Hopkins,G. H. E.

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SOME RECENT UGANDA BIRD RECORDS.
By G. H. E. Hopkins.
The recordsgivenbelowwerebasedon obtainedspecimensunlessotherwise
stated. Mostof theskinsarenowin MakerereCollegeor in theCoryndonMuseum.
Wherethenoteis followedby "v.S." in squarebrackets,theidentificationwasmade
byDr. V. G. L. vanSomeren,othersaremyownunlessotherwisespecified.Previous
recordsare takenas givenin Jackson (Birdsof Kenya and Uganda,1938)and
Chapin(Birdsof theBelgianCongo,1932,Bull. Amer. Mus. nat. History. 65.1-756
and1939idem.75.1-632).
Plegadisf. falcinellus (Linn.). GlossyIbis.
Not previouslyrecorded. I shotoneonamud-bankin LakeKyoga(atapoint
justnorthof Kaswama)in December,1932;Mr. G. L. R. HancockandI obtained
twomoreat thesameplacein March,1934.
Platalea alba Scopoli. AfricanSpoonbill.
Dr. W. J. Eggelingobtaineda specimenat Butiaba,January20th,1941. On
twooccasionsI haveseenanunmistakableSpoonbillflyingoverKampala.
Torgos tracheliotusnubicus (H. Smith). NorthernLappet-facedVulture.
Jackson(p. 137)givesas soleUgandalocalityLyantonde("Leyantondo")in
theextremewestof Masakadistrict. In March,1942,Mr. T. W. ChorleyandI saw
halfadozenspecimens(oneofwhichMr. Chorleyobtained)in Jie county,Karamoja.
Mr. Chorleyobtaineda secondin thesamecountyin February,1942.
Falco n. naumanni Fleischer. WesternLesserKestrel.
Onewasobtainedby myselfin Jie county,Karamoja,May 20th,1941. Not
previouslyrecordedfrom Uganda,thoughknownto winter in Kenya and the
BelgianCongo,[v.S.]
Falco biarmicusabyssinicusNeumann. AbyssinianLanner.
Onespecimenobtainedby mejustoutsideKabale,Kigesidistrict,August1940,
wasin moultfromimmaturetoadult. TheLanner,muchthelargestofourFalcons,
hasa reputationfor boldness;but thebird in this casewasbeingharriedby two
kites (Milvus migransparasitus), It returnedwithin a fewminutesafterhaving
beentwiceshotat andmissed.
Falco ardosiacusBonneterreandVieillot. Grey Kestrel.
Four specimensobtained,one at Busingiro,betweenButiabaand Masindi,
September13th,1932,Dr. W. J. Eggeling; twonearKampala,May6th,1934,Dr. A
W. Williams;oneat Gulu,June 29th,1936,myself. [v.S.]
MachaeramPhusalcinus anderssoni(Gurney). Bat-eatingBuzzard.
No certainpreviousUgandarecord. Mr. T. W. Chorleyshottwospecimensat
Katerain Masakadistrictin January,1934,andI amcertainthatahawkthatI saw
at Port Bell (nearKampala)but failedto obtainwasof this species.It feedson
batsandonlycomesout at dusk,sois veryeasilyoverlooked.[v.S.]
Hieraae'tusayresi (Gurney). Ayres'Hawk-eagle.
Mr. G. C. Ishmaelobtaineda specimenjust outsideKampala,December1st,
1936,andMr. T. W. Chorleyshotanotherat thesameplace,May4th,1937. [v.S.]
CircaetuscinereusVieillot. BrownHarrier-eagle.
FatherF. J. Straeterkindlybroughtmea freshly-killedspecimenobtainedat
Namiryango,about12mileseastof Kampala,January 15th,1939. [v.S.]
CircaetuspectoralisA. Smith. Black-breastedHarrier-eagle.
I obtainedone15mileseastof Mbararaon January14th,1939. [v.S.]
103
104 G. H. E. HOPKINS, SomerecentUgandaBird Records VOL. XIX
CircaetuscinerascensMiiller. SmallerBandedHarrier-eagle.
Masakadistrict,February11th,1938,G. H. E. Hopkins. [v.S.]
Gypohieraxangolensis(Gmelin). Palm-nutVulture.
Thereis onlyonepreviousUgandarecordof thisspecies.Dr. A. J. Haddow
findsit notuncommoni Bwamba(easternextensionof theHuri Forest,in Western
Toro,N.W. of Ruwenzori)at timeswhenthenutsof theoil-palmareripe. He has
obtainedtwo specimens,May andOctober1943,and I havealsoshottwo (July
31st,1945andJune 6th,1946).
"VulturineFish-eagle"is soinapta namefor a birdwhichis not an eagle,but
is closelyassociatedwiththeoil-palm(thefruitofwhichis itsmainfood)thatI have
adoptedthenameproposedfor it by Chapin(1932,p. 522).
Accipiter minullus intermediusErlanger. AbyssinianLittle Sparrow-hawk.
Mr. G. C. Ishmaelobtaineda specimenjust outsideKampalaon August18th,
1933,andI shotanothernearAmar,Guludistricton May 20th,1936. [v.S.]
AcciPiter ovampensisGurney. OvampoSparrow-hawk.
I obtainedtwo specimensat 'Kampala,December5th and December9th,
1939. [v.S.]
Accipiter r. rufiventris A. Smith. Rufous-breastedSparrow-hawk.
Not previouslyrecordedfromUganda. A juvenilespecimenobtainedby me
nearKampala,February8th, 1940. [v.S.]
Francolinus clappertonigedgeiO. Grant. Gedge'sStripedFrancolin.
Mr. T. W. Chorleyobtainedthreebirdsof this verylocalformin Jie county,
Karamoja district, September5th and October9th, 1941. [COR. S. Pitman.]
Ptilopachuspetrosusemini, Neumann. Lado Stone-partridge.
Oneat Juli Hill, Patiko,Guludistrict,March23rd,1941. [T. W. Chorley.]
Numida meleagristoruensisNeumann.' Toro Guinea-fowl.
This form,thoughdescribedfromUganda,is not mentionedby Jacksoneven
asa synonymof oneof thesub-speciesthatherecognises.Chapin(1932,p. 680)
givesrecordsfromthe northernshoreof Lake Edwardandthe southernbaseof
Ruwenzori. I havealsoobtainedit in thisareaandcanconfirmthecharactersof
the subspecies.
Crecopsisegregia(Peters). AfricanCrake.
Threespecimens,oneslightlyimmature,wereobtainedby Mr. T. W. Chorley
at Mukunaon the coastof Busogadistrict,August15th,1937. [v.S.]
Microparra capensis(A. Smith). LesserLily-trotter.
Two obtainedby Dr. W. J. Eggelingon LakeChahafin Kigezidistrictanda
thirdby myselfona largepondnearMasaka. [v.S.]
Neotiscaffra jacksoni Bannerman. Rufous-neckedBustard.
Mr.T. W. ChorleyobtainedapairneartheriverUnyama,December14th,1937,
andonenearthe,riverKibaa, in the Anakaarea,January 3rd, 1938,all in Gulu
district.
Charadrius (Afryoxechus)forbesi (Shelley). Forbes'Three-bandedPlover·
An adultobtainedat Butiaba,July 13th,1936,by Dr. W. J. Eggeling. This
specimenhasalreadybeenrecorded(Chapin,1932,p. 71); but representsucha
considerablextensionof the knownrangeof the speciesthat it seemsworth
mentioningagain. [v.S.]
DEC. 1946 G. H. E. HOPKINS, SomerecentUgandaBird Records 105
Tringa totanustotanus(Linn.).. Redshank.
Mr. Hancocksawa Redshank,eitherthis speciesor the Spotted,at Kayanja, on
the north shoreof Lake Edward near Katwe, in February, 1933. I saw two more
at the sameplaceon April 28th, 1944.
Numenius p. Phaeopus(Linn.). Whimbrel.
I shot a specimenon the shoreof Lake Nabugabo,MasakaDistrict, September
16th, 1934. [v.S.]
Chlidonias leucopterus(Temminck). White-winged Black Tern.
Many seenat Katwe (northshoreof Lake Edward) at theendof April, 1944,were
in breedingplumageand one such was collected.
Cercococcyxm. montanusChapin. Mountain Long-tailed Cuckoo.
One obtainedby my African collector,E. Nsubuga,at Bufundi, on the shoreof
Lake Bunyonyi, Kigezi District, November12th,1940. [v.S.] There are onlytwo
previous Uganda records,one from the Mubuku Valley, Ruwenzori and the other
from Kigezi.
Clamatorglandarius (Linn.). Great Spotted Cuckoo.
At Moyo, West Madi District, March 3rd, 1937,a small party settled for the
night in a treenear the rest-campand I obtainedtwo of them. The following day
I shot anotherat Laropi, about 12mileseastof Moyo, on the Nile. [v.S.]
Ruwenzorornisjohnstoni kivuensisNeumann. Kivu Red-naped Touraco.
Not previously recordedfrom Uganda, the type occurson Ruwenzori and the
presentform was describedfrom the Kivu volcanoesin Congo BeIge. A pair was
obtainedby E. Nsubuga in Maizimeru Forest, Kigezi district, October 29th, 1940.
PoicePhalusrobustussuahelicusReichenow. Grey-neckedGreen Parrot.
New to the Uganda list, though previouslyrecordedfrom the Kivu area. Mr.
T. W. Chorleycollectedonefrom a party of threein Kinkizi county, Kigezi district,
July 5th, 1940.
Halcyon senegalensiscyanoleuca(Vieillot). Southern Grey-breastedKingfisher.
I am able to add a third to Jackson's two occurrencies:one was obtained in
Kigezi district, November, 1940,by A. Ntensibe. It was caught in a rat-trap
baited with sweet-potato.
Melittophagusgularis australis Reichenow. Congo Black Bee-eater.
New to the Uganda list and now only broughtforward on the strengthof sight-
records. It is, however,a quite unmistakablespecies. Dr. Haddow has seenit in
Bwamba, where it is to be expectedto occur as it was already known from the
Semliki Valley.
Ceratogymnaatrata (Temminck). Great Black Hornbill.
A maleobtainedby Dr. Haddow in the forestalongthe Semliki, Bwamba,Toro,
Uganda, April 6th, 1944,constitutesa new recordfor Uganda. Dr. Haddow states
that the speciesturns up in Bwamba only occasionallywhen somebig fig-treeis in
fruit and that they are very cautiousbirds and frequentonly the tallest trees. The
male obtainedwas in the company of a female.
Lophocerosc. camurus(Cassin). Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill.
Not previously recordedfrom Uganda although known from the Ituri Forest.
A specimenwas obtainedby my Collectorin Bwamba, April, 1940. [v.S.]
CosmetornisvexiUarius (Gould). Pennant-wingedNightjar.
This bird wasextremelycommonin Gulu district in late July and early August,
1936,whenall maleshad long and unbrokenpennants. On oneoccasion,just after
106 G. H. E. HOPKINS, SomerecentUgandaBird Records VOL. XIX
sundown,I sawapartyofaboutadozenflittinglowoverasmallareaofopenground
.amongbushes. Theypersistedin doingthisevenafterseveralof theirnumberhad
beenshot. Food washardlythe attractionsinceall the specimensweremales.
I think that theremusthavebeena femaleon theground.
Micropus melbamelba(Linn.). EuropeanAlpine Swift.
JacksononlygivestwoUgandarecordsoit seemsworthaddinga third. From
a flockof severalhundredsat Moyo,WestMadiDistrict(extremenorth-westcorner
of Uganda)onMarch10th,1937,I shotseveralof thetypeform. [W. L. Sclater.]
Indicator minor teitensisNeumann. East AfricanLesserHoney-Guide.
Onmyreturnto thelaboratoryin KampalaafterlunchonOctober5th,1934,I
founda livingspecimentetheredto thelegof my chair. I neverlearnedits origin,
but presumablyit camefrom near Kampala. There are no other recordsfor
BugandaProvince;but it occursin Karamoja,Langoandon Ruwenzori(Jackson,
1938,p. 735). [v.S.]
Yungipicus obsoletusnigricansNeumann. OmoRiverBrown-backedWoodpecker.
Threerecords:Oraba,WestNileDistrict,February19th,1934,W. J. Eggeling;
Paminjaa,Paranga,Gulu district,March14th,1936,G. H. E. H. ; Aiyinyokiwia,
Alero,Guludistrict,April 5th,1936,G. H. E. H. My twospecimenswerein rather
openbush-country.[v.S.]
Pitta reichenowiMadarasz. Reichenow'sPitta.
A singlespecimenwas obtainedby Dr. Haddownearthe SemlikiRiver in
Bwamba,May, 1943.
SigmodusrujiventrismentalisSharpe. Bohndorffs'Red-billedHelmet-Shrike.
Only two previousUgandarecords. I obtaineda specimenin the Budongo
Forest,BunyoroDistrict,April 9th,1939.
Malaconotusp. poliocePhalus(Lichtenstein). Grey-headedBush-Shrike.
Not uncommonnear Kampala,whereE. Nsubugacollectedfive specimens
December,1939andJanuary,1940.
StilbopsarstuhlmanniReichenow. Stuhlmann'sGlossyStarling.
The only previousUgandarecordsare from Ruwenzoriand Mount Elgon.
E. Nsubugaobtainedtwospecimensin theKayonzaForest,WestKigezi,October,
31st,1940.
Sitagra nigricepsgraueri Hartert. Grauer'sSpot-backedWeaver.
Jackson(1938,p. 1420)statesthat this form" probablyextendsinto Kigezi
andAnkole." I canconfirmthisstatementsofarasKigeziis concerned,for I shot
a specimenat Kabale,August8th, 1940.
EuPlectesfranciscana (Isert). OrangeBishop-bird.
AlthoughJackson(1938,p. 1451)states" SenegalandCamerooneastto the
NileValleyandsouthtonorthernUgandaandwesternKenya" theUgandalocalities
hementionsareall eastof theNile. I obtainedfivespecimensin WestNileDistrict
in June,1937,andE. Nsubugacollectedtwoin Bwamba,westernToro,in April 1940.


Some recent Uganda bird records

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Some recent Uganda bird records

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