OCR Text |
Show 1873.] OF THE ETHIOPIAN REGION. 583 Cuculus rubiculus, Swains. B. W. Afr. ii. p. 181 (1837, descr. orig.); Fraser, P. Z. S. 1843, p. 52 ; Hartl. Orn. W . Afr. p. 190 (1857); id. J. f. O. 1861, p. 264; Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. iv. p. 40 (1862); Mont. P. Z. S. 1865, p. 92; Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 486 ; id. Cat. Afr. B. p. 12 (1871). Cuculus capensis, Gray, Gen. B. ii. p. 463 (1847); Grill, Zool. Ant. p. 41 (1858) ; Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. iv. p. 42 (1862); Bp. Consp. i. p. 104 (1850); Schl. Mus. P. B. Cuculi, p. 11 (1864) ; Antin. Cat. descr. Ucc. p. 83 (1865) ; Gray, Hand-1. B. ii. p. 215 (1870) ; Heugl. Orn. N . O. Afr. p. 783 (1871); Sharpe, Cat. Afr. B. p. 12(1871). Surniculus rubiculus, Bp. Consp. i. p. 105 (1850). Cuculus heuglinii, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. Th. iv. p. 42 (1862). Adult. Above greyish, with a slight gloss of oily green on the scapulars and secondary feathers, the rump and upper tail-coverts darker and inclining to cindery grey ; quills brown, barred with white near the base of the inner web ; tail purplish black, glossed with greenish near the base, tipped with white and marked with one or two white spots along the shafts of the feathers, the inner web also slightly marked with white on its edge; throat clear bluish-grey ; fore neck deep ferruginous, with slight indications of blackish cross bars ; rest of under surface fulvous white, banded with blackish, inclining to clear fawn on the under tail-coverts, where the cross bars are narrower and more zig-zag in shape; bill horn-black, yellowish at base of lower mandible and along basal edge of upper one ; feet deep orange, claws yellowish ; iris reddish hazel. Young. Above ashy brown, the wing-coverts and secondaries edged and the primaries externally barred with rusty; upper tail-coverts spotted and irregularly barred with rusty; tail blackish brown, tipped and spotted with whitish on each side of the shaft, the feathers also showing faint indications of rufous cross bars; lores and cheeks whitish, mottled with blackish and tinged with rufous ; throat and chest whitish, strongly washed with rusty and minutely crossed with very narrow blackish bars ; rest of under surface buffy white with cross bars of black, inclining to clear fawn on the under tail-coverts, where the black bars are narrower; under wing-coverts white, with blackish cross markings, the bases of the primaries white, some of the feathers also notched with white near the base ; bill horn-black, greenish yellow on lower mandible; feet dull yellowish. Hab. W . A F R I C A : Fantee (Ussher); Accra (Haynes). S.W. A F R I C A : Benguela (Monteiro). S. A F R I C A : Natal (Ayres) ; Knysna (Victorin) ; Cape Colony up to immediate vicinity of Cape Town (Layard)*. I have come to the conclusion that there is no difference between Cuculus rubeculus and C. capensis, though I once (Ibis, 1870, p. 486) * Its occurrence in Senegal, on Swainson's authority, is untrustworthy; and it is doubtful if it is found in N.E. Africa, though, as Heuglin remarks, "Antinori seems to have observed it on the Gazelle River" (Cf. Salvadori, Atti R Accad Tor. 1870. p. 744), ALUMI. |