ~

for captive alchata and (1897) that the young are hatched on the 24th day.

My own observations were too spasmodic to stand much chance of

deciding this point and indeed I only knew one alchata nest which hatched
for certain and that was the first one found. I have mentioned the circum-
stances of its discovery on 4th June at 0830, and that I believe that then the
clutch had only recently been completed, probably within the preceding
24 hours. On 23rd June at 1720 I found two tiny young in the nest, cer-
tainly less than 24 hours old. On this slender evidence it may be that the
incubation period in the wild is only about 19-20 days and somewhat
shorter than quoted for captive birds.

THE YOUNG

I saw very many fewer young than I saw eggs and naturally had no
chance of following the history of any particular brood. When very small,
downy and obviously under a week old, the young of both species follow
their parents about on the desert extremely closely, running right alongside

the whole time, each parent with one chick, if there are two (I never saw

a brood of three) and picking up their food independently. When feathered
and a third to a half grown, they can fly quite strongly and I once saw one
young alchata of this size with a small pack of adults and apparently
behaving fairly independently. This would suggest support for Meade-
Waldo’s (1906) statement that the young quickly become independent,
about the tenth day roosting separately.

My most important observation was of a brood of two senegallus, about
a quarter grown and beginning to feather. I found the birds at 0820 on
15th July, photographed the young and drove off 100 m. to watch. The
parents immediately returned and, each taking one chick, separated to

ak *

, see

eS ee ee ee

Bulletin B.O.C. 139 Vol. 81

‘about 20-30 m. They then ran off steadily across barren desert, going

further and further, at times feeding, till they entered an area with a
scatter of low tamarisk and desert plants some 600 m. from where I first
found them. By that time I had followed and was watching through
binoculars from 250 m. I saw both young suddenly run into the shelter of
separate plants about 50 m. or so apart and squat. The parents then
joined one another and after running on for another 50 m., took wing at
0905 and flew away, calling. I then drove up to within 150 m. of where the
young were and waited. At 0922 both adults returned, calling, and Janded
near the chick which had been accompanying the male. As they flew over,
I remarked that the male was flying awkwardly and not with its normal
ease. As soon as it landed, it walked to where the chick was with a wadd-
ling, open-legged gait and not in the usual manner in which each foot
appears to be placed more or less in front of the other. The chick quickly
appeared and ran up to the male which stood erect with back to the sun
in a totally different way from the normal, rather horizontal stance. The
chick stood between its legs. A minute or so later the second chick also
ran up and both sheltered under the male in its shade. I was too far away
to see details accurately and in any case the male had its back towards me
partly obscuring the view, but I got the impression that both chicks were
putting their heads up towards the feathers of the male’s belly and lower
breast. At 0926-7 one chick left the male and joined the female which had
stood by at a distance of about 15 m. throughout the performance, and
thereafter both parents, each with an attendant chick, proceeded to feed
normally.

Personally I have no doubt that in seeing this I was witnessing the
method by which the young are watered. It agrees as well as can be
expected with Meade-Waldo’s (op. cit.) and St. Quintin’s (op. cit.) accounts
of captive birds and Meade-Waldo’s supplementary notes on field be-
haviour (1906). In this case the point which has worried critics (St.
Quintin, op. cit.: Meade-Waldo, 1906: Archer and Godman, 1937) re-
garding the improbability of being able to transmit moisture in the feathers
far in an arid climate, seems unimportant. At the worst the birds I saw
were only 8-9 minutes in the air on their return flight and as they must
presumably have spent a few minutes at the water, it is fairly certain that
they did not have to fly for so long.

Apart from these observations, it has been pointed out to me by Mr.
D. Goodwin that sandgrouse have bills which are in no way adapted for
receiving food or water by regurgitation, which is normally presented as
the alternative method for watering the young (Hiie and Etchécopar,
1957: Meinertzhagen, 1954 for exustus). | entirely agree with Mr. Goodwin
and for myself do not believe that the habit of water carrying in the feathers
can be seriously doubted any longer, particularly as it has already been
described unequivocally by Meade-Waldo and St. Quintin.

GENERAL

There are a few further matters which deserve mention, although my
observations on them were far from complete.. The breeding season
probably starts in late April or early May (Ticehurst ef a/., 1921) and
certainly lasts till late July or early August. | first went out to find nests on

Vol. 81 140 Bulletin B.O.C.

4th June which must have been some weeks after the start of laying, at
least for senegallus because on 7th June I found a newly hatched brood
of that species. Though I saw no young of a/chata until 23rd June, there
were plenty of full clutches two and a half weeks earlier. It thus seems that
Allouse’s remark (1953), based on Ticehurst’s records, that senegallus is a
later breeder than alchata, is hardly correct. On the other hand I found
three incomplete alchata clutches between 15th and 17th July, but I have
no idea whether these were second broods [recorded for the species in
captivity by Meade-Waldo (1906)] or replacements. I suspect the latter,
however, because the hatching success seems to have been remarkably
low. Out of all the nests found I was only certain that one of each species
hatched and knew that most were destroyed. One alchata nest was probably
destroyed by the passage of a flock of goats and sheep. Another alchata
and one senegallus were destroyed over night and probably during dark-
ness. Oddly enough the broken egg-shells suggested an avian predator,
but it is difficult to suggest a likely species. Ravens (Corvus corax) certainly
frequent the area, but only seldom. Of mammals there are two species of
fox, commonly seen early in the morning, and no doubt several species of
rodent, while reptiles are represented by one, and perhaps two, large
species. The destruction of the senegallus nest which occurred between
1810 and 0525, was interesting because it was situated on a completely
flat mud desert far from any possible lair of a predator and one would
have thought that its discovery at night would have been most unlikely.

Finally Meinertzhagen (1954) says that senegallus is a species which is
never found near or in arable land and does not take grain or smooth
seeds. But a male and female, shot for me by a friend on 21st October,
were both obtained in or at the edge of cultivation and both had their
crops stuffed with barley, as identified for me at the British Museum.
Moreover, as I have said before, they were breeding on the fringes of
cultivation and often within sight of growing barley.

CONCLUSIONS

It seems worth summarising these points on which my observations
are at variance with published statements or generally accepted ideas.

1. Neither alchata nor senegallus normally prepare a nest hollow and
perhaps equally rarely add any material.

2. The clutch-size is three, rarely two.

3. Cnce incubation has started, perhaps after laying of the last egg, it is
continuous and the eggs are normally not left uncovered. The male
alchata incubates at night, from about 1800 to 0800 and the female for the
rest of the daylight hours. In senegallus similar change-over occurs about
1000 and 1900.

4. In neither species was there any evidence for the male supplying the
incubating female with water by any method.

5. In senegallus the male brings water to the young in its belly feathers, —
perhaps normally at about 0900.

6. The breeding of both species extends from early May till late July and
senegallus does not seem to start nesting later than alchata.

7. It does not seem that senegallus is much less of a bird of the culti-
vation than alchata, and will certainly take grain.

Bulletin B.O.C. 14] Vol. 81

’ References : :
- Allouse, B. E. (1953). The avifauna of Iraq. Iraq Nat. Hist. Mus., Baghdad. Publ. 3.

Archer, G. F. and E. M. Godman (1937). The birds of British Somaliland and the Gulf
of Aden, Vol. 2, London.

Bannerman, D. A. (1931). The birds of Tropical West Africa, Vol. 2.

Bannerman, D. A. (1959). The birds of the British Isles, Vol. 8.

Bates, G. L. (1930). Handbook of the birds of West Africa, London.

Cave, F. O. and J. D. Macdonald (1955). Birds of the Sudan, Edinburgh.

Hie, F. and R-D. Etchécopar (1957), Les Ptéroclidés, L’Oiseau, 37: 35-58.

Hume, A. O. and C. H. T. and G. F. L. Marshall (1879). The game birds of India.

Jackson, Sir F. (1938). Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate, London.

op aera E. G. B. (1896). The sandgrouse breeding in captivity, Zoologist:
298-299.

Meade-Waldo, E. G. B. (1897). Sandgrouse, Avic. Mag, 3: 177-180.

Meade-Waldo, E. G. B. (1906). Sandgrouse, Avic. Mag. New Ser., 4: 219-222.

Meinertzhagen, R. (1930). Nicoll’s Birds of Egypt, London.

Meinertzhagen, R. (1954). Birds of Arabia, Edinburgh.

Mackworth-Praed, C. W. and C. H. B. Grant (1952). Birds of eastern and north eastern
Africa, London.

Roberts, A. (1940). The birds of South Africa, London.

St. Quintin, W. H. (1905). The breeding of Pterocles exustus, Avic. Mag. New Ser. 3:
64-66.

Stuart Baker, E. C. (1935). Nidification of birds of the Indian Empire, London.

Ticehurst, C. B. et al. (1921-22). The birds of Mesopotamia, J. Bombay Nat. Hist.
Soc. 28: 197-237, 269-315, 325-349, 371-390.

Witherby, H. F. et al. (1940). The handbook of British birds, Vol. 4,

Note on some eggs and nests attributed to the
Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pelargopsis capensis (Linne)
by Mr. C. J. O. HARRISON

Received 19th February, 1961

When the eggs of the Stork-billed Kingfisher, Pelargopsis capensis
(Linné), in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History) were
examined, five clutches of small eggs were found which appear to have
been wrongly attributed to this species. Since these clutches, with the
relevant data, were used in the description of the eggs and nest of this
species by A. O. Hume (1890) and referred to by later authors, it is neces-
sary to re-examine them in the light of later knowledge in order to establish
their correct identity.

Authentic eggs of Pelargopsis capensis are within the following size
limits—length 39.9-34.2 mm., breadth 32.5-29.3 mm., average size 36.6 x
30.9 mm. (Baker 1934).

One clutch of the small eggs whose identity is questioned was taken by
J. R. Cripps at Dibrughur (Dibrugarh), in Assam, on 27th April, 1880.
This became part of the Hume collection (B. M. Reg. No. 91.3.20.7765-8)
and a description was published in Hume’s ‘‘Nests and eggs of Indian
birds’’ (1890) under the species Pelargopsis gurial (now Pelargopsis
capensis). The nest was in an 18 inch tunnel in the earth on the roots of a
fallen tree. The eggs measure 29.25 x 27 mm., 27.25 x 25 mm., 29 x 26.75
mm. The original clutch contained four eggs. In the same account data
are given for a clutch of the larger eggs whose authenticity was established
by being collected together with a sitting bird.

Another clutch of small eggs was collected by C. Hopwood for H. N.
Coltart’s collection (B. M. Reg. No. 1961.1.304) at Mokka Choung,

Vol. 81 142 Bulletin B.O.C.

Tharrawaddy, Burma, on 14th April, 1904. He claimed that identity was
certain, and described the nest as a hole in a bank 18 inches deep with
eggs laid on bare earth. The eggs measure 28.5 x 25.75 mm., 27 x 24.5 mm.,
29 x 24.5 mm., 28.25 x 24.5 mm. Someone, possibly Coltart, had noted
that the identification was wrong.

The remaining three clutches of small eggs were taken by C. J.Bingham
in Tenasserim. The first is a clutch of three (B. M. Reg. No. 84.5.23.21—3)
from Thoungyeen, N. Tenasserim, taken on Sth April, 1882. They measure
30 x 26.25 mm., 29.5 x 26.25 mm., 29 x 26.75 mm. The second is a clutch
of four from the Hume collection (B. M. Reg. No. 91.3.20.7738-41) taken
on the Meplay at Thougyeen on 23rd March, 1880. They measure 29.25 x
26 mm., 30 x 26.5 mm., 29.5 x 26.25 mm., 28.75 x 25.25 mm., Bingham
describes (Hume, loc. cit.) watching the birds visit the nest—a five foot
tunnel in the bank, the nest cavity quite bare. The third is a clutch of three
from the Hume collection (B. M. Reg. No. 91.3.20.7735-7) taken at
Sinzaway, Tenasserim, on 10th April, 1877. They measure 29 x 25 mm.,
29.75 x 25 mm., 28.25 x 24.75 mm. They were taken under exceptional
circumstances, for Bingham wrote (1877): ‘I am rather diffident about
writing a note on the finding of the eggs of this bird, as they were found by
myself personally in a made nest in the fork of a bamboo growing near
the bank of a .choung, a thing contrary to the habit of all kingfishers.
Moreover, though I fired at the bird as she flew off the nest, I missed her.
In my own mind there is not the ghost of a doubt that the eggs in question
belonged to the above species, as I had a close look at the bird, as she sat
on the nest, with a pair of binoculars, at not more than 15 yards distance.
The nest was, as I have already said, placed in the fork of a bamboo near
water. It was a loosely constructed shallow cup of rough grass-roots,
wholly unlined, at a height of about 4 feet from the ground.’

These five clutches of eggs can only be attributed to Pelargopsis capensis
if it is assumed that this species lays eggs of two distinct sizes, inter-
mediate sizes being absent. The difference cannot be regarded as sub-
specific since clutches of larger and smaller eggs have been collected in the
same areas. It is obvious that there has been confusion with some other
Kingfisher and, since identification was based on sight records, the species
should be smaller but sufficiently like P. capensis in general colouration to
justify misidentification if a short generalised description was the only
available reference at the time.

The only species which fits these requirements is the White-breasted
Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis (Linné). This has a heavy red bill and blue

colour on the wings, rump, and tail, as does P. capensis. Its smaller size,

white throat, and deep brown head and breast should distinguish it from
the larger, buif-brown P. capensis, but it is difficult to envisage how the
bird will appear in the field, and few, if any, published descriptions suitable
for field use appear to have been available at the period when most of
these clutches were collected. The eggs of H. smyrnensis are within the
following size limits—length 31.1-26.0 mm., breadth 28-25 mm., average
size 28.9 x 26.2 mm. (Baker 1934). This agrees with the sizes of these small —

eggs.
The Black-capped Kingfisher, Halcyon pileata (Boddaert), has a similar
sized egg, and is present in the areas concerned, but its colouration is so

Bulletin B.O.C. 143 Vol. 18

distinctive that it is improbable that confusion could occur between this
and other species.

Stuart Baker (1927) suggested that the clutch of small eggs taken by
Cripps at Dibrughur was probably that of H. smyrnensis, but in a later
work (Baker 1934) he quoted the description of the nest when referring to
P. capensis.

The description by Bingham of a nest in a bamboo fork has already
been quoted. Stuart Baker (1934) mentioned it but said that the nest was
almost certainly that of some other bird. Later authors have ignored the

- account. Yet in the same work Stuart Baker describes in some detail his
_ discovery of the fact that some pairs of H. smyrnensis in Assam made
nests, in hollows between rocks or in overhanging tree-roots, by carrying
- wet moss and placing it in layers on the site of the nest, and then fashioning
a rough hollow. He describes how he watched a nest being built. Only a
few nests were found, the majority of pairs making typical nests by
burrowing into banks.

There are records of P. capensis nesting in stumps and holes in trees,
and of H. pileata nesting in a hole in a branch (Baker 1934). If species that
normaily nest in banks can adapt themselves to holes in trees it seems
possible that a species which can place vegetable matter in a crevice in
rocks or roots to form a nest could similarly place material in the fork ofa
bamboo four feet from the ground, or possibly utilise an existing platform
of plant material. It is a pity that there is no information regarding the
vegetation immediately surrounding this nest site. Had Bingham attributed
his record to H. smyrnensis, and not to P. capensis, it might have been
received with less incredulity.

There is a note by R. E. Moreau in Nicoll’s Birds of Egypt (Meinertz-

lagen, 1930) concerning the Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis. A drawing from
an Ancient Egyptian tomb-painting shows a genet attacking young King-
fishers of this species which are assembled on a nest-like platform. He
comments that: “The artist who had observed birds sufficiently to draw
_ that marsh-scene can hardly have been ignorant of the fact that King-
fishers breed in holes. Yet he depicts not only the brood of young on a
flat nest, but also Kingfishers sitting on eggs on a flat nest.’ This seems to
suggest that C. rudis might, under certain circtumstances, make a nest of
the type described for H. smyrnensis.
_ There is little doubt that these clutches of small eggs attributed by
Hume to P. capensis, and referred to as such in later works, are in fact the
eggs H. smyrnensis. They are being re-identified as such in the National
ollection. In view of the additional evidence there is justification for
accepting Bingham’s description of an exceptional nest-site as referring
to the latter species.

References :

Baker, E. C., Stuart (1927) The fauna of British India. Birds. Vol. IV, London.
Baker, E. C., Stuart (1934) Nidification of birds of the Indian Empire. Vol. III, London.
Bingham, C. T. (1877) Notes on the nidification of some birds in Burma. Stray Feathers,
Vol. V, pp. 79-86.

Hume, A. O. (1890) The nests and eggs of Indian birds. 2nd Ed. Vol. III, Ed. by E. W.
— Oates, London.

® Meinertzhagen, R. (1930) Nicoll’s Birds of Egypt. Vol. I, London.

Vol. 81 144 Bulletin B.O.C. —
What is Tchitrea melampyra Hartlaub, 1857?

by JAMES P. CHAPIN
Received 28th March, 1961

In the second volume of his Systema Avium Aethiopicarum, 1930, p. 434,
Mr. W. L. Sclater used the name Tchitrea melampyra Hartlaub' for a —
species of paradise flycatcher which in western Africa, from the Cameroon ~
to northern Angola, is widely sympatric with Terpsiphone viridis (P. L. S. —
Miller). He further explained that 7. rufocinerea Cabanis? might well be
synonymous with melampyra.

As described by Cabanis, T. rufocinerea of the Portuguese Congo
differs from the race of T. viridis occupying the Gaboon and Portuguese —
Congo coastlands in having the under tail-coverts rufous instead of gray
and in lacking any well-developed crest of feathers on the occiput.

David Bannerman and Claude Grant continued to use the specific
name melampyra in preference to rufocinerea and claimed that Hartlaub’s —
type of melampyra was preserved in the British Museum. Many years ago, —
however, Professor Erwin Stresemann and I had studied the original —
description of melampyra by Hartlaub and decided that it would apply
much better to a rather nondescript male of some form of T. viridis than —
to the bird subsequently named rufocinerea. The type of the latter is still
preserved in Berlin.

The description of me/ampyra was published in Latin, with dimensions ~
in old French inches. Translated into English it would read: ‘‘Above
bright rufous; head, neck, and breast steely-black; abdomen lighter gray; —
no white band on the wing; primaries grayish on their outer margins; ©
outer tertials rufous on outer part, those nearest the back wholly rufous; —
scapulars and lesser wing-coverts wholly rufous; under wing-coverts gray;
beak and feet blackish.’’

The old French inch was equivalent to 27 mm. So the measurements
given would mean: ‘‘Total length approximately 222.7 mm., beak
(exposed culmen) 12.4 mm., wing 76.5 mm., median rectrices 135 mm.,
lateral rectrices 65.2 mm.”’

All the above would fit a sub-adult male of T. viridis with middle tail-
quills not greatly prolonged. The blackness of the breast is suggestive,
and there was no mention of rufous under tail-coverts. The sex was given
as female, plainly in error. Thus I have always used the name rufocinerea
as did Reichenow and Stresemann, and not melampyra, for the bird with
rufous coverts beneath the tail and shorter feathers on the crown’.

Quite recently my decision in this case was again criticized’, so I asked
my friends J. D. Macdonald and C. W. Mackworth-Praed to consult the
original description of melampyra and compare it with the supposed type
in the British Museum. This they kindly did, and both agreed that the
London specimen cannot really be the type, for its total length is only)
about 183 mm., and its tail of quite a different shape from that indicated
for melampyra. The under wing-coverts are brown, not gray; and the under
tail-coverts rufous-brown. In short, the London specimen agrees with)»
rufocinerea but does not conform to the description of melampyra. In the}
British Museum Register, I am further informed, the words “‘type of the).
species’’ seem to have been added in a different hand, well after the origin
entry. | y

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Bulletin B.O.C. 145 Vol. 81

This settles the question in favour of my use of Terpsiphone rufocinerea
Cabanis. But another awkward query may now be raised: should not the
name melampyra Hartlaub of 1857 replace speciosa Cassin® for the race
of T. viridis that ranges so widely from the coastal area of the Gaboon all
across the forest belt of Lower Guinea?

Inasmuch as the original description of me/ampyra gave no distinctive
markings such as characterise the several races of T. viridis, I feel that we
shall do well to discard that name altogether as indeterminate, rather than
to cause further confusion amid the names of these paradise flycatchers.

Cassin’s description of speciosa was much more satisfactory, since he

- mentioned a white stripe on the wing, formed by the white edgings of
- greater wing-coverts and some secondaries. The sex of his type was not
mentioned; but it was plainly a rufous-backed male, with upper tail-
coverts glossy black, under tail-coverts blackish gray, and with median
rectrices 63.5 mm. longer than the others, rufous with some brownish
black along shafts and at tips.

On the same page, lower down, Cassin gave a new name, duchaillui, to
another colour-phase of this same race and from the same locality,
mistaking a white-backed adult male with long white median rectrices
for a female. From the Camma River Cassin also had had paradise
flycatchers with rufous under tail-coverts and no white on the wing, but
he too believed these had been named melampyra by Hartlaub. So the
error began very early. It is amply proved that T. viridis and T. rufocinerea
do live together along the Gaboon coast.

References:

+ Tchitrea melampyra Verreaux, in Hartlaub, ‘Syst. Orn. Westafr.’, 1857, p. 90 (type
from Gaboon).

2 Terpsiphone rufocinerea Cabanis, 1875, Journ. f. Ornith., p. 236 (type from Chinchoxo,
Portuguese Congo).

8 See Chapin, 1948, Evolution, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 113-118, 124-126; 1953, Bull. Amer.
Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 75 A, pp. 710-715.

* Rand, Friedmann, and Traylor, 1959, ‘Birds from Gabon and Moyen Congo’,
Fieldiana: Zoology, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 358-361.

5 Muscipeta speciosa Cassin, 1859, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, p. 48 (type from

River, Gaboon).

Some notes from Northern Rhodesia
by C. W. BENSON

Received 8th April, 1961

All specimens mentioned in the following notes are now in the National
useum, Bulawayo, unless otherwise indicated.
_ (1) A specimen of Accipiter r. rufiventris Smith was collected by J.
Goouws in riparian forest at Kitwe in February, 1959. It is mainly in
mmature plumage, but with the throat rich rufous. The wing measures
252 mm., and so it is evidently a female. M. P. Stuart Irwin has compared
it with Southern Rhodesian specimens, and agrees with the identification.
This is the first record of this species from Northern Rhodesia.
_ (2) A female specimen of Falco fasciinucha Reichenow & Neumann
was collected by me on a rocky hill in the Serenje District at 13° 10’ S.,
31° 03’ E., on 11th October, 1960. It is in adult dress; rump and lower back
very pale, contrasting with the dark slate of the rest of the upperside, see

Vol. 81 146 Bulletin B.O.C. ;
Benson (Ibis, 1960: 131). The wing measures 229, the tail 98 mm. The —
stomach contents were bird remains, including a foot apparently of an —
Anthus sp. E

(3) Cisticola pearsoni (Neave) is included in Benson & White’s Check —
List (1957) from near Solwezi. A more precise location, according to the :
original reference (Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl., 68, 1947: 35) is from near Kipushi, —
which is on the Congo border at 11° 46’ S., 27° 14’ E. (Chapin, Bds. Belg. ©
Congo, 4, 1954: 681). The two specimens in question are now in the ©
Chicago Natural History Museum. Major M. A. Traylor writes that on —
comparison with a specimen of C. melanura (=pearsoni) from Angola it
was evident that they were not pearsoni but C. fulvicapilla angusticauda —
Reichenow. He lent them to Mrs. B. P. Hall, who confirmed the identifi- —
cation. White and I agree that the reidentification should be accepted. —
Traylor informs me that both specimens are males, collected on 26th/28th —
June, wing 47, 48, tail 51, 55 mm. While attached to E. L. Button recently, —
Jali Makawa collected eleven males and two females for me at Solwezi, ©
between 13th January and 20th February, all of which are C. f. angusti- —
cauda. The males have wing 47-50, tail 47-55, the females wing 43, 45,
tail 42, 47 mm. Thus even though it occurs in the Katanga (Chapin, Bds. —
Belg. Congo, 3, 1953: 380), on present evidence C. pearsoni cannot be
accepted as occurring in Northern Rhodesia.

(4) Several cases of albinism have recently come to light. On 28th ©
November, 1960, in the Luano Valley, J. M. C. Uys collected a nightjar —
in completely albino plumage. It has wing 131 mm. only, and Uys states
that it was barely able to fly, and under the parental care of a Macro-
diptery vexillarius (Gould). On 27th November, 1960, at Chilanga, Jali —
Makawa collected a largely albinistic female Cercomela familiaris modesta
(Shelley). It is wholly white below, and with only small traces of the
normal brown and chestnut coloration on the upperside. Some chestnut
tips are apparent on the wing-coverts, showing that it is immature. Of
three males of Bradypterus baboecala msiri Neave collected by Uys in the
north of the Kafue National Park on 13th October, 1960, one shows signs
of albinism, having some white towards the base of the rectrices, and in
the remiges, two of the outer primaries in one wing being completely
white. Major I. R. Grimwood, on 2nd December, 1959, observed a mixed
breeding colony of Ardea cinerea, A. goliath, Egretta alba and Anhinga
anhinga on the edge of the Kariba Lake. There were five nests of the latter
species, all containing young soon to be fledged. One nest contained two
young in white plumage except for some buffy streaks on the nape. The
only other local record of albinism of which I am aware is of a partial
albino of Cisticola tinniens shiwae White from the Mwinilunga District
(Ibis, 1958: 284).

(5) Reference Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl., 81, 1961: 5, the correct eastern
co-ordinate for Musense is 31° 05’, not 30° 05’.

Postscript
(6) Recently, while attached to G. Bell-Cross, Jali Makawa collected
a specimen of Artomyias f. fuliginosa Verreaux, in riparian evergreen
forest at Kalene Hill, in the Mwinilunga District at 11° 11’ S., 24° 11’ E.,
on 12th September, 1961. This is the first record of this species from
Northern Rhodesia. Two days later, in the same locality and habitat, he

Bulletin B.O.C. 147 Vol. 81

collected with the same shot an adult and spotted juvenile of Muscicapa
cassini Heine. The latter specimen could not have been more than about
one month old. Another interesting record is a specimen of Anthus c.
caffer Sundevall, collected in Brachystegia woodland near Kitwe, at
12° 49’ S., 28° 23’ E., on 4th September, 1961.

Further comments on the
taxonomy of British Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus)
by P. A. CLANCEY

Received 13th February, 1961

Apropos to my note on the vexed question of the name to be applied to
the ‘‘Atlantic’’ race of the Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis (Linnaeus) and
my colleague, Mr. Kenneth Williamson’s comments thereon (vide antea,
pp. 10-12), there are one or two points which require to be elaborated on
or corrected.

In subspecific taxonomy names are given to populations or aggregates
of populations, and the Type of a subspecies does not have the same
standing in taxonomic theory as would the Type of a new species. In
geographical races, which are generally based on the sum of characters to
be discerned in series of skins, no single specimen can represent the gamut
of the variation in any subspecific entity, especially if based on samples of
an aggregate of slightly variable individual populations and not on aninsular
or otherwise isolated population, which would, by virtue of its in-
sularity, be more stable. Furthermore, study of the literature reveals that
many Types are atypical, and I recollect that it is on record that the Type of
Garrulus glandarius rufitergum Hartert is a bright rufous specimen, quite
unlike the norm of the British race of the Jay. Many of the older Type-
specimens in collections no longer show the subspecific criteria charac-
teristic of the free living populations of birds which they symbolize in our
taxonomic arrangement, through the oxidation of the plumage pigments
and general deterioration, and some by virtue of being atypical or in worn
or juvenile plumage when collected probably never did.

In so far as the application of the name A. p. whistleri Clancey, 1942,
to the ‘‘Atlantic’’ race of the Meadow Pipit is concerned, the fact remains
that part of the paratypical series consists of actual breeding birds from
the north of Scotland—whether one now considers such material to be
**too worn and bleached for critical taxonomic assessment’’ or not is
quite irrelevant. By the very use of such original material in the preparation
_ of the differential diagnosis the name whistleri is inalterably associated
with the Scottish Highland population of A. pratensis and no other. The
name cannot be sunk into the synonymy of a Continental race just because
one worker has evinced difficulty in segregating the Type from Swedish
birds—a difficulty which I, the original describer, have not experienced on

the two or three occasions I have personally investigated this matter.
Another point, if one is going to follow Williamson’s tenuous reasoning,
one.must be prepared to accept that the Type of A. p. whistleri flew across
the North Sea as a juvenile in late July or early August, i.e., long before
the onset of the main migration, or else flew across the same stretch of

water in a state of full moult. From many years of experience in the

migrate in juvenile plumage or in a state of advanced moult, and all
examples of A. p. pratensis which I have collected from immigrant flocks”
in the British Isles had completed the autumnal moult.

Lastly, surely it is incorrect to claim that the valid racial characters of
A. p. whistleri were not revised and adequately defined and discussed in
advance of the publication of A. p. theresae Meinertzhagen, 1953, because
such can be found in my note in Bull. B.O.C., vol. Ixviii, 1948, pp. 54-56.

Birds perching on Hippopotamus

by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received 26th January, 1961

Benson has shown me his note on this subject, to which I can add ~
various records of observations made in Uganda.

In those parts of the Kazinga Channel (between Lakes George and
Edward, in Western Uganda) where there are concentrations of waterfowl,
it is commonplace and of daily occurrence to see African Darters, Anhinga
rufa perched on hippos. Often two birds can be seen on the same animal, —
and once I have seen three. In Bayard Read’s beautiful colour film —
Birds of East and Centra! Africa there is a delightful ‘shot’ of a hippo
slowly submerging, with a Darter on its back. .

Other birds seen perched on hippos in the same region include the Reed
Cormorant, Phalacrocorax africanus and the Common Sandpiper, —
Tringa hypoleucos.

In the Nile, between Lake Albert and the Murchison Falls I have often
seen Darters, Reed-Cormorants and Common Sandpipers respectively
perched on hippos; on several occasions the African Pied Wagtail,
Motacilla aguimp and once a Yellow Wagtail, Budytes flavus; more than ~
once the Cattle Egret, Ardeola ibis; occasionally the Pied Kingfisher, —
Ceryle rudis; and once a Sacred Ibis, Threskiornis aethiopicus.

A short way downstream of the Murchison Falls I have several times $
observed White-collared Pratincoles, Glareola nuchalis on hippos, some-
times a single bird, but more usually two. -

In Lake Victoria I have occasionally seen White-winged Black Terns,
Chlidonias leucoptera, one or more, on the almost submerged back of a_
hippo.

Tales recollect the report of a few White-faced Tree Ducks, Dendrocygna
vidua perched on a hippo; but the strangest record is of three Egyptian
Geese, Alopochen aegyptiacus settled on one of these ‘floating islands’.

Various waders, other than the Common Sandpiper, have from time to
time been observed perched on hippos.

Vol. 81 148 Bulletin B.O.C
western Palaearctic, I do not believe that Meadow Pipits habitually
|

Unusual nesting behaviour of the
House Sparrow, Passer domesticus (L.)
by CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received Ist June, 1961
On 10th May, 1961, at Bournemouth, I watched a House Sparrow
excavating a nest hole. Such unusual behaviour is worth recording. The

site chosen was a crevice between two large stones which formed part of
fe

we
- il
_—

Bulletin B.O.C. 149 Vol. 81

. the vertical facing of the Bourne Brook which flows through ornamental
gardens.

The 2 did all the work and was seen to enter the hole for 10 to 15
second periods, emerging each time with her beak full of mud which she
deposited on top of the low brook wall (level with the grass lawn) on the
opposite side. There was a line of mud pellets along the top of the wall for
a length of about 12 feet. The 2 shook her beak vigorously to help in
getting rid of the mud. She was watched working hard for nearly 20
minutes and then she went off to have a rest. The 3 sat near by and
chattered encouragement. From time to time, occasionally while the 9
was still inside, he entered the hole to see how the work was progressing.
When the 9 finally departed he sat scolding for a while endeavouring to get
her to return. Then he went off and came back with a piece of green grass
which he took into the hole and left there. Lack of time prevented further
observations being made.

Comments on the geographical variation in Carols’

Penduline Tit Anthoscopus caroli (Sharpe) in southern Africa
by W. J. LAWSON
Received 13th April, 1961

Within the southern African sub-continental limits three races of this
small tit are recognised, these being A. c. caroli (Sharpe) 1871 : Ovaquen-
yama, Ovamboland, South West Africa, A. c. hellmayri Roberts 1914:
Mapagone, north-eastern Transvaal, and A. c. robertsi Haagner 1909:
Villa Pereira, Boror, Mocambique. (vide McLachlan & Liversidge,
Roberts’ Birds of South Africa 1957, p. 281.) As a result of a recent re-
assessment of the geographical variation in Anthoscopus caroli conducted
at the Durban Museum, it would appear as if the characters and dis-
tributions of the races as stated in the above reference are inadequate and
in need of adjustment.

A. c. caroli (Sharpe) is discernible from the other austral races in southern
Africa on the basis of a greyish suffusion on the chest, and a restriction
of the buff of the underparts to the abdomen, with no extension of this
colour onto the breast. This buff colouration corresponds with the Cream
Buff of Ridgway, (Color Standards and Color Nomenclature 1912, Pl. XXX).
The measurements of sixteen specimens attributable to this race are—
653 wing 53.0-55.0 (54.1), tail 29.0-31.5 (30.2) and 10 9° wing 52.0—56.0
(53.8), tail 28.0-31.0 (29.4) mm. A. c. caroli occurs in northern South
West Africa, southern Angola?, the Caprivi Strip, northern Bechuanaland
Protectorate, and the western and central districts of Southern Rhodesia.
This distribution is in accordance with that stated by Smithers ef. a/
Check List of the Birds of Southern Rhodesia 1957, p. 137. For this study
nineteen specimens of this race have been examined from western and
southern Southern Rhodesia (16) and Bechuanaland Protectorate (3).

In Natal (where it is uncommon), Zululand, eastern and northern
Transvaal, north to the south-eastern areas of Southern Rhodesia occurs
a markedly different form of A. caroli to which the name A. c. hellmayri
Roberts is applicable. This race is characterised by the buff of the abdomen
_ being appreciably darker than it is in the nominate race, being about
Chamois (Pl. XXX), which in this case extends onto the breast.

Vol. 81 150 Bulletin B.O.C.

The measurements of thirteen specimens attributable to this taxon are—
7 3o wing 52.5-57.0 (54.0), tail 27.5-33.0 (30.5); 6 92 wing 53.5-57.0°
(55.1), tail 27.5-31.5 (29.5) mm. In all thirty-eight specimens of this race 4
have been examined, being from south-eastern Southern Rhodesia (24),
eastern Southern Rhodesia (2), north-eastern Transvaal (7), Swaziland (2)
and Zululand (3). The specimens from the Sabi/Lundi and Mt. Selinda
placed as A. c. robertsi by Smithers et. al. and McLachlan & Liversidge —
have been examined and are here placed as A. c. hellmayri and not the
taxon into which they are usually placed.

From the lower Zambesi River valley and southern Nyasaland through ©
Mocambique to the extreme southern Sul do Save with a slight extension
westwards along the lower reaches of the Limpopo River as far west as
Beit Bridge occurs a markedly pale race of A. caroli which I propose to call
A. c. robertsi Haagner. I have been unfortunate in not being able to
examine topotypical material of this race, described on the basis of speci- —
mens from Boror, but specimens available from southern Nyasaland, a ©
zoogeographically similar area resemble those available from Sul do Save.
A solitary specimen from Feira, on the Zambesi River, is distinctly greyer —
on the back than the Mocambique specimens, and Mr. M. P. Stuart
Irwin of the National Museum of Southern Rhodesia informs me that a —
specimen from Liwale, Tanganyika Territory, referred to by Grant ©
(Ibis, 1947, 288) as being A. c. robertsi, is unlike the Mocambique popu-
lations and possibly represents some other race. A. c. robertsi would appear —
to be a race characterised by the pale buff flanks, [about Cream Color
(Pl. XVI)], being even paler than that of the nominate race from the arid ~
west, with the chest much whiter in which respect it differs from A. c. ©
caroli which has a distinctly greyish chest. The measurements of thirteen —
specimens are 7 33 wing 50.0—54.0 (52.3), tail 26.0-30.5 (28.8); 699 wing —
48.0-53.0 (50.4), tail 27.5—29.0 (28.1) mm. From the measurements it can ©
be seen that A. c. robertsi averages smaller in size than either of the other
two races. Material has been examined from southern Nyasaland (2),
southern Mocambique (10), and the eastern Transvaal (5). This race —
intergrades with A. c. hellmayri at the extreme southern limits of its range —
in the eastern Transvaal and extreme southern Sul do Save.

For the loan of material I am indebted to the Directors of the Transvaal
Museum (through Mr. O. P. M. Prozesky) and National Museum of —
Southern Rhodesia (through Mr. M. P. Stuart Irwin). I am also indebted —
to Mr. P. A. Clancey, Director of the Durban Museum for much valuable ~
criticism during the preparation of this paper. a

Cael? ee eae ee

Notes on African Thrushes
PART TWO
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 19th January, 1961

(a) The present notes continue the consideration of the genera of the
African Turdinae, and genus groups additional to the two already discussed.
A third group may be considered to consist of the Scrub Robins and
some allied forms which are characterised by well graduated and rounded
tails with well defined white tips to the outer tail feathers. Typically this is

Bulletin B.O.C. 151 Vol. 81

the genus Erythropygia of Sclater (1930). Sclater retained Tychaedon as a
* monotypic genus for T. signata, whilst Chapin (1953) included barbata and
leucosticta in Tychaedon. Chapin’s view of the species to be included in
Tychaedon is undoubtedly correct if the latter genus is to be accepted
since these species and quadrivirgata clearly form a superspecies with
virtually complete allopatry. However there seem no very good reasons to
retain Tychaedon which would differ only slightly from Erythropygia in
details of pattern (specific to the superspecies), in a proportionately
_ slightly shorter tail and in rather larger size. Sclater kept Agrobates quite
separate as a warbler, following the practice of the time when he wrote
but I agree with the general present view that it is congeneric with
Erythropygia. Finally Vaurie (1959) following Heim de Balsac has sug-
gested that all these Scrub Robins should be placed in Cercotrichas. The
single species of that genus differs mainly in its slaty black plumage and
_ proportionately longer tail than any Erythropygia. In general structure and
habits the agreement between Cercotrichas and Erythropygia is close.
Little weight can be given to the blackish colour of Cercotrichas since
many other genera of Passeres such as Turdus, Ploceus and Laniarius have
_ both black and coloured members, and the tail length is no more than a
good specific character just as the shorter tail of ‘‘7ychaedon’’ is of its
_ superspecies. I accordingly accept Cercotrichas as the name for the genus
_ to accommodate all these Scrub Robins with Erythropygia, Tychaedon and
: Agrobates as synonyms. |
_ Pinarornis, treated by Sclater as a Babbler, and more recently transferred
_ to the Thrushes, appears closely related. It should be recognised as an
| aberrant relative of the Scrub Robins, somewhat similar to the black
_ Cercotrichas in general pattern, and to be placed in the same group of
genera.
| Chaetops in spite of its peculiarities of colour shares many features in
common with this group. The rufous rump parallels some Cercotrichas,
_ the tail is strongly graduated with white tips; its association with boulder

_ strewn hills and its general behaviour resemble Pinarornis. Both Chaetops
_ and Pinarornis have loose soft plumage. I therefore place Chaetops in this
group of genera.
:
F
;

(b) The genus Cossypha
The genus Cossypha is one of the best marked genera of African
robins’’ on account of its distinctive plumage, which is characterised by
_a rufous or orange underside, darker upperside, head often with white
line stripe or anteocular spot, rufous rump and tail, the latter often with
dark centre feathers. Within this range of characters the included species
_ present an interesting series of recombinations of characters and of varying
_wing/tail ratios. The longest tailed species, C. heinrichi has the tail 113%
of the wing, and the greatest amount of white on the head which is in fact
wholly white. C. albicapilla has the next longest tail, 104% of the wing and
a white crown extending in elongated feathers over the nape. In both these
species the graduation of the tail is very pronounced. Whether or not in
fact closely related the features make it convenient to mention these two
‘species together.
A second group of rather similar birds is formed by /euglini and its
allies. The tail of heuglini is 90% of the wing, that of the very similar but

Vol. 81 132 Bulletin B.O.C.

partly sympatric semirufa 88%, whilst dichroa which only differs strikingly
in having lost the white brow stripe has a tail 84% of the wing. C. nivei-
capilla is very similar to this group if one considers that its white crown

could be formed by continuing the white brow stripes of heuglini or —

semirufa to meet on top of the head. In the field in Nigeria I was greatly
struck by its general resemblance to heuglini. Its tail is slightly longer,
95% of the wing. Finally the lowland forest cyanocampter with tail 87°%
of wing also has a heuglini type of pattern. These five species appear rather
closely related, are in large measure allopatric and should be regarded as
a species group.

C. bocagei in its various races is now known to show a wing tail ratio
varying from 81.9 in the longest tailed (bocagei) to 70.1 in granti and 68
in schoutedeni. C. isabellae has not as yet been included in bocagei but it
is interesting to note that it is allopatric to bocagei granti in the Cameroons.
C. isabellae (tail 66-69 °% of wing) has a white stripe over the eye instead of
a white anteocular spot found in bocagei and also a more contrastingly
patterned tail. Another small species, polioptera shares the white brow
stripe of isabellae but not the tail pattern. C. polioptera and C. bocagei
have somewhat overlapping ranges but seem to avoid living together in
most if not all places, or occur at slightly different altitudes. These three
species thus are evidently closely related and form a species group.

Two further species appear on plumage to be quite unrelated to the
foregoing. C. natalensis has a reddish brown head and strongly blue
wings. C. caffra is unusual in having a blue grey abdomen. However in
some other respects it is not unlike the heuglini group and has a similarly
rather long tail, 90°% of the wing. It may therefore be merely an offshoot
of the heuglini group.

Cossyphicula roberti was originally placed in Cossypha, and the grounds
for placing it in a monotypic genus are not very strong. In pattern it
agrees with Cossypha, and although ‘small in size, its tail is 70% of the
wing and thus in agreement with members of the bocagei group. Other
characters such as the slightly broader bill and small feet seem merely
specific. I think it should be kept in Cossypha.

Bessonornis was proposed for one species, humeralis, which is essentially
like a Cossypha. Its chief difference is a partial loss of red melanins which
has resulted in the forepart of the underside being white instead of rufous
and the upperside being grey instead of olive tawny. The rufous rump and
tail, and white brow are wholly like Cossypha. The tail is long, 94% of the
wing. ‘‘Xenocopsychus’’ ansorgei, as Chapin has already shown is very
like humeralis but has lost all rufous in the plumage, leaving a black and
white tail. The tail is as long as the wing or slightly longer. I see no reason
to retain it in a monotypic genus, I would include both humeralis and
ansorgei in Cossypha. With the disappearance of Bessonornis, a place
must be found for B. anomala. I see no obvious reason against transferring
it to Alethe, and C. W. Benson who knows it well in life agrees with this
solution. B. archeri which has sometimes been placed in Cossypha is con-
sidered by Chapin to be close to anomala. It should also be transferred to

Alethe if Chapin is followed, or retained in Cossypha as an aberrant

species if its position is thought to be nearer to that etl I ek to
associate it with anomala in Alethe. tt)

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CONTRIBUTORS

Contributions are not restricted to members of the B.O.C. and should
be addressed to the Editor, Dr. J. G. Harrison, ‘‘Merriewood’’, Seven-
oaks, Kent. These should be concise and typed on one side of the paper,
double-spaced, with a good margin. The first time a species is mentioned,
the scientific generic and specific names should be included. Subsequently ~
the same name need only have the initial letter of the genus. Scientific —
names are printed in italics and should be underlined in the typescript.
References should be given at the end of the paper.

Authors introducing a new name or describing a new species or race
should indicate this in their title and display the name prominently in the ©
text followed by nom. noyv., sp. nov., subsp. nov. as appropriate. In these
descriptions, the first introduction of the name should be followed by
paragraphs for ‘‘Description’’, ‘‘Distribution’’, ‘‘Type’’, ‘“‘Measure-
ments of Type’’, ‘‘Material examined’’ and further sub-headings as
required.

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DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1961
21st November, 19th December.

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

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5 0 NOY 1961
153 PURCHAS Vol. 81
BULLETIN — =

OF THE
BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

Volume 8l

Number 9
Published: Ist December, 1961

The five hundred and ninety-third meeting of the Club was held jointly
with the B.O.U. on Tuesday, 21st November, 1961.

Editor of the Bulletin

Would contributors kindly note the address of Mr. John Yealland on
the back of the Bulletin, as he has now taken over the Editorship.

An ovarian tumour in a Mallard
by J. V. BEER AND G. W. STOREY

Received 27th April, 1961

During the winter 1958/59, a female Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
platyrhynchos Linnaeus, showing marked abdominal distension was
observed amongst the collection at the Wildfowl Trust. For some months
it was kept under observation but although having great difficulty with
flight it was sufficiently agile to avoid capture and in spite of obvious
deformity it appeared to pursue a normal existence. The bird was found
dead on 24th February 1959 when it was possible to subject it to examina-
tion.

It was fortunate that the duck was carrying a ring from which it was
discovered that it was ringed as a full-grown bird on 30th January 1956
thus establishing that it was at least 33 years old.

Pathological Examination

External examination revealed that it was in fair condition with normal
plumage and weighed 1390 grms. There was an obvious abdominal mass.

At post-mortem it was observed that the body showed depletion of
sub-cutaneous and visceral fat whilst the blood vessels were distended and
prominent.

The heart, which was soft and pale, showed no gross abnormality, while
_ the lungs exhibited congestion. The liver was friable and showed small
_ yellow deposits. There was enlargement of one of the parathyroid glands,
_ which was of a dark brown colour. Small quantities of a serous fluid were
present in the body cavities.

The most significant finding was a large tumour arising from the ovary.
The tumour, which was non-capsulated and ovoid in shape, measured

approximately 12 x 7 cms. and was attached to the ovarian area by a highly

Vol. 81 154 Bulletin B.O.C.

Ce ee

Fig. 1 Ovarian tumour from a Mallard, which has been cut longitudinally, showing
the pedicle and the interna! structure.

Fig. 2 The cellular structure of the tumour (x 250)

Bulletin B.O.C. 155 Vol. 81

vascular pedicle (Fig. 1). The tumour was white in colour, firm and
’ rubbery in texture, and weighed 400 grms.
There were numerous metastatic nodules up to a few millimetres in size
on the peritoneal membrane.

Histology
Sections of the tumour showed it to be a granulosa-cell tumour with
characteristic variations in structure. For the most part it consists of
(Fig. 2) groups of pale staining rounded or polyhedral cells with a well
_ defined nucleus. There is a well defined fibrous stroma carrying thin-
walled blood vessels. In parts, the fibrous trabeculae are more pronounced,
whilst elsewhere the cell proliferation is such that one sees large sheets of
_ cells with only scanty interstitial tissue. Occasionally, there is a tendency
to papillary formation and also luteinisation, not uncommon findings in
' such tumours. Degenerative changes are absent and there is little cell
atypism. The characteristic ‘‘rosette’’ formation which occurs in this
type of tumour was not a feature of this particular specimen.

Discussion

Ovarian tumours in birds are described by Willis (1948) who states that
their examination in the literature has been both sporadic and superficial.

Feldman & Olson (1959) in their review of ‘‘Neoplastic Diseases of the

Chicken’’ report that various workers had found an incidence of tumours
of from 2 to 27 per cent and, in particular, that Eber & Malke (1932) had
- found 15 cases of ovarian tumour in a series of 239 (6.4 per cent). The
reviewers consider that Seifried (1923) had described a granulosa tumour
_1n the chicken.
The incidence of tumours in captive wild birds would seem to be lower.
Lombard & Witte (1959) in 10,240 autopsies carried out at the Philadelphia
Zoological Gardens reported the finding of 139 cases—an incidence of
1.4 per cent. In this series, in which there were 1081 autopsies on the
Anseriformes, only three cases showed carcinomas of the genital tract,
one of these being an ovarian carcinoma in a Bahama Pintail, Anas
bahamensis Linnaeus. Jennings (1959b) reported a series of 680 autopsies
on the Anatidae in which he found four cases of tumour and cyst (0.6 per
cent) but no ovarian tumour.

In free-living wild birds the incidence of tumours is similarly low. In a
series of 734 post-mortems, Jennings (1954, 1955 and 1959a) and Jennings
& Soulsby (1956 and 1957) reported four cases of tumour and one case of
an ovarian cyst in a Black-headed Gull, Larus ridibundus Linnaeus |
0.7 per cent), while McDiarmid (1956) and Keymer (1958) only reported
two cases, neither of which involved the ovary. From the literature the
varian tumour would appear to be uncommon.

The low incidence of tumours in wild birds may be due, in part at least,
0 the relative short life-span of the birds (McDiarmid 1956). Lombard &
itte (1959) noted that an increase of incidence of the disease in captive
ild birds paralleled the increased exhibition period which had resulted
om improved feeding. The picture is further complicated in the case of
ree-living wild birds by a relative lack of fresh material, when the frequency
f diagnosis would be expected to be lower than in captive birds.

The authors have not discovered any reference to a tumour of the type

Vol. 81 156 Bulletin B.O.C.

described occurring in the Anatidae. The tumour is a typical ovarian
carcinoma of the granulosa-cell type which showed extensive peritoneal
metastasis. A healthy duck of this species and age would weigh approxi-
mately 1100 grms. based on its linear measurements (Beer, unpublished
data), thus indicating a significant degree of malignant cachexia which
undoubtedly resulted in death.

Summary

A malignant ovarian tumour of granulosa-cell type is reported occurring
in an adult female Mallard. Comparison is made with the occurrence of
tumours in the chicken and in other birds both captive and wild.

Acknowledgements:
The authors wish to thank Professor R. A. Willis for confirmation of the histological
diagnosis.

References :

Eber, A. and Malke, E. (1932) Zeitschr. f. Krebsforsch. 36 : 178. Geschwalstbildungen
bein Hausgefliigel.

Feldman, W. H. and Olson, C. Jr. (1959) In ‘‘ Diseases of Poultry’’, Eds. Biester, H. E.
and Schwarte, L. H. Iowa State College Press. ‘‘ Neoplastic Diseases of the Chick-
en’’, pp. 642-700.

Jennings, A. R. (1954) J. Comp. Path. Ther. 64 : 356-359. Diseases in wild birds.

Jennings, A. R. (1955) Bird Study 2 : 69-72. Diseases in wild birds.

Jennings, A. R. (1959a) Bird Study 6 : 19-22. Diseases of wild birds, fifth report.

Jennings, A. R. (1959b) In Wildfowl Trust Tenth Annual Report 1957-1958, pp. 37-40.
Causes of death of birds at Slimbridge, 1955-1957.

Jennings, A. R. and Soulsby, E. J. L. (1956) Bird Study 3 : 270-272. Diseases in wild
birds, third report.

Jennings, A. R. and Soulsby, E. J. L. (1957) Bird Study 4 : 216-220. Diseases of wild
birds, fourth report.

Keymer, I. F. (1958) Vet. Rec. 70 : 713-720, 736-740. A survey and review of the causes
HF mortality in British birds and the significance of wild birds as disseminators of

sease.

Lombard, Louise S. and Witte, E. J. (1959) Cancer Res. 19: 127-141. Frequency and
types of tumours in mammals and birds of the Philadelphia Zoological Garden.

McDiarmid, A. (1956) Bull. B.O.C. 76 : 145-150. Some diseases of free-living wild birds
in Britain.

Seifried, O. (1923) Zeitschr. f. Krebsforsch. 20 : 188. Das ‘‘Oophoroma folliculare’’
beim Huhn. Ein Beitrag zur Histogenese der epithelialen Ovarialtumoren.

Willis, R. A. (1948) ‘‘The Pathology of Tumours’’, p. 510. Butterworth.

Further breeding records from Northern Rhodesia (No. 2)

by C. W. BENSON AND CAPTAIN CHARLES R. S. PITMAN
Received Ist May, 1961

INTRODUCTION

The present paper is a corollary to that by Benson and Pitman (1958-59).
As previously, data are only included for those species for which they are
scanty or lacking in Benson and White’s Check List (1957). Eggs recorded
as collected are in the British Museum, unless otherwise indicated, while
any parents or young birds so recorded are in the National Museum,
Bulawayo. Co-ordinates are given for any locality, the position of which
is not indicated in the Check List. The nomenclature of that work is
followed. We are most grateful to the various persons whose names are
mentioned below, in the appropriate context, for information and/or
specimens.

Bulletin B.O.C. 157 Vol. 81

| SYSTEMATIC LIST
Ixobrychus minutus payesii (Hartlaub).

Coll. nestling, 23rd April, 1960, Chilanga, caught locally, brought to
C. W. B. It is in pale rufous buff down, except for a few dark brown
feathers margined with rufous starting to appear on the mantle and wing-
coverts. The outer toe is slightly shorter than the inner toe, as is charac-
teristic of the Botaurinae (Bock, Amer. Mus. Novit., 1779, 1956: 12).

Ciconia nigra (Linné).

B. L. Mitchell observed a young bird in the sandstone gorges, on the
north side of the Zambesi, below the Victoria Falls, at 26° 40’ E., on 20th
July, 1959. It was able to fly weakly, but allowed approach to within 30
feet, and could not have been more than about two months old.

Anastomus lamelligerus lamelligerus Temminck.

W. D. C. Brickhill observed a colony of over 100 nests, in reeds border-
ing a small lake in the Bangweulu Swamps, in July, 1958. The nests were
flimsy platforms made of sticks and grass. Some contained eggs, others
very small young.

According to T. Keynes, there was a colony of hundreds of nests in reeds
near the Machili/Zambesi Confluence, in May, 1959, some containing .
eggs, others recently hatched young. By the end of June the young that
had survived had flown, though in the meantime heavy toll had been
taken of them by local Africans.

Bostrychia hagedashia brevirostris (Reichenow).

V. J. Barnett found a nest near Livingstone, on the Zambesi above the
Victoria Falls, on 21st November, 1959. It was a platform of diameter not
more than 15 inches, made of sticks, in a tree overhanging the river, about
10 feet above water-level. It contained one chick covered in fine black
down, considered to be about four days old, and one egg.

N. J. Carr and J. M. C. Uys found a nest on the Kafue at 14° 38’ S.,
26° 11’ E., on 15th January, 1960. It was a frail, thin platform, of diameter
only about eight inches, made of fine twigs, without any lining, in a
Syzygium guineense tree overhanging the river, and about four feet above
water-level. It contained two chicks, in dull black down, with a little
white tipping on the throat, and some feathers starting to emerge from |
_ Sheath in the area of the wings.

Neophron monachus pileatus (Burchell).

Mitchell found a nest containing a single chick about two weeks old, in
the Kalomo District at about 17° S., 26° E., on 20th August, 1959. The
nest was about 15 feet up in a small Acacia tree, on an unburnt open plain.
Pellets found in the vicinity contained hooves of a newly born calf both of
a Common Duiker (Sy/vicapra grimmia) and a Sharpe’s Grysbok ( Raphi-
cerus sharpei), and the false hoof of a Reedbuck (Redunca arundinum), the
hairs of all three of these species, and the remains of two rats.

B. Donnelly and C. W. B. found a nest containing a single chick, at the
Ngambwe Rapids, on the Zambesi, on 27th August, 1959. The nest was
35 feet above the ground, in riparian forest. The chick was still completely
in brown down, about seven inches in length, and adjudged to be one
week old,

Vol. 81 158 r Bulletin B.O.C.

Elanus caeruleus caeruleus (Desfontaines).

Coll C/3 fresh, 3rd June, 1959, edge of Kafue Flats, on Lochinvar
Ranch (Mitchell). Eggs dull surfaced, white, thickly smeared all over with
burnt umber and/or permanent brown, on a few obscured greyish blotches;
size 38.0 x 30.5, 37.0 x 31.0, 41.0 x 30.3 mm. Nest five feet up, in a sapling
of Acacia sieberiana.

Mitchell also saw a nest near Livingstone on 21st June, 1959, 35 feet up
in an Acacia albida tree. There were two young, barely fledged, on the edge
of the nest, while one of the parents was at the top of the tree, plucking fur
from a rat, apparently a Mastomys natalensis.

Accipiter melanoleucus melanoleucus Smith.

Coll. nestling, 2nd October, 1960, Fort Jameson (V. J. Wilson). This
specimen was taken from its nest in the top of a Brachystegia manga tree,
when almost fully fledged, its one companion managing to fly away. It was
kept in captivity until 4th February, 1961, when it died. It is still com-
pletely in immature plumage. Another such specimen has been examined
by C. W. B., shot by C. S. Holliday at Livingstone on 25th March, 1960,
in the Rhodes-Livingstone Museum.

Circus aeruginosus ranivorus (Daudin).

Coll. C/3 fresh with female parent (with no more eggs to lay), Sth
March, 1961, Choma District at 16° 39’ S., 27° O01’ E. (W. F. Bruce-
Miller). The nest was in a swamp, one foot above water-level, a platform
of coarse grass and reeds, with finer grass on top. Eggs white, smooth
without gloss, nest-stained, green inside; size 46.8 x 36.3, 45.3 x 34.9,
48.6 x 36.3 mm. On 3rd March there were only two.

C. W. B. saw a pair copulating in a low bush on the edge of a swamp
near Kalomo on 8th January, 1958. Later the same day, one of the pair
was flushed from a half-completed nest.

Actophilornis africanus (Gmelin).

There are definite egg-laying records in the Check List for February,
May, June and December. Recent records, details of which it is un-
necessary to give, indicate egg-laying in the following months :— January,
one record; February, one; March, two; April, one; July, one; August,
one; November, one. It is evident that this species has no marked breeding

season, and this is supported by Nyasaland records (see Benson’s check ~

list, 1953), while R. K. Brooke has provided the following up-to-date
information for Southern Rhodesia :— January, four records; February,
four; March, six; April, one; May, nil; June, one; July, nil; August, six;
September, one; October, one; November, six; December, four.
Microparra capensis (Smith).

C. W. B., in the Busanga Swamp (not Busango, as spelt in the Check

List), 24th June, 1960, observed an adult accompanied by three young —

not more than three-quarters of its size. It may be assumed that they were
from eggs laid in early May.

Charadrius tricollaris tricollaris Vieillot.

Coll. C/2 fresh, 17th June, 1960, Chilanga (C. W. B.). The first egg was _
laid on 13th June, and presumably this was a full clutch. They are smooth ~
and dull surfaced, pale cream, much obscured by short fine lines and

Bulletin B.O.C. 159 Vol. 81

confluent smears of sepia, concentrated in a small cap at the top, in a 5
mm. broad zone near the top, and in another slightly broader zone
towards the middle of each egg, on almost obscured light grey, mainly in
an underlying girdle around the top; size 29.1 x 22.0, 29.2 x 22.3 mm.
They are in fact typical of this species, and see Serle (Bull. Brit. Orn. CL.,
76, 1956: 79).

Additional breeding records are as follows:— C/2, 22nd September,
1953, Lukusuzi Game Reserve (R. I. G. Attwell); single young birds only
about four days old, 28th and 29th August, 1957, in separate localities
near Chilanga (C. W. B.); two separate C/2, 6th and 11th September,
1958, Mwekera, near Kitwe (G. Bell-Cross); C/2, 20th September, 1960,
Nsefu (C. J. Vernon).

Gallinago nigripennis angolensis Bocage.

Coll. two C/2, 8th June and 11th June, 1944, Ndola, both with female
parents, one egg of first clutch fully shelled but not yet laid, second clutch
partly incubated (E. L. Button). The parents have culmen (exposed) 96,
95 mm. respectively. The eggs of the first clutch are pyriform, smooth,
with slight gloss, light warm sepia, boldly spotted and blotched warm
sepia and raw umber—in one egg a broad girdle around the top—on
underlying dull grey and light brownish grey; size 40.8 x 30.4, 40.4 x 30.0
mm. Those of the second clutch are more ovate than pyriform, and narrow-
ing at one end, light stone-brown, very boldiy marked, mainly around the
larger end, with large twisted confluent blotches and spots of shades of
warm sepia, on underlying light grey and pale brownish grey, on one of
the eggs also bold markings of raw umber; size 41.3 x 30.5, 42.3 x 30.5 mm.

Benson (1959) records a C/2 from the Kafue Flats, and (Ann. Trans.
Mus., 21 (2), 1949: 164) a C/I from northern Nyasaland, both being com-
plete clutches.

Burhinus capensis capensis (Lichtenstein).

Attwell found a clutch of two eggs on 25th September, 1960, at Kafwala
(14° 50’ S., 26° 10’ E.), in short grass by the edge of a motor-track through
Brachystegia woodland. By 6th October one egg had hatched, and twenty-
four hours later both had. Uys observed two chicks, still mainly in down,
but with wing-feathers just starting to emerge from sheath, on 9th October,
1960, at Ntemwa (14° 22’ S., 26° 02’ E.) on recently burnt bare ground, on
the edge of Brachystegia woodland. Mitchell saw two chicks still com-
pletely in down, not more than a week old, on 6th November, 1960, at
Moshi (14° 24’ S., 26° 10’ E.), in Brachystegia woodland, on ground over
which a fierce fire had raged only the previous night. They were quite
unharmed, and the question poses itself as to how they had survived.

Larus cirrocephalus Vieillot.

Coll. C/3 fresh, 4th August, 1960, near Ncheta Island, Bangweulu
Swamps (Brickhill). Eggs on a pad of grass on a pile of excavated material
by an artificial channel 40 feet wide, one foot above the water-level, and
no other nests in the vicinity. One egg was broken and thrown away. Of
the other two, both are smooth surfaced, with very slight gloss. One is pale
olive-green, sparingly and irregularly marked with raw umber all over,

_ on underlying violet-grey. The other is pale /erre verte, boldly and very

sparingly blotched, mainly at the top of the large end, with sepia and light

Vol. 81 160 Bulletin B.O.C.

warm sepia, on underlying pale grey. Size 54.0 x 37.3, 54.2 x 36.3 mm.

E. A. Zaloumis had a young bird brought to him on the Zambesi 12
miles downstream from Mwandi, in July, 1959. It still had some down
adhering, and was only able to fly very weakly.

Pterocles gutturalis gutturalis Smith.

Coli. fully shelled oviduct egg, with both parents, 11th August, 1960,
Munte Piain, 14° 00’ S., 25° 30’ E. (W. F. H. Ansell). The egg is smooth
and fairly glossy, light brown, sparingly spotted and speckled light umber,
more thickly at the top of the large end, and with a ‘girdled’ appearance,
on underlying violet-slate, also mainly in a zone around the top; size
approximately 43.5 x 33.3 mm. It closely resembles eggs of this species
from Oldeani, Tanganyika. The female also contained an oocyte of dia-
meter 24 mm.

The stomach-contents of the parents consisted of seeds only, among
which A. Angus, Plant Pathologist, Department of Agriculture, Northern
Rhodesia, has identified the following after germination:— legumes,
Sesbania sp. (trace only), Crotolaria sp. and Cassia sp.; weed, Achyranthes
aspera (trace only); grasses, Leersia hexandra and Rottboelia exaltata
(traces only of both); blackjack, Bidens sp.

Records by Benson (1959, 1960, and Occ. Papers Nat. Mus. S. Rhod.,
3 [24B], 1960: 245) indicate egg-laying during June/October. To these may
be added the following :— Kafue Flats, 12th June, 1955, nest with three
eggs (Lt.-Col. R. A. Critchiey); 17th September, 1957, two young not yet
able to fly, less than half the size of their parents (Uys): Moshi (14° 24’ S.,
26° 10’ E.), 8th September, 1960, three very smail chicks, only a few days

old, of which by 4th October only one survived, by then about half the ~

size of its parents, but able to fly (Attwell & Uys).

W. F. Bruce-Miller states that on his farm near Choma the odd indi-
vidual may be seen at any season. But it is mostly in evidence in November,
when flocks of 50 or more may be seen flying southward at a height of up
to 1,000 feet, in the heat of the day, calling continuously. Occasionally a
few individuals wili descend to drink at his dam, and then move on south
again. See also Benson (1959), re its presence on the Kafue Flats only
from late April to October. G. C. R. Clay, who has many years experience
in Barotseland, has seen it only the once there, near Kalabo, during the
dry season, and cannot credit that it occurs on the Barotse Plain in the
rains, as recorded in the Check List, since practically the whole of the plain
is then under several feet of water. It would appear that it is no more than
a straggler to Barotseland, and we are unaware of any records from
Angola.

Pterocles bicinctus bicinctus Temminck.

Coll. C/3 dead fresh, with female parent, wing 167 mm., 26th July,

1960, in stony, hilly Brachsytegia woodland, 15 miles north-east of Living-
stone (V. J. Barnett). One egg was broken. The other two, which have been
returned to the collector, are smooth and slightly glossed, pale pinkish

on underlying rather bolder markings of light violet-grey in one, even
bolder of pale grey in the other; size 37.3 x 26.4, 38.5 x 26.3 mm. They are
not unlike eggs of P. guadricinctus collected by C. R. S. P. near the Kerio
River, to the south of Lake Rudolf.

=
i
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Bulletin B.O.C. 161 Vol. 81

P. S. Morris saw a pair in the Luangwa Valley (Petauke District) on 16th
September, 1960, with three chicks still quite unable to fly.

Chrysococcyx caprius (Boddaert).

A fledgling, the tail of which was sent to C. W. B. for identification, was
shot by L. R. Evans at Serenje on 23rd March, 1958, while being fed by an
Oriolus larvatus.

Tauraco corythaix schalowi (Reichenow).

C. W. B. observed a bird incubating a single egg near Chilanga on 8th
December, 1957. The nest was near the top of a Bauhinia tree 15 feet high
Another nest was observed in this locality between 15th and 23rd January,
1960, when two eggs were being incubated. It was in a mango tree, 15 feet
above the ground. T. C. L. Symmes observed a nest near Lusaka between
9th and 17th January, 1960. This also contained two eggs, and was in a
Bauhinia tree, 12 feet above the ground. Mrs. H. Tait saw a nest con-
taining two well feathered young at Isoka on Ist February, 1961.

Musophaga rossae Gould.

C. J. Vernon found a nest at Kasama on 14th September, 1958. It was a
large dove-like platform of sticks on the edge of a patch of evergreen
forest, 12 feet above the ground. It contained one egg, and on the 18th
two. On 6th October one egg was chipping open, and the following day
both were doing so. The eggs were pale cream in colour.

It is appropriate to expand the record of egg-laying at Kalulushi in
October by L. L. Muir, summarised in the Check List. A nest was found
by him in dense riparian forest, 10 feet above the ground, on 22nd October,
1955. It was a fair sized platform of sticks and twigs. It contained two
white eggs, approximate size 41 x 38 mm.

Tockus erythrorhynchus rufirostris (Sundevall).

In the Luangwa Valley at 12° 30’ S., 32° 20’ E., on 26th March, 1958,
Attwell watched a male bringing food (mostly orthopteran) throughout
the day to a nesting hole in a tree of Colophospermum mopane, nine feet
above the ground. The open part of the hole consisted of a slit measuring
1? inches vertically and ¢ inch wide. The slit was mudded all round for
about one inch. Unfortunately, when the site was re-visited two weeks
later, it was found that the tree had been destroyed by elephants.

Scotopelia peli Bonaparte.

T. Edelman observed a bird at its nest, a shallow platform of sticks
containing one egg, on the edge of the Kariba Lake, 25th February, 1959.
The nest was only five feet above the level of the rising flood, and would
shortly have been inundated.

Apus caffer streubelii (Hartiaub).

Coll. nestling, 30th December, 1959, Chilanga (C. W. B.). This specimen
is fully feathered, and has wing 115 mm. It was found on the floor of the
verandah of M. A. E. Mortimer’s house, after the nest (an old one of
Hirundo abyssinica) had disintegrated. A broken fresh egg had been found
below the nest on 3rd October, while twittering from the interior of the
nest was first heard on 29th November. A pair of adults had been around
the house regularly since the previous February.

Vol. 81 162 Bulletin B.O.C.

R. M. Cary (communicated by J. M. Winterbottom) found an old
nest of Hirundo abyssinica, containing three eggs of this swift—C/2 is
usual—near the Kafue Bridge (Lusaka District) on 30th November, 1949.

Motacilla clara torrentium Ticehurst.

A. J. Tree found a fresh completed nest, in which no eggs had yet been
laid, on the Kawanga River, at 15° 42’ S., 28° 36’ E., on the Zambesi
scarp, on 30th August, 1960. It was on a small ledge, under an overhang
of rock, four feet above water-level. He found another nest in this locality
on 27th September, 1960, containing two eggs. It was placed behind a
protruding root, on a bank three feet high, two feet above water-level.

E. L. Button collected an immature specimen, still under parental care,
tail 68 mm. only, on the Kabompo River at 11° 53’ S., on 10th November,
1960. C. W. B. has compared it with specimens from Southern Rhodesia
and eastern Northern Rhodesia, lent by M. P. Stuart Irwin from the
National Museum, Bulawayo. It is darker above than the great majority,
and may be better placed with M. c. chapini Amadon (Amer. Mus. Novit.,
1656, 1954: 4). The only other records of this species from the North-
Western Province are from G. Bell-Cross, who saw one on the Kabompo
at 12° 04’ S., on 27th July, 1960, while White has seen it at Mwinilunga.

Benson (Occ. Papers Nat. Mus. S. Rhod., 3{24B], 1960: 347) records
gonad-activity in a pair collected in the Mazabuka District in September
(eastern co-ordinate shown incorrectly as 26° 08’ E., instead of 28° 08’ E.).
The only record in the Check List is of egg-laying in October. All records
point to dry season breeding, and it might be supposed that breeding in
the rains, with the danger of nests being flooded out by rivers or streams
in spate, would be avoided. However, there is a Nyasaland record of egg-
laying in March, as weil as in August/October (Benson’s Check List, 1953).
R. K. Brooke has provided the following up-to-date egg-laying records
for Southern Rhodesia :— August, one record; September, two; October,
one; November, two. The last two are from the very humid Melsetter
area, and can certainly be taken as wet-season records. Moreover, Moreau
(Fest. Stres., 1949 : 183) states that in the Usambara Mts. nesting takes place
at any time of the year, and that the ‘‘long rains’’ of April and May are
not avoided.

Chlorocichla flaviventris occidentalis Sharpe.

Coll. C/2 fresh, 8th November, 1960, Lusaka District at 15° 40’ S.,
28° 37’ E. (C. W. B.). Nest on edge of riparian forest, eight feet above the
ground. Eggs white, smooth, with slight gloss, with a marbled appearance,
very boldly blotched all over with concentrations (confluent at large end)
of warm sepia shades, with light and pale raw umber fine streaking and
speckling, on underlying light and pale grey, mainly at the large end;
size 24.6 x 17.0, 25.2 x 17.2 mm.

Muscicapa boehmi (Reichenow).

At Isoka, 2nd November, 1960, Mrs. Tait saw young being fed in an old
nest of Anaplectes melanotis. A week later, they had apparently left, but
on 12th December young were again being fed in the same nest, and on
28th December three fledglings under parental care were seen nearby.

Turdus olivaceus stormsi Hartlaub. ¢ }
Coll. C/2 fresh, with female parent (with no more eggs to lay), 20th

f
\

Bulletin B.O.C. 163 Vol. 18

September, 1960, Luela River at 11° 57’ S., 28° 52’ E. Nest a cup made of
rootlets and tendrils, up to 2 mm. thick on the outside, less than 1 mm. on
the inside. There was much dried mud at the base and in the walls. Di-
mensions: external diameter 140, internal 85 mm.; external depth 95,
internal 50 mm. Nest 15 feet above the ground in the lateral fork of a tree,
in thick riparian forest. Eggs smooth, with slight gloss, pale caerulean
blue, one tinged greenish. The blue egg is very scantily marked with a few
small spots and specks of raw umber and some small paler smears. The
other egg is sparingly spotted all over with pale burnt umber, with a zone
of bolder markings around the top, on underlying very sparse spots of
pale violet. The nest of this form seems to have only previously been found
near Elisabethville (Vincent, /bis, 1947: 189).

Psalidoprocne albiceps Sclater.

Vernon opened up a nesting tunnel, extending into a small prospector’s
pit-wall for about 18 inches, in Brachystegia woodland at Kasama on 3rd
January, 1959. It contained a single fresh egg, on a pad of lichen and grass,
on top of what was apparently a previous year’s nest. Building was also
seen at another similar site on 29th November, 1958.

Corvus albicollis Latham.

Tree found a single well developed nestling, on a ledge on a limestone
cliff, on the Zambesi scarp at 15° 41’ S., 28° 31’ E., on 24th October, 1960.
It was not yet able to fly at all, and the shoulders were still in down.

Onychognathus morio morio (Linné).
Coll. C/3 heavily incubated, 10th December, 1959, from a cliff-face at
Msoro, Fort Jameson District, at 13° 36’ S., 31° 54’ E. (V. J. Wilson).
Mitchell saw two young only just fledged, being fed by their parents, in
the gorges adjacent to the Victoria Falls, on 3rd May, 1959.

Nectarinia verticalis viridisplendens (Reichenow).
Mrs. Tait reports seeing a fledgling, still with a marked yellow gape-
wattle, being fed by its parents at Old Fife on 6th April, 1960.

_ Nectarinia olivacea lowei (Vincent).

Coll. C/2 heavily incubated, with female parent, 26th October, 1960,
Samfya (C. W. B.). One egg was lost. The other, which is badly broken and
impossible to measure accurately, is smooth, with slight gloss, pale brown,
heavily marked with sepia clouding, with a zone of darker spots around
the top of the large end, above a broad brown zone. The nest was in a
patch of evergreen forest, six feet above the ground.

Pytilia afra (Gmelin).
Coll. C/5 heavily incubated, with male parent, 2nd March, 1960,
Chilanga (C. W. B.). One egg is larger than the other four, and was rather

} more fresh. It measures 18.1 x 13.8 mm., and is attributed to Vidua

paradisea.

References:

Benson, C. W. 1959. Kafue Excursion. Pree. First Pan-Afr. Orn. Congr. : 8-9,

Benson, C. W. 1960. Breeding seasons of some game and protected birds in Northern
Rhodesia. Black Lechwe, 2(5): 149-158.

Benson, C. W. and Pitman, C. R. S. 1958-59. Further breeding records from Northern
Rhodesia. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cl. 78: 164-166, 79: 14-16, 18-22.

Vol. 81 164 Bulletin B.O.C.

New name for Estrilda jamesoni benguellensis Delacour

by MELVIN A. TRAYLOR
Received 5th May, 1961

In his 1943 revision of the Estrildinae, Delacour (1943, Zoologica, 28:
84) united the genera Lagonosticta and Estrilda and in so doing created a
number of secondary homonyms. For one of these, Estrilda jamesoni
ansorgei (Lagonosticta rhodopareia ansorgei Neumann, 1908, Bul. Brit.
Orn. Club, 21: 58) preoccupied by Estrilda shelleyi ansorgei (Pytelia
ansorgei Hartert, 1899, Bul. Brit. Orn. Club, 10: 26), he proposed the
name Estrilda jamesoni benguellensis. Unfortunately this name is pre-
occupied by Estrilda paludicola benguellensis Neumann, 1908, Bul. Brit.
Orn. Club, 21: 96. I, therefore, propose as a new name for Estrilda jJamesoni
benguellensis Delacour:

Estrilda jamesoni kabisombo nom. nov.

The name kabisombo is taken from the type locality of the race, Kabi-

sombo River, Huila, Angola.

Notes on African species of Turdus
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 8th March, 1961

1. Inter-relationships in the Turdus olivaceus, abyssinicus, pelios complex.

There has been considerable fiuctuation of opinion about the inter-
relationships of these thrushes, the number of species to be recognised,
and where to attach some of the named geographical forms. Chapin (1953)
proposed to arrange them in two species, olivaceus including pelios, and
abyssinicus. The latter was regarded as comprising the montane thrushes
of tropical East Africa. it appears that in fact one is faced with a group of
very closely related birds which could be regarded as forming a single
species but for the fact that two quite distinct forms now occur in places
together as good species. Some quite different forms are linked by inter-
grading series, whilst no intergradation is known between others.

The intergrading series run northwards from Angola and Northern
Rhodesia extending to Senegal in the west and to Eritrea in the east. This
series comprises about seven subspecies. They are certainly a graded clinal
series becoming paler in the north of their range, and often by convergence
closely resembling superficially 7. libonyanus, and in places occupying a
savanna niche where /ibonyanyus does not occur. They cannot be regarded
as conspecific with /ibonyanus for they have yellow rather than deep orange |
red bills, finely streaked instead of plain throats, and in the Katanga and
Northern Rhodesia /ibonyanus and ‘‘pelios’’ stormsi live together. The
pelios thrushes can likewise not be regarded as conspecific with abyssinicus
for they also overlap in various places, sometimes with a partial ecological
and altitudinal replacement, sometimes actually living side by side. The
chief question is therefore whether pelios is to be treated as a species, or to
be attached, as Chapin proposed, to olivaceus.

At first sight there seems to be good reason for this since stormsi and
olivaceus are very similar, and the latter is in fact apparently a stormsi with
more melanin, giving it a much more dusky olive upperside, a dusky olive
breast contrasting with the rufous abdomen very sharply instead of

Bulletin B.O.C. 165 Vol. 81

merging into it, and a darker rufous abdomen. The objections to treating
olivaceus and pelios as conspecific are two. Firstly olivaceus is geographi-
cally widely separated from pelios; from the north Transvaal to northern
~ Northern Rhodesia there is no representative, for swynnertoni of the
montane forests of east Southern Rhodesia is one of the abyssinicus
group of thrushes. This gap in distribution is not a fatal barrier to treating
the two as conspecific when the overall resemblance of o/ivaceus to stormsi
is considered. More difficult however is the even greater resemblance
between some of the southern olivaceus and members of the abyssinicus
group. Thus | find 7. a. bambusicola an almost perfect replica of T. o.
pondoensis differing in little more than its more olive, less dusky back.
Similarly nominate abyssinicus and T. 0. smithii are almost exactly alike
- except for the greatly reduced rufous on the abdomen in smithii. On the
whole members of the montane abyssinicus group also have blacker lores
and orbital regions than the pelios group, and olivaceus whilst somewhat
intermediate is often as black there as some abyssinicus. Thus the southern
olivaceus are in fact at least as similar to some of the abyssinicus group as
they are to the pelios group. The southern o/ivaceus do not intergrade with
either pelios or abyssinicus owing to gaps in ranges; the resemblance
_ between pelios and olivaceus is greater than that between abyssinicus
swynnertoni and olivaceus, although the latter are geographically closer to
each other. On a purely subjective judgment one would conclude that
olivaceus could interbreed equally easily with pelios stormsi or with the
abyssinicus forms noted above. In my view it is logically impossible to
attach olivaceus either to pelios or to abyssinicus since it appears equally
closely related to certain forms of both. Under these circumstances it
_ seems best to treat olivaceus as specifically distinct from either.

2. The components of the T. abyssinicus group.

Variation in this species consists of partly random and non-clinal
variation between isolated populations. From Ethiopia to Kenya and
south west to Kivu and Mt. Kabobo the populations have rufous abdo-
mens (abyssinicus, baraka, bambusicola); the rufous on the underside
largely disappears in most of the East African montane forms (oldeani,
deckeni, milanjensis, nyikae). {t reappears to some extent though in a
more ochreous than rufous shade in swynnertoni in Southern Rhodesia.
I consider the following, of whose position there has been difference of
opinion, forms of T. abyssinicus. (a) helleri, which only differs in having a
black head. (b) /udoviciae, which is a grey form without rufous below.
Always hitherto treated as a separate species, this bird appears to be
merely a very distinct form of abyssinicus. (c) menachensis. (d) nigrilorum
and poensis. Chapin attached this pair to his olivaceus which included
pelios. However in the Cameroons pelios and nigri/orum occur quite close
to each other without intergradation, just as pelios and abyssinicus do in
the eastern Congo and Ethiopia. A large part of the Cameroon mountain
avifauna is derived from, and very closely related to that of the East
African mountains which would suggest that nigrilorum is a form of
abyssinicus. The pronounced black loral region seems to confirm this,
since it is characteristic of most forms of abyssinicus. There is no obvious
reason for treating nigri/orum as anything but a form of abyssinicus.

Vol. 81 166 — Bulletin B.O.C.

3. Turdus libonyanus.

The opportunity of examining a very large series of this species from
South and Central Africa has given me the opportunity to reconsider the —
geographical variation about which there has been much difference of
opinion in recent years. Over the greater part of the range this is very
slight, and I cannot find any constant differences between nominate birds
from the Transvaal and long series from Southern and Northern Rhodesia
and Nyasaland. Some are slightly warmer and richer than others, and
this is perhaps more common in the north of the range, but there is no
constant difference to justify the separation of niassae from libonyanus.

No doubt has been cast upon the validity of the pale verreauxi and this
form extends into south west Barotseland and the Caprivi Strip where the
population is unstable. T. /. chobiensis is based upon these unstable popu-
lations of that area. North of the Zambezi opposite the Caprivi the popu- —
lation in Sesheke and up stream from the Victoria Falls is not however
verreauxi but proves to be identical with nominate /ibonyanus.

The south east of the species’ range presents exceptionally interesting
variations. 7. /. peripheris Clancey is indeed a very saturated form as
Clancey claimed, although an occasional specimen from elsewhere may
match it in this respect. A short distance further north in southern Portu- —
guese East Africa tropicalis is almost as pale as verreauxi but has more
rufous flanks although they are lighter than in the nominate form. In view
of the great uniformity of populations over most of the large range of this
thrush, the juxtaposition of two contrasting extremes in this area is
remarkable, and both peripheris and tropicalis should be recognised on —
the characters given.

4. Turdus litsipsirupa.
Examination of long series shows beyond any doubt that Clancey’s
form pauciguttatus is well founded both on the sparser spotting of the ~
underside and the paler and purer grey, less brownish tinged upperside. |
Birds from Barotseland do not however show these characters and seem
to be the nominate form. The difference between the nominate form and
stierlingi are very slight. Neither denser spotting nor buffier underside are
sufficiently marked to justify its recognition, but it can be upheld on its
generally shorter bill.
I am greatly indebted to the National Museum, Bulawayo and to the
Durban Museum for the loan of material of these thrushes, and to Mr.
C. W. Benson for examining them with me.

Notes on Oenanthe pileata (Gmelin)
by C. M. N. WHITE

Received 24th April, 1961

There are two topics of interest concerning this wheatear—its geo-
graphical variation and its migratory movements. The two should be
considered together, but the latter has received little attention; the geo-
graphical variation has been discussed several times with scanty agreemen
as to what distinguishes the two forms which have been generally accepted
(pileata and livingstonii).

Most writers consider that /ivingstonii is smaller than the nominate for

- Bulletin B.O.C. 167 Vol. 81

and Chapin (1953) quotes no other difference. Undoubtedly birds from
north of the Limpopo average smaller, but since wing measurements
overlap (males of /ivingstonii 90-97 against 91-104 in pileata) this is in-
sufficient for formal separation. Livingstonii is said by some writers to have
less white on the forehead, but this character seems to me to be quite
inconstant and a matter of individual variation. Macdonald (1952) re-
ported differences in the colour of the upperside; /ivingstonii was said to be
more sepia, less warm fawn above, whilst a new form, neseri, was said to
be lighter and more drab grey, less sepia, than /ivingstonii. However there
is doubt about the range and characters of the new form. In 1956 the
S.A.O.S. List Committee considered that birds from most of the range of
neseri are inseparable from /ivingstonii, and in 1959 Clancey claimed that
neseri is really a dark and not a pale form. In 1934 Lynes had observed
that birds from Iringa were unusually dusky above but others from Kenya
quite light.

I have not re-examined specimens of neseri but have had available good
series of the nominate form and of pi/eata, and do not find these supposed
colour variations at all constant. As with all wheatears wear and abrasion
produces rather marked changes. I agree with McLachlan and Liversidge
that this makes worn /ivingstonii often rather greyer and less warm than
the nominate form, but it is impossible to judge how far this is due to
different effects of actinic action in different parts of the range. A single
bird from Hanang in Tanganyika shows the rather dusky upperside noted
by Lynes for his Iringa birds. The fact that Macdonald and Hall (1957)
_ refer Kaokoveld birds to neseri whilst the S.A.O.S. List Committee refer
_ the same birds to /ivingstonii, and that Macdonald regarded neseri as a
_ pale form, whilst Clancey regards it as a dark form, shows that there is a
- considerable subjective element in the assessment of supposed colour
differences. Mr. Benson who examined these birds with me shares my own
view that no clear cut colour differences can be used to distinguish sub-
species. I consequently believe that a binomial designation is preferable at
present.

This decision is not however based solely upon the doubt as to whether
colour differences of a sufficiently constant degree exist. O. pileata is a
bird of migratory habits over much of its range. The Check List of Birds
of the S.W. Cape (1955) state that it is resident there; McLachlan and
_ Liversidge describe it as resident throughout southern Africa except in the
_ south east coastal areas where it is uncommon during the colder months.
_ This last statement is not in fact strictly true for in Southern Rhodesia it is
a dry season visitor from mid May to November. This migratory habit
with similar dates is equally true for Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and
the Katanga. The non breeding quarters of these dry season breeding
_ Visitors to central Africa is not known, but birds in post juvenile and post

breeding moult have been collected in Tanganyika on dates when the
species is absent from Northern Rhodesia, and birds collected in South
West Africa from December to early May illustrate the transition from
- worn to fresh plumage following breeding. Either of these series both in
terms of dates and of moult could thus represent the breeding populations

of central Africa. However the species also breeds in East Africa and Jack-
; son has recorded two breeding seasons in Kenya, one of which April-June

;

{

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Pen er es

Vol. 81 168 | Bulletin B.O.C.

overlaps the central African breeding period, whilst the other (December
and January) is a period when pileata is absent from central Africa.

There is of course no reason why defined subspecies of this wheatear
should not be delineated in due course. The different populations certainly
exhibit physiological differences since they are resident in the south
western Cape, highly migratory over a great area of central Africa, and
are presumably resident and have a double breeding period in Kenya. On
account of the migratory habit over a wide area, non breeding birds or
birds in post juvenile and post breeding moult collected in other parts of
the total range cannot be assumed to be breeding birds of the locality in
which they are collected. Clancey has drawn attention to anomalous
specimens in South Africa which he suggests are migrants from other ~
areas. This is possible; equally they may be aberrant individuals of a local
population since individual variation is high. Consequently I believe that
further light must be thrown on the winter quarters of the central African
birds before any sound analysis of geographical variation can be attempted.
I am indebted to the National Museum, Bulawayo for the loan of a long
series of specimens, and to Mr. C. W. Benson for examining them with me.

Albinistic patterning in the
Mallard, Muscovy, Mandarin and Salvadori’s Ducks

by JAMES M. AND JEFFERY G. HARRISON
Received 10th April, 1961

There appear to be certain latent recurring albinistic characters in some
species of the Anatidae, which exhibit a linked association in some in-
dividuals. These characters show a constant symmetrical pattern, which
argues that they are not just haphazard instances of the pied state, such ©
as one would expect to result from the mating of a white with a normal —
individual; from such a mating the progeny usually exhibit pied mosaics
and may be classed as accidental variation.

Illustrating this note are shown five instances of the condition in the
Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos Linnaeus, all of which are
drakes. From these it is apparent that the condition is one of a varying —
degree of three distinct characters and that in all but the minimal, strikingly
symmetrical white wing-tips combine to produce a remarkable variant.

The characters presented by the five specimens shown range from an ~
entirely normally coloured individual (Fig. 1.1) except for the presence of
a small white chin spot; the white semi-ring of the neck, which is such a
familiar character of the Mallard drake is of normal extent. From this
stage the variant passes through that condition shown by the next specimen
(Fig. 1.2) in which both of these characters are seen in a more extensive ©
form, and in which the longest, but not all of the primaries, are white. The
next stage presents as an individual in which the chin spot and the white
at the root of the neck are beginning to coalesce (Fig. 1.*), and in which —
all the primaries are white and part of the alula. From this stage the next
(Fig. 1.4) is reached in which the lower half of the neck is white, and in —
the wings not only are all the primaries white, but also the secondaries —
forming the speculum, the alula and a few greater wing-coverts. In this

3
i

———— ee

|
;

Bulletin B.O.C. 169 Vol. 81

stage of the variant there is a striking similarity to the neck pattern of the
adult drake Shoveler, Anas clypeata Linnaeus, which incidentally shows a
white neck ring in some drakes in transition plumage from juvenile to first
winter plumage, thus resembling the Mallard (1). Both these characters
therefore demonstrate the close affinity existing between the Mallard and
the Shoveler and fully support the suppression of the genus Spatula for the
latter species. :

The fully developed pattern of this Mallard variant is shown in Fig. 1.°.
with virtually complete fusion of chin-spot and white at the root of the
neck, with fully white primaries, alula and secondaries, though still with
the majority of the wing-coverts normally coloured, as are the upperparts.
The underparts as can be seen are somewhat leucistic over the belly. It is
to be noted that specimens No. 2-5 have all arisen from normally coloured
birds, which were placed on Bradbourne Lakes, Sevenoaks, approximately
twenty years ago. No white ‘‘call-duck’’ have ever been put on to this
water and the albinistic pattern has developed spontaneously, particularly
during the past six years and presumably as the result of in-breeding, as
the stock is very sedentary. We have other examples in both sexes and new
ones occur annually. The first bird in the photograph was wild-shot by
Dr. David Harrison at Otford, Kent.

As is well known in-breeding, without any special effort, and selective
in-breeding in this species are both responsible for the production of
variants of various kinds, including the so-called ‘‘Cayuja’’ Mallard and
such types as the “‘pepper and salt’’ variety, isabelline and other leucistic
varieties and a melanistic type. It is equally well known that many such
varieties are of peculiarly local distribution owing to the fact that the
Mallard in domestication is of singularly sedentary habit.

These conditions and results are readily understandable and in them-
selves might appear sufficient. However, when one realises that a precisely
similar combination of homologous characters can occur in other species,
then it is evident that this circumstance alone takes the phenomenon
outside the category of accidental variation and stresses the desirability of
further consideration.

The other species in which one or more of this set of homologous
characters occur are the Mandarin Duck, Aix galericulata (Linnaeus),
Salvadori’s Duck, Anas waigivensis Rothschild and Hartert, the domestic
Muscovy Duck, Cairina moschata Linnaeus and the White-winged Wood
Duck, Cairina scutulata, 8. Miiller, the European Green-winged Teal,
Anas c. crecca Linnaeus, the Chilean Teal, Anas f. flavirostris Vieilliot? and
various diving duck, Netta and Aythya species, while one of us (J.G.H.°)
recorded an instance of symmetrical white wings in a wild adult drake
Goosander, Mergus merganser merganser (Linnaeus) which is the only
instance of this particular variant known to us in the diving duck species.

The condition in the Mandarin is shown in the accompanying photo-
graph. Both were bred in captivity by Dr. Edmund Gleadow and the drake
shows a very distinctive white chin and neck spot corresponding to Stage
2 of the Mallard, while the duck corresponds to Stage 5 of the Mallard.
Both of these Mandarins had white primaries on the unpinioned wing and
would presumably have been symmetrical. We have a third example in an
intersex, also from Dr. Gleadow.

Vol. 81 170 Bulletin B.O.C. -

The Muscovy Duck has become heavy and coarse under domestication
and various colour changes have occurred. We have one example in which
the head and neck corresponds closely to our Stage 5 of the Mallard and
this bird also has several white primaries. Many Muscovy Ducks at the
present time have totally white heads and necks and symmetrical white
primaries.

The closely-related White-winged Wood Duck shows a vairable degree
of whiteness on the head and neck, but in the majority there is a marked
tendency for the white to concentrate into a neck ring and the chin in all
fourteen wild-killed examples in the British Museum and in the two we
have from the Wildfowl Trust is white. We have seen none with any trace
of white primaries.

We have also examined ten examples of Salvadori’s Duck, six were wild
taken in New Guinea, now in the British Museum, three were from the
Wildfowl Trust collection and the tenth was presented to us by the Wild-
fowl Trust. These last four birds were from the collection of Sir Edward
Hallstrom at Nondugl and were presented by him to the Trust, with
eleven others, some of which survive.

Two of the wild-taken females show traces of a white chin spot as does
an adult drake in the Wildfowl Trust collection, but the adult drake
presented to us shows both a white chin spot and a white neck spot,
corresponding to the Mandarin drake illustrated.

As in the case of the Mallard, both Muscovy and Mandarin Ducks have
come under domestication and all three are under the same artificial
stresses. This may well apply to the rare Salvadori’s Duck and we believe
that it is under these circumstances that the remarkable and constant
albinistic patterning becomes revealed, as the result of inbreeding.

At this point it is useful to enumerate the species in which the characters
under discussion occur, either as part of a species’ normal morphology
or as a recurring homologous expression, examples of variants occurring
in the wild state being marked with an asterisk.

(1) Symmetrical white primaries. These are found normally only in
the swans* including the Black Swan, Cygnus atratus (Latham).

As a variant, this character is found in the Mallard*, Muscovy, Man-
darin and Goosander*.

(2) White chin spot. This character is more widely distributed and is
found as a constant character in the Ferruginous Duck*, Aythya nyroca
(Giildenstadt). It is also present in a number of Tufted Duck*, A. fuligula
(Linnaeus), Pochard*, A. ferina (Linnaeus), Scaup*, 4. marila (Linnaeus)
New Zealand Scaup, A. novae-zeelandiae (Gmelin) and the Red-crested
Pochard*, Netta rufina (Pallas). |

It is found as a variant character in the Mallard*, Salvadori’s Duck*, —
Mandarin Duck and Muscovy Duck.

(3) White neck spot. In its strictest sense, this character is not found
normally in any duck species, if one excludes the white semi-ring of the
drake Mallard. It is our considered opinion that when seen in other species,
the white neck spot is homologous to this character in the Mallard and
this interpretation of it would infer that the Mallard is to be regarded as a
species of considerable antiquity.

Bulletin B.O.C. 171 Vol. 81

We have found white neck spots or semi-rings as variants 1n the following
species :—

European Green-winged Teal*, Yellow-billed Teal*, Mandarin Duck,
Gadwall*, Anas strepera Linnaeus', Salvadori’s Duck, White-winged
Wood Duck and Muscovy Duck. A white neck ring also occurs as a
transient character in some eclipse drake Pintail*, Anas acuta Linnaeus
and in immature to first winter drake Shoveler*, Anas c/ypeata Linnaeus.

(4) The characters in combination.

All three characters have only been found in combination in the Mallard,
Muscovy Duck and Mandarin Duck. The white chin and neck spots are
found in combination in these three and in Salvadori’s Duck.

The development of the albinistic patterning is shown therefore to be a
graduated phenomenon, associated with in-breeding in domestication,
but also occurring to a lesser degree in the wild state.

Acknowledgements. We would like to thank Mr. J. D. Macdonald for
facilities to study specimens in the British Museum (Natural History); also

Fig. 1.—Albinistic Patterning in the Mallard

Lower bird: 12th October, 1958: Otford, Kent.
All others :— 16th March, 1958: Sevenoaks. Kent.

Mr. Peter Scott and the Wildfowl Trust for the presentation of a Sal-
vadori’s Duck and the loan of others. The following also provided us with
valuable specimens:— Dr. E. Gleadow, Dr. David Harrison, Lt. Cdr.
A. S. McLean, the late Mr. Foster Stubbs, Mr. John Wardell and Captain
J. V. Wilkinson, R.N. Sevenoaks Urban District Council granted us

Vol. 81 eZ Bulletin B.O.C.

EEE BE

Fig. 2.—Albinistic Patterning in the Mandarin

Left :— 25th February, 1961. 2nd year drake.
Right :— 26th February, 1961. Ist year duck.

permission to collect and study the Mallard on Bradbourne Lakes and
Mrs. Pamela Harrison took the photographs for us. We are most grateful
to them all.

Postscript

Since going to press, we have received a further drake Mandarin with
white primaries from Dr. E. Gleadow, bred this year it is an immature
drake Mallard, shot by Mr. J. Wilde on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent on 30th
September, 1961, which has a white breast shield, but is otherwise in
normal juvenile plumage. We are very grateful to both these gentlemen
for the specimens.

References:

1 Harrison, J. M. and J. G. ‘‘Evolutionary Significance of certain Plumage Sequences
in Northern Shoveler.’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 79, pp. 135-42. 1959.

2 Harrison, J. M. and J. G. ‘‘The White Neck Spot Variant in the European Green-
winged Teal and the Yellow-billed Teal.’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 78, pp. 104-5. 1958.

3 Harrison, J. G. ‘‘Symmetrical Albinism in Bird’s Wings.’’ Bull. B.O.C., Vol. 73,
ip. NOS. 958%

4 Harrison, J. M. and J. G. ‘‘Plumage Variants in drake Gadwall’’ Bull. B.O.C.,
Vol. 79, pp. 78-9. 1959.

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2. CONTRIBUTORS
Contributions are not restricted to members of the B.O.C. and should
be addressed to the Editor, Mr. John Yealland, The Zoological Society
of London, Regent’s Park, London, N.W.1. These should be concise and
typed on one side of the paper, double-spaced, with a good margin. The
first time a species is mentioned, the scientific generic and specific names
should be included. Subsequently the same name need only have the initial
letter of the genus. Scientific names are printed in italics and should be
underlined in the typescript. References should be given at the end of the
paper.

Authors introducing a new name or describing a new species or race
should indicate this in their title and display the name prominently in the
text followed by nom. nov., sp. nov., subsp. nov. as appropriate. In these
descriptions, the first introduction of the name should be followed by
paragraphs for ‘“‘Description’’, ‘‘Distribution’’, ‘“Type’’, ‘‘Measure-
ments of Type’’, ‘‘Material examined’’ and further sub-headings as
required.

BACK NUMBERS OF THE BULLETIN

SUBSCRIPTION TO BULLETIN

The Bulletin may be purchased by non-members annually for 30s. (payable
in advance) or per copy 4s., payable to the Hon. Treasurer, C. N. Walter,
Finsbury Pavement House, 120 Moorgate, London, E.C.2.

CORRESPONDENCE

Other correspondence should be addressed to the Hon. Secretary, Miss
E. Forster, The Double House, Wiveton, Holt, Norfolk.

DINNERS AND MEETINGS FOR 1961
19th December.

Published by the BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB and printed by
The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, South Park, Sevenoaks, Kent.

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BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB

(Founded Sth October, 1892)

TITLE and OBJECTS

The objects of the Club, which shall be called the ‘‘British Orni-
thologists’ Club’’, are the promotion of scientific discussion be-
tween Members of the British Ornithologists’ Union and others
interested in ornithology, and to facilitate the publication of scientific
information connected with ornithology.

RULES

(As amended, 19th September, 1961)

MANAGEMENT

(1) The affairs of the Club shall be managed by a Committee, to
consist of a Chairman to be elected for three years, and who shall
at the end of that period not be eligible for re-election for the next
term; one Vice-Chairman, who shall serve for three years and who
shall at the end of that period not be eligible for re-election for the
next term; an Editor of the Bulletin to be elected for five years, and
who shall at the end of that period not be eligible for re-election for
the next term; a Secretary and a Treasurer who shall be elected for a
term of one year, but who shall be eligible for re-election at the next
term. There shall be, in addition, four other Members, the senior
of whom shall retire each year, the vacancy being filled by the election
of another Member. Officers and Members of the Committee shall
be elected by the Members of the Club at an Annual General Meeting
and the names of such Officers and Members of the Committee
nominated by the Committee for the ensuing year shall be circulated
with the notice convening the Annual General Meeting at least two
weeks before the Meeting. Should any Member wish to propose
another candidate, the nomination of such, signed by at least two
Members, must reach the Secretary at least one clear week before
the Annual General Meeting.

(2) Any Member desiring to make a complaint of the manner in
which the affairs of the Club are conducted must communicate in
writing with the Chairman, who will, it if is considered necessary,
call a Committee Meeting to deal with the matter.

(3) Ifthe conduct of any Member or Associate-Member, herein-
after together described as Members, shall be deeemed by the
Committee to be prejudicial to the interests of the Club, that Member
may be requested by the Committee to withdraw from the Club. In
the case of a refusal, the Member’s name may be removed from the
list of Members at an Annual General Meeting, provided that, in
the notice calling the meeting, intimation of the proposed resolution
to remove the Member’s name shall have been given to that Member,
and a majority of the Members present shall record their votes for
such removal.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

(4) Any member of the British Ornithologists’ Union may be-
come a member of the Club on payment to the Treasurer of a sub-
scription of £1 10s. Od. per annum. A member who ceases to be a
member of the British Ornithologists’ Union shall also cease to be
a member of the Club.

Associate Members enrolled under the Rule 4 hereby revoked
shall retain all privileges as therein defined but no further Associate
Members shall be admitted.

A member who has had an unbroken membership of the Club for
fifty years shall become a Life Member, and shall not be required to
pay any further Annual Subscriptions.

(5) Members of the British Ornithologists’ Union who are
ordinarily resident outside the British Isles, and ornithologists from
the British Commonwealth, or from foreign countries, may be
admitted at the discretion of any member of the committee as
Temporary Associates (Overseas) of the Club for the duration of
any visit to the British Isles not exceeding one year. Privileges of
Temporary Associates (Overseas) shall be limited to attendance at
the ordinary meetings of the Club and the introduction of guests.

Members of the British Ornithologists’ Union ordinarily resident
in the British Isles, may be admitted at the discretion of the Honorary
Secretary as Temporary Associates (Home) to any one meeting
during the Winter Session of the Club.

MEETINGS

(6) The Club will meet, as a rule, on the third Tuesday in the
months of January to May inclusive and September to December
inclusive, at such hour and place as may be arranged by the
Committee. At these Meetings papers upon ornithological subjects
will be read, specimens exhibited and described, and discussion
invited.

(7) The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held on
the day of the April Meeting of each year, and the Treasurer shall
present thereat the Balance Sheet and Report; and the election of
Officers and Committee, in so far as their election is required, shall
be held at such Meeting.

(8) A Special General Meeting may be called at the instance of
the Committee for any purpose which they deem to be of sufficient
importance, or at the instance of not fewer than fifteen Members.
Notice of not less than two weeks shall be given of every Annual
General Meeting and Special General Meeting.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

(9) Members and Temporary Associates (Overseas) may in-
troduce visitors at any ordinary Meeting of the Club, but the same
guest, except for husbands and wives of members, shall not be
eligible to attend on more than three occasions during the year. No
former Member who has been removed for any cause, and who has
not been reinstated, shall be allowed to attend as a guest.

‘BULLETIN’ OF THE CLUB

(10) An Abstract of the proceedings of the Club shall be printed
as soon as possible after each Meeting under the title of the Bulletin
of the British Ornithologists’ Club, and one copy shall be distributed
gratis to every Member who has paid the current annual subscription.

Contributors are entitled to a maximum of thirty free copies of
the Bulletin and if they desire to exercise this privilege they should
give notice to the Editor when their manuscript is handed in. Copies
in excess of the thirty free copies can be ordered at the same time.
These will be supplied by the publishers to whom payment at current
rates shall be made on demand.

Descriptions of new birds may be published in the Bulletin when
such cannot be communicated at the Meeting of the Club. This shall
be done at the discretion of the Editor.

Communications are not restricted to members and contributions,
particularly on systematics and related subjects, will be considered
for publication.

(11) No communication, the whole or any important part of
which has already been published eleswhere, shall be eligible for
publication in the Bulletin, except at the discretion of the Editor;
and no communication made to the Club may be subsequently
published elsewhere without the written sanction of the Editor.

TRUST FUND

(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 declared
by or contained in a formal deed, including provision for the pur-
chase 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 corpora-
tion so appointed such remuneraton for acting as trustee for the
Club as may from time to time be agreed between the Committee
and the trustees.

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.

The Caxton & Holmesdale Press, 104 London Road, Sevenoaks

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