Vol. XXIV, pp. 195-196 June 23, 1911 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 





A NEW SWIFT FROM PALESTINE. 

 BY OUTRAM BANGS. 





The well-known Selah Merrill collection of birds from Pales- 

 tine was acquired by the Museum of Comparative Zoology in 

 July, 100!). Tn the species and subspecies of the region, except 

 for a few very rare or local forms, it is complete, and most of 

 the species are represented in long series. Though many skins 

 are from other places, and a number were got for him by Arabs, 

 the collection was principally made in the vicinity of Jerusalem 

 during the years 1884-1886 by the late Rev. Dr. Merrill him- 

 self. 



Some day I hope to publish a catalogue of it, with such notes 

 as were kept by Dr. Merrill in his register, though these in 

 many cases, I am sorry to say, are not entirely satisfactory. 



The forms that have long been recognized as peculiar to Pal- 

 estine and the ones recently described by Hartert during the 

 progress of his " Vogel der Palaarktischen Fauna," appear to 

 be all represented in the Merrill collection . 



In the collection the swifts are represented by smaller series 

 than usual, there being three skins of Apus apus apus (Linn.), 

 three of Apus affinis galilejensis (Autin.), and two of the white- 

 bellied swift. The latter are so very pallid and otherwise dif- 

 ferent from European specimens that I propose for the Palestine 

 form the name, 



Apus melba petrensis subsp. nov. 



Type from the Jordan Valley, Palestine, no. 59,534, Coll. Mus. Comp. 

 Zool. From the Selah Merrill Coll., taken in April, 1886, original no. 

 "a. 108." 



Characters. — Similar to true A. melba (Linn.) of Europe, but much 



36— Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIV, 1911. (195) 



