860 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



No. XXIII.— MESOPOTAMIAN BIRD NOTES. 



The publication by Mr. W. D, Gumming of corrigenda to the Lists of 

 Birds from Fao published in the Ibis for 1886 and 1891, is welcome, 

 although somewhat belated. As there are at the present time several 

 active workers in Mesopotamia who are interested in the subject, may I 

 be allowed to offer a few remarks on Mr. Cumming's paper. 



Upcher's Warbler {Hypolais languida). Mr. Gumming describes this 

 species as plentiful, breeding everywhere on both sides of the river, and 

 adds that the note in the Ibis 1891, p. 109, under the heading of Scotocerca 

 inquieta refers rightly to this bird. The Bombay Natural History Society's 

 little pamphlet compiled by Mr. N. B. Kinnearonly mentions two species of 

 Hypolais, H. languida and H. rama. It is true that Mr. Gumming sent 

 home two skins of H. languida from Fao, obtained on August 27th and i^8th 

 {Ibis 1891, p. 108) and that the range of this species extends from Pales- 

 tine to Persia. There is however no evidence at present that this species 

 breeds near Fao, or in the plains of Mesopotamia. The eggs sent by Mr. 

 Gumming, and which were described by Sharpe {t.c. p. 109) as those of 

 Scotocerca inquieta (!) were really those of Hypolais pallida pallida, a species 

 which is not mentioned either by Sharpe or Kinnear. This bird breeds 

 commonly at Fao and in Mesopotamia. Probably H. languida occurs as a 

 breeding species in the hilly districts, such as the Zagros, whence Sarudy 

 records it as nesting and on passage, while H. p. pallida is common and 

 generally distributed on the plains and also in the Zagros. 



Finsch's Grey Shrike {Laniusfallax). "I believe this was wrongly 

 indentified and corrected later to L. assimilis by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe." A 

 case of making confusion worse confounded ! Two races of Great Grey 

 Shrike appear to occur in Mesopotamia in winter, the Palestine Grey 

 Shrike {Lanius excubitor aiicheri), which is frequently but erroneously called 

 L. fallax and breeds in the Zagros district, Syria, etc., possibly also in the 

 Mesopotamian plain, and secondly the closely allied Transcaspian Grey 

 Shrike (L. excubitor pallidirostus) which occurs on passage and in winter. 



Gumming's Ked-rumped Wheatcar {S. cummingi). " 1 believe I identified 

 this as S. chrysopygia but Dr. Bowdler Sharpe found it to be a new species 

 and named it after me." This statement is incorrect in several particulars. 

 In Dr. Sharpe's list {Ibis 1886, p. 483) it figvires as Saxicola moesta \ It 

 remained under this name till Mr. J. I. S. Whitaker described it as a new 

 species under the name of Saxicola cummingi some fifteen years later. Cy, 

 Bull, B.O. ex. ,]). Kvii; Ibis 1902, p. 58 and pi. 111. It is now generally 

 agreed that there is only one species of Ked-rumped Ghat, CEnanthe xantho- 

 prymma (H. & E.), which is divisible into two (or possibly three) local 

 races. 



(1) CEnanthe xanthoprymma xanthoprymma (H. & E.). Hitherto only 

 recorded by British ornithologists from Egypt, Nubia and the Red-sea 

 littoral. Probably breeds in Arabia and according to Sarudy in the Zagros. 



(2) (E. xantJioprymma chrysopygia (De Fil.). This race breeds in Southern 

 Transcaspia, Persia and Persian Baluchistan. 



(3) CE. xanthoprymma cummingi (Whit.). Only differs from the typical 

 form in having the bases of the tail feathers the same red brown as the 

 rump, instead of white. It has been obtained at Fao and also from Berber 

 in winter, while Sarudy states that it breeds in the hills which bound the 

 plain of the lower Karun River and is common on spring passage on Djebel 

 Tniie. He adds that "S. xanthoprymna'" according to the Arabs breeds on the 

 same ground and that the two birds maj' be found mated together. If 

 there is any truth in this statement, (E. x. cummingi can only be an 

 individual variation. 



