OCR Text |
Show 1873.] OF THE ETHIOPIAN REGION. 621 Abyss, p. 315 (1870); Heugl. Orn. N. O. Afr. p. 797 (1870); Gray, Hand-1. B.ii. p. 213 (1870) ; Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1870, pp. 145, 149; id. Cat. Afr. B. p. 14 (1871). Centropus superciliaris, Bocage, Jorn. Lisb. ii. p. 349 (1869, lapsu). Adult. Head and hind neck blackish or brownish black, the feathers under the eye and ear-coverts also black; over the eye a broad stripe of yellowish white; all the feathers of the hind head and neck distinctly streaked down the centre with yellowish white; centre of back and scapulars dull rufous brown, all the feathers mesially streaked with whitish, these stripes being further bordered with blackish on each side, causing them to stand out in bolder relief ; wings dull. rufous above and below, the quills tipped with dusky, the inner secondaries inclining to olive-brown, the least wing-coverts streaked with whitish, like the scapulars ; lower back dusky black, transversely barred with dull ochre; upper tail-coverts and tail greenish black, with somewhat of an oily-green gloss, the latter narrowly tipped with white, the upper tail-coverts barred with dull ochre ; undersurface of body yellowish white, the feathers of the sides of the neck whitish in the centre, this streak margined on each side with black, giving a very distinctly striped appearance, the shafts of the breast-feathers whitish, but without the black lines on them ; sides of the body, flanks, aud under tail-coverts narrowly barred with blackish; under wing-coverts pale rufous, with obsolete streaks as on the sides of the neck; beak black; feet bluish slate-colour ; iris bright crimson. Total length 16*3 inches, culmen 1*35, wing 6*25, tail 8*3, tarsus 1*55. Young. Above dull rufous brown, barred with blackish; lower back and rump black, barred with pale fulvous, more narrowly on the upper tail-coverts; head and hind neck streaked along the shaft with straw-colour or pale rufous; superciliary streak and sides of face fulvous, the latter slightly washed with rufous, the shafts whitish; undersurface of body fulvous, the breast and sides of neck marked with rufous, with whitish shaft-stripes; quills rufous, the primaries not barred for their basal half, the secondaries barred all the way ; tail dull greenish, with fulvous bars towards the tip and on the external feathers ; iris light brown. Hab. N. E. A F R I C A : Resident, inhabits S. Arabia and Abyssinia coast country to the Anseba valley, found on the Tacazi and Blue Nile, from Southern Nubia northwards to the province of Dongola and in Kordofan (Von Heuglin); Ailat, Ain, the Lebka, and Anseba valleys, never seen in Abyssinia Proper (Blanford). E. A F R I C A : Zanzibar (Kirk). S. A F R I C A : Swellendam (Layard) ; Natal (Ayres). S. W . A F R I C A : Rio Coroca, Ambaca (Anchieta). W . A F R I C A : Angola (Monteiro) ; Rio Dande and Katenbella (Said). 4. CENTROPUS FRANCISCI. Centropus francisci, Bp. Consp. i. p. 107(1850, descr. orig.) |