4 p. ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

Amadon, Dean.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

AtMERICAN MUSEUMNOC)vITATESPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK MAY 25, 1954 NUMBER 1656Three New Subspecies of Birds from AfricaBY DEAN AMADONRIPARIA CINCTAThe previously recognized races of this sand martin are the following:1. Riparia cincta cincta (Boddaert), type locality Cape of Good Hope.This form is of medium size and is pale in color. The wing length in 12specimens, mostly from Angola but with two from South Africa and onefrom Nyasaland, varies from 125 to 135 mm. Chapin (1953, Birds ofthe Belgian Congo, pt. 3, p. 738) gives the wing variation as 126 to 133mm. The range of the nominate race extends from South Africa north tothe latitude of Angola and Nyasaland (a very pale specimen from Lu-chenza, without date, possibly a migrant). This race apparently migratesthrough West Africa even as far as the grasslands north of the Equator,in Upper Guinea. Bates (1930, Handbook of the birds of West Africa, p.312) gives the measurements of three males from Nigeria and the Cam-eroons as 127 to 133 mm. The species has been recorded on. PrincipeIsland in the Gulf of Guinea, where it was probably also a migrant fromSouth Africa. But the five specimens I have seen from tropical WestAfrica and the Belgian Congo all belong to the smaller race describedbelow. In East Africa occasional migrants of nominate cincta might beoverlooked as pale variants of the resident suahelica. Chapin has recordedtwo migrants of cincta from the Kasai, southeast Belgian Congo, and, asjust noted, a specimen from Nyasaland may have been a migrant. I doubtwhether cincta gets much farther north in the east, as a series of 18 birdsfrom East Africa seems to be composed entirely of bona fide suahelica.2. Riparia cincta suahelica van Someren, type locality Escarpment,Kenya Colony. This race is, so far as I can judge, identical with R. c.cincta in size but is more heavily pigmented throughout (except in whiteareas). Wing lengths in 14 adult specimens range from 124 to 132 mm.Chapin (loc. cit.) gives 120-134 mm., but I suspect that in birds in goodfeather, even the slightly smaller females will measure somewhat moreAMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESthan the lower figure he mentions. This form is resident in East Africa(portions of Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, and the western border of theBelgian Congo).3. Riparia cincta erlangeri Reichenow, type locality Ethiopia. Thisrace is much like nominate cincta in color but is larger than any of theother subspecies. The band on the breast seems to be narrower. I measurewing length in eight skins as 133-142 mm.; Chapin gives 135-146 mm.The range is Ethiopia.As Chapin (loc. cit.) has pointed out, not all the martins of this speciesfrom the savannas of the Belgian Congo and French Congo (and, onemay probably add, tropical West Africa in general) are migrants ofnominate cincta. Some of them are residents, and these latter are per-ceptibly smaller than the birds comprising any of the other three races,all of which frequent areas of higher altitude and (with the exception ofsuahelica) higher latitude also. This hitherto undescribed population Isuggest may be calledRiparia cincta parvula, new subspeciesTYPE: A.M.N.H. No. 258470, adult female, August 14, 1923, Lulua-bourg, Kasai, Belgian Congo. Collected by the Mission of St. Joseph;Rev. R. Callewaert. Wing, 119 mm.; tail, 57 mm. (longest feathers).DIAGNOSIS: Smaller than any of the other three races of the species.In color, the five examined specimens of parvula are somewhat variable;some of this variation may be geographical (see below). In general theyseem a little paler than suahelica but a little darker than cincta or erlan-geri, nearer the latter two.RANGE: Found in the savannas of the southern Belgian Congo (Kasai,Stanley Pool) -and southern French Equatorial Africa (Point Noire).Chapin believes that this small race certainly breeds in this region southof the Equator. North of the Equator parvula was collected by Bates inthe savannas of the Cameroons and of Nigeria. I have examined one ofhis specimens taken at Tibati, Cameroons, in the month of October.Chapin writes me that he doubts whether the birds of the southern savan-nas migrate at all, but that it is still unknown whether those of the north-ern savannas are resident. If, however, Chapin is correct in believing thatthe southern examples of parvula are non-migratory, it seems likely thatthose of the northern savannas are also residents. Chapin did not findthis martin in the savannas of the northeastern Belgian Congo, but aspecimen, possibly a migrant of cincta, has been obtained at Buta.REMARKS: Data for the specimens examined are as follows:NO. 16:562AMADON: NEW BIRDS FROM AFRICALuluabourg, Kasai, three females, wings, 119, 119, 120; January 15,August 13-14.Point Noire, French Equatorial Africa, one male, wing, 122; January26, R. Malbrant, collector.Tibati, Cameroons, one female, wing, 120; October 13.As noted above, migrants of the larger R. c. cinctta of southern Africaare apt to be found throughout the range of parvula at the season of theSouth African winter.HIRUNDO AETHIOPICAThis swallow ranges in the north African savannas from Nigeria toSomaliland. No races have been recognized. Eastern and western birdsare, however, noticeably different, the break occurring somewhere in theregion of the White Nile. The western po-pulation seems to be without aname and may be calledHirundo aethiopica fulvipectus, new subspeciesTYPE: A.M.N.H. No. 560214; Farniso (near Kano), Nigeria; April12, 1922; adult male; A. Buchanan. Wing, 110 mm.; tail to fork, 37 mm.;tail to tip of outer feathers, 74 mm.DIAGNOSIS: Chin, throat, and breast buffy; remainder of under partsslightly washed with buff. In H. a. aethiopica only the chin is buffy; theremainder of the under parts are virtually pure white.RANGE: Savannas of Nigeria and the Cameroons east to about theWhite Nile in the southern Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. The nominate raceranges thence eastward through Abyssinia to Somaliland and souththrough Kenya to the Pangani River in Tanganyika.REMARKS: A close relative of Hirundo aethiopica is H. albigularis ofAngola and southern Africa. Albigularis is larger than aethiopica, with amuch bigger bill; it has a complete pectoral band, whereas that of aethi-opica is interrupted. The two are widely separated geographically andbest regarded as species. The smaller Angolan race of albigularis hasusually been called microptera Hartert, but ambigua Bocage (1877, Orni-thologie d'Angola, p. 186) is an older name for it. Sclater (1930, Systemaavium Aethiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 576) believed "microptera" to be unrecog-nizable, but Chapin and I agree that it is enough smaller than albigularisto warrant retention. It does not by any means bridge the gap betweenaethiopica and albigularis and has the large bill and distinct pectoral bandof albigularis. Incidentally, the name Hirundo ambigua Bocage antedatesHirundo rustica ambigua Stresemann, 1940, from Sikkim, which, how-31954AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESever, Vaurie (1951, Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1529, p. 20) considersinvalid.MOTACILLA .CLARAPresent treatment of the races of this wagtail is not at all satisfactory.Nominate clara of Ethiopia is large in size and pale gray on back andcrown. The population of eastern Africa from Kenya south to CapeColony is comprised of smaller birds in which the gray of back and crownis as a rule slightly darker, although, judging from two or three speci-mens, birds from South Africa are again as pale as those of Ethiopia. Theamount of variation is not great enough to suggest changing the presentpractice of assigning to the race torrentium Ticehurst, with type localityin Zululand, all the area from Kenya to Cape Colony.As Chapin (1953, op. cit., p. 92) recently pointed out, the populationthat extends locally from Sierra Leone and Cameroons to the easternBelgian Congo, which has also been called torrentium, differs from claraand torrentium by the dark coloration of the upper parts. Whereas ex-amples of torrentium from mid-eastern Africa are at best but slightlydarker than clara, the West African birds are very perceptibly darker. Iname this new raceMotacilla clara chapini, new subspeciesTYPE: A.M.N.H. No. 415300, Nkongsamba district, at 3000 feet,Cameroons; sex? (probably male); April 4, 1930; R. H. Drinkwater.Wing, 81 mm.; tail, 92; culmen, 14.DIAGNOSIS: Like Motacilla clara torrentium but back and crown notice-ably darker gray (crown blackish); size somewhat smaller.RANGE: Locally, along suitable fast-flowing brooks, well shaded bywoods, from Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Gaboon, and the Cameroons tothe eastern Belgian Congo.REMARKS: Wing lengths of additional material of chapini are as fol-lows: Cameroons, male, 79; females, 75, 78, 78, 79. Kango, Gaboon,male, 74 (worn). Medje, northeastern Belgian Congo, male, 77; imma-ture female, 73. Rutshuru, Kivu, eastern Belgian Congo, female, 75, 76.Three of the Cameroons specimens were examined through the courtesyof the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. I have also examined thetwo nestlings secured by natives for Chapin at Medje at about 2000 feetelevation. This breeding record established the fact that ecological re-quirements rather than altitude, per se, determine the distribution of thisspecies, even near the Equator.4 NO. 1656

New birds from Africa

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications