ee ee Pal os SoS e rite eta teen ——— cxsaeasrenreeateeeeans SS Sg ae tT ES pre pres ry Tales = Wales SSSR ——~— =the ee S S oe ee oe ee ens at tg tanta a e a9 i ey Rael tee “4p i AEE > rz a Ee eee oes ae ee : BULLETIN OF THE SRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ OLUB EDITED BY Dr. G. CARMICHAEL LOW. SSS VOLUME LXIV. SESSION 1943-1944, OE LONDON: ad. E. & G. WITHERBY. 326 HIGH HOLBORN, W.C. 2 1944, ALERE FLAMMAM. PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, LTD., RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, E.C. 4. PREFAGE, THE past Session, 1943-1944, showed little change to that of 1942-1943, owing to the continuance of the war. The feeling at the Annual General Meeting was to continue meetings and have them on Saturday afternoons if possible, the arrangements being left to the Officials of the Club. The Annual General Meeting was held at the Rembrandt Hotel on Tuesday, October 12, 1943, and was followed by a dinner. Further meetings took place in December, May (in conjunction with the Annual General Meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Union) and June. There was no meeting in March, but a number of the ‘ Bulletin ’ was published for that month. The number of attendances for the Session was much the same as in the previous year, viz., a total of 110 in place of 109, this being made up as follows :—71 members of the Club, 17 members of the B. O. U., and 22 guests. Again there was no Chairman’s Address. At the combined meeting of the Union and the Club, Miss Frances Pitt showed a film of a Heron fishing in a pond, and one of hybrid Bean and Pink-footed Geese: These were much admired, as were also a series of slides of birds and scenery in Lapland and on the Dovre Feld by Mr. H. N. Southern. Dr. P. R. Lowe sent some remarks on “ Physiological Races ”’ ; Mr. N. B. Kinnear communicated some “ Interesting Records from St. Helena”; Miss Frances Pitt a “ Note on a Mating of Anser fabalis x A. brachyrhynchus and the resulting hybrids * ; Mr. P. A. Clancey a note on “Geographical Variation in Races of Greenfinch’’; and Mr. Jeffery Harrison one on the “‘ Races of Mallard ”’. | New forms were described by Dr. David Bannerman, Mr. P. A. Clancey, Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. Mackworth-Praed, a2 IV Dr. J. M. Harrison, Mr. R. E. Moreau, Dr. V. G. L. van Someren, Lieut.-Colonel Jack Vincent, M.B.E., and Mr. C. M. N. White. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel Mackworth-Praed have again continued their valuable notes on Eastern African Birds. It was found possible to have one Saturday luncheon, namely, on May 6, when the combined meeting with the British Ornithologists’ Union took place; the other meetings were held on week-days, in the evenings after dinner, all at the Rembrandt Hotel. G. CARMICHAEL LOW, Editor. London, July 1944. BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB. (FouUNDED OCTOBER 5, 1892.) Jo TITLE AND OBJECTS. The objects of the Club, which shall be called the ‘‘ British Ornithologists’ Club,” are the promotion of social intercourse between Members of the British Ornithologists’ Union and to facilitate the publication of scientific infor- . mation connected with ornithology. RULES. (As amended, October 12, 1938.) MANAGEMENT. I. The affairs of the Club shall be managed by + Committee, to consist of a Chairman, who shall be elected for three years, at the end of which period he shall not be eligible for re-election for the next term ; two Vice-Chairmen, who shall serve for one year, and who shall not be eligible for the next year ; an Editor of the ‘ Bulletin,’ who shall be elected for five years, at the end of which period he shall not be eligible for re-election for the next term ; a Secretary and a Treasurer, who shall each be elected for a term of one year, but who shall be eligible for re-election. There shall be in addition four other Members, the senior of whom shall retire each year, and another Member be elected in his place; every third year the two senior Members shall retire and two other Members be elected in their place. Officers and Members of the Committee shall be elected by the Members of the Club at a General Meeting, and the names of such Officers and Members of Committee nominated by the Committee for the ensuing year shall be circulated with the notice convening the Genera 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. Vi ; II. 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, if he deem fit, call a Committee Meeting to deal with the matter. Ill, If the conduct of any Member shall be deemed by the Committee to be prejudicial to the interests of the Club, he may be requested by the Committee to withdraw from the Club. In the case of refusal, his name may be removed from the list of Members at a General Meeting, provided that, in the notice calling the Meeting, intimation of the proposed resolution to remove his name shall have been given, and that a majority of the Members voting at such Meeting record their votes for his removal. SUBSCRIPTIONS. IV. Any Member of the British Ornithologists’ Union may become a Member of the Club on payment to the Treasurer of an entrance-fee of one pound and a subscription of one guinea for the current Session. On Membership of the Union ceasing, Membership of the Club also ceases. Any Member who has not paid his subscription before the last Meeting of the Session shall cease, ipso facto, to be a Member of the Club, but may be reinstated on payment of arrears. Any Member who has resigned less than five years ago may be reinstated without payment of another Entrance Fee. Any Member who resigns his Membership on going abroad may be readmitted without payment of a further Entrance Fee at the Committee’s discretion. TEMPORARY ASSOCIATES. V. Members of the British Ornithologists’ Union who are ordinarily resident outside the British Isles, and ornithologists from the British Empire overseas or from foreign countries, may be admitted at the discretion of the Committee as Tem- porary Associates of the Club for the duration of any visit to the British Isles not exceeding one Session. An entrance fee of five shillings shall be payable in respect of every such admission vii if the period exceeds three months. The privileges of Temporary Associates shall be limited to attendance at the ordinary meetings of the Club and the introduction of guests. MEETINGS. VI. The Club will meet, as a rule, on the second Wednesday in every month, from October to June inclusive, at such hour and place as may be arranged by the Committee, but should such Wednesday happen to be Ash Wednesday, the Meeting will take place on the Wednesday following. At these Meetings papers upon ornithological subjects will be read, specimens exhibited and described, and discussion invited. VII. A General Meeting of the Club shall be held on the day of the October Meeting of each Session, 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. VIII. 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 General and Special General Meeting. INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS. IX. Members may introduce visitors at any ordinary Meeting of the Club, but the same guest shall not be eligible to attend on more than three occasions during the Session. No former Member who has been removed for non-payment of subscription, or for any other cause, shall be allowed to attend as a guest. ‘ BULLETIN ’ OF THE CLUB. x. An Abstract of the Proceedings of the Ciub shall be printed as soon as possible after each Meeting, under the title of the ‘ Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club,’ and shall be distributed gratis to every Member who ha: paid his subscription. Contributors are entitled to six free copies of the ‘ Bulletin, but if they desire to exercise this privilege they must give notice to the Editor when their manuscript is handed in. Members purchasing extra copies of the ‘Bulletin’ are entitled to a rebate of 25 per cent. on the published price, but not more than two copies can be sold to any Member unless ordered before printing. Descriptions of new species may be published in the ‘ Bulletin,’ although such were not communicated at the Meeting of the Club. This shall be done at the discretion of the Editor and so long as the publication of the ‘ Bulletin ’ is not unduly delayed thereby. Any person speaking at a Meeting of the Club shall be allowed subsequently—subject to the discretion of the Editor— to amplify his remarks in the ‘ Bulletin,’ but no fresh matter shall be incorporated with such remarks. XI. No communication, the whole or any important part of which has already been published elsewhere, 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. ~” ALTERATION AND REPEAL OF RULES. XII. Any suggested alteration or repeal of a standing rule shall be submitted to Members to be voted upon at a General Meeting convened for that purpose. COMMITTEE, 1943-1944. Mr. D. Seru-Smitru, Chairman (elected 1943). Mr. F. J. F. Barrineton, Vice-Chairman (elected 1943). Dr. E. Hopkinson, Vice-Chairman (elected 1943). Dr. G. CarmicHaEL Low, Editor (elected 1940), and Hon. Secretary (elected 1943). Miss E. P. Leacu, Hox. T'reasurer (elected 1942) Miss PHYLLIS BARCLAY-SMITH (elected 1940). Mr. B. G. Harrison (elected 1940). Mr. JAMES FISHER (elected 1942). Mrs. WINIFRED Boyp Wart (elected 1942). Officers of the British Ornithologists’ Club, Past and Present. Chairmen. P. L. Sctater, F.R.S. Lord RotTHSCHILD, F.R.S. W. L. ScLATER. H. F. WItHERBY. Dr. P. R. Lowe. Major S. S. FLOWER. D. A. BANNERMAN. G. M. MarHEws. Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON. D. SetH-SMITH. Vice-Chairmen. eS ord RotTHscHILD, F.R.S. . L. SCLATER. . FE. WITHERBY. . M. MatHeEws. . B. KINNEAR. . WHISTLER. . SETH-SMITH. a R. SPARROW. r. G. CARMICHAEL Low. on. Guy CHARTERIS. . L. SCLATER. . D. A. BANNERMAN. tain C. H. B. GRANT. . W. B. Tucker. . FL. J. F. BARRINGTON. . EK. HopxKiInson. SUnZonS AES Ak Editors. R. BowpDLeER 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. 1892-1913. 1913-1918. 1918-1924. 1924-1927. 1927-1930. 1930-1932. 1932-1935. 1935-1938. 1938-1943. 1943- 1930-1931. 1931-1932. 1932-1933. 1933-1934. 1934-1935. 1935-1936. 1936-1937. 1937-1938. 1938-1939. 1938-1939. 1939-1940. 1939-1940. 1940-1943. 1940-1943. 1943- 1943- 1892-1904. 1904-1914. 1914-1915. 1915-1920. 1920-1925. 1925-1930. 1930-1935. 1935-1940. 1940- x Honorary Secretaries and Treasurers. HowaRrRpD SAUNDERS. W. E. DE WINTON. H. F. WiTHERBY. Dr. ‘PR. LOwe. C. G. TALBoT-PONSONBY. D. A. BANNERMAN. Dr. Puiire GOSsE. J. L. BONHOTE. C. W. MAacKwoRTH-PRAED. Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low. C. W. MacKkwoRTH-PRAED. Honorary Secretaries. Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON. C. R. Stonor. N. B. KIinn@aAr. Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low. Honorary Treasurers. C. W. MackworRTH-PRAED. Major A. G. L. SLADEN. Miss E. P. Leacu 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- 1935-1936. 1936-1942. 1942- IO T5 20 LIST OF MEMBERS. JUNE 1944. ee ActAnD, Miss C. M.; ‘‘ Grassholm ”’, 2 Orchard Close, Ban- stead, Surrey. | ALEXANDER, H.G.; 144 Oak Tree Lane, Selly Oak, Birming- : ham. AYLMER, Commander E. A., R.N.; Wyke Oliver, Preston, Dorset. BAaNNERMAN, Davip A., M.B.E., M.A., Sec.D., F.R.S.E., H.F.A.0.U. (Chairman, 1932-1935); British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W. 7. Barcuay-SmitH, Miss PHyLuis (Commitiee); 51 Warwick Avenue, W. 9. BaRRINGTON, FREDERICK J. F., M.S., F.R.C.S. (Vice-Ohair- man) ; 48 Wimpole Street, W. 1. BENsSoN, Captain C. W.; c/o Secretariat, Zomba, Nyasaland. Burst, Miss M. G.8S.; 104 Cresswell Place, S.W. 10. Boorman, 8. ; Heath Farm, Send, Woking, Surrey. Boyp, A. W., M.C. ; Frandley House, near Northwich, Cheshire. Brown, GEorcGE ; Combe Manor, Hungerford, Berks. Buxton, Major AntHony, D.S.O., D.L.; Horsey Hall, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. CaMPBELL, Dr. James W.; Layer Marney Hall, Kelvedon, Essex. Cave#, Colonel F. O.; Stoner Hill. Petersfield, Hants. CuaPin, Dr. James P. ; American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, New York City, U.S.A. CHARTERIS, Hon. G. L.; 24 Oxford Square, W. 2. CHASEN, FREDERICK N.; Raffles Museum, Singapore. CHISLETT, RatpyH ; Larkspur, 42 Broom Crescent, Rotherham, Yorks» . Ciancey, P. A.; 9 Craig Road, Cathcart, Glasgow, S. 4. CLARKE, Brig.-General GoLAND van Ho.t, C.M.G., D.S.O. ; Maudlyn House, Steyning, Sussex. 25 30 33 40 45 x CLARKE, JoHN P. STEPHENSON ; Broadhurst Manor, Horsted Keynes, Sussex. CLARKE, Colonel StEPHENSON RosBErRtT, C.B.; Borde Hill, Cuckfield, Sussex. CLEAVE, Henry P. O.; Trevanion, Wadebridge, Cornwall. CoLTart, Captain N. B.; c/o Lloyds Bank Ltd., Epsom, Surrey. Conover, H. B.; 6 Scott Street, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. CUNNINGHAM, Captain Josias, R.A.; 3 Donegall Square East, Belfast. DeELAcouR, JEAN; Stanhope Hotel, Fifth Avenue and 81st Street, New York, N.Y. Dewuurst, Lieut.-Colonel F. W., R.M.; Wisdome Cot, Cornwood, 8. Devon. Dosiz, WILLIAM Henry, M.R.C.S.; 32 St. Martin’s Fields, Chester. DuFFIN, CHARLES J.; 4 Pendennis Road, Streatham, 8.W. 16. Duncan, ARTHUR Bryce; Lannhall, Tynron, Dumfriesshire. Evuis, RaupH, F.L.S.; 2420 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California, US.A. Ezra, A., O.B.E.; Foxwarren Park, Cobham, Surrey. FIsHER, JAMES (Commitiee) ; Bureau of Animal Population, University Museum, Oxford. FisHER, KENNETH ; School House, Oundle, Northamptonshire. Firtrr, R. 8S. R.; 39 South Grove House, Highgate, N. 6. FLowEr, Major S. S. (Chairman, 1930-1932) ; 27 Park Road, Tring, Herts. FouLKES-RoBeErts, Captain P. R., M.C.; Westwood, Goring- on-Thames, Oxon; and c/o The Administrator of the Colony, Lagos, Nigeria. GILBERT, Captain H. A. ; Bishopstone, near Hereford. Gieac, W. E.; c/o Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. GLENISTER, A. G.; The Barn House, East Blatchington, Seaford, Sussex. GopMaN, Miss Eva ; South Lodge, Horsham, Sussex. GRANT, Captain C.H. B.; 8 Cornwali Gardens Court, Cornwail Gardens, 8.W. 7, , GYLDENSTOLPE, Count Nits; Royal (Natural History) Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. Hacuisuka, The Marquess ; Mita Shiba, Tokio, Japan. 50 35 60 65 xm HARRISON, BERNARD Guy (Commitiee) ; 45 St. Martin’s Lane, W.C. 2. Harrison, JAMES M., D.S.C., M.R.C.S., L.B.C.P.; Bowerwood House, St. Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent. Harrison, JEFFERY ; Bowerwood House, St. Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent. Hzatsu, R. E.; 2 Pembroke Court, Edwardes Square, W. 8. Hett, GEOFFREY SEccOMBE, M.B., F.R.C.S.; 86 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, W. 1. Hopexin, Mrs. T. Epwarp ; Old Ridley, Stocksfield, North- umberland. Hottom, P. A. D.; Rolverden, Hook Heath, Woking, Surrey. Hopkinson, Emiuivs, C.M.G., D.S.0., M.B. (Vice-Chairman) ; Wynstay, Balcombe, Sussex. Hutson, Lieut.-Colonel H. P. W., R.E.; Chatham ame Rome Gardens, Abassia, Cairo, Hayat Ineuis, C. McFaruane ; Natural History Museum, Daryjiling, India. InecRAM, Captain CoLLINewoop; The Grange, Benenden, Cranbrook, Kent. JABOUILLE, PIERRE; c/o Monsieur J. Delacour, New York Zoological Society, New York, U.S.A. JAMES, Miss Cetra K., Blake’s Wood, Barnt Green, Birm- ingham. JORDAN, Dr. Karu ; Zoological Museum, Tring, Herts. Kinnear, Norman B.; British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W. 7. Kuropa, The Marquis Nacamicut; Fukuyoshicho, Akasaka, Tokio, Japan. } Lack, Davip; Senior School, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devonshire ; and ® Carlton Mews, S8.W. 1. Leacu, Miss E. P. (Hon. Treasurer) ; 94 Kensington Court, W. 8. Lewis, Joun SpeDAN ; Leckford Abbas, Stockbridge, Hants. LONGFIELD, Miss Cyntuta ; 20 Pont Street, S.W. 1. Low, Gror@E CarmicHAEL, M.A., M.D., C.M., F.R.C.P., F.Z.S8. (Hditor of the ‘ Bulletin’ and Hon. Sec.); 7 Kent House, Kensington Court, Kensington, W. 8, xIV Lower, P. R., O.B.E., M.B., B.C. (Chairman, 1927-1930) ; 2 Hugo House, 179 Sloane Street, S.W. 1; and Parkland, Burley, Ringwood, Hants. | 7 MacponaLp, J. D., D.Sc. (For.), D.Sec.; British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W. 7. Mackenziz, Joun M. D., B.A., C.M.Z.S.; Sidlaw Fur Farm, Tullach Ard, Balbeggie, Perthshire. 70 McKittrick, T. H.; Bank for International Settlements, Basle, Switzerland. Mackwortu-PRAED, Lieut.-Colonel C. W. ; Castletop, Burley, near Ringwood, Hants. MAcmMILLAN, Captain W. E. F.; 42 Onslow Square, S.W. 7. McNEILz, J. H.; Nonsuch, Bromham, Chippenham, Wilts. MacpyHerson, D. W. K.; P.O., Lilongwe, Nyasaland. 75 MANSFIELD, The Right Hon. the Harl of ; Scone Palace, Perth Manson-Baur, Sir Poin, C.M.G., D.S.O.,.M.D., F.R.C.P. ; 149 Harley Street, W. 1. MatHews, G. M., C.B.E., F.R.S.E., H.F.A.0O.U. (Chairman, 1935-1938) ; Meadway, St. Cross, Winchester, Hants. MavroGgorpato, J. G.; 11D Queensdale Road, W. 11. May, W. Norman, M.D.; The White House, Sonning, Berks. 80 Mayaup, No#i; Le Lys, par le Puy-Notre-Dame, Maine-et- Loire, France. MEIKLEJOHN, Lieut.-Colonel R. F.; Lodge Farm, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk. MEINERTZHAGEN, Colonel R., D.S8.O., F.Z.S., H.F.A.O.U. ; 17 Kensington Park Gardens, W. 11. Momtyama, Toku Taro; 1146 Sasazka, Yoyohata-mati, Tokio, Japan. Monn, P. W.; c/o British Consulate, Lisbon, Portugal. 85 Murron, Mrs. C. D.; Cranbrook Lodge, Cranbrook, Kent. NaumBureG, Mrs. W. W.; 121 East 64th Street, New York City, U.S.A. Nicuoitson, EK. M.; 13 Upper Cheyne Row, 8.W. 3. Nort, Captain M. E. W.; c/o Secretariat, Nairobi, Kenya Colony. OsMASTON, BERTRAM BERESFORD ; 116 Banbury Road, Oxford. go Pakennam, R. H. W.; Kingsley, Hurtis Hill, Crowborough, Sussex ; and c/o Secretariat, Zanzibar, Hastern Africa. 95 100 105 1IO XV Pautson, C. W. G.; Woodside Cottage, Wheeler’s Lane, Smallfield, Surrey. ) Preaszt, H. J. R.; The Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, W.1 Puiuures, A.S.; Frewin’s Close, South Stoke, Reading, Berks. Pirman, Captain C. R. 8., D.S.0., M.C. ; c/o Grindlay & Co., 54 Parliament Street, S.W. 1. PrisstLey, Mrs. J. B.; B.3, Albany, Piccadilly, W. 1. RuopeEs, Miss G. M.; Hildersham Hall, Cambridge. RivizRE, B. B., F.R.C.S.; The Old Hall, Woodbastwick, Norfolk. SANDEMAN, R. G. C. C. ; Dan-y-parc, Crickhowell, Brecon. ScHAUENSEE, R. M. pE; Devon, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. SCHOUTEDEN, Dr. H.; Musée du Congo Belge, Tervueren, Belgium. SeTH-SmitH, Davip (Chairman) ; ‘‘ Brabourne ’’, Poyle Road, Guildford. SHERRIFF, ALBERT; 8 Ranulf Road, Hampstead, N.W. 2. Stmmonps, Major Maurice H.; Fines Baylewick, Binfield, Berks. SLADEN, Major A. G. Lampart, M.C.; Horsenden Manor, Princes Risborough, Bucks; and 39 St. James’s Street, S.W. 1. SpaRRow, Colonel R., C.M.G., D.S.O.; The Lodge, Colne Engaine, Earls Colne, Essex. STEVENS, HerBert; Clovelly, Beaconsfield Road, Tring. Herts. | | Stevens, Nozt ; Walcot Hall, Lydbury North, Salop. Stonor, Lieut. C. R.; British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, 8.W. 7. Taka-TsuKasA, Prince NoBusuKE ; 1732 Sanchome, Kami- meguro, Meguro-Ku, Tokio, Japan. THomson, A. LanpsporovueH, C.B., O.B.E., D.Sc., F.R.S.E. (Chairman, 1938-43) ; 16 Tregunter Road, S.W. 10. Ticrnurst, N. F., O.B.E., M.B., F.R.CS.; 24 Pevensey Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex. | Tucker, B. W., M.A. ; 9 Marston Ferry Road, Oxford. TurTLE, LANCELOT J.; 17-21 Castle Place, Belfast. Urqunart, Captain Axastarr, D.8.0.; Latimer Cottage, Latimer, Chesham, Bucks, II5 IZ0 xXvI VAN SOMEREN, Dr. V. G. L.; P.O. Box 1682, Nairobi, Kenya Colony. VINCENT, Lieut.-Colonel Jack, M.B.E. ; ‘“ Firle”’, Mooi River, Natal, South Africa. Wank, Colonel G. A., M.C.; St. Quintin, Sandy Lane, New- castle-under-Lyme, Staffs. WalItTE, HERBERT WILLIAM, C.I.E.; c/o Messrs. Grindlay & Co., Ltd., Bombay, India. WaRE, R.; Leafwood, Frant, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Watt, Mrs. H. Wrnyirrep Boyp, F.Z.S. (Committee) ; ‘* Holmbury ’’, 12 Campbell Road, Boscombe, Bourne- mouth, Hants. Wuitr, CHARLES M. N.; Park-View, Garstang Road, Broughton, near Preston, Lancs. WorxkmMAN, WittiaAm Huaues: Lismore, Windsor Avenue, Belfast. Worms, CHARLES DE; Milton Park, Egham, Surrey. Yamasuina, The Marquis; 49 Minami Hiradei, Shikuya-ku, Tokio, Japan. Total number of Members.... 124 NOTICE. [Members are specially requested to keep the Hon. Secretary informed of any changes in their addresses, and those residing abroad should give early notification of coming home on leave.] LIST OF AUTHORS AND OTHER PERSONS REFERRED TO. BPC OMES, STATEMENT OF... 5.5 ce cee dive emes one LO eee, oa DTT AT CVPNRAT, MIEETING 2.2.56, 00: ccc cere e ees cscacevenes {Sern were BANNERMAN, Dr. D. A. A new Race of Crested Weaver (Malimbus malimbicus granti) from es psoas bik, ble ne = SEMA plol a 'ns 5 « ctiegeyep ape lay 6 -A Green-backed Twin-spot (Mandingoa nitidula schlegeli) from Fer- mando Po ........ Ee ae ona ede EMER A AS once bce ee tate ware Crancey, P. A. A new Race of Hedge-Sparrow (Prunella modularis interposita) from RR EN I 68 6 a fees, died, op aula ss igs slr dondla: am Giien alge sa, 6.4 Satta Remarks on Scottish Certhia familiaris..........0ccc cece cece eeeues Geographical Variation in Races of Greenfinch .................... A Distinctive Aberration of the Great Tit (Parus major mallorce) .. amremmicy-larks from Wiltshire ......60.2. ccs c ceca hes ee ceeenss CONUS es ty mete va ss ec tice es Haat & winece aes RT RE Py A ee sep eviauthc: ot'y v vyeipiiand iwrsie elvw ayeiersta «aid Re eh an Te er cee Chena aly a ave, el oie whee okie aie sake a a ee a ee ON gle le de. ote tuilahly GRANT, Captain C. H. B., and Lt.-Colone] C. W. MackwortTH-PRAED. Notes on Eastern African Birds :— I. On the Status of Coturnix coturnix erlangeri .......0.0ccveeeeees 2. On the Conspecific Status of Nectarinia erythrocerca, Nectarinia pulchella melanogastra and Nectarinia nectarinioides ..........5. 3. On the Distribution of Cinnyris cupreus septentrionalis ........... 4, On the Racial Status of Cinnyris stuhlmanni and Cinnyris ludovi- fe Ps cis 2 ksi eas oat we Ney Ah aye a al, & WMS epee NMI ANE SIN Hor .m.'6 5, On the Status of Cinnyris mediocris MOreaut ... 2.0.0 cee ces ences 6. On the Conspecific Status of Cinnyris regius and Cinnyris loveridget. VOL. LXIV, b Page 6-7 7-8 9-10 10 10-1] XVIII Page GRANT, Captain C. H.B., and Lt.-Colonel C.W. MackwortH-PRAED (cont.). i 7. On the Relationship of Anthreptes (Gunningia) reichenowi and Anthreptes yORan® .. ss esiseie o's «o's cine su, bia be ee 11-12 A new Race of Sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea vincenti), and a new Race of Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weayer (Plocepasser superciliosus bannermam) from Mastern Africa 2.08 wisn. s.c. s aes 1 alee eee 18-19 Notes on Eastern African Birds :— 1. On the Status of Viridibucco coryphea jacksoni........0. cee eee 24 2. On the Status of Oriotus. percvealt 2.5 os. hii bilo). . see 24-25 3. On the Status of Hypocolius ampelinus re ee Pere: 25-26 4. On the Correct Reference of Anthreptes reichenowi .........++0+5- 26 5. On the Status of Pseudonigrita arnaudi kapitensis and N igrita emint. 26-27 6. On the Race of the Spanish Sparrow occurring in Egypt and the Northern Sudamee ce)... Se Sowa ss ons oes we oe 27 Notes on Eastern African’ Birds :— 1. On the Species and’ Races of the Rufous Sparrow occurring in E. iA Sc: a ee er eee ee a WORE 35-36 2, On the Status of Passer griseus suahelicus ..........020ccereanes 36-37 3. On the Races of Gymnoris pyrgita occurring in E. Africa ......... 37-39 4, On the Relationship of Symplectes bicolor, S. amaurocephalus, S. mentalis, S. stictufrons and S. kerstent ......0.2cesecreereecs 39-40 Notes on Eastern African Birds :— 1. On the Status of Lanius pallidirostris, Lanius aucheri and Lanius GTOTVITIE so\n y's oR «+ wu wha eae Neen a od CDEDENS pe ates odie es et 44-45 2. On the Races of Laniarius f. ferrugineus occurring in Eastern . Africa, and the Type-locality of Laniarius ferrugineus sublacteus.. 45-48 3. On the Status of Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi and Ploceus cucullatus JOMUMURTLE Soke oe Beebe h HS bE SRSA EAS he RSS bee Whaces Ro 48 4. On the Status of Othyphantes emini budongoensts ......0.6.ee2ee 48 A new Race of Quelea cardinalis rhodesiz from Northern Rhodesia. .. . 65 Notes on Eastern African Birds :— | 1? On Qditenemiis wsstnilis. 5 Ai Pe eo rein a wee a ne © a 8s 2 oe aa 66 2. On the Status of Oriolus percivalt 1.2... 6... e cece cee e cece eens 66-67 3. On the Status of Symplectes eremobtus .. 0... eereecencceeeeenees 67 4, On the Type-localities of some Eastern African Weavers ......-. m Od COPLECEIOM. sai os eas a ale win. la'de o-WRS e e cewes Om Late eae ele ae ells ws» 'o a of a | 69 HARRISON, J. The Racestol Mallard 2. 4.4 ot. ss Fees or eRe Sees 0 oss se eee 58-60 XIX Harrison, Dr. J. M. Exhibition of a Golden-eyed-Smew Hybrid ...................005. A new Race of Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates major lynesi) PERI CE 0 sx «5 ie, nc cge a asloce as aha © foie Se ew woes a ae 6 we aha elated KINNEAR, N. B. ie@cresting Records from St. Helena 2.2.0.5. 5 of 6 bola als sccieia ene cies oheter LETTER TO THE EDITOR .............6 ack a at oh eh ais ater ee oreh or atc fai Low, Dr. G. CARMICHAEL lene amona jnainncen & Nest... as-ss.0csnaced cee wasueew dese Lowe, Dr. P. R. Reem eICal INACES . .-. .cletd sire ee Se Ie ed gS a BAe ble SS Ms StS Bale ees MACKWORTH-PRAED, Lt.-Colonel C.W. (See GRANT, Captain C. H. B.) Manson-Banurp, Sir PHILIP. MUEMETRIR EE eee cs ih J akaits acd gne w eee ined wate ae OB oe a © a ag ilaie wren MatTuews, G. M. rR eat OnE COWINO 5 faa Yer gie co's a whta Dots + ML Ce On the Races of Oriolus monacha and the Status of Oriolus percivalt. . VINCENT, Lt.-Colonel J. A new Race, Cisticola chiniana emendata, from Portuguese East Africa. Wuitr, C. M. N. Three new Races, Guttera edouardi kathleenx, Mirafra africana kabalii and M. africanoides trapnelli, from Northern Rhodesia................ A new Race of Serinus (Serinus atrogularis lwenarum) from Northern hoderia oe es =. a Wearenda’ aoute ip siteta BRR» Om ule he als eeke eanesare aaa A new Race of Scrub Robin (Erythropygia leucophrys kabalii), and a new Race of Red-winged Francolin (Francolinus levaillantii clayi) from Novtheri Feo destg © ofits Sit tie oo oye Bel od wl chetstpttisuotie dit ie sist ee Page 12-14 22-24 50-52 52-55 63-64 19-22 40-41 49-50 BULLETIN OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB. ro hs j rs a -CNo. CCCCXLIX. aor o's 1S Sate Se eye nase Be A ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. Chairman: Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON. This was held at the Rembrandt Hotel at 6.15 P.M. on Tuesday, October 12, 1943, and was followed by a dinner at 7 P.m.; 22 Members present. (1) The Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting, held at the Rembrandt Hotel on Saturday, October 24, 1942, which had been published in the ‘ Bulletin’ (Ixii. 1942, pp. 1-4), were confirmed and signed. / (2) Mr. N. B. Kinnear, the Hon. Secretary, read his report for the past Session, 1942-43. He said :— There was a slight reduction again in the membership, 137 against 130. The following had died : Rear-Admiral Lynes, Hugh Leyborne Popham, and Hugh Whistler. Five members had resigned: F. M. Chapman, ‘Mrs. Peall, C. B. Rickett, W. E. Wait, and Dr. N. H. Joy. Three members had been removed under Rule 4: D. W. Musselwhite, Mrs. Steuart, and E. E. Wishart. | : Four meetings of the Club had been held. In October (Annual General and Ordinary Meeting), in November, in May (in conjunction with the British Ornithologists’ Union, in place of their usual Annual General Meeting in meob) and in June. No meeting of the Club was held in February, but a ‘ Bulletin’ was published for that month in March (1943). The first three meetings were held on Saturday afternoons, the fourth, and last for Session (the June meeting), in the evening after a dinner. The number of attendances for the Session was as follows :—81 members of the Club, 5 members of the B. O.U., 1 guest of the Club, and 22 other guests, a total of 109, a reduction from the previous Session, partly accounted for by there being one meeting less. November 5, 1943.] _ @ : VoL, LXIV, Vol. Ixiv.] 2 — (1943. (3) Miss E. P. Leacu, the Hon. Treasurer, presented her Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended August 31, 1943. She said :— Members will be pleased to hear that the Finances of the Club are in a satisfactory condition. The bank balance is increased by a little over £15, and the total credit balance, including investments taken at cost, amounts to about £895. Although there has been a drop in the number of Members, the sub- scription list shows a slight rise on last year, owing to the payment of some arrears and also to the collecting of deficits on some American subscriptions, caused by the vagaries of exchange. In this connection I should like to draw attention to the loyal way in which our American members continue to support the Club through these war years. The ‘ Bulletin ’ has cost a little more to produce, but this is well covered by an increase of £10 in the sales. The question of investing some of the balance was left to the Committee to decide. (4) Election of Officers. The Committee recommended that Mr. D. Srru-SmitH be elected Chairman of the Club in place of Dr. Landsborough Thomson, and that Mr. F. J. Barrineton and Dr. E. Horxrson be elected Vice-Chairmen in place of Captain C. H. B. Grant and Mr. B. W. Tucker. (5) The Committee further recommended that, as a temporary measure, the offices of Secretary and Editor be combined during the war. (6) The Committee suggested that no change be made this year in the — ordinary members of the Committee. These proposals were all adopted by the Meeting. Mr. B. G. Harrison proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the retiring Chairman. Owing to the war he had served for five years instead of the usual three, and during that period devoted his energies to the well-being of the Club. He had been an ideal Chairman in every way, and all were very sorry to lose him. His work during the trying period of the war had helped very materially in keeping the Club alive. Though no longer Chairman, all hoped that they would often see him at future meetings, “SUDIUNDDIDP pasaq10yO "Eh6L “9 “290790 “OO 2 NAGM ‘dM ‘TM ‘NOGNOT ‘LEGULG INDORE ‘FZ ‘UBOTT IBAA %%E pUS SoRvoyIZIED SSUIABG [Su0cH#eN Jo Surpjoy ey} pue yueg 48 ys, oY} Poyluca os[e eavy eA “YIIMOIOY} couRprI0D08" UT eq 04 qt AJtG100 pue ‘EFGI ‘TE ysNSNyW pepue a qeaXk ey} JOF QniD ,S}sISoToyIUIQ. YSYyIIG ey, Jo saoyONOA pue syoog oy YIM gunod0y Sulose10; ey poulWexe eAvy OM E “4adnsnany “UO ‘HOVAI d ‘a er EEE [ Vol. Ixiv. ——_—— eee —_ es : 8\-¢ 19013 L Lil - O1OTS—123- “e 19015 L LY O01 e 5, coe. 8 618 ee ** sorojuy uBoT wey, %¥E “ 8 618 LL -— “ ‘domseory, JO Spusy url ysep € 8 Or ole *.ofe qiscdeg: ‘0d PERE Jo ysl] pue xepuy suridwoy “ OL GI Ze * O/e query *‘yueg ye ysep 9. G68 G. S$. i166 *, UeT[Ng , pue suorzeorqndg II L 86 —: SEL ‘T ij eee ee ee fe roquieydeg ‘puey ut oouvyeg of, “ PS: 7 oe oe 2 ae ‘SPSL ‘1g ysnsny pepue 13x ‘SP6L ‘Te Jsndny pepus 189 X Vol. lxiv.] 4 [1943. (7) Arrangements for Session. The feeling of the Meeting was to have future meetings on Saturdays if possible, the arrangements being left to the Officials of the Club. Committee, 1943-44. Mr. D. Setu-Smitu, Chairman (elected 1943). Mr. F. J. Barrineton, Vice-Chairman (elected 1943). Dr. E. Hopxinson, Vice-Chairman (elected. 1943). Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low, Editor (elected 1940) and Hon. Secretary (elected 1943). Miss E. P. Leacu, Hon. Treasurer (elected 1942). Miss PHytuis BARcLAY-SmITH (elected 1940). Mr. B. G. Harrison (elected 1940). Mr. JAMES FISHER (elected 1942). Mrs. WINIFRED Boyp Watt (elected 1942). ORDINARY MEETING. The four-hundred-and-forty-third Meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe Place, 8.W.7, on Tuesday, October 12, 1943, following a dinner at 7 P.M. ~ Chairman : Mr. D. Setu-Smire. Members present :—B.O.C.: Miss C. M. Actanp ; Lieut.-Colonel F. W. Dewnuurst, R.M.; C. J. Durrin; J. FisHer; R. S. R. Firter ; Miss E. M. Gopman ; B. G. Harrison; Dr. J. M. Harrison ; Captain C.H. B. Grant ; N. B. Kinnear; Miss E. P. Leacu (Hon. Treasurer) ; Dr. G. CarmicHaEL Low (Editor and Hon. Secretary); J. D. Mac- DONALD’; Sir P. Manson-Banr; Mrs. J. B. PriestitEy; Miss G. Ruopves; W. L. Sciatrer; Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON : Mrs. H. W. Boyp Warr. B.O.U.: Mrs. H. M. Rarr Kerr. Guests :—Miss W. M. Dunton; Miss E. C. GopMan; Miss L. P. Grant; J. G. Harrison ; Miss M. van OOSTVEEN. ‘Members of the B. O. C., 20; of the B. O. U., 1; Guests, 5. Total, 26. Birds in Kent. Sir PHitip Manson-Baur gave a talk on Wild Duck and other birds in a district of Kent, 1943. ] 5 [ Vol. lxiv. Physiological Races. Dr. P. R. Lows sent the following aa Although, to my regret, I was not present at the very interesting discussion on ‘‘ Physiological Races’, introduced by Dr. LandsborouSh Thomson, at the meeting of the Club on Wednesday, June 30, 1943 (Bull. B.O. C. Ixiii. 1943, p. 73), you, Mr. Editor, have kindly asked me if I have anything I should like to contribute to the discussion. — The only species which I can recall, at the miele as having come within my own observation are the two Steamer Ducks—Tachyeres brachypterus, the Flapping Loggerhead (Pato vapor), and Tachyeres patachonicus, the Flymg Loggerhead (Pato real)—whose differing morphology I described in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1934, pp. 467-495. Although now sufficiently differentiated as to justify, in my opinion, being regarded as two distinct species, and, therefore, perhaps to be ruled out of a dis- cussion on Physiological Races, it seems evident that it was a purely physiological factor which started their specific separation. In my paper (loc. cit.) I suggested that the flightless condition of T. brachypterus was due to some inhibitory growth-factor or hormone which permanently retards the rate of the growth of the wing in the chick, and which, for some reason or other, was not active in P. pata- chonicus. In the Ducks and Rails, especially noticeable in the case of the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), a similar internal secretion acts temporarily in the case of the chick, so that the growth of the wing is, in the first few weeks of life, so retarded that it is out of all relative proportion to the size of the legs and the body generally. Indeed, a young chick of the Mallard when frightened in the water behaves exactly like a miniature adult Steamer-Duck (Pato vapor). Later on comes the release from the inhibition, and growth proceeds in the ordinary way. But suppose, for argument’s sake, in the case of the Mallard this inhibitory hormone were to act permanently on Scotch-born birds as opposed to English-born, would the former be considered by systematists as a physiological species or race and entitled to receive a distinctive . and corresponding name ? According to the Chairman’s definition of a Physiological Race my Steamer-Ducks, since they have morphological differences, would be ruled out of court ; yet surely the origin of their differentiation is purely . physiological, and they are, in fact, either physiological races or ea logical species. Incidentally, | think the Papilionide, especially of Africa, furnish Vol. lxiv.] 6 [1943. the best examples of Physiological Races ; for here we find not only different forms hatching out from broods differing, apparently, in nothing but seasonal time of deposition, but the same female will produce offspring of a totally different colour-pattern. A new Race of Crested Weaver from Angola. Dr. Davip BANNERMAN sent the description of a new race of Crested Weaver from Angola, which he proposed to name Malimbus malimbicus granti, subsp. nov. Description —Examination of four males, one female and two nestlings of the Crested Weaver or ‘‘ Malimbe”’ from Northern Angola, collected by the late Dr. W. T. Ansorge so long ago as 1908, shows that it differs from typical Malimbus malimbicus malimbicus (Daudin) in the following small particulars :—Both sexes have the belly and lower part of the breast dull smoky brown, the upper breast glossy black, and the contrast between the two very marked ; in adults of the typical race the belly is darker brown and the contrast correspondingly less apparent. In M.™m. granti the red of the crown and crest, and to a lesser extent on the throat of the male, is brighter, more scarlet and less crimson ; the black frontal band is distinctly broader—a character which it shares with the Upper Guinea race (7. m. nigrifrons (Hartlaub)). The only adult female specimen examined shows equally marked differences, the crown and throat being paler red and the belly greyer brown, when compared with females of the typical race. An even more striking difference is to be found in the young, for both in nestlings (of which I have examined two from Ndalla Tando) and in the well-grown immature bird (of which there is an example from Loanda) the whole throat is washed with dull crirnson, more or less uniformly, once the nestling stage has been passed. The crest in the four adult males from Angola is exceptionally well developed, but the slightly longer crest may not be a constant character. Finally, the bill and wing measurements of Angolan birds are larger when compared with specimens of the typical race. Wings: 3 85-88, 2 80 mm. (Angolan specimens). ¢ 81-86, 2 75-7 9 mm. (Cameroons, typ. race). Distribution.—Northern Angola (Ndalla Tando and Loanda), from which adults and immature have been examined, and perhaps Cameroon, but see Note. | 1943.] 7 [Vol. Ixiv. Note—Two specimens in immature dress, having the dull crimson throat which is characteristic of the immature of the Angolan bird, are in the British Museum, both collected by G. L. Bates in Cameroon, one at Assoham, Bumba River, the other at Bitze on the Ja River. These specimens agree with immature examples with dull crimson throats from Angola and have puzzled me considerably, for out of nine immature birds of M. malimbicus malimbicus obtained in Southern Cameroon, including some at Bitze, every one has a black throat or a black throat with the bright scarlet feathers of the adult bird moulting. It seems from the series in the National Collection that at no stage of its existence does the typical M. malimbicus malimbicus have the throat uniformly waShed with crimson. I hesitate to give the Angolan bird specific rank until it is proved, by the additional collection of adult examples in Cameroon, to occur side by side with M. m. malimbicus. That the Angolan bird is distinct from the typical race, even though the type localities are not far distant, I have no shadow of doubt, and were it not for the two overlapping _ immature specimens from Cameroon I should unquestionably consider the Angolan bird a geographical race of M. malimbicus malimbicus and no more. Type.—tn the British Museum. ¢ adult. Ndalla Tando, North Angola, December 12, 1908, W. J. Ansorge Coll.; Brit. Mus. Reg. no. 1909.8.5.228. Measurements.—Bill 18-19 ; wing, 3 85-88, 2 80; tail, ¢ 50-59, 2 51; _ tarsus, ¢ 22, 9 20mm. Four males, one female measured. In addition two nestlings were examined from Ndalla Tando, one immature bird from Loanda, two immature, apparently ofthis race, from Cameroon. Remarks.—I have much pleasure in naming this new Weaver in honour of Captain Claude Grant (Editor of ‘The Ibis’) in recognition of the help he has given me in so many ways while attempting to work out this difficult group of Weavers, and as a tribute to the splendid work he is doing in conjunction with Lieut.-Colonel Mackworth-Praed on the birds of East Africa. | Notes on Eastern African Birds. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. Mackwortu-Pragp sent the following seven notes :— (1) On the Status of Coturnix coturnix erlangert Zedlitz, J.f.O. 1912, p. 344: Cunni, near Harar, eastern Abyssinia. Hilgert, Kat. Coll. Erl. 1908, p. 419, shows that Zedlitz had four adult males, all taken in the month of May. These are listed in this Vol. lxiv.] 8 . [1943. Katalogue under C. c. africana Temminck & Schlegel. The only character given by Zedlitz is the blackish-brown throat, and this part is very variable in both the European and South African races. Possibly the date of these specimens helped to induce Zedlitz to give a new name to the Abyssinian bird, and he apparently had not considered the possi- bility of C. c. cotwrnix (Linnzeus) breeding as far south as Abyssinia. We know that C. c. coturnix breeds in North Africa, including Lower Egypt as far south as Isna, see Nicholl, Handl. Bds. Egypt, 1919, p. 81. | Captain Angus Buchanan obtained an adult female at Addis Ababa, Abyssinia, on October 18, 1941, with a fully formed egg in the oviduct, and was thus apparently laying at the time. As this can be taken as a breeding bird, we have compared it with European females and cannot see any character by which they can be separated. We have not seen any males from Abyssinia, but in view of the individual variation in this species the character given by Zedlitz would appear to be a poor one. We are of opinion that C. c. erlangerx must become a synonym of CO. ¢. coturnix, the breeding range of which is thus extended to Abyssinia. | (2) On the Conspecific Status of Nectarynia erythrocerca Hartlaub, Nectarinia ‘pulchella melanogastra Fischer & Reichenow, and Nectarinia nectarinioides (Richmond). ei Sclater, Syst. Av. Aithiop. 11. 1930, p. 685, treats Nectarina melano- gastra as a species and places Nectarinia nectarinioides.as a race of it. ’ Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxxvii. 1932, pp. 350-351, places N. melano- gastra as a race of Nectarinia pulchella (Linneus) and NV. nectarinioides as a race of NV. erythrocerca. This divergence of opinion has caused us to examine the series in the British Museum collection, and we find that the male of N. erythrocerca has a longer first primary and no tufts on side of chest ; that NV. pulchella and N. melanogastra have similar first primaries which are smaller than in N. erythrocerca, and that both have tufts on the side of the chest ; and that NV. nectarinioides has a smaller first primary than either NV. pulchella or N.melanogastra, and has tufts on the side of the chest. Furthermore, N. erythrocerca has no non-breeding dress, whereas both N. pulchella and NV. melanogastra have a non-breeding dress. NV. nectarinioides has a more orange-red than a bright red chest-band. In view of the above characters we agree with van Someren that N. melanogastra is a race of N. pulchella, and consider that NV. nectarini- ovdes is a species having an overlap in distribution with NV. p. melanogastra, and has tufts on the side of the chest which are lacking in JN. erythrocerca. : { 1943.] 9 [Vol. lxiv. (3) On the Distribution of Cinnyris cupreus septentrionalis Vincent, Ibis, 1936, p. 60: Mpumu, Uganda. Vincent gives the distribution of this race as Abyssinia, Uganda and Kenya Colony, and under C.c. chalceus (Hartlaub), on p. 60, says that specimens from Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland and Portuguese Hast Africa are a great deal more bronzy than green, and that southern Congo birds are violet-bronze and are intermediate. | Benson, Ibis, 1941, p. 27, follows Vincent and considers that south- western Tanganyika Territory birds should also be C. c. chalceus. Our examination of the series in the British Museum collection, including the type of CO. chalceus (wing 65 mm.) and C. c. septentrionalis (wing 62 mim.) and the specimens examined by Vincent and Benson, shows that the distribution of the violet-bronzy-throated race C. c. septentrionalis should be as follows :—Abyssinia, central Uganda, Kenya Colony, central Belgian Congo at Samburu, Bailundu, Idiofa, Lusambo, Lulua- bourg and Chicapa, to eastern Belgian Congo, north-eastern Northern Rhodesia, Tanganyika Territory, Nyasaland and southern Portuguese East Africa. Wing, males 60-67 ; females 56-61 mm. C’. c. cupreus (Shaw) has a distribution from Senegal and Portuguese Congo to the Sudan, northern Belgian Congo and northern Uganda, wing, male 54-61, female 48-56 mm. ; and C. c. chalceus has a distribution from Angola to southern Belgian Congo at Sandoa, Nasondoye, Kasinga, and Elizabethville to northern Northern Rhodesia ,west of about long. 29° KE. This race meets C. ¢. septentrionalis around the Elizabeth- ville area, thus agreeing with Vincent’s conclusion. (4) On the Racial Status of Cinnyris stuhlmanni Reichenow and Cinnyris ludovicensis (Bocage). Sclater, Syst. Av, Adthiop. ii. 1930, p. 696, places C’. stuhlmanni as a race of Cinnyris reichenowi Sharpe, and C. ludovicensis as a race of Cinnyris chalybeus (Linnzeus). Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxxvi. 1932, p. 354, follows Sclater in placing C. stuhlmannii as a race of C. reichenowr. Dr. J. P. Chapin, however, considers that C. stuhlmanni is more closely allied to C. chalybeus than to C. reichenowi, see Sclater, Jackson’s Bds.. K. C. & Ug. 1938, p. 1345. Reichenow in the original description com- pares C. stuhlmanni to Cinnyris afer (Linnzeus). Bocage, Orn. d’ Angola, 1881, p. 169, considers C. ladovicensis to be allied to C. afer. Friedmann, Bull. 153, U.S. Nat. Mus. 1937, p. 363, places C. stuhlmanni as a race of C. afer. aor \" 0 Sclater compares this race with C’. m. usambanicus Grote (=C. m. medio- Vol. Ixiv.] 10 (1943. We have examined all available specimens of these various species and find that both C. stuhlmaini and C. ludovicensis should be placed as races of Connyris afer, and that they have nothing to do with either C. revchenowi or C. chalybeus. These conclusions are based on the following facts. Both C. stuhlmanni and C. ludovicensis agree with C'. afer in general coloration, size, shape and length of tail, 7. e., the tail in C. afer of South Africa is rather graduated and measures 50-56 mm. (twelve male specimens) ; the tail of C. stuhlmannz is also rather graduated and measures 56-60 mm. (four male specimens), and the tail in C. ludovicensis is also rather graduated and measures 49-58 mm. (four malespecimens). In C. reichenowz the tail measures 37-42 mm. (seventeen male specimens), and in C. chalybeus the tail measures 36-45 mm. (twenty-two males from Nyasaland, Portuguese East Africa and South Africa). Wing measurements give: C. stuhlmannii, males 65-67 mm. ; C. reichenowt, males 52-56 mm.; and C. chalybeus, males 61-64 mm. The female of C. stuhlmanni agrees well in general characters with the female of C. afer and not with the very short-billed female of C. reachenow. Furthermore, it would appear that C. stuhlmanni occurs west of the Ruwenzori Mts., in lower country to the west of the Semliki River in the eastern Belgian Congo, where Emi Pasha and Stuhlmann collected it. Cinnyris grauert Neumann agrees with C. afer in general characters, having a wing of 65 mm. and a tail of 60 mm. (one male specimen), and should be placed as a race of it, not of C. chalybeus. C. a. ludovicensis occurs in northern Nyasaland, not to Tanganyika Territory as given by Lynes under Cinnyris chalybeus (? ludovicianus) in J.-1. O.,/Sond: 1934; p. 115. (5) On the Status of Cinnyris mediocris moreaui W. L. Sclater, Ibis, 1933, av = —p. 214: Maskati, Uluguru Mts., eastern Tanganyika Territory. cris Shelley) and C. loveridget Hartert. | We have carefully compared the type of C. m. moreaui and eight other specimens with fourteen specimens of C. m. filleborni Reichenow from the Iringa area and Nyasaland, and can see no characters by which they can be separated. C.m. moreaur thus becomes a synonym of C. m. fiilleborni, the distribution of which is eastern and south-western Tanganyika Territory, from Mpapwa and the Nguru Hills to northern Portuguese East Africa and Nyasaland. (6) On the Conspecific Status of Cinnyris regius Reichenow and Cinnyris loveridger Hartert. Sclater, Syst. Av. Aithiop. ii. 1930, p. 698, places these as races of each other, but states that perhaps they are different species, and in. ‘The Ibis ’, 1933, p. 215, places C. loveridget as a race of C. medvocris ae 1943.] 11 [Vol. Lxiv. Shelley. Hartert in the original description compares C'. loveridgei with C. regvus and gives reasons for considering them as different species. Loveridge, P. Z.S. 1923, p. 901, states that the females of ('. loveridger “are very similar to the male’”’. This is not borne out by two adult females collected by Moreau and which agree with the description Loveridge gives for the immature plumage. Van Someren, J. E. A. & U. Nat. Hist. Soc. xiv. 1939, p. 119, considers that C. mediocris and C. loveridget should be treated as separate species, but inclines to the opinion that C. loveridges and C. reguus are conspecific. We, however, do not find the difference in the colour of the upper tail-coverts as given by van Someren. The male of C’. regius has the red right down the centre of the belly and the under tail-coverts are also red, the bill is shorter and lightly built and the tail is more graduated, whereas in the male of C. loveridger the red is confined to the breast and upper belly, the bill is much more heavily built and the tail squarer, much less graduated. The female of C. regius has also a shorter and more lightly built bill and the colour is yellow-green. The female of C. loveridger has a much longer and much more heavily built bill, and the upper side, including the head, sides of face and wing shoulders, have a glossy blue-grey sheen, the head and sides of face being distinctly grey. The male of C. mediocris is, in size, shape and length of bill and tail, similar to the male of C. regiws, but the red on the chest is more of a band extending to the sides of the chest ; moreover the breast to under tail-coverts and flanks in no way agrees with C. regius. The female of C. mediocris also agrees in size, shape and length of bill and tail with the female of C. regiws, but is duller in general colour. In view of this divergence in colour pattern and bill between C. loveridger, C'. reguus and C. mediocris we consider that C. loveridgei is a species, and the divergence in the colour pattern of the males of C. regius and C'. mediocris also causes us to consider them as different species. We thus treat C. loveridgei, C. regius and OC. mediocris as three distinct species, and not as races of each other. We have examined seven males and two females of C. loveridgei and a long series of both C. regius and CO. mediocris. (7) On the Relationship of Anthreptes (Gunningia) revchenowt Gunning, J. 8. Afr. Orn. Union, v. 1909, p. 59: Mzimbiti, near Beira, Portuguese East Africa, and Anthreptes yokanxe Hartert, Bull. B.O.C. xl. 1921, p. 63: Rabai, north of Mombasa, eastern Kenya Colony. The British Museum possesses one adult male of A. reichenowt and an \adult male and female of A. yokanze. Our comparison of these two \ Vol. lxiv.] 12 [1943. males shows that they are identical in every way but for the fact that the male of A. yokanx has a rather duller throat than the male of A. reichenowi. In any case it is clear that they are the same species, and, therefore, 4. yokanx must. be treated as a race of A. reichenowzi if it is distinguishable, but it is probable that A. yokanx is a synonym. Van Someren, J. E. A. & U. Nat. Hist. Soc. xiv. 1939, p. 123, has invited attention to the probability of the two birds being conspecific. We do not see that this species differs structurally from the other species of Anthreptes, and, therefore, propose to keep it in the genus under which both were originally described. A new Race of Bulbul from Kenya Colony. Dr. V. G. L. vAN SomMEREN sent the following description of this new race :— Phyllastrephus albigula shimbanus, subsp. nov. Description.—A small Phyllastrephus exhibiting characters somewhat | intermediate between P. albigula Grote and P. rabai Hartert & van Someren, but differing from both of these as shown below. From P. albigula this new race differs in having the crown to nape contrasting with the mantle, a dark grey, slightly washed with green along the lateral margins of the feathers in the female, and in this sex very like P. albigula. The green of the wings, mantle, rump, upper tail-coverts and tail darker, less yellowish-green. Underside : throat whiter, in contrast to the streaky greyish yellow- edged feathers of the breast and flanks, the breast with slight olive wash, but not strongly tinged with this colour, nor so gfeenish on the flanks. Vent and under tail-coverts less olive-tinged. The whole of the under- side is thus paler. Eyes creamy-yellow, not ‘ bright brown ” as recorded by Moreau for P. albigula. Bill longer and more slender at base ; average, 13 mm. against 11 mm. From P. rabai. Upper side; crown darker grey; cheeks and ear- coverts more grey ; wings, mantle, rump and upper tail-coverts darker green, with less yellow. Underside: the white of the throat is in strong contrast to the darker greyish breast, which is washed with olive and streaked with yellow. The yellow lateral margins to the feathers narrower and stronger, thus the yellowish tinge is not so diffuse as in P.rabai. The flanks are greener. Distribution.—Limited to the thick tall forests on the top of the Shimba Hills, 1000-1100 ft. Habitat—Frequently noted in the canopy of the tall trees, especially in the early morning, but during the day found in the dense liana-clad 1943. ] 13 [Vol. xiv. mid-zone and thick tangled undergrowth. Creeps through the thick growth in search of insects, on which it feeds almost exclusively. Noted in pairs or small companies. Alarm note an abrupt “ per-r-r-r’’, but call-note like the creaking of a rusty gate, usually four notes. Type—Male. Shimba Hills, 1100 ft., in tropical evergreen forest. March 1941, in my collection. Eleven paratypes taken at: same time and place, and two in July. Wing length: 3 68-70, 2 63-67 mm. Remarks.—As soon as IJ had handled the first specimen shot, I noted that it was not typical P. rabai, but nearer to P. albigula. This new race exhibits characters which at first would suggest that it is an intermediate link between P. rabar and P. albigula, but nearer the latter. We are faced with certain difficulties, however, for we know that P. albigula and P. rabai occur on the Usambara Hills, the former at the higher elevation, the latter at and below 1500 ft., and apparently there are no intermediates. Moreover, Sclater has recorded P. rabai from the Shimba Hills, but he does not give elevation or habitat (Ibis, 1932, pp. 678-679). It is of interest to note that he suggests that P. albi- gula and P. rabai are conspecific with P. debslis. JI am inclined to the view that P. albigula is a species and that the Shimba bird now described is a race of it. | I am not in a position to give an opinion as to whether Sclater is right or otherwise in linking P. rabai with P. debilis. The matter requires further investigation. I would draw attention to the fact that P. debilis is the genotype of Sclaterillas Roberts. With the material at my disposal I would suggest the following grouping and distributions :-— Phyllastrephus (Sclaterillas) debilis debilis. Portuguese East Africa. -Phyllastrephus debilis rabai. Coastal forests at low elevations from the Sekoke-Arabuku forest, Rabai, Shimoni, and lower Shimba to Ganda Forest (all along the low coastal strip) to the lower Usambaras up to 1500 ft. Phyllastrephus albigula albigula. Usambara Range, forests at higher elevations, 3000 ft. and over. Phyllastrephus albigula shimbanus. The tropical evergreen forests at the top of the Shimba Hills. 7 The series has been compared with 40 specimens of P. rabai from the Sekoke-Arabuku Forest, Rabai, Shimoni and Ganda, and with a series from lower Usambara kindly loaned by R. E. Moreau. They have further been compared with a series of P. albigula from higher Usambara. ‘To check up on my views, I submitted a series of the Shimba bird to Mr. Moreau. He writes as follows :— “They are remarkable. The skin 12/3/41 (a female) has a green Vol. lxiv.] | 14 1943. head that would certainly put it in P. albigula. The others are more like P. albigula below (purer white throats) than they are like the only two skins I have of P. rabaz from below Amani. Moreover, your Shimba birds (other than the female 12/3/41) all have much darker grey heads than my specimens... .. I am getting a couple more of our local birds (P. rabai) and will compare those fresh skins ’’. Writing later, he states :— ‘“ T have just looked at fresh Usambara foothills P. rabai. The heads are undoubtedly much paler grey than your Shimba birds, and, moreover, the green of the upper parts is paler and yellower.” These remarks thus add corroborative evidence to the views I have expressed. A new Race of Hedge-Sparrow from Northern Scotland. Mr. P. A. CLANcEY sent the following note on a new race of Hedge- Sparrow from northern Scotland :— I have re-examined the series collected in 1938, and now consider the northern Scottish bird to be new to science : Prunella modularis interposita, subsp. nov. Description.—Similar to Prunella modularts hebridiwm Meinhertzagen, Ibis, 1934, p. 57, but greyer on rump, not so rusty, and underside pale as in Prunella modularis occidentalis (Hartert); flanks as in P. m. hebridium. Fifteen specimens examined. Distribution.—Confined to northern Scotland—Caithness, Sutherland- shire and Ross-shire. Type.—Male, first autumn, September 1, 1938; moult. Dornoch, Sutherlandshire, northern Scotland. Wing 70mm. In my collection. Material examined.—Prunella modularis hebridium: long series from Outer and Inner Hebrides and south-west Scotland. Prunella modularis occidentalis : long series from southern England. Prunella modularis modularis : series from Continent. Remarks.—In ‘ British Birds ’, vol. xxxii. 1938, p. 195, I placed the northern Scottish Hedge-Sparrow as P. m. hebridium, but on the strength of additional material collected in the summer of 1942 I now consider the northern Scottish bird to be new to science, 1943.] . 15 [Vol. Ixiv. Remarks on Scottish Certhia familiaris Linnaeus. Mr. P. A. CLancry submitted the following note :— As noted under the description of Certhia familiaris meinertzhagent mihi, Bull. B.O .C. vol. Ixii. 1942, p. 42, specimens from the natural coniferous forests of northern Scotland show a tendency towards the north of Europe form, Certhia familiaris familiaris Linnzeus: Sweden. A series of six birds was obtained in the spring in the Rothiemurchus Forest, Inverness-shire, during March 1943. The series is quite in- constant, some examples approximating to Certhia familiaris brittanica Ridgway, while others are similar to the northern Scottish (Sutherland- shire) birds noted above in their pallid condition. More fresh skins from northern Scottish coniferous forests will be essential to settle the question, but there is undoubtedly a tendency for north of Scotland birds to resemble Swedish birds. The distribution of this intergrade has still to be ascertained, and this can only be done by careful and extensive collecting. Birds of the south-western districts of Scotland agree intimately with long topotypical series of Certhia familiaris brittanica Ridgway, and the paler northern birds are quite unknown from this region. Notice. The next: Meeting of the Club will be held at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurioe Place, 8.W.7, on Thursday, December 9, 1943, following a dinner at 6.45 P.M. ¢ 7 ht De ai iy , eee ihe Esl ¢ y i > 3 NES Pas , Tis A i oF ; i ‘ a L _o ? ‘- re / . wae x at f . r\ 4 Ch ar 4 if wa ” , AP a 4) ‘ . ' : . mys 3-4 & . rh t ei , r i . r i fe ‘ - i ( . .., BULLETIN pURCHASEP OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB. No. CCCCL. The four-hundred-and-forty-fourth Meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe Place, S.W.7, on Thursday, December 9, 1943, following a dinner at 6.45 P.M. Chairman: Mr. D. Seru-Smire. Members present :-—Miss P. Barctay-SmitH; Lieut.-Colonel F. W. Dewnurst, R.M.; B.G. Harrison ; N.B. Kinnear; Miss BE. P. Leact (Hon. Treasurer); Sir P. Manson-Banrk; Miss G. RuopEes: W. LI. SCLATER ; Dr. A. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON. Guests :—J. SttueM ; Captain G. vAN TIENHOVEN. Members, 10; Guests, 2. Total, 12. Interesting Records from St. Helena. Mr. N. B. Kinnear exhibited two interesting birds which had wandered to St. Helena. The first, an immature example of Allen’s Gallinule (Porphyrula allent), was captured in July 1938 and sent to the British Museum by Mr. G. C. Kitching. The second was an adult male of the African race of the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus meridionalis), which had been shot in Fisher’s Valley on July 6, 1943, and forwarded by Mr. Halcrow through the Colonial Office. Both these birds are found throughout the greater part of Africa, and pre- sumably must have wandered out to sea and been carried by the prevailing winds from the south-east to St. Helena, 1800 miles from the nearest . point on the coast ‘of Africa. There are no previous records of the Moorhen straying so far from its normal habitat, but the Gallinule is a well-known wanderer, occurring casually in southern Kurope and on islands off the African coast. On the Atlantic seaboard it has occurred in the Azores and Madeira, and one was captured on May 27, 1920, on Ascension Island, 760 miles north-east of St. Helena and 900 miles from Cape Palmas (Bull. B. O. C. xliv. 1924, p. 72), [December 31, 1943.] a VOL, LXIV. Vol. Ixiv.] | 18 (1943. It is interesting to note that the American Purple Gallinule (Porphyrula martinica), which ranges from Texas to the Argentine, has twice occurred on Tristan D’Acuhna, 1800 miles from the nearest point of South America (Bull. B. O. C. xliv. 1924, p. 72; Scot. Nat. 1924, p. 96), and that the prevailing winds on that side of the Atlantic are from the north-west. A new Race of Sunbird and a new Race of Chestnut- crowned Sparrow-Weaver from Eastern Africa. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. MackwortH-PRAED described and exhibited the following races :— | Cyanomitra olivacea vincenti, subsp. nov. Description.—Similar to Cyanomitra olivacea ragazzi (Salvadori), but larger. Females have no yellow tufts on sides of chest. Distribution.—-Southern Sudan at the Imatong and Didinga Mts., to Uganda and western Kenya Colony. Type.—In the British Museum. Male adult. Kapenguria, West Suk, north-western Kenya Colony, October 1933. Collected by A. W. Champion; Brit. Mus. Reg. no. 1935 : 5.13-168. Measurements of type.-Wing 68, culmen from base 29, tail 57, tarsus TO) am. Remarks.—-Seventeen specimens examined. Measurements give :— Wing, male 65 to 73, female 57 to 65 mm. ; tail, male 46 to 57, female 40 to47 mm. | Vincent, Ibis, 1934, points out that Uganda and western Kenya Colony birds are larger, and that they may represent another race. This we ~ find is so, and name this new race in honour of Lieut.-Colonel Jack Vincent, M.B.E. Plocepasser superciliosus bannermani, subsp. nov. Description.—Differs from Plocepasser superciliosus swperciliosus (Cretzschmar) in having the mantle earth-brown, not chestnut-fawn. Distribution.—Eritrea and northern, central and eastern Abyssinia to south-eastern Sudan and north-western Kenya Colony. In the British Museum. Maile adult. Gomit River, Big Type. Abbai, 60 miles south of Lake Tana, northern Abyssinia. January 21, — 1927. Collected by Major R. E. Cheesman ; collector’s no. 6709. Measurements of type.—Wing 94, culmen from base 21, tail 69, tarsus _ 20 mm, AS pe 19 [Vol. lxiv. Remarks.—Thirteen specimens examined. Named in honour of Dr. D. A. Bannerman, who drew our attention to the fact that these specimens probably represented a new race and desired that we should give it a name. \ Three new Races from Northern Rhodesia. Mr. GC. M. N. Wurrr sent the following descriptions :— 1. Guttera edouardi kathleenae, subsp. nov. Description.—Allied to G. e. chapint Frade, of Benguella, and G. e. schoutedeni Chapin, of the Kasai region of the Congo. Differs from G. ce. chapini in the form of the crest, which consists of erect feathers in the front half, shghtly curved forward over the bill and somewhat decom- * posed and hair-like, about 34-38 mm. long: hind half of the crest much longer, and the feathers curly, falling over the bare hind part of the head, about 48-60 mm. in length. In G. e. chapini the crest is stated to be straight. Pare parts :—-Chin, throat and. whole neck deep scarlet, this colour spreading on to the lower cheeks, and including the hind neck: face and cheeks dull greyish leaden blue, including the upper surface of the flap on the base of the skull overhanging the hind neck: top of head beneath the curly crest-feathers splashed with crimson : under surface of the flap on the hind neck scarlet. Round the neck behind the base of the skull a flap of skin completely encircling the neck and throat, blue on the hind neck as described and scarlet on the throat and under surface of the hind-neck flap. It thus appears to differ from both G. ¢. chapini and G. e. schoutedeni in the greater extent of red on the neck. One of the five specimens has a trace of blue on the skin of the lower hind neck. The plumage has only been compared with that of G. liwidicollis Ghigi (@. edowurd: auct.). It differs as follows :—No dark red-brown spots on upper surface; spots on plumage larger and much bluer, especially deep blue on the rump and tail. Whole of feathered lower hind neck and upper chest with no deep red-brown area, entirely black. — Bill greenish white, more bluish slaty at base and on lower mandible: iris brown, feet black. Measurements.—Wing 280-300 mm.; exposed culmen 24-27 mm. ; tarsus 80-85 mm. : | Distribution.—The Cryptosepalum forest south-west of Mwinilunga Boma, and: lying between the Angola border and the Lunga River, south- west into the northern half of the Balovale district, east of the Zambesi. : iy . a2 : Vol. lxiv.] 20 . fy943." Type—In my collection. Female adult, collected by my African collector, K. Muzeya, in Cryptosepalum forest, 15 miles south-west of Mwinilunga Boma, Northern Rhodesia, on February 19, 1939. Remarks.—Natives report a similar red-throated Crested Guinea-fowl in the Lumbala and Kasamba districts of Angola just over the border, and in the Cryptosepalum areas in Mankoya district. J have also had reports of Crested Guinea-fowl from Mongu, and Mr. E. L. Button has reported its occurrence in one place north of Kazemga Boma, though with no details of the soft parts preserved. Crested Guinea-fowl also occur on the Kafulafuta River near Ndola, but no specimens are available from there. Five specimens examined from Mwinilunga and Balovale, some of which will be deposited in the British Museum in due course. 2. Mirafra africana kabalii, subsp. nov. Description.—A very light greyish race of M. africana Smith ; crown- feathers coppery rufous at bases, streaked with black and edged with light grey at the tips; a zone of light rufous on lower hind neck, with dusky centres ; remainder of upper surface light slaty, with dusky centres on mantle ; lower back and wing uniform grey; throat white; breast with a pale rufous wash and spotted with indistinct ovate brownish spots: rest of underside very pale whitish buff in centre of abdomen, slightly more rufous on the sides. Measurements.—Wineg, 3 3g 94, 94, 99 mm., 49° 85, 85, 87, 90 mm. ; tail, ¢ 59-61 mm., © 54-56 mm., tarsus 26-30 mm.; hind claw 8-11 mm. ; exposed culmen, 11-16 mm. Distribution —Only known from the type locality, where my African collector secured a series of seven specimens. T'ype.—Male adult, collected on Minyanya plain, N.W. corner of Balo- vale district of Northern Rhodesia, a few miles from the Angola border, by K. Muzeya on June 29, 1943. In my collection. Remarks.—I have examined all the races described from south of the Zambesi, also M. a. nyike Benson and M. a. chapini Grant & Praed. The following notes refer to these races; M. a. zuluensis (Roberts) is a perfectly valid race, paler on the abdomen than typical WM. a. africana, and with more pronounced dark centres above. M. a. transvaalensis Hartert has the feather edges of the upper surface lighter, more rufous. M. a. grisescens Sharpe is a pale rufous race, and not at all greyish in fresh plumage ; bill and hind claw shorter than in M. a. africana. M. a. ghansiensis (Roberts) and M. a. ngamiensis (Roberts) are much paler races than M, a. grisescens, more sandy coloured above. I have examined - ; 1943. | at [Vol. lxiv. three M. a. ghansiensis and one M. a. ngamiensis. These two races are very close to one another, the single M. a. ngamiensis only differing in having more pronounced dark centres to the back; M. a. pallida Sharpe is allied also to M. a. ghansiensis, but paler still. The ranges given by Roberts in Bds. 8. Africa, pp. 189-90, appear to be substantially sound, and all the races valid except that M. a. ghansiensis and M. a. ngannensis may prove identical. M. a. kabalii is altogether greyer than any of the above, and also smaller. M. a. grisescens has been recorded from Mazabuka and Barotse- land in Northern Rhodesia: the only bird I have seen is one from Mankoya. It is in worn plumage, but is a very dark bird with dusky centres and dark greyish-brown margins to the back ; below much as M. a. zuluensis. I should hesitate to refer it to M. a. grisescens. It is essential to examine series of freshly moulted specimens in considering veographical variation among Larks. I. a. nyike is very rutous, with very dark large feather- centres on the back. (T’'wo examined.) Birds from the plain of the Luakela River, north of Mwinilunga Boma and just south of the Congo border, appear to represent M. a. chapini, though they do not exactly match the description of that race. They have very large blackish centres to the feathers of the upper surface, but the crown is apparently much blacker, the black streaks continuing to. the bases of the feathers on the fore part of crown. The markings on the chest are narrow streaks rather than spots; flanks unstreaked. Wings of 5. gg 85-96 mm.; tail 53-58 mm.; hind claw 11-12 mm. ; exposed culmen 16-17 mm. ; tarsus, 28-29 mm. Nasohdoye, the type locality of M. a. chapini, is, however, only about 70 miles north of the locality where these specimens were collected, so that they may be referred there pending a comparison with the type of M. a. chapini. It may be added that these latter specimens are quite different from M. ry. zombx O.-Grant, with a long series of which they have been compared. I have, unfortunately, not had access to a description of M. angolensis Bocage, but in ‘The Ibis’, 1934, p. 39, specimens of M. angolensis (recorded as M. africana) are said to have the outer tail- feathers mostly white. In these birds from the Luakera only the outer web is white. 3. Mirafra africanoides trapnelli, subsp. ov. Description.—A pale sandy-coloured race of M. africanoides Smith allied to M. a. makarikari (Roberts) (Ann. Trans. Mus. xv. 1932, p. 28: Nkate, N. Bechuanaland) and M. a. ovambensis (Roberts) (‘ Ostrich ’, viii. 1937, p. 97: 50 miles N.W. of Namutoni, Ovamboland): feathers of upper surface with well-developed dark centres and pale buff-sandy Vol. Lxiv.| 22 2 (1943. margins, whiter on head ; differs from both M. a. makarikart and M. a. ovambensis in having the breast unstreaked except for one or two faint brownish shaft-streaks ; differs also from M. a. ovambensis in its shorter bill and pale feet. Entire under surface white, breast with a very faint buffy tinge and flanks rather more so. ! Measurements—Wing 90 mm.; tail 57 mm.; exposed culmen 12-5 mm.:; tarsus 23 mm; hind claw 5 mm. Type.—Male adult, collected in open Burkea savannah on edge of plain midway between the Kasisi and Kitapi Rivers, approximately 40 miles west of the Zambesi, Balovale district, N. Rhodesia, June 17, 1943. In my collection. Remarks.—Only the type was obtained, though two other birds were seen. I venture to name it on a single specimen, as no race occurs any- where near to this locality and its characters are so well marked. Named after Mr. C. G. Trapnell, ecologist, Agricultural Dept., Northern Rhodesia, the first person to study the botany of the plains in west Balovale. The series of Larks collected in June, including the above, and specimens of M. rufocinnamomea (Salvadori), all in fresh plumage after post-breeding moult; gonads in all very small. Examples of WM. rufocinnamomea from the Litapi and Kasisi are very pale above, more sandy coloured, less rufous, and much paler below than birds from Mwinilunga and the Kasai, and appear to approach M. 7. mababiensis (Roberts), which I have examined in the Transvaal Museum and which appears to be a valid race. Material examined :—Eleven WM. r. zombe and three M. r. mababiensis (Roberts) (from Litapi) in my collection, and series including both races in ‘Transvaal Museum. A new Race of Grass-Warbler from Kenya Colony. Dr. V. G. L. vAN SomMEREN sent the following note on the races of Cisticola natalensis (Smith) in Kenya and adjacent countries :— The last review of this species as a whole was made 'by the late Hubert Lynes, Ibis (Supplement), August 1930, but prior to this, W. L. Sclater, adopting the Check-List compiled by Lynes, published a list of races, together with their distribution, Systema Avium Aithiop. pt. 2, Jan. 1930, p. 561. Jn 1932 I had occasion to write on the species, and in Novit. Zool. xxXviil. 1922, I recorded my disagreement at the inclusion of the Kenya Cotony coastal birds within the race C. n. valida, as suggested by Lynes. I followed this up with a further reference to the same effect in my paper on the ‘“ Birds of the ChyulJu Hills”’, Journ. E:A.U. Nat. Hist. Soc. xiv. 1939, pt. 2. Between 1932 and 1939 I had considerable discussion with Lynes on the matter, and after he had had the opportunity of comparing me oo ee ii 1943. | 23 [Vol. lxiv. further material he wrote, under date April 12, 1939: *‘I agree with you in ruling out the Kenya coastal natalansis from the mixed-coloured valida trace.’ I know it was his intention to designate by name these coastal birds, to emphasize their distinctness from the three nearby races. Hubert Lynes is no longer with us, and I feel it is more than time that the coastal birds should be described. Lynes, in his * Cisticola Review ’, has accounted for the several names which have been applied to races and plumage stages of this bird, and of the several names which have been published none appears applicable to the coast birds. I raised the point with Lynes as recently as July 1942, but his untimely death left the matter undecided. | { thus propose to designate the Kenya coastal birds as Cisticola natalensis littoralis, subsp. nov. Description.—Male: similar in general type of plumage to C. n. valida (Heugiin) of Uganda and the Lake Basin, but generally paler throughout from crown to upper tail-coverts, the centres of the feathers being less blackish and the margins paler ; the crown with a more rusty tinge ; the lores whiter and the ear-coverts not greyish, but paler and with a yellowish tinge ; the rufous margins to the primaries stronger. From C. n. kapitensis Mearns of the Kenya highland plateau this race differs in being less boldly streaked on the head and mantle, less rufous on the crown and paler below. It has a generally colder tone.. Distribution.—The coastal zone of Kenya, from the mouth of the ‘Tana southward to the Shimba Hills and Vanga ; thence to Dar-es- Salaam (test. Lynes). Altitude range, sea-level to 1200 ft. Type.—Male, adult breeding dress. Rabai, May 4, 1921. In my col- lection. Wings 70 mm. ; tail 46 mm. Co-type, male adult, Rabai, November 18, 1920. Wings 69 mm. ; tail47 mm. Fifteen other topotypical skins. Remarks.—This is a race with a perennial mode of dress. Females similar but smaller: wings 56, tail 42 mm. There would appear to be no contact between this race and the more inland C’. n. kapitensis, which, as Jaynes pointed out, has a general distribution over the 3000—5000-ft. plateau area. As already recorded by me (Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1939), the C. natalensis inhabiting the Chyulu Range, directly east of Kilimanjaro, present characters which show a divergence from C. n. kapttensis, and they are quite unlike the coastal C. n. littoralis ; moreover, almost 50 per cent. of the Chyulu birds (adults) have a distinct non-breeding dress. I have suggested that altitude and climatic factors effect the mode of dress, and this is corroborated to an extent by the evidence produced by Granvik relative to Elgon birds. Vol. lxiv.] _ 24 (1943. We thus have morphological evidence of the effect of climatic and ecological conditions on two aggregates of C. natalensis. To maintain a strict biological appreciation of the species one must apply the “ cline ”’ or gradient designation to these birds; they cannot with justification be lumped as synonymous with adjacent races. They represent ecoclines or climatic types. ° - Notes on Eastern African Birds. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. MackwortH-PRAxED sent the fgllowing notes :— (1) On the Status of Viridibucco coryphea jacksoni W. L. Sclater, Bull. B. 0. C. li. 19380, p. 16: Kanyango, Toro, Uganda. Mathews, Bull. B. O.C. lv. 1934,-p. 24, gives Barbatula hildamaria as a nom. nov. for Barbatula jacksoni Sclater, 1930, not Barbatula jacksoni Sharpe, 1897. This raises a point of ruling as to the status of trinomial names under Article 35 of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature. Mr. Mathews has evidently considered that as V. coryphxa was described by Reichenow (J. f. O. 1892, p. 181) under the genus Barbatula, Sclater had also automatically described V. jacksont under that genus. This, however, cannot be accepted, as although V. coryphea was described under Barbatula, V. jacksoni was described under Viridibucco. Mr. Sclater does not describe V. coryphexa but V. jacksoni, and had he described it as a binomial no question would have arisen as to its being preoccupied. This argument must also apply to a trmomial name as it is the com- bination Viridibucco jacksonit that must be considered, and not the combination Viridibucco coryphea jacksoni. Viridibucco coryphea jacksoni W. L. Sclater is therefore not preoccupied by Barbatula jacksoni Sharpe. (2) On the Status of Orrolus percivali O.-Grant. Sclater, Syst. Av. Authiop, ii. 1930, p. 649, casts doubt on the validity of this Oriole as a species, stating that it is probably an aberration or mutant of Oriolus monacha (Gmelin). Meinertzhagen, Ibis, 1923, p. 70, also casts doubt on its being a species, and in ‘The Ibis’, 1937, p. 751, considers it to be a mutant of O. monacha. Bowen, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. Ixxxiii. 1931, p. 67, records it from Mt. Meru, Kenya Colony. Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxxvui. 1932, p. 313, states that this is the only form found in the Kakamega Forest : Granvik, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. xxv. 1934, p. 126, states that it is the only form found on Mt. Elgon; Meinertzhagen, Ibis, 1937, p. 751, states it is the only form found in the Mt. Kenya Forests ; and Moreau, Ibis, 1948, 1943. | 25 | [Vol. Ixiv. p. 394, states this was the only form obtained in the Kungwe-Mahare mountain forests. This Oriole is therefore found over quite a wide area. Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 127, considers it to be a good species, stating that it has no white tips to the primary coverts. There are ten specimens in the British Museum collection, all of which have white tips to the primary coverts; of these, three have entirely black central tail-feathers, the other six having some yellowish green at the base, and one has the basal half mainly yellow-green. Granvik (op. cit.) states that it has as a rule a broader and longer bill, but we are unable to see any difference. In some specimens of Oriolus monacha the ends of the central tail-feathers are black or blackish. This clearly points to these birds not being different species, and we are of opinion that Oriolus percivals is nothing but a colour phase of Oriolus monacha monacha (Gmelin), and must be placed as a synonym of it. (3) On the Status of Hypocolius ampelinus Bonaparte in Eastern Africa. Sclater, Syst. Av. Afthiop. i. 1930, p. 671, gives its Asiatic distribution and “also probably Sennar and Massowa’”’. _Heuglin, [bis, 1868, p. 181, points out that Bonaparte described this bird on two specimens in the Leyden collection which were brought by the French traveller Botta. Heuglin states that he received from Massawa in 1850 through a M. de Goutin, who was a French Consul, a specimen of this bird, and on this specimen he gives the type locality of H. ampelinus as Abyssinia. He also concludes that this species is found only in the Abyssinian coast region, which includes Eritrea. In Orn. Nord-ost. Afr. ii. 1871, p. 421, Heuglin again mentions the bird sent by M. de Goutin, the Leyden specimens, and one collected by _ Plaggia in Niam Aniam in Central Africa. Reichenow, Vog. Afr. iii. 1905, p. 677, gives only Niam Niam (Piaggia), after Heuglin, and this in brackets as a doubtful record. Yerbury, Ibis, 1896, p. 21, states that this bird “‘ is known to occur in the coast region of Abyssinia’”’. This statement is clearly based on Heuglin. Botta, who collected the two specimens now at Leyden, travelled _ round the world between 1826 and 1829, went to Sennar, eastern Sudan, | as physician to Mehemet Ali in 1830, was Consul at Alexandria in 18338, Consul: at Tripoli in 1836 and Consul at Mosul in 1843. There is no evidence that he ever visited Eritrea or Abyssinia. No doubt he collected specimens during these travels, and Tt would appear that they were not labelled. This would account for his specimens of H. ampelinus being considered as coming from California. It appears that Sclater’s locality Sennar is based on the fact that Botta was there in 1830. Barnes, Ibis, Vol. lxiv.| 26 [1943. 1893, p. 74, gives a sight record, and this may be rejected, as this bird has not so far been found in Arabia south of lat. 21° N. Heuglins record from the Niam Niam may also be rejected. As regards eastern Africa, the only record that cannot be rejected is the very doubtful one from Massawa. We have not been able to find any- thing about M. de Goutin, and although there is no doubt that he sent the specimen to Heuglin from Massawa, there is no evidence that it was collected there, and may have come into his hands from some place in Arabia. Heugjin also apparently overlooked the fact that Botta had not visited Abyssinia, but had been Consul in Iraq, where this species breeds. As 93 years have passed, and this species has not been re-obtained in. Africa, it is questionable whether it should be retained on the African list. Abyssinia cannot in any case be accepted as the type locality of Hypocolius ampelinus Bonaparte, and as we know that Botta was in Iraq we propose to fix the type locality as the River Tigris, Iraq. (4) On the Correct Reference of Anthreptes reichenowt Gunning. In the Syst. Av. Aithiop. ii. 1930, this name appears twice, on p. 704 and under Cyanomitra and the reference Ann. Trans. Mus. i. 1909, p. 173, on p. 712 under Gunningia and the reference Journ. 8. Afr. Orn. Union, v. 1909, p. 59. Both refer to the same bird, Anthreptes reichenour, and the correct reference is Ann. Trans. Mus. 1. 1909, p. 173, which: was published in January. . The description in the Journ. 8. Afr. Orn. Union is a reprint from the Ann. Trans. Mus., and was published in April. (5) On the Status of a ee arnaudt kapitensis Mearns, Smiths. Misc.. Coll. lvi. 1910, p. 5: Juja Farm, Kapiti Plains, Kenya Colony ; . and Sa emint Reichenow, J. f. O. or p. 258": Muhulala, Ugogo, central Tanganyika Territory. Sclater, Syst. Av. Aithiop. ii. 1930, p. 719, places these two races as synonyms of Pseudongrita arnaudi arnaudi (Bonaparte) and Pseudo- mgriia arnaudi dorsalis (Reichenow) respectively. Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 146, and Friedmann, Bull. 153, U.S. Nat. Mus. 1937, p. 383, considers that both are recognizable. We have examined the twenty-nine specimens in the British Museum collection, and find that Sudan birds have a wing of 63-69 (eleven measured); Uganda, 63-64 (two measured); Kenya Colony, 66-71 (fourteen measured) ; Tanganyika Territory, 67-70 mm. (two measured). Sudan and Uganda birds therefore measure 63-69, and Kenya Colony and Tanganyika Territory ones 66-71 mm., which gives only 3 mm, smaller 1943.| aa [Vol. Ixiv. for the northern and only 2 mm. larger for the southern birds, and shows a complete overlap. The wing-measurements do not hold good, and we can see no difference in colour that can be taken as racial. We therefore agree with the decision of Sclater. Friedmann gives for P. a. emini from Ugogo south to Dodoma, but we would point out that Dodoma is in the Ugogo country. (6) On the Race of the Spanish Sparrow occurring in Egypt and the Northern Sudan Sclater, Syst. Av. Atthiop. ii. 1930, p. 723, gives Passer hispaniolensis hispaniolensis Temminck as.the race occurring in Egypt and the northern Sudan, as also does Bowen, Cat. Sudan Bds. ii. 1931, p. 92. Sclater & Praed, Ibis, 1920, p. 850, give it binomially. Nicoll, Ibis, 1922, p. 691, records P. h. transcaspicus Tschusi from the Dongola Province, and no doubt these specimens were seen by Bowen. Meinertzhagen, Nicoll’s Bds. Egypt, i. 1930, p. 122, gives P. h. transcaspicus as the race occurring in the northern Sudan. : We have examined seven adult males from Egypt and three adult males from the northern Sudan in the British Museum collection, and carefully compared them with specimens of both races, and there is no doubt all ten agree with P. h. hispaniolensis and not with P. h. trans- caspicus. We therefore recognize Passer hispaniolensis hispaniolensis (Temminck) as the race occurring in the northern Sudan. Geographical Variation in Races of Greenfinch. Mr. P. A. CLAncry sent the following communication, entitled ‘* Critical Notes on Geographical Variation in the Palearctic Greenfinch, Chloris chloris (Linnzus) ”’ :— The description during recent years of two new races of Greenfinch, namely Chloris chloris harrisont and Chloris chloris restricta, from the British Isles, would tend to focus the attention of systematists inter ested in Palearctic birds on racial differentiation in the species. Prior to my departure from England in April 1943, I had assembled a very considerable series of both fresh autumn and early spring birds, with the intention of reviewing the nominated geographical forms. Such a project was admittedly too ambitious to meet with any measure of success under present conditions, but, nevertheless, a certain amount of invaluable information was gleaned from the assembled material, and is here noted for ready reference. A critical review will be under- taken when circumstances permit. | My own comprehensive series of Chloris chioris (L.) consists entirely of British specimens from all parts of the United Kingdom, and for the - Vol. lxiv.] 28 (1943. loan of European material I am deeply indebted to Mr. Hugh Whistler, Colonel R. Meinertzhagen and Colonel W. A. Payn. ‘The collections of the Royal Scottish and British Natural History Museums were consulted, and in 1939 material of the typical race was lent by the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseum, Stockholm. Contact was, unfortunately, not made with Russian workers before the War, and, therefore, I am unable to comment on the validity of recognized named forms from the U.S.8.R., viz. Chloris chloris turkestanica Sarudny, Orn. Monatsber. 1907, p. 61: Turkestan ; Chloris chloris bilkevitchi Sarudny, Mess. Orn. 1911, p. 298: Aschabad. Russian material available in Britain is hopelessly inadequate, and most of the skins are in a disreputable condition, due entirely to the dereliction of the various collectors. I cannot conclude my preliminary remarks without emphasizing how essential it is that all critical racial work be carried_out with the freshest autumn skins obtainable. Breeding birds should never be used. The typical race, Chloris chloris chloris (Linneus), Syst. Nat. ed. x. 1, 1758, p. 174: Sweden, ranges from northern Europe (skins from Norway, Sweden and Finland examined) southwards through Germany and other European countries to the Mediterranean basin, where it is replaced by other forms, viz. Chloris chloris aurantiventris (Cabanis), Mus. Hein. i. 1850, p. 158: South France; Chloris chloris madaraszi T'schusi, Orn. Jahrb. 1911, p. 125: Corsica; Chloris chloris muhlet Parrot, Journ. fir Orn. 1905, p. 639: Greece; Chloris chloris chlorotica (Bonaparte), ex Licht. MS. Consp. Av. 1. 1850, p. 514): Syria. In the occidental portion of its range, namely the British Isles, Chloris chloris chioris intergrades with the nominated indigenous forms, Chloris chloris harrisont Clancey, Ibis, 1940, p. 92: S.W. Scotland, and Chloris chloris restricta Clancey, Bull. B.O.C. lxin. 1948, p. 65: Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. Our knowledge of the eastern limits of Chloris chloris chloris is still extremely nebulous, and the authors of that useful work, the ‘ Systema Avium Rossicarum’, are not very explicit when dealing with this matter. Such specimens as I have seen from the Moscow district agree well with typical birds, but fresh autumn skins from Rakvere, Esthonia, in the collection of Colonel R. Meinertzhagen, are representative of no described race, being paler and greyer than Swedish topotypes ; on the underside they are decidedly less green and more yellow, while the abdominal region is a clear chrome colour—very striking. The abundance of white on the ventral surfaces in these Esthonian birds is worthy of mention. No distinct race is recognized from the Russian Baltic States, but Finnish birds (Meinertzhagen collection) are the same as those from Sweden, and, as noted above, Moscow birds also agree with the typical race. ® f 1943.] 29 [Vol. lxiv. The male Chloris population of central and western continental Europe is reasonably constant when one takes into consideration the dimorphic tendency in the species, a question with which I will deal later on in this treatise. Specimens (W. A. Payn collection) from the Blois area of central France appear to be somewhat intermediate in coloration between Chloris chloris chloris and Chloris chloris aurantiwentris (Cabanis), described from South France. Before I discuss the Mediterranean forms I intend to deal with the problems confronting the student in the British Isles. There would appear to be two centres of continental infiltration in Great Britain, viz., East Anglia and North Scotland. I have repeatedly drawn “attention to the continental racial affinities exhibited by series of certain birds from the aforementioned localities. I possess repre- sentative series of Chloris from both areas in question and, as noted in ‘The Ibis’, 1940, p. 92, examples from Sutherlandshire, North Scotland, are nearest to the typical Swedish bird, but at the same time exhibiting essential minute differences in the tonal quality of their plumage. East Anglian skins (Woodbridge, 1941) are quite inseparable from the typical race. In northern Scotland the pale type ranges as far south as the Grampian Mountains (Rothiemurchus Forest, Inverness-shire, 1943), but the birds from areas south and west of this mountain chain are the darker and richer Chloris chloris harrisoni. The southernmost limit of this distinctive western Scottish form has still not been accurately ascertained, but a series of early spring males—unfortunately no fresh autumn skins are available—from the Northumberland area of northern England agree well with specimens of similar date from northern European localities, and are best left as Chloris chloris chloris (L.). Basing my observations on rather weak and unreliable material, it would appear that no further tendency to local geographical differentiation in England is found until the Salisbury Plain area of Wiltshire is reached. In this locality the species is represented by the pallid Chloris chloris restricta, a form which apparently has a very localized distribution. Hampshire birds in the Payn collection appear to be intermediate between Chloris chloris chloris and Chloris chloris restricta. Such fresh autumn skins as are available from Ireland agree fairly closely with topotypical specimens of Chloris chloris chloris, but no comparable endemic specimens from the extreme south and west of the country are obtainable for the purposes of research at the present time. Generally speaking very little appears to be known about the indigenous Chloris of Ireland. Adequate series from Wales, and Arran and other western islands of Scotland, are all necessary before the last word on the British races of the Greenfinch can be penned. In Britain, research is considerably hampered by the Vol. lxiv.] | 30 _ -‘[ 1943. myriads of immigrant Greenfinches which arrive in the autumn and mix freely with our native birds, and except in localities where named forms exist (Chloris. chloris harrisont and Chloris chloris restricta) it is quite beyond the powers of even the most omniscient taxonomic ornithologist to differentiate between them. I may remark with impunity that only British birds collected on the breeding grounds during the months of September and October, and preferably with slight traces of moult, can be used with any measure of safety. This must always be borne in mind by describers of new forms and reviewing critics alike. Females of Chloris chloris are extremely variable, and are of little use for racial work, but in the British area the females of Chloris chloris harrisoni are darker in series than the typical form, while females of Chloris chloris restricta are very white below, and browner, less olivaceous brown above, than Chloris chloris chloris (L.). We can now turn our attention to the Mediterranean races, which I list again tor convenience, viz. Chloris chloris aurantiventris, madaraszi, muhler and chlorotica. Chloris chloris aurantiiventris: South France, ranges in the west through the Iberian Peninsula to North Africa, and in the east through Italy to the Balkans, but its precise limits are imperfectly known ; perhaps most south-central European birds are intergrades between the type race and aurantiventris. Most literature on the subject of the exact name which the southern Balkan bird should possess is most indecisive, but it is the opinion of Ticehurst, Whistler, Harrison and others that the Grecian form, Chloris chloris muhlei Parrot, cannot be maintained, and should be relegated to the synonymy of the species. I am strongly inclined to disagree with this point of view on the grounds that the above-mentioned workers had before them, when writing their respective notes, only assortments of abraded breeding material. There- fore I am of the opinion their judgment should be accepted with con- siderable reserve. Really representative series of Chloris chloris muhlei are not obtainable in Britain at the present moment, but such examples as I have seen from the type locality of the race are decidedly greyer brown above, not so rich and golden as Chloris chloris aurantiiventris. That on the production of a more extensive series muhlet may be found to be untenable cannot be disputed, but much careful and painstaking collecting in early autumn will be necessary before a really satisfactory opinion on the validity of the form can be given. Chloris chloris madaraszi Tschusi, described from Corsica, is a darker pigmented form. It is worthy of note that specimens in the Whistler collection from the market of Ajaccio, Corsica, are referable to Chloris chloris qurantuventris—undoubtedly immigrants of continental origin. | 1943.] 31 | [Vol. lxiv. I am unable to assign to any particular form Greentinches from Crete, Sicily, Rhodes and other Mediterranean islands, because the material available from these islands is deplorably inadequate and in extremely poor condition. The last race to be dealt with is Chloris chloris chlorotica (Bonaparte), from the eastern Mediterranean region: Syria, Asia Minor, etc. Chloris chloris chlorotica is a.smaller and more brightly coloured race than Chloris chloris aurantiiventris, and is readily recognizable. Trans- caucasian examples examined are nearest Chloris chloris chloris, bat on the pale side, and they probably exhibit a tendency towards one of the Asiatic forms not available for comparison. Before concluding, a few notes on dimorphism in the species are considered advisable. Females exhibit infinite variation in tonal quality, but in general terms males are referable to two categories, one in which the pigment of the plumage is highly developed (dark type), and the other in which there would appear to be some deficiency in the degree of pigmentation (pale type). Birds of the dark type usually have the brown upper surfaces well suffused with greenish gold, and the general tone throughout is intense and brilliant. In the pale type dull shades take the place of greenish gold, and the crown, nape and mantle are heavily washed with greyish brown. Both types are subject to a wide range of individual variation, and intergrades between the two extremes are conspicuous in most series. ‘The dimorphic tendency is not confined to any particular race, and to the best of my knowledge is found in varying degree in Chloris chloris chloris, harrisoni, restricta, aurantir- ventris and doubtless other forms. When effecting a comparisonbetween races of Chloris care must be taken to ensure that skins of one series are compared only with their chromatic counterparts in the other series. I hope this short disquisition will encourage others to help to fill in the lacune in our knowledge by diligent effort in both field and museum. Our primary need is for large, well-prepared series of specimens in fresh autumn plumage, and only when such series are available to the taxonomic worker can a scientific review of the races of the Greenfinch be under- taken with any guarantee of ultimate success. Notice. The date of the next Meeting has not been decided yet. Members will be notified in due course. eso Wa wie nf % ve i as : ’ ty sy p< ,, ‘an af > gris ts : a f sf ‘ i ae. bored ‘uF aph ( fs = a i m4 ‘ ie oy t.. 5 Gs met 4 a A 4 eh , ‘ o oe 4 \ 2 Vs : ; ng Soret) as Jy j ; i an ey v4 AE As th bh» ‘ : Aid ; Waa 1) sed age es Wey Tea ah Rie a ret . Ct LO HES PERE aa ia iM need Tee OF oo Fag wR bes, | we eh) hil * - Aa) rig f rs 7 . > ! Betz" yy i % Bie : : } | { «BULLETIN 6% oo" hee rae BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB. No. GCCCLI. Owing to difficulties of accommodation no Meetings of the Club were held in January or February 1944. Miss Frances Pitt sent the following communication :— A Note on a Mating of Anser fabalis x Anser -brachyrhynchus and the resulting Hybrids. In 1933 I bought a pair of Bean Geese, Anser fabalis (Latham), from Mr. J.C. Laidlay, of Lindores, Fife. Where he obtained them I do not know. They appeared to be a true pair, but the female never showed any inclination to nest. This was disappointing, as the Bean Goose is known to breed under semi-captive conditions. In 1933 Mr. Laidlay also sent me two Pink-footed Geese, Anser brachyrhynchus Baillon, and later in the year I obtained three more from Colonel Brandar Dunbar near Elgin. The latter were birds he had shot and winged in Scotland. Where Mr. Laidlay’s _ Pink-foots came from I cannot say. The sexes of the five Pink-foots were not determined. They kept together in a little party, but showed no inclination to pair, still less to nest. But I had no expectation of them doing so, as the Pink-footed Goose, despite the fact it soon becomes very tame, is a very shy breeder in captivity, and records of it nesting are few. My geese, all pinioned aa except for some home-reared full-winged Grey Lags, were allowed freedom by day and grazed over a goodly area of meadowland. They returned punctually in the late afternoon for a feed of grain and were shut in the garden for the night. The Pink- foots, however, were unluc!xy : one misfortune after another befell them, and they became reduced to one bird, believed to be a female and familiarly known as “ Mary Jane”. I am uncertain whether she came from Mr. Laidlay or Colonel Brandar Dunbar, but whatever her origin, she was over seven years old when, in the early months of 1940, it became apparent she had paired up with the Bean gander. The same remarks apply to the Bean gander. , [March 9, 1944.] a RENAE SARA VOL. LXIV, Vol. ixiv.] et me ce (1944. The Bean goose now received rough treatment from her former com- panion and his new mate. They both drove her and attacked her when- ever she came near them. When seen thus side by side the differences between A. fabalis and A. brachyrhynchus were noticeable. The flesh-pink legs of the Pink-foot contrasted with the bright orange legs of the Bean, as did the orange- banded beak of the Bean with the rosy-pink marked bill of the Pink-foot. Even allowing for sex, the heavy build of the Bean gander made him look a clumsy bird compared with the lighter, more elegant, Pink-footed goose. | ' Tt was during the later days of May 1940 that I saw the Pink-footed goose making a scrape at the foot of a tall old fir tree close to the house. The Bean gander stood by in the “on guard” attitude. She laid ‘her first egg on May 29, her second on the 31st, the third on June 2, and the clutch of four was completed on June 4. The goose sat diligently from May 31 and the gander went off. As the nest was but 15 yards from the sitting-room window, she was under constant observation, but was only seen to leave the eggs voluntarily, to feed and wash, on two occasions. . She covered the eggs up carefully before leaving them. A quantity of down accumulated in and about the nest. The gander, who escorted her when she went to feed, saw her home and waited until she was settled on the nest. On June 28 the gander was so attentive I was sure that the young ones were hatching. The next morning, the 29th, 31 days from the laying of the first egg, and 25 from the date the last egg was laid, and after the goose had been sitting 29 days, the goslings were on view, four of them: The greenish hue of their down was particularly striking. They were darker, yet brighter than Grey Lag goslings, and were beautiful little things. On June 30 the old birds took the four on to the lawn to graze, the gander being a most vigilant guardian. They also took them for a swim and brought them back to the nest at night. Unfortunately the goslings had emerged at the beginning of a heat wave, and the torrid July sun soon proved fatal. They quickly became “ July sprawlers ’’, and within a week all had gone to the British Museum (Natural isos The following year (1941) found the Pink-footed goose again making a serape on the old site, in which nest she laid her first egg on May 14, and I did not see her leave the nest until she left it with four goslings on June 14. I can hardly believe that the bird neither fed nor drank during this period, but although the nest was in clear view from the house, no one saw her leave it. At the end of incubation her rosy-pink legs and the pink band round her beak were faded almost white, and she looked much pul down,. However, she soon recovered. | 3 1944:] 35 : (Vol. Laine The earlier hatching and cool weather were favourable to the goslings and they flourished. They grew at a great pace and, not being pinioned, they were on the wing by August. Compared with my full-winged Grey Lags the hybrids were swift fliers, also very agile in the air, often doing beautiful aerobatics. All went well with them until Christmas, by which time they had the appearance of adults. Their legs resembled those of their sire, though the orange colour was not quite so bright, but the light band round their beak was the pink of the Pink-footed goose. In shape of head and neck, also in carriage, they were more like the big, rather coarse Bean goose than the smaller, neater Pink-foot. In short, A. fabalis type predominated in their appearance. A. One December morning, just as it was getting light, a skein of wild geese (sp. ?) passed over. The four hybrids rose, joined them, and flew off with them. A week later, at daybreak, the honking of wild geese was heard : four geese separated from the skein and dropped into the midst of the tame geese, to be greeted with much excited honking. The four only stayed a few minutes, then took wing and flew off after the wild birds, to disappear for good. Spring 1942 found the old pair breeding again, but on a new site by a pond, and where the sitting bird was not so easily observed. Again the goose was not seen to leave her eggs, but she could have done so unnoticed. The first egg was laid on May 15, and the first’ gosling was seen on June 14. Again four eggs, but this time one was clear. The three goslings were pinioned and reared successfully. In 1943 the goose laid later, but the nest was on the original site. Once more four eggs, but only one gosling hatched, two eggs being clear and one containing a dead gosling. Incubation was from May 28 to June 26. I am hoping that the three hybrids now approaching breeding age include a pair and that they may nest, as I am anxious to know whether there will be any segregation of characters in the F.2 generation. It is interesting to speculate whether hybrids between A. fabalis and A. brachyrhynchus occur in a wild state. Notes on Eastern African Birds. Be ptain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. Macgwonti-Prazp sent the following four notes :— Lie (1) On the Species and Races of the Rufous Sparrow occurring in Eastern Africa. Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 166, treats Passer rufocinctus Fihsch & Reichenow and Passer shelleyt Sharpe as separate species. Sclater, Syst. Av. Althiop. ii. 1930, p. 721, has placed all under Passer Vol, Ixiv.] | bg. l944. iagoensis (Gould). Lynes, ‘Ibis, 1926, p. 379, has considered all except Passer hemileucus O.-Grant & Forbes as separate species. In view of the divergence of treatment between Lynes and Sclater we have examined the whole group and have arrived at the following conclusions :— - We are of opinion that characters do exist, and on which this group can be more satisfactorily classified, 7. e., the shape of the bill, the black —or lack of it—through and behind the eye, and the colour of the rump. Also, when placed together, other roe characters and colour are found to be specific or racial. There is no doubt that P. vivdesainio Heuglin and P. shelleyi are related to Passer motitensis Smith, as when compared with it they have all the characters of that bird. We agree with Lynes that Passer iagoensis ig a species, as it has the top of the head black and the bill is thinner and more pointed, although it has a chestnut rump and black through and behind the eye. We therefore propose to divide the Eastern African Rufous Sparrow into three species, as follows :— A. Rump grey: Passer insularis Sclater & Hartlaub, and Passer insularis hemi- leucus O.-Grant & Forbes. Top of head grey, black through and behind eye. Bill broad and concial. B. Rump chestnut : (a) Black through and behind eye. Passer. motitensis cordofanicus Heuglin and Passer motitensts shelleyz Sharpe. Top of head grey. Bill broad and conical. (b) No black through or behind eye. - Passer rufocinctus Finsch & Reichenow. Top of head.grey. Bill broad and conical. (2) On the Status of Passer griseus suahelicus Reichenow, Vég. Afr. it. — 1904, p. 231: Bussissi, Mwanza District, northern Tanganyika — Territory. 3 Many authors have used P. g. suahelicus for birds that do not agree with the description, and in the British Museum collection specimens have been given this name which are not P. suahelicus. Clearly this name has been misused, and our examination of this question shows that Passer suahelicus is not a race of Passer’ griseus (Vieillot), but a separate species. The evidence for this decision is as follows :— 1944.) — ST (Vol: lxiv. _ Lynes, at Iringa, obtained six specimens, all of which he recorded as P. g. suahelicus, and of these, four comprise two pairs and are given as such by Lynes on the labels. Nos. 3263 male and 3263 female were paired, “ probably with nest, but not found ’’, and nos. 2944 male and 2944 female were “‘ evidently paired’ and “eggs just about to yolk up”. Pair no. 3263 have rather smaller bills; mantle earth-brown or dusky brown, almost uniform in colour with the top of the head and more dusky below. Pair no. 2944 are clearly a race of Passer griseus with rather longer bills; mantle chestnut, contrasting with top of head ; below paler, with throat and belly whiter. A careful examination of these specimens shows no structural character difference other than the bill. These four birds cannot be placed together, and thus must represent two closely allied species. Working on this conclusion, we find in the British Museum collection six other specimens of P. suahelicus, i.e., one male from Loita Plains, south-western Kenya Colony: this is the specimen recorded by Lynes, Ibis, 1926, p. 386, as P. swainsont (Riippell) ; male and female paired from Loliondo, north-eastern Tanganyika Territory, Rowe Coll. nos. 317 and 318; one female from Shinyanga, Tabora District, Tanganyika Terri- tory, Brian Swynnerton Coll. no. 528; one male from Iringa, southern Tanganyika Territory, Lynes Coll. no. 3348 ; and one male from Ivuna Salt Pan, Lake Rukwa, south-western Tanganyika Territory, Champion Coll. no. 494. The wing measurements of these eight specimens is 85-91 mm. The measurements of the bill are :—Male, bill from gape 12-15 ; exposed part of culmen 11-12; depth at base 7-8 mm. ; female, bill from gape 13-14; exposed part of culmen 11-12; depth at base 7-8 mm. ; and in specimens of P. g. eritrex Zedlitz from Monduli, Iringa and Njombe, male 13-14, 12-14 and 7-8 mm. ; female 14, 13 and 8 mm. respectively ; so that measurements fail to convey the difference in bill-size as seen by the eye. The habitat of this species and Passer griseus appears to be the same, but careful observations in the field may reveal distinctive characters of nesting, habits, call, etc. Although the characters of the smaller bill hold good for these specimens when compared with Passer griseus from the same area, Passer griseus has not a constantly larger bill - throughout its range. (3) On the Races of Gymnoris pyrgita (Heuglin) occurring in ere Africa. Sclater, Syst. Av. Atthiop. ii. 1930, p. 727, recognizes five races. Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 168, recognizes G. p. massaica Neumann, and in Noy. Zool. xxxvii. 1932, p. 319, gives a series of useful Vol. 1xiv.] 38 [1944 measurements. Friedmann, Bull. 153, U.S. Nat. Mus. 1937, p. 394, gives G. p. massaica as occurring in the southern half of Abyssinia. Granvik, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. xxv. 1934, p. 152, states that the bill character is not reliable. We agree with those authors who state that bill size is not a racial character, and have measured the wings of all available specimens in the British Museum collection. These show that females are usually smaller than males. Eritrea, 77-87 mm., seven measured ; Abyssinia, 79-90 mm., eight measured; southern Sudan, 87-91 mm., three measured ; British Somaliland, 79-88 mm., twenty-six measured ; Uganda, 92 mm., two measured, both males ; Kenya Colony, 84-91 mm., nine measured ; Tanganyika Territory, 81-88 mm., five measured. We cannot find that Zedlitz gives any measurements for his G. p. reichenowt, but van Someren gives 76-85 mm., and says that Juba River birds are slightly smaller and paler. The measurements we give above show that Juba River birds are not smaller than Eritrean ones. We have not examined specimens from Juba River Valley. G. p. pyrgita and G. p. massaica appear to meet in the area about 60 miles north-west of Baringo in Kenya Colony, as a male collected at that place on January 2, 1913 (Brit. Mus. Reg. No. 1916.12.1.1303) agrees in colour of the upper parts with the former, and a female collected at the same place and on the same date agrees in colour of the upper parts with the latter. There is no evidence on the labels that these birds were paired. We are able to recognize four races as follows :— Gymnoris pyrgita pyrgita (Heuglin). Xanthodina pyrgita Heuglin, J: f. O. 1862, p. 30: Bogos Mts., Keren, Eritrea ; of which Gymnoris pyrgita reichenour Zedlitz, J. f.O. 1916, p. 42: Afgoi, southern Italian Somaliland, and Gymmnoris pyrgita dankalt Thesiger & Meynell, Bull. B.O.C. Iv. 1935, p. 122: Adau, Danakil, eastern Abyssinia, are synonyms. General colour ashy grey or ashy brown. Wing, male 87-90, female 77-87 mm. ; forty-three measured. Distribution.—Eritrea, Abyssinia, British and Italian Somalilands and northern Kenya Colony. Gymnoris pyrgita pallida Neumann. — Gymnoris pyrgita pallida Neumann, Bull. B. O. C. xxi. 1908, p. 70: — Shendi, White Nile, Sudan. General colour much paler than G. p. pyrgita, above more isabelline, and below much whiter. Wing 81-91 mm.; nine measured. | _ Distribution.—The Damergu country in the French Sahara to the western and central Sudan. —————————————————————— 1944.) 1 ‘[Vo. lei: Gymnoris pyrgita massaica Neumann. Gymnoris pyrgita massaica Neumann, Bull. B. QO. C. xxi. 1908, p- 10: Escarpment Station, Kikuyu, Kenya Colony. _ Above darker than G. p. pyrgita, more dusky ashy grey, or wali brown. Wing, male 87-93, female 81-86 mm.; fourteen measured. Distribution.—Kenya Colony from Baringo to north- eastern Tanganyika Territory. Gymnoris pyrgita kakamariz Stoneham. Gymnoris pyrgita kakamariz Stoneham, Bull. B. O. C. xlv. 1925, p..76 : north Karamoja, eastern Uganda. Differs from G. p. pyrgita is pene larger, especially males. Wing, male 91-92, female 86-90 mm.; six measured, including the type. Stoneham gives male 92-97, foals 87-88 mm., and Granvik, Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. xxv. 1934, p. 152, gives male 86-91 na female 83 mm. We suggest that his males of 86 and 88 mm. are incorrectly sexed. Distribution.—Southern Sudan to eastern Uganda and north-western Kenya Colony. (4) On the Relationship of Symplectes bicolor (Vieillot), Symplectes amaurocephalus (Cabanis), Symplectes mentalis Hartlaub, Symplectes stictifrons Fischer & Reichenow, and Symplectes kerstent Finsch & Hartlaub. Sclater, Syst. Av. AXthiop. ii. 1930, pp. 730-731, places all the above as races of S. bicolor. Van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 136, and xxxvil. 1932, p. 319, treats S. kerstent and S. mentalis as species. Clyde Todd, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. xlv. 1932, p. 221, expresses the opinion that S. bicolor, S. mentalis, S. amaurocephalus and S. tephronotus (Reichenow) should all be considered separate species, but gives no reasons to support this. We have carefully compared these birds, one with the other, and find that S. bicolor, S. stictifrons and S. kerstent all have the top of the head uniform with the mantle and have heavy deep bills, and that S. amaurocephalus and S. mentalis have the top of the head more or less contrasting with the mantle and have lighter, less deep bills. These. different colour and bill characters would at first sight appear to be specific, although there is no overlap in distribution until we examine S. tephronotus, and find that this has the top of head contrasting with the mantle, and also has a heavy deep bill. Therefore, if we recognize two species in Eastern Africa, we are unable to place S. tephronotus in either, and would have to consider it as a species; but we are of opinion that S. tephronotus shows the connection between the heavy deep-billed - Vol. ixiv.] 0 meters birds with uniform upper parts and the lighter, less deep-billed birds with the top of the head more or less contrasting with the mantle. We thus agree with Sclater in considering them all as races of S. becolor. : A new Race of Serinus. - Mr. C. M. N. Warr sent the following description of a new race of Serinus :— if Serinus atrogularis lwenarum, subsp. nov. Description.—Markedly different from any of the races occurring south of the Zambesi. The crown and upper surface light slaty grey with blackish-brown feather centres. The throat and chin black, with an occasional fleck of white where the feather bases are exposed. A distinct white moustachial streak between the black throat and slaty ear-coverts. Underside white, the breast washed with light grey and the flanks with pale tawny and unstreaked. Centre of abdomen and ~ under tail-coverts white, white on tail confined to a very narrow white tip. | Type.—Adult male collected at Balovale, Northern Rhodesia, on May 27, 1943, by myself. At present in my collection. Measurements of ten adults—Wing, male 71-76, female 70-73 mm. Kighteen specimens examined. ; Remarks.—The above description is taken from freshly moulted birds ; the effect of abrasion is rapid and the grey of the mantle becomes browner and the flanks deeper tawny. The immature differs on the upper surface in being a more brownish grey than adults and in having the throat and chest whitish buff spotted with brown. After it was shown that Fringilla angolensis Gmelin, 1789, was pre- occupied by Fringilla angolensis Linneus, 1758, this species became known as Linaria atrogularis Smith. It was then snyggested that Fringilla tobaca Vieillot was an earlier name for it, and it has lately been called Serinus tobaca. The identification of Fringiila tobaca, a bird with a black and white face and much orange-red on the abdomen, with S. atrogularis seems to be somewhat open to question, and I do not feel that a sufficient case has been made out for it. The Angola race of S. atrogularis is, therefore, still without a name. It is possible that the Balovale bird will prove identical, for it certainly ranges into eastern Angola, but there must remain some doubt until a series of western Angola birds has been examined. Lynes and Sclater (Ibis, 1934, p. 51) describe birds from Benguella as brown above with dark centres. I have not been able to compare this bird with S. somereni Hartert of Uganda, but there does not appear to be any great similarity. Lynes 1944.] 41 [Vol. lxiv. at first suggested that Neave’s single specimen from the Lualaba was S. somerent ; but in 1938 he listed birds from Missao de Luz in Angola and Idiofa, Banda, and Biano under the binomial designation of Poliospiza angolensis. I have examined a small series from Luluabourg; they are deeper tawny below than S. a. lwenarum and have slaty throats. _ Above they are less strongly streaked. My thanks are due to Dr. Roberts for comparing part of my series with the South African races: S. a. atrogularis, S. a. fitzsimonsi Roberts, S. a. semidesertt Roberts, S. a. ovambensis Roberts, and S. a. deserts (Reichenow). The name given to this new race is taken from that of the Lwena tribe, who inhabit western Balovale and much of eastern Angola. Records from Barotseland and adjacent areas in Northern Rhodesia may refer to this race, but I have not seen specimens. A Green-backed Twin-spot from Fernando Po. Dr. Davip BANNERMAN sent the following note on the occurrence of the Green-backed Twin-spot, Mandingoa nitidula schlegelt (Sharpe), on Fernando Po, which has hitherto been overlooked :— When working through the Estrildine Warblers in the British Museum I came across two immature birds which had been wrongly identified and had for many years been incorporated with a species to which they _ had no relation. There is not the shadow of doubt that they are young birds of the above-named species which were collected in Fernando Po, at Bubi Town, on February 7, 1904, by E. Seimund. As Mandingoa nitidula schlegelt was believed to be restricted to the mainland and has never before or since been discovered on Fernando Po or on the other islands in the Gulf of Guinea, the fact that it certainly occurs on Fernando Po should be put on record. A Distinctive Aberration of the Great Tit, Parus major mallorca. Mr. P. A. CLancey sent the following note :— On December 27, 1943, an interesting aberration of Parus major — mallorce von Jordans was obtained in the province of Apulia, Italy. The bird is an adult male. In this specimen the yellow of the under surfaces is replaced by a dull cream, and only on the upper pectoral region can one discern two or three naturally pigmented feathers. On the upper parts the green of the mantle is obscured by dense cinereous wash, which adds considerably to the general pallor of the bird. The b Vol. lxiv.] 42 (1944. black crown and gorget are lustrous, as in a typical male of P. mallorce. Erythristic mutations of Parus major mallorce have already been recorded, and it fell to my lot to collect a melanistic example of the British sub- species, Parus major newtoni Prazdk, in 1942, see Bull. B. O.C. lxiii. 1942, p. 6. It is essential that all variations of this type be recorded. Message of Greeting. Mr. GrecorY M. MATHEWS sent a message of greeting for the year to the Members of the Club from Canberra, Australia, where he is still residing. \ Notice. | No date has yet been fixed for the next Meeting of the Club. Members will be notified in due course when this has been decided. - > _o BULLETIN ave | OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ CLUB. No. CCCCLII. No Meeting of the Club took place in April, The four-hundred-and-forty-fifth Meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe Place, S.W.7, on Saturday, May 6; 1944, preceded by a luncheon at 1.30 P.M., in conjunction with the Annual General Meeting of the British Ornithologists’ Union. Mr. N. B. Kinnear, the President of the Union, took the chair at the luncheon and Mr. D. Srrs-Smiru, Chairman of the Club, at the Meeting which followed. Members of the Union present :—Major G. AytMeR; T. L. BARTLETT ; V. R. Garrett; R. Green; A. F. C. Hinusteap; KE. J. Hoskine; Mrs. Ratt Kerr; Mrs. F. E. Lemon; P. H. Maxwetxt; E. G. May; Miss V. Maynarp; J. L. CHAawortH Musters; Miss F. Prirr; B. Roserts; H. N. Soutnern; F. J. WaypeE in. Members of the Club present :—Miss C. M. Actanp ; Miss P. Barcray- Smito; G. Brown; C. J.’ Durrin; J. FisHer; R. 8S. R. Firrer; Capt. H. A. GinpertT; Capt. C. H. B. Grant; B. G. Harrison ; J. G. Harrison; Dr. J. M. Harrison; Dr. E. Hopkinson; N. B. Kinnear; D. Lack; Miss E. P. Leacn; Miss C. LONGFIELD ; Dr. G. CaRMmicHaEL Low (Editor and Hon. Secretary); Dr. P. Re Lowe; J. D. Macponatp; Sir P. Manson-Banr; Col. R. MEINERTZHAGEN ; C. W. G. Pautson; A.S. Puinires; Mrs. J. B. PRizesttEy ; Miss G. M: Ruoprs; W. L. Scuater; D. Sers-Smira (Chairman); Col. R. Sparrow; B. W. TucKER. Guests :—E. W. ArNo~D; L. GaRDNER; G.S. GARRETT; Miss L. P. Grant; G. A. Innes; Mrs. G. CarmicuartL Low; Mrs. P. R. Lowe ; L. M. May; Mrs. A. S. Pattrres; D. B. Sparrow; Miss D. StrernrHat, Members of the Union, 16; Members of the Club, 29; Guests, 11. Total, 56. [May 31, 1944.] a VOL, LXIV, Vol. Ixiv.] | 44 (1944. At the Meeting which followed, Miss Frances Pirr showed a most interesting film of a Heron fishing in a pond and also another one of hybrid Bean and Pink-Footed Geese. These were much admired, and the Chairman thanked Miss Pitt for the trouble she had taken in coming to show them. Mr. H. N. SourHERN showed a series of slides of birds and scenery in Lapland and on the Dovre Feld. The applause which followed this exhibition and that of Miss Pitt’s showed how much the audience appreciated them. Notes on Eastern African Birds. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. MackwortH-PRAED sent the following four notes :— (1) On the Status of Lanius pallidirostris Cassin, 1852, Lanius aucheri Bonaparte, 1853, and Lanius grimmi Bogdanov, 1881. In the Cat. Bds. B. M. viii. 1883, p. 248, Gadow states that Lanius pallidirosiris is the young bird of Lanius fallax (=L. aucheri) and places ZL. grimmi as a species, p. 250. All authors have since con- sidered Lanius pallidirostris as the correct name for the pale-coloured bird with horn-coloured bill, and placed L. grimmi as a synonym of it. Cassin’s description is :—‘‘ Adult. Bill pale horn colour. Upper surface of the head, with the back and rump, pale cinereous, scapulars ° white and conspicuous, wings with a large patch of white on the primaries, and with the secondaries broadly tipped with white. A stripe of black through the eye, very narrow on the nares, but wider behind the eye. Entire under surface white, with a delicate, pale rosy tinge, most observable on the breast. Tail with the two external feathers on each side white, each with a narrow longitudinal line of black on the shaft, slightly widening into both webs, other tail feathers black, tipped with white, except the two in the centre, which are pure black. Tarsi and claws pale brown.”’ As Gadow had placed it as a synonym of ZL. aucheri and Cassin’s description gives the back and rump pale cinereous and a stripe of black through the eye, and as these characters do not agree with Bogdanov’s plate 4 of L. grimmi, we wrote to Mr. R. Meyer de Schauensee, who has very kindly examined the type for us, and in a letter dated January 28, 1944, states :—‘‘ The type of Lanius pallidirostris Cassin is an old mounted specimen with the exhibition label reading ‘ Eastern Africa, Rivoli Collection’. The pileum, hind neck and mantle match very closely the colour called ‘ pale smoke grey’ on plate xlvi. of Ridgway’s 1944.) 45 [Vol. lxiv. ‘Colour Standards and Nomenclature’. A description of L. pallidirostris would be as follows :—Bill pale, somewhat darker at anterior ridge of culmen; lores and ear-coverts deep brownish black; flight feathers dusky brown ; central tail feathers deep brownish black, much darker than the flight feathers; below white with a definite pinkish tinge. Measurements :— Wing, held flat against the ruler ............ 102-5 mm. Wenbral Gail feavMers s. 262 keh ek ws eta ce eee 101-5 mm. OSM CMUMICH «5 oy ce. eke sw eee eves eece 16-5 mm. Cimmen trom forehead ........ 6... esc cc cee’ 20 mm.” On an outline sketch the mantle and the black stripe through the eye have been coloured in by Mr. de Schauensee, showing that this black is found on the lores and at the base of the bill near the nostrils. This black at the base of the bill and on-the lores is a character of L. aucheri, and is not found in LZ. grimmi, and the colour of the head and ‘mantle is certainly smoky grey and not the isabelline grey of L. grummi. We are of opinion that Gadow was correct and the pale-coloured bill of the type of L. pallidirostris shows it to be an immature bird in its first winter (adult) dress, the horn-coloured bill of the young bird being retained in L. aucheri until it comes into breeding condition towards the next breeding season, when it becomes black. The above evidence shows that Lanius pallidirostris Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. v. 1852, p. 244: Eritrea, replaces Lanius auchert Bonaparte, Rev. Mag. Zool. 1853, p. 294: Iran; and, therefore, the correct name for the bird that has a horn-coloured bill throughout its life, with no black on lores or at base of bill, and with the upper parts isabelline grey, is Lanius grimmi Bogdanov, Sorok (Soradichi), Russ. Faun. Zapiski, Imp. Akad. Nauk. xxix. 1881, p. 151, pl. iv.: Amu Daria district, south-east of Lake Aral, Russian Turkestan. On plate iv. is the inscription Mém. de L’Acad. Imp. Sci. viii. série, pl. iv. 1881. (2) On the Races of Laniarius ferrugineus ferrugineus (Gmelin) occurring in Eastern Africa; and the type locality of Laniarius ferrugineus sublacteus (Cassin). Practically every worker on Eastern African birds has reviewed or discussed this group, and there seems little use in enumerating the various decisions, but we can say that there is very considerable divergence of opinion, We are of opinion that this group must be viewed in a wide sense, for we find specimens of a particular area not fully agreeing with the racial characters, and this either shows that the area of overlap is more a2 Voki Lim} 46 (1944. extensive in some areas than in others, or that the recognizable races are not yet stabilized. Cassin only gives Eastern Africa for his Dryoscopus sublacteus. The type specimen is in the Academy of Nat. Sciences of Philadelphia, and Mr. R. Meyer de Schauensee has most kindly sent us, under date January 28, 1944, the following information :—‘‘ With regard to Dryoscopus sublacteus Cassin, | am afraid I can be of little help to you. The type is an old mounted specimen which has been taken down and remade into a skin, therefore there is no way of knowing what the skin looked like originally. The label on it is an old label from the exhibition stand on which it once stood and is marked simply ‘ Eastern Africa’. The red type label on the bird says the same thing and has evidently been copied from the exhibition label. In our catalogue the locality is given as Eastern Africa (with a question mark), Rivoli Collection. The measurements of the bird, which perhaps you would like to have, are as follows :— Wing, measured flat against the ruler......... 87 mm. Culmen from anterior edge of nostril ........ 13-5 mm. Culimen-from: forechoesd «: 45-03. os dense 4eene- 23°5 mm. fe | eee Sanaa FOLg eel, geo ean@paeedrae (0 sea yw Re IE 83 mm. SD UE RRTA ENS, ale ou ie Bis chkents es hiotlaccs aca hehe eRe i 29 mm.” The origin and exact type locality of this type cannot now be traced, and we therefore propose to fix the type Jocality of Laniarius ferrugineus sublacteus (Cassin) as Mombasa, eastern Kenya Colony. On re-examina- tion we find we can recognize five races in Eastern Africa, as follows :— LANIARIUS FERRUGINEUS THIOPICUS (Gmel.). Turdus xthiopicus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. pt. 2, 1789, p. 824: Abyssinia. Middle wing-coverts and some secondary wing-coverts white. Wing 93-109 mm. Fifty-one specimens examined. Distribution.—Eastern Sudan from the Kassala Province to the Boma Plateau, Eritrea, Abyssinia, British Somaliland and northern Kenya Colony. Note. —Intergrades with L. f. ambiguus Madarasz in the Meru area north of Mt. Kenya. LANIARIUS FERRUGINEUS MAJOR (Hartl.). Telephonus major Hartlaub, Rev. Zool. 1848, p. 108: Elmina, Gold Coast Colony; of which Dryoscopus major mossambicus Reichenow, J. f. O. 1880, p. 141: Mozambique, is a synonym, as we can see no character by which this race can be separated from L. f. major; colour | 1944.] 47 (Vol. Ixiv. and markings are the same, and the wing measurements are: 88-104 mm. for fifteen specimens of L. f. mossambicus and 93-106 mm. for seventeen specimens of L. f. major. White on wing extending down the edges of some of the secondaries and forming a longitudinal wing-bar. Wing 88-108.mm. One hundred and eleven specimens examined. | Distribution.—Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Cameroon to central and southern Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya Colony as far east as the Aberdares, western. Tanganyika Territory as far east as Loliondo, Esimingor and Njombe, south-eastern Belgian Congo, Portuguese East Africa and the Rhodesias.. ; Note.—Intergrades with L. f. ambiguus in the area between Nakuru, the Aberdares, Nairobi and Kiambu. LANIARIUS FERRUGINEUS SUBLACTEUS (Cass.). Dryoscopus sublacteus Cassin, Proc. Ac. Sci. Philad. 1851, p. 246: Mombasa, eastern Kenya Colony. . Wings wholly black. Wing 90-98 mm. Thirteen specimens examined. Distribution.—Eastern Kenya Colony and eastern Tanganyika Territory from Mombasa to Dar-es-Salaam and as far west as Makindu, Lake Jipe, north Pare Mts., and Mpapwa. LANIARIUS FERRUGINEUS' AMBIGUUS Madar. Lamarius ambiguus Madarasz, Ann. Mus. Nat. Hung. ii. 1904, p. 205: Kibosho, Kilimanjaro, north-eastern Tanganyika Territory ; of which we consider Laniarius ferrugineus chyulu van Someren, J.H.A. & Uganda N.H. Soc. xiv. 1939, p. 107: Chyulu Hills, south-eastern Kenya Colony, to be a synonym, as the character of ‘‘ green-black above, not blue-black ” is to be found in specimens of L. f. ambiguus. White in wings confined to the middle coverts. Wing 90-103 mm. Sixteen specimens examined. Distribution.—Central Kenya Colony from the Aberdares and Fort Hall to north-eastern Tanganyika Territory from Longido, Ketumbeine and Monduli te Kilimanjaro. Note.—Intergrades with L. f. major in the area between Nakuru, the Aberdares, Nairobi and Kiambu, and with L. f. xthiopicus in the Meru area north of Mt. Kenya. LANIARIUS FERRUGINEUS SOMALIENSIS Reichw. Lamarius xthiopicus somaliensis Reichenow, Vog. Afr. iii. 1905, p. 834: Solole, Juba River, southern Italian Somaliland. re Vol. lxiv.] 48 e (1944. Similar to L. f. ambiguus but smaller. Wing 80-85 mm. (Reichenow’s measurements). No specimens examined. Distribution.—Lower Juba River, southern Italian Somaliland. (3) On the Status of Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi Reichenow, J. f. O. 1887, p. 214: Stanley Falls, Belgian Congo, and Ploceus cucullatus feminina O.-Grant, Bull. B. O. C. xxi. 1907, p. 15: Mokia, Toro district, western Uganda. Reichenow compared Ploceus cucullatus bohndorffi with Ploceus cucul- latus (Miller) and Ploceus abyssinicus (Gmelin) ; O.-Grant compared his Hyphantornis feminina with P. c. abyssinicus and P. c. cucullatus, but not with P. c. bohndorfft. We have compared a long series of birds from Uganda and the Belgian Congo as far west as Yambuya, which is about 65 miles north of the Stanley Falls, but have seen no specimens from the Stanley Falls. The characters given by Reichenow agree with those of P. c. feminina, and Belgian Congo birds agree with Uganda birds. We are unable to find any character by which Ploceus c. feminina can be separated from Ploceus ¢. bohndoi ffi, and, therefore, P. c. feminina becomes a synonym of P. c. bohndorffi, the distribution of which is: North-eastern Belgian Congo, as far west as Bima and Yambuya, to the Sudan and Uganda. (4) On the Status of Othyphantes emini budongoensis van Someren, Bull. B. O. C. xli. 1921, p. 123: Busindi, near Budongo, Uganda. Van Someren gives the characters as back green with black stripes as against back black in Othyphantes emini (Hartlaub) O.C. 1882, p. 92 : Agaru, east of Nimule, southern Sudan, and in Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 138, gives the same characters. O.-Grant, Trans. Zool. Soc. xix. 1910, p. 273, states that the Abyssinian birds from Addis Ababa and Harar have black mantles, and the type of Othyphantes zaphirot O.-Grant, Bull. B. O. C. xiii. 1922, p. 22: near Harar, eastern Abyssinia, certainly has this character, but a female collected at the same locality is very worn, and although appearing blacker on the mantle, has distinct indications of green and grey edging to the feathers. Platei., J. f. O. 1882, p. 322, shows a male with a mantle of grey and black, and another male in the British Museum, also collected by Emin Bey at Agaru on May 1, 1881, has a mantle of green and black with a few grey edges. Hartlaub in the original description gives mantle as ‘ fundo cinereo maculis majoribus fuscus’’. It would therefore appear that van Someren has renamed the typical race and that O. e. budongoensis van Someren must be placed as a synonym of O. emini (Hartlaub). 1944.] 49 [Vol. Ixiv. A new Race of Scrub Robin and a new Race of Red- ! winged Francolin from Northern Rhodesia. Mr. C. M. N. Wutrts sent the following two descriptions :— Erythropygia leucophrys kabalii, subsp. nov. Description.—Nearest to H. 1. munda (Cabanis) but on the upper surface lighter and with a pale reddish shade, lacking the dull earthy brown of myunda; tail with considerably more rufous basally than munda, especially on the margins of the centre pair, but not approaching the mainly rufous tail of zambesiana ; breast rather more finely striped than munda, and secondaries with lighter and redder outer margins. Wing 65-69 mm. Material examined: LH. 1. munda, seven specimens ; H. 1. kabali, seven specimens. Type.—Male, Chikonkwelo stream, Balovale, on August 21, 1943. Collected by K. Muzeya. In my collection. Distribution.—I refer to this race all the birds from Balovale and Mwinilunga in, North-west Rhodesia. Remarks.—Winterbottom’s remarks about birds from Barotseland in Ibis, 1942, p. 371, may fit this bird, but it is lighter, not darker, than my series of #. 1. munda, though certainly redder. ; The status of these Scrub Robins in Northern Rhodesia requires much further study and far more material. Neave recorded specimens from the Katanga and three localities in the northern province of Northern Rhodesia as H. 1. zambesiana; but my material of H. 1. zambesiana Sharpe from the Zambesi escarpment east of Lusaka is easily separable from the north-western birds. H. 1. pectoralis Smith, from Mumbwa, was recorded on the strength of a young bird by Pitman, and is evidently a bird akin to the above. Winterbottom regards H. |. zambesiana as distinct specifically from H. 1. leucophrys, and then lists H. 1. munda as a race of H. 1. zambesiana in referring to Barotseland birds. Actually in the tail colour it appears that they belong to H. 1. leucophrys (Vieillot), and if H. 1. zambesiana is kept specifically distinct it is not the species of these north-western birds. I certainly do not think that the two species overlap in northern Rhodesia, in spite of Winterbottom’s suggestion to that effect ; specimens collected earlier will have to be re-examined, and more material is required before further conclusions can be made. On the other hand, in other respects it may be desirable to keep H. |. zambesiana as a distinct species. Vol. lxiv.] 50 [1944. Francolinus levaillantii clayi, subsp. nov. - Description.—Differs from F. 1. levaillantii (Valenciennes) in that the rufous stripe above the eye on either side of the head unites on the hind neck to form a broad rufous band separating the dark brown crown from the black and white spotted collar on the hind neck; no line of black and white spots from the throat collar up to the eye along the side of the neck, the rufous stripe below the eye meeting across the lower part of the throat ; underside below the rufous breast deep fawn, heavily spotted with black on the sides of the chest and thence down the flanks. Feathers of the hind part of flanks broadly barred across with black. Type.—Adult male collected at Kajilisha, north of Balovale Boma, Northern Rhodesia, on January 2, 1944, by K. Muzeya. In my collection. Distribution.—This' Francolin appears to occur sparingly on the plains of Balovale both east and west of the Zambesi. Two birds collected by Mr. G. Clay at Mankoya show the same characteristics of the hind neck. This or an allied race occurs on the plains of Mwinilunga district, where it is, however, very uncommon. Measurements. of type—Wing 169 ; tail 68 ; culmen from ‘base 31 mm. Remarks.—Probably the Red-winged Francolin of Barotseland belongs to the same form, but no other material has so far been forthcoming from there. Named after Mr. G. Clay, who was the first to preserve specimens of it from Mankoya, to whom I am indebted for information about the characters of his specimens. . A new Race of Forest Warbler from Kenya Colony and the Races of the Green-capped Eremomela. Dr. V. G. L. VAN SOMEREN sent the two following communications :— Apalis melanocephaia ellinorze, subsp. nov. Description.—Differs from A. m. melanocephala Fisch. & Reich. of the coastal belt (Pangani to the Tana) by its blacker, less brown-black upper side and its larger size. Differs from the highland race A. nigrodorsalis Granvik, of the Nairobi forest area, by its blacker, not brown-black, colour on crown, lores, ear-coverts and upper mantle ; in having the lower portion of the mantle more greyish, yet tinged with green, but darker; in having much darker, more blackish wings ; tail more ashy-grey, not brownish-grey ; in having the flanks more washed with greyish, and the feathering on the thighs darker mottled grey. Sides of throat and breast richer buff. - White tips to rectrices slightly . 1944. ] | 5l [Vol. lxiv. narrower. Wings 53-55, tail 75 mm., thus agreeing in these measure-. ments with A. m. nigrodorsalis, and considerably larger than those of A.m. melanocephala. ‘Total length 140-145 mm. Female: differs from that of A. m. ngrodorsalis by being darker, less brownish-tinged, on head and wings, and darker, olive-grey washed, on the mantle. Distribution.—The forests of Mt. Kenia at Meru, 5100 feet. Type.—Male, Forest Station, Meru, Mt. Kenia, July 1943; collected by G. R. C. van Someren. In my collection. Female co-type, same place and date. Named in honour of Mrs. G. R. C. van Someren. . Remarks.—Four males and one female collected. The species was noted as plentiful in the tops of the trees together with Hwuprinoides cinerea. These specimens have been compared with a long series of the coastal A. m. melanocephala and a long series of A.m. nigrodorsalis of the — Nairobi area. I would take this opportunity to clear up a misstatement which appears in Jackson’s’ Bds. Kenya & Uganda, vol. ii. p. 1055, which reads: “nor does Dr. van Someren appear to have obtained any”, i.e. A. melanocephala melanocephala ; but a reference is given to my paper, Nov. Zool. 1932, p. 368, where I clearly state that I have a series from Vanga (Kenya Colony—Tanganyika Territory border, coast) to the mouth of the Tana River. A race of A. m. melanocephala is also found on the Juba River. This may prove to be distinct from the nominotypical. The Races of Eremomela scotops Sundevall. Grant and Praed reviewed the races of this species in Bull. B.O.C. Ixi. 1941, pp. 65-66, adding a further note of correction in vol. Ixii. pp. 46-47. In the first review they state emphatically that EL. s. kikuyuensis van Someren, ‘‘ Nairobi, is a synonym ”’ of the race L. citrini- ceps, “‘ as we can see no character by which it can be distinguished ”’. This would indicate that they actually examined Nairobi specimens, but they do not say so. In the second note they correct their brief descriptions of two races, including #. citriniceps, and give “chin, to chest yellow, breast to belly white, green of head brighter and extending to nape”. My #. kikuyuensis is: chin to chest yellow, breast to belly whitish but strongly washed with yellow, but not so yellow as in H. occvpitalis, and yellowish-green of head paler and not extending to nape. To unite HL. kikuyuwensis, which has a pale yellow belly, with E. citriniceps, which has a white belly, is incorrect. Had the suggestion been that H. kikuyensis was very similar to H. occipitalis, one might have considered it a less wide statement. Vol. Lxiv.] 52 [1944. E. citriniceps, type loc. Kakoma, Tabora district, Tanganyika Territory, extends south-east of Lake Victoria to the Kisii-Loita and Kendu Bay-Kavirondo area, from whence I have specimens. JL. kikuyensis, type loc. Nairobi, ranges in the central Kenya Highlands. £. occipitalis, type loc. Pangani, ranges north along the Kenya coast to Mongeya and the Sokoke-Arabuku Forests, from whence I have a good series. Actually, H. kikuyuensis is the intermediate race (and a very distinct one), and is geographically so situated, between EH. citriniceps and _E. occipitalis. Sclater, in the Syst. Av. Aithiop., assigned Nairobi birds to EH. occipitalis, but in Jackson, pp. 1082-3, corrects this, and puts - them as EL. kikuyuensis. By an oversight, however, Sclater, in Jackson, does not include L. occipitalis from Kenya Colony, although I recorded it in Nov. Zool. xxxvii. 1932, p. 369, as a series I had taken from Vanga to Mongeya, Sokoke. A point of interest: Bannerman, Ibis, 1910, records two immature birds taken by A. B. Percival, in Nairobi, as #. scotops Sundev. Sclater, in the Syst. Av. Aithiop., referring to these, placed them as HE. occipitalis ; Grant and Praed, presumably using these same birds, place them as E. citriniceps. They are immature HL. kikuyuensis. I have adults and young from Nairobi, as also had Jackson. . The avifauna of Kenya Colony is highly complicated, perhaps more so than in other parts of Africa, for we have here the influence of western, southern and Somaliland species converging in the area, and Kenya Colony is not uniform in topography, climate or ecology. On the Races of Oriolus monacha (Gmelin) and the ° Status of Oriolus percivali O.-Grant. Dr. VAN SOMEREN sent the following note :— I have studied Grant and Praed’s recent opinions on the above, as published in the Bull. B.O.C. Ixii. 1948, pp. 51-52, and_Ixiv. pp. 24-25. They would appear to reject the arrangement given by Meinertzhagen in Ibis, 1923, in that O. brachyrynchus Swainson and O. 6b. lztior Sharpe — are omitted from the O. monacha group. In this they follow Sclater (Syst. Av. Aithiop. ii. 1930, p. 648) and Bannerman (Bds. Trop. West Africa, v. 1939, p. 459), a point of view I endorse, and which I propose to amplify hereafter. I cannot, however, accept Grant and Praed’s limitation of races of O. monacha, nor the distribution assigned to them, onthedata they supply. There is a lack of detail and critical comparison, doubtless noted at the time of study, but omitted from the published accounts. 1944. 53 [Vol. Ixiv. Apart from the tail pattern and colour as found in O. monacha monacha, both of which are slightly variable, we find a rather distinctive wing coloration: primaries tinged with grey and with pure grey edgings, cf. Reichenow, Vég. Afr., and Meinertzhagen, Ibis, 1923. In O. m. permistus Neumann we have a race with similar wing coloration, slightly smaller and darker and with more black in the tail. The nominotypical race occurs in Eritrea and Northern Abyssinia, to Shoa (teste Grant and Praed). O. m. permistus ranges from Gofa, S.W. Abyssinia, to??? Grant and Praed would synonymize O. reichenowi Zedlitz with this race, and have us believe that it extends southward from southern Somaliland through the dry parts of Kenya Colony to Dar-es-Salaam and west to Morogoro. Bearing in mind the wing character of O. permistus, and its general resemblance to O. monacha, except in the points already cited, one naturally expects to find a bird in Jubaland, for example, answering to the characters claimed for O. permistus. With a series of Jubaland birds before me, together with southern Abyssinian birds, O. permistus, I cannot for a moment agree that they are the same race. To sub- stantiate my remark relative to lack of detail, how many southern Somaliland birds Grant and Praed had is not stated, nor do they cite individual measurements for these. The Jubaland birds are more generally similar to O. m. rolleti Salvadori, but consistently smaller, and they do not agree with O. permistus. To the south-west of O. monacha, from the Shoa area (feste Grant and Praed), and just to the west of the Omo River, the race O. rolleti begins and extends southward throughout Uganda, the greater part of Kenya Colony to Tanganyika Territory and Angola, etc., etc. This, of course, embraces the area of O. m. kikuyuensis van Someren, which Grant and Praed make a synonym. Its recognition is a matter of opinion. Included within the synonymy we find O. percivali. But later on there is a note dealing with the status of this bird (vol. lxiv. pp. 24-25), and the opinion that Oriolus percivali is a colour phase of Oriolus monacha monacha (Gmelin), and must be placed as a synonym of it. Is this a lapsus calami, or are we asked to believe that a bird with a distribution as cited by Grant and Praed is a colour phase of a race separated from it by two other races—O. m. permistus and O. m. rolleti @ In the course of the discussion, Grant and Praed quote me as stating that O. percivali has no white tips to the primary coverts. They take this remark away from its context, which concerned the question of possible relationship between O. percivali and O. nigripennis (Verreaux). It would be obvious to anyone comparing the two birds that my remark is an unfortunate transposition of this particular character. Checking ~ Vol: lxiv.] 54 ‘[i944. my original manuscript, I find the error occurred when transcribing my notes to typescript. It is a minor point and an obvious lapsus calami. I do not wish to anticipate the findings of C. W. Benson, which will appear in his paper on Southern Abyssinian birds, but I should like to mention that when I-examined his collection with him, we noted that — within the same general area, though not in the same environment, there were two Black-headed Orioles, one with grey edgings to the wings, the other white to yellowish. The one on geographical grounds would - be O. m. permistus Neumann, the other intermediate between 0. m. rolleti and the larger central Kenya Colony race, O. m. kikuyuensis. This matter of environment is extremely important, and I submit fills an important réle when we come to consider the status of O. percwal. Grant and Praed mention the several areas in which O. percivalt has been taken; all are forest areas. I have, in previous writings, stated the fact that this bird is found in evergreen heavy forest, not in the open type or savannah forest, park country, acacia ~ forest and river, or dry-water courses, such as is the habitat of O. m. rolleti. O. m. rolleti may, and does, impinge on the environment of O. percivali, but the latter does not, so far as my long experience goes, . occur in O. m. rollett ground. Moreover, I have recorded the fact that the nestlings of O. percivali are black-headed to a degree much in advance » of O. m. rolleti, and they are not heavily streaked on the breast and abdomen. Nestlings of O. m. rolleti from Uganda are strongly streaked, have a great deal of yellow on the head, and are the most mottled or speckled of all the Black-headed Oriole young. The nestling characters are of great importance when we are considering the possible relationships — between very similar birds. To emphasize this point I would mention that the young of O. b. letior has a green head, without any black, and is not dark-streaked below, and this character alone would make me: hesitate to associate O. brachyrynchus and races with, say, O. m. rolleti, in spite of the fact that Meinertzhagen claims interbreeding between O. brachyrynchus and O. m. rolleti (Ibis, 1923, p. 77), and Jackson, - Bds. Kenya & Uganda: p. 1258, states, “the Oriole population of western Uganda must be regarded as intermediate between O. m. rolleti and O. 6. lztior”’. Weare asked to believe that this population is made up of hybrids between two species, for be it noted that Jackson refers” to O. b. letior as a race of O. brachyrynchus and to O. m. rolleti as a race” of O. monacha. We note, in passing, that according to Meinertzhagen’s | arrangement, O. monacha letior cuts across the range of O. m. rolleti _in Uganda east to Mt. Elgon. I am unable to accept Grant.and Praed’s grouping on the evidence” of very considerable material available to me, and would submit that 1944. ] 55 [Vol. lxiv. ‘in the west we have 0. brachyrynchus extending eastward to Mt. Elgon 'as the race O. b. letior, birds with grey-edged wings and green-headed young ; that in northern Abyssinia we have 0. monacha monacha, a grey- _edged-wing species, represented in southern Abyssinia by O. m. permistus, also with grey edges to the wings, but with other recognizable characters, 'whose young have black heads with yellow streaking. (This latter fact | would, I think, negative the suggestion of union of the Abyssinian birds _ | with the western species), and then there is a southern species, O. larvatus | larvatus Lichtenstein, characterized by its white and yellowish edges to the wings, which has black-headed young strongly mottled’ with yellow /on head and body and dark-streaked, which extends north as the races | O. 1. rolleti, O. 1. kikuyuensis and O. 1. reichenowi to ‘as far as southern | Abyssinia and southern Sudan. . The above is more or less an upholding | of the arrangement given by Reichenow in ‘ Vogel Afrikas’. With regard to OQ. percivali: when Meinertzhagen wrote his review _he had thirty-five adults, and has since handled others. He is still | unable to give an opinion. Grant and Praed had ten specimens (they 'do not give sex or age), and are able to state an opinion, placing | O. percivali as a colour phase of O. monacha (Gmelin). With my know- | ledge of the bird in its environment, and having studied dozens of skins, I prefer to keep O. percwali on its own until more close field work can | be brought to bear on the question. In the meantime, I suggest that further comparison with O. nigripennis, especially material from the east of its range, such as var. O. leucostictus, might be worth while, for although generally a smaller bird, some, toward the east, approach the 130 mm. wing length. Notice. __ It is hoped to have a Meeting of the Club towards the end of June. Members will be notified in due course. “a Sy * 7 es ie at if ry fs lia sn sani °° BULLETIN aE D eyRCH! Wo OF THE BRITISH Be ae CLUB. No. CCCCLIII. The four-hundred-and-forty-sixth Meeting of the Club was held at the Rembrandt Hotel, Thurloe Place, S.W. 7, on Friday, June > 30, 1944, following a dinner at 6.30 P.M. Chairman :—Mr. F. J. F. BarRington. Members present:—Miss P. Barcuay-SmitH; R. 8S. R. Fiver ; J. G. Harrison; Dr. J. M: Harrison; P. A. D. Hottom; Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low (Hditor and Hon. Sec.); Lt.-Col. C. W. Mack- WORTH-PRAED; Col. R. MEINERTZHAGEN; Mrs. J. B. PRIESTLEY ; Miss G. M. Ruopss; W. L. ScLATER. Guests :—Miss EK. S. Barctay-SmitH ; Miss THERESA Cray; D. J. CrocKkETT; Miss B. N. SoxLty. Members, 12; Guests, 4. Total, 16. Exhibition of a Goldeneye-Smew Hybrid. Dr. J. M. Harrison, who exhibited the specimen, said :—The bird was obtained on February 14, 1940, on a coastal marsh in East Kent, and has already been fully described in ‘The Ibis’ for July 1943. The pro- nounced drake Goldeneye appearance should be noted. Some five examples of this cross have been described, and one, a very similar specimen to the present one, is figured in Naumann’s ‘ Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas’, vol. x. pl. ix. This is the first British example, and is also the first to have been investigated as to its endocrine condition. Macroscopically it was impossible to sex the bird; it was found to possess two slight elevations in the locus for testicular development, paired but very attenuated efferent ducts, a minute rudimentary ovary on the left side and an attenuated oviduct. The colour sketches now shown were made from sections of these three glands and show all three to present the characters of ovotestes, the cells being of an undifferentiated type; all three glands show small follicles, but none of these have . germinal spots. The bird was, of course, hermaphroditic and impotent. [July 28, 1944.] a VOL, LXIV, Vol. Lxiv.] | «68 , [1944. The Races of Mallard. Mr. JEFFERY HARRISON exhibited and made some remarks on the races of Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, with special reference to three examples from England, resembling Anas platyrhynchos conboschas Brehm. My main object to-night (he said) is to discuss three examples of possible Greenland Mallard from England. Before doing so, however, I think it will be better if I make some remarks on the races of Mallard in general, so that the three birds mentioned above can then be viewed in their proper perspective. Brehm has described a race of Mallard from Greenland and named it Anas platyrhynchos conboschus. ‘To-day it stands as an accepted race. The drakes, which are all that need concern us to-day, can be recognized from the typical race, in that they have greyer upper parts, scapulars, and wing-coverts ; the flanks are more coarsely vermiculated, and have more grey and white contrast, and the chestnut-brown breast shield is spotted or barred with black. All this I have been able to confirm in the Bird Room of the British Museum. | I have also been able to examine some Iceland examples there. These were named by Brehm Anas platyrhynchos subboschas, but the race is not generally accepted as the differences are said to be too slight to distinguish it from the typical race. I am left in no doubt that this bird forms a perfect intermediate link between A. p. conboschas and A. p. platyrhynchos, especially in coloration. As far as measurements go, enough specimens have not been examined to make dogmatic statements, but the following results will be found useful. Taking wing measurements :— A. p. conbeschas : range 280-295 mm. Average 288 mm. A. p. subboschas : range 270-290 mm. Average 283 mm. A. p. platyrhynchos : range 256-278 mm. Average 267 mm. (Witherby, ‘ Handbook of British Birds ’, gives 260-288 mm. for A. p. platyrhynchos.) Thus it will be seen that the races of the Mallard increase in size from south to north, 2. e. they obey Bergmann’s rule, and the Iceland birds fall in very well as intermediates. ; To return now to the three English examples. The first is from my father’s collection, and was shot by him at Shoreham, Kent, on October 15, 1930. It shows the breast spots, the back is lacking the — usual brown tone, and the scapulars are very grey. The vermiculations of the flanks are well differentiated, but not very coarse; the wing measurement is 263 mm. The second example is a drake, moulting into first winter plumage, and was shot by myself on October 9, 1939, in the Weald of Kent, not far 1944.) 59 [Vol. lxiv. from Tonbridge. This bird shows the breast spots very well; the vermiculations are well contrasted, and, from moult that is already through on the back, it can be seen that it was going to be very grey. This bird should be compared with a typical bird in the same stage of plumage. Unfortunately, wing moult makes the wing measurement unreliable. Both’ of these birds were mentioned by my father in his ‘ Handlist of Birds of the Sevenoaks District ’. The third bird is an adult drake, shot on February 5, 1944, on the Wash off North Wootton, Norfolk, from a large party of Mallard. This bird has distinct black markings on the breast, well-defined, but not very coarse, vermiculations, and rather a strong brown wash on the scapulars. Its wing measurement is 250 mm. Unfortunately it was not possible to bring this bird here to-day. In addition to these birds, there is another in my father’s collection from Holland, in mid-winter, which matches the example from North Wootton. Dr. Hijkman, who collected it, did not consider it to be the typical race. The question that arises now is whether these three birds are genuine migrants from either Greenland or Iceland, or whether they are typical birds exhibiting characters imputed to Anas platyrhynchos conboschas. At one time I wondered if these birds were the result of imported eggs for sporting purposes. Enquiries, however, by myself and Mr. B. W. Tucker seem to rule this out completely. My informant, Mr. Colin McLean, of Dereham, Norfolk, an authority on such matters, tells me that anyone wanting “new blood” obtained decoy-caught drakes from this country; and that very occasionally eggs have been brought over from Holland. The following points are in favour of the view that we are dealing with an aberration :— (1) The wing measurements in the two examples where moult is com- plete are too small to be northern migrants. (2) The vermiculations, although well contrasted, are too fine. | (3) Ringing records do not show migration from Greenland, although Miss Leach has one record of a Mallard ringed in Iceland as a young . bird and recovered from Northern Ireland in winter. This is not by any means conclusive, and the second example from Kent could well be matched with Greenland birds on plumage ; the wings, unfortunately, are still in moult, so the measurements are of no value. The other two birds can also be matched on plumage with intermediates from Iceland, a2 Vol. Ixiv.] 60 | (1944. On the whole I think the evidence, so far as is available, is in favour of the second suggestion, 7. e. that these are aberrant typical Mallard tending to resemble the Greenland race. I have to thank my father for loaning me examples from his collection. Colonel MEINERTZHAGEN said the Greenland Mallard was more of a sea- duck than a land one and got its food by diving instead of by surface feeding. Owing to this habit its sternum more closely approaches that of the’ Diving Ducks and is the best diagnostic character. It was a stationary race and did not migrate. ; Winter Sky-Larks from Wiltshire. Dr. G. CARMICHAEL Low exhibited, for Mr. P. A. CLANcEY, a series of winter Sky-Larks, collected during the winter of 1942-43, from Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, Pou the latter, and read the following remarks com- municated by him* : Writing in the Bull. B. O. C. Ixiii. 1942, p. 41, I pointed out that English examples of Alauda arvensis are difficult to place with certainty, but are nearest *Alauda arvensis arvensis Linnzeus : Sweden. Most workers in the past have left the question of a British race of Lark strictly alone—the almost insuperable problems which beset one are sufficient to discourage most research workers! The very general paucity of fresh autumn material collected on the breeding grounds and the abundance of winter and breeding specimens would appear to be the fundamental causes of most difficulties. In exhibiting this series of nine winter Larks P hope to show reasonably clearly some of the intricate questions which confront those actively interested in the geographical forms of Alauda arvensis. The birds were collected on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, during the winter of 1942-43. It will be noticed that the series exhibits a considerable amount of apparent individual variation, which, in my opinion, can be largely attributed to the mixing of distinct geographical races during the non-breeding season. The series cart be split up into three groups, as follows :— (a) gad., January 23, 1943. Pale and grey throughout; little buff gd ad., January 23, 1943. | suffusion on underside. (b) gad., December 12, 1942. | Intermediate between (a) and (ce). g ad., December 25, 1942. General tone warmer than (a), but g ad., December 27, 1942. not so dark and rich as in (¢). * The series was received in January 1943 and has been kept in the Bird Room, British Museum (Natural History), so that those interested might examine them carefully. Several members have done so, and as Mr. Clancey now wishes them returned, I am exhibiting them at the Club before doing so.—G, C. L, 1944.] : 61 [Vol. Ixiv. (c) g ad., December 19, 1942. Q ad., December 19, 1942. dg ad., December 25, 1942. g ad., December 25, 1942. Richly pigmented and dark above. Under parts tinted .with warm colouring. Allowing for abrasion of the plumage, the four birds listed in group (c) agree well with fresh autumn birds from England, and are readily separable from those in group (a), which are grey and pale in comparison. It may be that the grey birds (a) are from northern Europe, the inter- mediates (b) from central or western Europe, and the dark birds (c) from England, but at the present juncture no pronouncement should. be made. lLarks from northern and central Europe are abundant here in ‘late autumn and winter. A decorated Chaffinch Nest. Dr. G. CarmicHsarL Low exhibited a Chaffinch’s nest which had been sent to the British Museum (Natural History). Built of moss, it was very prettily decorated with little pieces of punched-out white paper like confetti. ; A new Race of Great Spotted Woodpecker from North Africa. Dr. J. M. Harrison sent the following note :— During the course of a systematic study of the species Dryobates major. (Linnzeus), the results of which it is hoped to publish later, I have had occasion to examine a series from North Africa, and it is with D. m. mauriianus (Brehm) that I wish to treat in this communication. I have had before me in all 31 examples, and the birds comprising this series can be readily divided into two groups, not only on colour but also on size. When they are examined it is evident that birds collected in the coastal belt are generally paler and smaller than birds from the Atlas ranges. The lowland group, for which the name D. m. mauritanus stands, and of which 17 examples have been examined, has as its terra typica Morocco (Hart. Vog. pal. Fauna, Bd. ii. p. 904), and this should, in my opinion, be further restricted to the lowlands of Morocco. This group of birds has a wing | length of from 120 to 127 mm. (Hart., Vég. pal. Fauna, Bd. ii. p. 905, gives 122 to 127 mm.) ; the individual measurements of the series now ° investigated are as follows : 120 (1), 120-5 (1), 122 (1), 122-5 (2), 123 (3), 124 (3), 125 (1), 125-5 (1), 126 (2), 127 (2), with an average of 123-8 mm. ; while the 14 specimens from the Atlas Mountains which I have seen give a range of from 129 to 136 mm., and one only of 123-5 mm., the individual measurements being 123-5 (1), 129 (1), 130 (1), 131 (8), 132 (4), 134 (3), Vol. Lxiv.] 62 : (1944. 136 (1), giving an average of 131‘7 mm. The underparts of these latter birds, with the exception of two which are _ buffy white, vary from a sandy brown to a rather strong smokey brown, while the lowland form is mostly pale buffy white underneath. The highland form of Dryobates major in North Africa therefore appears separable both on colour and on size, and I propose for this race the name Dryobates major lynesi, subsp. nov. Named in honour of the late Rear-Admiral Hubert Lynes. As the type I designate the male, collected by the late Rear-Admiral Lynes on May 27, 1919, at Azrou, Middle Atlas, Central Morocco, altitude 4,800 ft., and now in the National Collection, Brit. Mus. Reg. no. 1919.12.11.30, with, as a restricted type-locality, Azrou; as co-type a male, collected on November 30, 1938, at Azrou, by Col. R. Meinertzhagen, and now in his collection (see Ibis, 1940, p. 221). Descrivption of type.—Bristles black ; forehead cream ; crown, mantle, rump and upper tail-coverts glossy blue-black; nuchal band bright alizarin scarlet ; shoulder patches white, washed with palest buffy yellow ; lores, cheeks and ear-coverts white ; neck-panels white, slightly brownish ; white spots on primaries reduced, white secondary spots bolder. Under- side: chin whitish, throat to belly brownish buff; scarlet crescent on breast in between ends of black neck-markings; anal region scarlet, reaching to mid-point of body. ‘Tail-bars strong, flanks whitish. Measurements.—Wing 134, bill from skull 30, tarsus 23, tail 81-5 mm. Description of co-type.—Bristles black ; forehead pale buffy white ; crown, mantle, rump and upper tail-coverts glossy blue-black ; nuchal band bright alizarin scarlet ; lores and cheeks white ; ear-coverts white, faintly washed with palest buff; neck-panels white, tinged brownish ; shoulder patches white, washed with pale sandy brown ; white primary spots somewhat reduced in extent, secondary spots bolder. Underside : chin whitish ; throat sandy buff; pale alizarin scarlet connects the ends of the black markings on upper breast ; breast to belly drab, near to, but darker than, No. 18 in Ridgway’s ‘ Nomenclature of Colours ’, pl. ili. Flanks whitish ; belly and under tail-coverts pale alizarin scarlet ; tail strongly barred. black and white in about equal proportions, outermost pair and two innermost pairs being plain black. M easurements.—Wing 136, bill from skull 30-5, tarsus 24, tail 84 mm. Remarks upon the diagnostic characters of the race.—Distinguished in the series from Dryobates m.mauritanus, its nearest affinity, on account of its sandy-brown to drab-brown coloured underparts and longer wing measurement. Some individual variation is apparent in both groups, for in the lowland series there are a few brownish specimens and in the 1944]. 63 [Vol. Lxiv. high-altitude form there are two buffish-white birds, and one, a female, has a wing of only 123-5 mm., and is, therefore, on colour and size, insepar- able from D. m. mauritanus. The distribution of red, which varies from a bright alizarin scarlet to a bright crimson, varies individually, both in its width, as in the nuchal band in the males, and in its extent upwards from the anal region in both sexes ; in most specimens it reaches to about the mid:point on the body, while most show a little to a strong band in the pectoral region. It would seem that this race ranges from at or about 1000 feet upwards. A new Race of Cisticola from Portuguese East Africa. Lieut.-Colonel Jack Vincent, M.B.E., sent the following description :— Cisticola chiniana emendata, subsp. nov. Description.—In summer dress differs from C’. procera and C. fischer Reichenow in being considerably darker above, and with the back much more nearly plain, this lack of mottling being more pronounced when compared with C’. frater than is the case with C. procera. In fact the summer dress approaches more closely to that of the perennial plumaged CU. heterophrys in Tanganyika Territory. In winter the plumage is generally much redder than in all other races, particularly in the suffusion of rusty buff below. Type.—Adult male, in the British Museum collection, collected by myself at, Mirrote, Mozambique Province, Northern Portuguese East Africa, 13° 50’S.—39° 35’ E. at 900 ft. altitude, on June 17, 1932. Collector’s no. 1589 ; Brit. Mus. Reg. no. 1933.3.1.1230 Measurements of type.—Wing 66, culmen from base 16, tail 65, tarsus 25 mm. Remarks.—On returning home on leave from the Middle East and perusing ornithological literature published since the outbreak of war, with a view to keeping up to date with African systematics, I noted some observations by Praed and Grant in Bull. B. O. C. Ixi. 1941, p. 70. In this these writers draw attention to critical remarks on some races of Cisticola chiniana (A. Smith) made by myself in ‘ The Ibis, 1935’, p. 711, and Bull. B. O. C. liii. 1933, p. 174, and throw out the race I described under the name of C. c. mocuba Vincent as being not a new racial name but a substitution for C. procera. They further state that C. c. mocuba becomes a synonym of Peters’s race, and cannot be extracted and used elsewhere ; and add that the type, co-type, and type-locality I designated have no ie Vol. ixivj | 64 944. The review of the distribution of the races C. c. frater and C. c. procera of the species C’. chintana and the decision to describe a new race wrre atthattime, in 1933, done in close collaboration with the late Rear-Admiral H. Lynes and the results published by me at his request, since he was most dissatisfied with the arrangement of C. procera given in his Ibis Supplement, 1930. Rear-Admiral Lynes wasnot prepared, as far as C. procera was concerned, to continue to “accept it for the race from Tete to Mozambique ”’, and welcomed my long series from Northern Portuguese East Africa to clear up the vexed question of birds from the Tete area. He had already decided that specimens from this latter portion of the Middle Zambezi valley (whence C. procera was described) were really indeterminate, and too close to C. c. frater, as well as unlike, the birds of northern Mozambique and southern Tanganyika Territory. Indeed, the race C’. procera is a fair example of the position aptly described by Mackworth-Praed on p. 224 of ‘ The Ibis ’, 1943, wherein a “ cline” is complicated by the naming of a division in the scale that is by no means _ sharp. It would appear, from Bull. B. O. C. lxi. 1941, p. 70, that our rearrange- ment was not done in accordance with the rules governing ornithological nomenclature, and I bow to the criticisms made ; but in view of the fact that Rear-Admiral Lynes did not wish C. procera to cover the wide distribution necessitated by the deletion of (. ¢. mocuba,.1 forward this description of a new race, with a new type and type locality designated from the ample series of fifty-three new specimens available. In con- clusion I also append a summary. of the races involved, with their distributions. With reference to the Cisticola Review, Ibis Supplement, 1930, the ranges at present known of the four races above mentioned are as follows :— Crsticola chiniana frater Reichenow: S.W. Africa, S. Angola, west and central Bechuanaland and Northern Rhodesia, eastwards into Portuguese East Africa, but only so far as the edge of the mid-Zambezi plateau. Cisticola chiniana procera Peters: Middle Zambezi River and lower Shiré River valleys (Tete area of northern Portuguese East Africa, and Chiromo and Port Herald areas of southern Nyasaland). Cisticola chiniana emendata Vincent : Nyasaland and Portuguese Kast Africa, north of the Zambezi valley, from Angoniland on the west to Mozambique on the coast ; extending northwards into southern Tangan- yika Territory as far Hart as the south-eastern Moree district, where intergradation with C. c¢. heterophrys is evident. Cisticola chiniana heterophrys Oberholser : Eastern Tanganyika Terri- tory and coastal Kenya Colony. EEE ae _— 1944.] 65 [Vol. lxiv. A new Race of Quelea from Northern Rhodesia. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. Mackwortu-PRAED sent the following description :— Quelea cardinalis rhodesiz, subsp. nov. Description.—Male in breeding dress differs from Quelea cardinalis cardinalis (Hartlaub) in having the occiput streaked tawny and black and clearly demarcated from the crimson crown ; the crimson head and chin to chest are deeper and brighter, and the upper side in both sexes is darker tawny with broader and blacker streaks. Distribution.—Tanganyika Territory to Northern Rhodesia. Type.—In the British Museum. Male in breeding dress. Near Molilo’s, Petauke, eastern Luangwa district, north-eastern Northern Rhodesia, February 7, 1905. Collected by 8S. A. Neave ; collector’s no. 83. Brit. Mus. Reg. no. 1907.12.30.24. Measurements of type.—Wing 61, culmen from base 14, tail 36, tarsus 17 mm. : Remarks.—Ten males in breeding dress, three in non-breeding dress, and six females examined of this new race, and fifteen males in breeding dress, six in non-breeding dress, and eight females examined of Quelea cardinalis cardinalis (Hartlaub). Males in breeding dress of the typical race have the occiput suffused with red over the streaking and not clearly demarcated from the crimson crown. The red of the head and chin to chest is not quite so deep a crimson, and on the upper sides the streaking is duller tawny and the black streaks are more dusky and less broad. The specimens recorded from Nairobi as having “ very bright red heads and crimson throats, rather more richly coloured than birds from Uganda ”’’, by van Someren, Nov. Zool. xxix. 1922, p. 146, may possibly prove to belong to this new race. A new Race of Thrush from Tanganyika Territory. Mr. R. E. Morzav sent the following description :— Turdus pelios ubendeensis, subsp. nov. Description.—Size and colour of upper parts similar to 7wdus pelios centralis Reichenow and Turdus pelios schuetti (Cabanis), but below, chest and breast distinctly washed with tawny ; flanks brighter and darker tawny, and white more confined to lower belly, not extending so far towards breast. Disiribution.—Upper Nyamanse River, Ushamba area of Ubende, western Tanganyika Territory. Vol. lxiv.] «66 [1944. Type.—In the British Museum. Male adult, breeding condition, but still retaining some tawny tips to the wing-coverts. Forest along Lukolansala River, tributary of upper Nyamanse River, Ushamba, Ubende, western Tanganyika Territory, November 21, 1943; collected by R. E. Moreau. Collector’s no. 6026. M easurements of type.—Wing 116, culmen from base 25, tail’ 90, tarsus 35 mm. Remarks.—This new race has the brown-streaked throat of T’urdus pelios, not the black-streaked throat of Turdus libonyanus (Smith) or Turdus olwwaceus Linneus, and a yellow, not orange, bill. This extension of T'urdus pelios to southern Tanganyika Territory shows that Reichenow, Vog. Afr. iii. 1905, pp. 690-693, was correct in treating 7’. pelios and T’. libonyanus as separate species. A female from the same locality as the type has a wing measurement of 120 mm. Notes on Eastern African Birds. Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. MackWorTH- PRAED sent the following four notes :— (1) On Gidicnemus assimilss Badeker, J. 7 O. Suppl. 1854, p. 117. Sharpe, in the Cat. Bds. B. M. xxiv. 1896, p. 10, places this name as a synonym of @dicnemus senegalensis Swainson. ‘This raises the question as to whether this name can stand for the eastern African race and thus replace Burhinus senegalensis inornatus Salvadori, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Milan, viii. 1865, p. 381: Abyssinia. Badeker gives this name in a description of the eggs of @. senegalensis, and following this is a note by Brehm stating that his son Alfred obtained eggs of this species in the Sudan in 1851. No description is given to support the name W@. assimilis, only a description of the eggs of @. senegalensis, and Brehm’s note does not bring this name into eastern Africa, as it applies to the species and not specifically to @. assimilis. Therefore @. assimilis must be considered as a nomen nudum, and as such had already been placed in the synonymy of @. senegalensis by Sharpe in the Cat. Bds. B. M. in 1896. (2) On the Status of Onolus percivala O.-Grant. In the Bull. B. O. C. Ixiv. 1944, p. 53, Dr. van Someren ronmies! on the wording of the last paragraph of our note in the Bull. B. O. C. Ixiv. 1943: p. 25, and we thank him for drawing our attention to this. The words “ Oriolus monacha monacha (Gmelin) ’’ should read “ Oriolus monacha (Gmelin) ’’ as we were discussing this colour phase in relation to the species, and not a particular race. In the Bull. B. O.C. 1xiii. 1944. ] 67 [Vol. lxiv. 1943, p. 52, we placed O. percivali as a synonym of the race O. m. rollets Salvadori. (3) On the Status of Sumoplectes eremobius Hartlaub, Zool. Jahrb. ii. 1887 p. 320: Chor Mabrué, at lat. 4°3’N.; long. 29° 25’ E., north-eastern Belgian Congo. ? Hartlaub gives a description from Emin Bey’s MS. and states that the only specimen was lost and, therefore, there is no type. It was collected on November 12, 1882. He states that it is closely related to Sycobrotus emini Hartlaub, but differs in having the back olive-green with black stripes as against a grey back streaked with dark brown. The male of Othyphantes emini also has the mantle green striped with black. The other characters given, including the ashy-grey rump and greyish-white abdomen, are those of Othyphantes emini, and there seems no doubt that Symplectes eremobius Hartlaub is a synonym of Othyphantes emint (Hartlaub). We have also mentioned the colours of the mantle of O. emini in Bull. B. O. C. lxiv. 1944 p. 48, when discussing the status of Othyphantes emint budongoensis van Someren. (4) On the Type-localities of some Eastern African Weavers. (i.) Ploceus cucullatus abyssinicus (Gmelin), Syst. Nat. 1789, p. 860.— Gmelin gives references to Buffon, Hist. Nat. Ois. iii. 1775, p. 470, and Latham, Syn. ii. p. 131, no. 31, 1783. Buffon states that he learnt all — about this Weaver from Bruce. Bruce, 1768-1773, travelled in the northern part of Abyssinia, and we can, therefore, fix the type-locality of Ploceus cucullatus abyssinicus as Northern Abyssinia. (ii) Ploceus spekei (Heuglin) in Peterm. Mitt. 1861, p. 24.—Heuelin founded this name on Blyth’s description in J. A.S. B. xxiv. 1855, p. 301. Blyth’s description was founded on specimens collected by Speke in northern Italian Somaliland, which is the correct type-locality for Ploceus spekev. (in.) Ploceus capitalis capitalis (Latham) Ind. Orn. i. 1790, p. 432.— Latham gives no locality and a reference to his Syn. Suppl. i. 1787, p- 162, where also no locality is given. The first reference to a locality is, in Lichtenstein, Verz. Doubl. 1823, p. 23, where Senegal is designated ; but this cannot be accepted as this Weaver does not occur in that area. Lesson, Comp. Buffon, 1840, p. 369, also gives Senegal. Hartlaub, Verz. Hamb. Beitr. Orn. Westafr. 1850, p. 28, gives Senegambia. Gray, Gen. Bds. 1849, p. 351, gives no locality. Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av. 1850, p. 441, gives Senegal. Hartlaub, Orn. Westafr. 1857, p. 124, givesSenegambia. Hartlaub, J.f. O. 1861, p. 175, gives Casamanse. Gray, Handl. Bds. 1870, p. 42, no. 6579, gives Senegambia. Shelley Vol. Ixiv.] 68 (1944. This, 1883, p. 550, gives Abutschi, River Niger. The first author who appears to have given a locality within the known distribution of this Weaver is Shelley, Ibis, 1883, p. 550, who records specimens collected by W. A. Forbes at Abutschi, on the lower Niger River. In the Ency. Brit. xix. 1911, pp. 680-681, we find that British traders were at the Niger Delta in the early 17th century, and the Portuguese many years before that. But the river itself was first descended from the north by the brothers Richard and John Lauder in 1830, and first ascended from the Delta by Macgregor Laird in 1832. However, there were trading relations with the lower Niger long before 1790, and we can safely presume that the specimen figured in the collection of Sir Asheton Lever, and on which Latham founded his name, must have come some- where from the lower Niger River, and we can fix the type-locality of Ploceus capitalis capitalis Latham as the lower Niger River, southern Nigeria. Letter to the Editor. The Editor, Bull. B. O. C. Dear Sir, In a note entitled “The Scottish Sky-Lark”’, Bull. B. O. C. ixiil. 1943, p. 67, the late H. F. Witherby questions the validity of Alauda arvensis scotica Tschusi, 1903. I am of the opinion that some of Mr. Witherby’s statements are not strictly correct, and should not pass unchallenged. _I was fully aware of Hartert’s views (Vog. pal. Fauna, vol. 1. pp. 245- 246) when I compiled my note on Tschusi’s form, A. a. scotica, but I may say that I was not satisfied with the accuracy of these views, and rather than confuse the issue I decided to refrain from citing them. What is more, opinions on what constitute reliable racial criteria. have altered radically since 1905. . The second part of Mr. Witherby’s note is by no means satisfactory, and in describing my proposal for new British forms of Alauda arvensis as a “threat”? he shows a lack of appreciation for my point of view. The British Isles, though admittedly small in comparison with continental Europe, represent no uniform zoogeographical region, and it would be very difficult for anyone to imagine that birds from any one district are representative of the entire British population. Indeed, the more one studies the birds of Britain the more apparent the complex problems confronting the worker become. The gvifauna of south-west Treland, 1944.) 69 [Vol. lxiv. south-west Scotland, northern Scotland, Hebrides, etc., and _ their distinctive endemic races are all indicative of the diverse nature of the racial problem. It is essential that all differences in tonal quality, structure, etc., be carefully named—the constancy, and not the degree, of a racial characteristic should be the deciding factor when passing judgment on a race. By recognizing the slightest difference in colour or size the danger of having a “ confused mass of races of unequal merit ”’ can be avoided. Yours, etc., 9 Craig Road, P. A. CLANCEY. Cathcart, Glasgow, S.4. March 12, 1944. Correction. In Captain C. H. B. Grant and Lieut.-Colonel C. W. Mackworth- Praed’s note in the Bull. B. O. C. lxiv. 1943, p. 10, the type-locality of Cinnyris mediocris moreaut W. L. Sclater should read: Maskati, Neouru Mts., not Uluguru Mts. Notice. The Annual General Meeting of the Club, which will be followed by an Ordinary Meeting, will be held at the Rembrandt Hotel, South Kensington, 8.W.7, on Saturday, October 28, 1944, at 2.30 p.m. This will be preceded by a luncheon at 1.30 P.m., which members of the British Ornithologists’ Union may attend. ‘The Notices and Agenda for those will be sent out in the beginning of October. e “mails ah i wa oie Kali . 4 INDEX — [Names of new species and subspecies are indicated by clarendon type under the generic entry only ; vernacular, or common, names are shown in ordinary type. | abyssinicus, Ploceus cucullatus, 48, 67. zthiopicus, Laniarius ferrugineus, 46, 47. , Turdus, 46. afer, Cinnyris, 9, 10. africana chapini, Mirafra, 20, 21. , Coturnix coturnia, 8. —— ghansiensis, Mirafra, 20, 21. grisescens, Mirafra, 20, 21. —— kabalu, Mirafra, 20, 21. ——, Mirafra africana, 20, 21. —— ngamiensis, Mirafra, 20, 21. —— nyike, Mirafra, 20, 21. — pallida, Mirafra, 21. transvaalensis, Mirafra, 20. zuluensis, Mirafra, 20, 21. africanoides makarikari, Mirafra, 21, 22. ovambensis, Mirafra, 21, 22. trapnelli, Mirafra, 21. Alauda urvensis arvensis, 60. scotica, 68. albigula, Phyllastrephus albigula, 12, 13, 14 shimbanus, Phyllastrephus, 12, 13. allent, Porphyrula, 17. amaurocephalus, Symplectes, 39. ambiguus, Laniarius ferrugineus, 46, 47, 48. ampelinus Hypocolius, 25, 26, Anas platyrhynchos, 5, 58. conboschas, 58, 59. subboschas, 58. angolensis, Fringilla, 40. , Mirafra, 21. , Poliospiza, 41. Anser brachyrhynchus, 33, 34, 35, fabalis, 33, 34, 35. Anthreptes reichenowi, 11, 12, 26. yokane, 11, 12. _ Apalis melanocephala, 50, 51. ellinore, subsp. nov., 50. nigrodorsalis, 50, 51, VOL, LXIV, arnaudi dorsalis, Pseudonigrita, 26. emini, Pseudonigrita, 27. kapitensis, Pseudonigrita, 26. , Pseudongrita arnaudi, 26. arvensis, Alauda arvensis, 60. scotica, Alauda, 68. assimilis, Wdicnemus, 66. atrogularis, Linaria, 40. lwenarum, Serinus, 40, 41. , Serinus, 40, 41. aucheri, Lanius, 44, 45. aurantiuiventris, Chloris chloris, 28, 29, 30, 31. bannermani, Plocepasser superciliosus, 18, Barbatula hildamariz, 24. jackson, 24. bicolor, Symplectes, 39. bilkewitchi, Chloris chloris, 28. bohndorffi, Ploceus cucullatus, 48. brachypterus, Tachyeres, 5. brachyrhynchus, Anser, 33, 34, 35. letior, Oriolus, 52, 54. brachyrynchus, Oriolus, 52, 54, 55. brittanica, Certhia familiaris, 15. budogoensis, Othyphantes emini, 48, 67, Bulbul, 12. Burhinus senegalensis inornatus, 66. captitalis, Ploceus capitalis, 67, 68. cardinalis, Quelea cardinalis, 65. rhodesiz, Quelea, 65. centralis, Turdus pelios, 65. Certhia familiaris britianica, 15. familiaris, 15. meinertzhagent, 15, chalceus, Cinnyris cupreus, 9. chalybeus, Cinnyris, 9, 10. chapim, Guttera edouardi, 19. , Mirafra africana, 20, 21. Chaffinch, 61. C Vol. Ixiv.] chiniana emendata, Cisticola, 63, 64. frater, Crsticola, 63, 64. — hetrophrys, Cisticola, 63, 64. mocuba, Cisticola, 63, 64. procera, OCisticola, 63, 64. Chloris chloris aurantiiventris, 28, 29, 30, At ——— bilkevitchi, 28. es chloris, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. —— chlorotica, 28, 30, 31. — —— harrison, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. — — madaraszi, 28, 30. —_ —— muhlei, 28, 30. turkestanica, 28. chloropus meridionalis, Gallinula, 17. chlorotica, Chloris chloris, 28, 30, 31. chyulu, Laniarius ferrugineus, 47. cinerea, Huprinoides, 51. Cinnyris afer, 9, 10. chalybeus, 9, 10. cupreus chalceus, 9. cupreus, 9. septentrionalis, 9. grauert, 10. loveridgei, 10, 11. —— ludovicensis, 9, 10. —— mediocris filleborni, 10. mediocris, 10, 11. —— —— moreaui, 10, 69. usambaricus, 10. regius, 10, 11. reichenowi, 9, 10. stuhlmanni, 9, 10. Cisticola chiniana emendata, subsp. nov., 63, 64. frater, 63, 64. heterophrys, 63, 64. —— —— mocuba, 63, 64. procera, 63, 64. fischeri, 63. — natalensis, 22, 23, 24. kapitensis, 23. —— —— littoralis, subsp. nov., 23. valida, 22, 23. _—— citriniceps, Eremomela scotops, 51, 52. scotops, Hremomela, 51, 52. clayi, Francolinas levaillantw, 50. conboschas, Anas platyrhynchos, 58, 59. cordofanicus, Passer motitensis, 36. coryphexa jacksont, Viridibucco, 24. Coturniax coturnix africana, 8. coturnix, 8. erlangert, 7, 8. cucullatus abyssinicus, Ploceus, 48, 67. bohndorffi, Ploceus, 48. feminina, Ploceus, 48. ——, Ploceus, 48. restricta, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. (1943-44, cupreus chalceus, Cinnyris, 9. , Cinnyris cupreus, 9. septentrionalis, Cinnyris, 9. Cyanomitra, 26. olivacea ragazz, 18. vineenti, subsp. nov., 18. dankali, Gymnoris pyrgita, 38. debilis, Phyllastrephus debilis, 13. rabai, Phyllastrephus, 12, 13, 14. desertt, Serinus atrogularis, 41. dorsalis, Pseudonigrita arnaudi, 26. Dryobates major, 61, 62. lynesi, subsp. nov., 62. mauritanus, 61, 62, 63. Dryoscopus major mossambicus, 46. sublacteus, 46, 47. edouardi chapini, Guttera, 19. kathleenz, Guttera, 19. schoutedeni, Guttera, 19. ellinorz, Apalis melanocephala, 50. emendata, Cisticola chiniana, 63, 64. emini, Nigrita, 26. , Othyphantes, 48, 67. ——.,, Pseudonigrita arnaudi, 27. , Sycobrotus, 67. eremobius, Symplectes, 67. Eremomela occeipitalis, 51, 52. scotops, 51, 52. citriniceps, 51, 52. kikuyuensis, 51, 52. Eremomela, Green-capped, 50. erttrex, Passer griseus, 37. erlangert, Coturnix coturnix, 7, 8. erythrocerca, Nectarinia, 8. Erythropygia leucophrys kabalii, subsp. nov., 49. munda, 49. pectoralis, 49. zambesiana, 49. EHuprinoides cinerea, 51. fabalis Anser, 33, 34, 35. fallax, Lanius, 44. familiaris brittanica, Certhia, 15. , Certhia familiaris, 15. meinertzhagent, Certhia, 15. feminina, Hyphantornis, 48. , Ploceus cucullatus, 48. ferrugineus xthiopicus, Laniarius, 46, 47. ambiguus, Laniarius, 46, 47, 48. chyulu, Laniarius, 47. ——, Lamarius, 45. — major, Laniarius, 46, 47. — mossambicus, Laniarius, 47. —— somaliensis, Laniarius, 47. sublacteus, Laniarius, 45, 46, 47. fischeri, Cisticola, 63. 1943-44] fitzsimonsi, Serinus atrogularis, 41, Francolin, Red-winged, 49. Francolinus _levaillantii nov., 50. frater, Oisticola chiniana, 63, 64. Fringilla angolensis, 40. tobaca, 40. filleborni, Cinnyris mediocris, 10. clayi, subsp. Gallinula chloropus meridionalis, 17. Gallinule, Allen’s, 17. , American Purple, 18. ghansiensis, Mirafra africana, 20, 21. Goldeneye-Smew Hybrid, 57. Goose, Bean, 33, 34, 44. , Grey Lag, 34, 35. , Pink-footed, 33, 34, 35, 44, granti, Malimbus malimbicus, 6. graueri, Cinnyris, 10. Greenfinch, 27. grimmi, Lanius, 44, 45. grisescens, Mirafra africana, 20, 21. griseus eritrex, Passer, 37. suahelicus, Passer, 36, 37. Gunningia, 26. reichenowr, 11. Guttera edouardi chapini, 19. kathleenz, subsp. nov., 19. schoutedenr, 19. lividicollis, 19. Gymnoris pyrgita dankali, 38. kakamariz, 39. —— —— massaica, 37, 38, 39. pallida, 38. — —— pyrgita, 37, 38, 39. reichenowr2, 38. —— os harrisoni, Chloris chloris, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. hebridium, Prunella modularis, 14. Hedge-Sparrow, 14. hemileucus, Passer insularis, 36. Heron, 44. heterophrys, Cisticola chiniana, 63, 64. hildamariz, Barbatula, 24. hispaniolensis, Passer hispaniolensis, 27. transcaspicus, Passer, 27. Hyphantornis feminina, 48. Hypocolius ampelinus, 25, 26. tagoensis, Passer, 35-36. enornatus, Burhinus senegalensis, 66. insularis, hemileucus, Passer, 36. interposita, Prunella modularis, 14. jackson, Barbatula, 24. , Viridibucco coryphexa, 24, [Vol xiv. kabalu, Krythropygia leucophrys, 49. , Mirafra africana, 20, 21. kakamariz, Gymnoris pyrgita, 39. kapitensis, Cisticola natalensis, 23, , Pseudonigrita arnaudi, 26. kathleenz, Guitera edouardi, 19. kersteni, Symplectes, 39. kikuyuensis, Hremomela scotops, 51, 52. , Oriolus monacha, 53, 54. letior, Oriolus brachyrynchus, 52, 54, 5D. Laniarius ferrugineus, 45. athiopicus, 46, 47. —— ambiguus, 46, 47, 48. oe chyulu, 47. —— —— major, 46, 47. — mossambicus, 47. somaliensis, 47. sublacteus, 45, 46, 47. Lanius aucheri, 44, 45. fallax, 44. grummi, 44, 45. palladirostris, 44, 45. larvatus, Oriolus, 55. reichenowt, Orrolus, 55. leucophrys kabalu, Hrythropygia, 49. munda, Erythropygia, 49. pectoralis, Erythropygia, 49. zambesiana, Hrythropygia, 49. leucostictus, Oriolus, 55. levaillantir, Francolinus, 50, clayt, Francolinus, 50. libonyanus, Turdus, 66. Linaria atrogularis, 40. littoralis, Cisticola natalensis, 23. hividicollis, Gutiera, 19. loveridger, Cinnyris, 10, 11. ludovicensis, Cinnyris, 9, 10. lwenarum, Serinus atrogularis, 40, 41. lynesi, Dryobates major, 62. mababiensis, Muirafra rufocinnamomea, 22. madaraszi, Chloris chloris, 28, 30. major, Dryobates, 61, 62. , Laniarius ferrugineus, 46, 47. —— lynesi, Dryobates, 62. — mallorce, Parus, 41, 42. — mauritanus, Dryobates, 61, 62, 63. — mossambicus, Dryoscopus, 46. newton, Parus, 42. , Telephonus, 46. makarikart, Mirafra africanoides, 21, 22. malimbicus grant, Malimbus, 6. , Malimbus malimbicus, 6, 7. nigrifrons, Malimbus, 6. Vol. Ixiv.] Malimbus malimbicus granti, subsp. nov., 6. — malimbicus, 6, 7. — nigrifrons, 6. Mallard, 58. , Greenland, 60. mallorce, Parus major, 41, 42. Mandingoa nitidula schlegeli, 41. martinica, Porphyrula, 18. massaica, Gymnoris pyrgita, 37, 38, 39. mauritanus, Dryobates major, 61, 62, 63. mediocris, Cinnyris mediocris, 10, 11. —— filleborni, Cinnyris, 10. —— moreaui, Cinnyris, 10, 69. usambaricus, Cinnyris, 10. meinerizhageni, Certhia familiaris, 15. melanocephala, Apalis, 50, 51. ellinore, Apalis, 50. nigrodorsalis, Apalis, 50, 51. melanogastra, Nectarinia pulchella, 8. mentalis, Symplectes, 39. meridionalis, Gallinula chloropus, 17. Mirafra africana africana, 20, 21. chapini, 20, 21. —— ghansiensis, 20, 21. grisescens, 20, 21. —— ngamiensis, 20, 21. —— nyikex, 20, 21. pallida, 21. transvaalensis, 20. zuluensis, 20, 21. africanoides makarikari, 21, 22. ovambensis, 21, 22. trapnelli, subsp. nov., 21. angolensis, -21. rufocinnamomea, 22. mababiensis, 22. zombx, 21, 22. mocuba, Cisticola chiniana, 63, 64. modularis hebridium, Prunella, 14. interposita, Prunella, 14. —— occidentalis, Prunella, 14. ——., Prunella modularis, 14. monacha kikuyuensis, Oriolus, 53, 54. Haggai) permistus, Oriolus, 53, 54. rollett, Orrolus, 53, 54. Moorhen, Common, 17. moreaut, Cinnyris mediocris, 10, 69. mossambicus, Dryoscopus major, 46. , Laniarius ferrugineus, 47. motitensis, cordofanicus, Passer, 36. Shelleyi, Passer, 36. muhlei, Chloris chloris, 28, 30. munda, Erythropygia leucophrys, 49. natalensis, Cisticola, 22, 23, 24. kapitensis, Cisticela, 23. —— kabalii, subsp. nov., 20, 21. , Oriolus monacha, 24, 25, 52-55, 66. (1943-44. natalensis littcralis, Cisticola, 23. valida, Cisticola, 22, 23. Nectarinia erythrocerca, 8. nectarinioides, 8. pulchella, 8. melanogastra, 8. nectarinioides, Nectarinia, 8. newtoni, Parus major, 42. ngamiensis, Mirafra africana, 20, 21. nigrifrons, Malimbus malimbicus, 6. nigripennis, Oriolus, 53, 55. Nigrita emini, 26. nigrodorsalis, Apalis melanocephala, 50, 51. nitidula schlegeli, Mandingoa, 41. nyikx, Mirafra africana, 20, 21. occidentalis, Prunella modularis, 14. occipitalis, Eremomela, 51, 52. Edicnemus assimilis, 66. senegalensis, 66. olivacea ragazzi, Cyanomitra, 18. vincenti, Cyanomitra, 18. olivaceus, Turdus, 66. Oriolus brachyrynchus, 52, 54, 55. lxtior, 52, 54, 55. larvatus, 55. reichenowi, 55. —— leucostictus, 55. —— monacha monacha, 24, 25, 52-55, 66. kikuyuensis, 53, 54. permistus, 53, 54. rolleti, 53, 54. nigripennis, 53, 55. —— percivali, 24, 25, 52-55, 66, 67. reichenouri, 53. Othyphantes emini, 48, 67. emini budongoensis, 48, 67. zaphiroi, 48. ovambensis, Mirafra africanoides, 21, 22. , Serinus atrogularis, 41. pallida, Gymnoris pyrgita, 38. , Mirafra africana, 21. pallidirostris, Lanius, 44, 45. Parus major mallorce, 41, 42. newtont, 42. Passer griseus eritrex, 37. suahelicus, 36, 37. hispaniolensis hispaniolensis, 27. transcaspicus, 27. iagoensis, 35-36. insularis hemileucus, 36. motitensis cordofanicus, 36. shelleyi, 36. rufocinctus, 35, 36. shelleyi, 35, 36. swainsoni, 37. patachonicus, Tachyeres, 5, 76, 1943-44.] pectoralis, Erythropygia leucophrys, 49. pelios centralis, Turdus, 65. schuetti, Turdus, 65. ubendeensis, Turdus, 65. percivalt, Oriolus, 24, 25, 52-55, 66, 67. permistus, Oriolus monacha, 53, 54. Phyllastrephus albigula albigula, 12, 13, 14. —_— —— shimbanus, subsp. nov., 12, 13 debilis debilis, 13. rabat, 12, 13, 14. platyrhynchos, Anas, 5, 58. conboschas, Anas, 58, 59. subboschas, Anas, 58. Plocepasser superciliosus bannermani, subsp. nov., 18.. superciliosus, 18. Ploceus abyssinicus, 48. capitalis capitalis, 67, 68. cucullatus, 48. abyssinicus, 67. bohndorffi, 48. feminina, 48. speket, 67. Poliospiza angolensis, 41. Porphyrula alleni, 17. martinica, 18. procera, Cisticola chiniana, 63, 64. Prunella modularis hebridium, 14. interposita, subsp. nov., 14. modularis, 14. occidentalis, 14. Pseudonigrita arnaudi arnaudi, 26. dorsalis, 26. emini, 27. kapitensis, 26. pulchella melanogastra, Nectarinia, 8. , Nectarinia, 8. pyrgita, Gymnoris pyrgita, 37, 38, 39. massaica, Gymnoris, 37, 38, 39. reichenowt, Gymnoris, 38. — ., Xanthodina, 38. Quelea cardinalis cardinalis, 65. rhodesiz, subsp. nov., 65. rabai, Phyllastrephus debilis, 12, 13, 14. ragazz, Cyanomitra olivacea, 18. regius, Cinnyris, 10, 11. reichenowi, Anthreptes, 11, 12, 26. —, Cinnyris, 9, 10. —., Gunningia, 11. ——, Gymnoris pyrgita, 38. ——, Oriolus, 53. , larvatus, 55. restricta, Chloris chloris, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. VOL. LXIV. 75 [Vol. lxiv. rhodesix, Quelea cardinalis, 65. Robin, Serub, 49. rollett, Oriolus monacha, 53, 54. rufocinctus, Passer, 35, 36. rufocnnamomea mababiensis, 22. ——, Mirafra, 22. zombex, Mirafra, 21, 22. Mirafra, schlegeli, Mandingoa nitidula, 41. schoutedent, Guttera edouardi, 19. schuetit, Turdus pelios, 65. Sclaterillas, 13. scotica, Alauda arvensis, 68. scotops, Hremomela, 51, 52. kikuyuensis, Hremomela, 51, 52. semideserti, Serinus atrogularis, 41. senegalensis, Gidicnemus, 66. septentrionalis, Cannyris cupreus, 9. Serinus atrogularis, 40, 41. deserti, 41. — lwenarum, subsp. nov., 40,41. ovambensis, 41. semideserti, 41. fitzsimonsi, 41, somerem, 40, 41. tobaca, 40. shelleyi, Passer, 35, 36. : motitensis, 36. shimbanus, Phyllastrephus albiqgula, Tse Sky-Lark, 60, 68. Smew-Goldeneye Hybrid, 57. somaliensis, Laniarius ferrugineus, 47. somerent, Serinus, 40, 41. Sparrow, Hedge-, 14. Sparrow, Rufous, 35. Sparrow- Weaver, Chestnut-crowned, 18. spekei, Ploceus, 67. stictifrons, Symplectes, 39. stuhlmanni, Cinnyris, 9, 10. suahelicus, Passer griseus, 36, 37. subboschas, Anas platyrhynchos, 58. sublacteus, Dryoscopus, 46, 47. , Laniarius ferrugineus, 45, 46, 47. Sunbird, 18. superciliosus bannermani, Plocepasser, 18. , Plocepasser superciliosus, 18. swainsoni, Passer, 37. Sycobrotus emini, 67. Symplectes amaurocephalus, 39. bicolor, 39. eremobius, 67. kersteni, 39. mentalis, 39. stictifrons, 39. - tephronotus, 39. , 12, “ ee ” - Vol. Tiv.] 76 (1943-44. Tachyeres brachypterus, 5. usambaricus, Cinnyris mediocris, 10. patachonicus, 5, 76. Telephonus major, 46. valida, Cisticola natalensis, 22, 23. tephronotus, Symplectes, 39. vincenti, Cyanomitra olivacea, 18. Tit, Great, 41. Viridibucco coryphxa jacksoni, 24. tobaca, Fringilla, 40. tobaca, Serinus, 40. Warbler, Forest, 50. transcaspicus, Passer hispaniolensis, 27. Warbler, Grass-, 22. transvaalensis, Mirafra africana, 20. — Weaver, Crested, 6. trapnelli, Mirafra africanoides, 21. Woodpecker, Great Spotted, 61. Turdus xthiopicus, 46. libonyanus, 66. olivaceus, 66. pelios centralis, 65. Xanthodina pyrgita, 38. EY bet schuetti, 65. yokanx, Anthreptes, 11, 12. ubendeensis, subsp. nov., 65. turkestanica, Chloris chloris, 28. zambesiana, Erythropygia leucophrys, 49. Twin-spot, Green-backed, 41. zaphiroi, Othyphantes, 48. zombex, Mirafra rufocinnamomea, 21, 22. ubendeensis, Turdus pelios, 65. zuluensis, Mirafra africana, 20, 21. CORRIGENDA TO VOL. LXIV. Page 5, line 20, for P. patachonicus read T’. patachonicus. » 20, line 8, for Kazemga read Kasempa. », 20, line 19, for lower back and wing read lower back and rump. » 22, line 9, for Kitapi read Litapi. 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