88 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



MELIERAX METABATES NEUMANNI Hartert 



Melierax canorus neumanni Habtert, Vog. pal. Fauna, vol. 2, p. 1165, 1914: 

 Dongola Province, Sudan. 



Specimens collected: 



Male adult, Gato River, near Gardula (4,000 feet (1,200 meters) 

 altitude), Ethiopia, April 29, 1912. 



The single specimen collected agrees with the characters of this 

 race and constitutes the first record for neumanni in Ethiopia, and 

 considerabl}^ extends the known range of the race. It undoubtedly 

 is merely a stray wanderer in Ethiopia, as the preceding form, 

 metdbates, is the breeding bird of that region. 



This specimen is rather small, agreeing with the minimum meas- 

 urements given by Swann.^ It has a wing length of 300 millimeters ; 

 tail, 210 millimeters, culmen (from cere), 20 millimeters. It is in 

 the first adult plumage, as is indicated by the presence of some 

 brownish feathers among the slate-gray ones on the back. 



MELIERAX GABAR (Daudin) 



Falco gabar Daudin, Traits, vol. 2, p. 87, 1800: interior of South Africa 

 (from Levaillant). 



Specimens collected: 



Male and female adults, Sadi Malka, Ethiopia, January 27, 1912. 



Male adult, Hawash River, Ethiopia, February 10, 1912. 



Male adult, Gato River near Gardula, Ethiopia, April 19, 1912. 



Male adult, Tertale, Ethiopia, June 11, 1912. 



Male adult, Turturo, Ethiopia, June 15, 1912. 



Female, immature, Yebo, Ethiopia, June 21, 1912. 



Female, immature. Chaff a (upper village), Ethiopia, June 25, 

 1912. 



Male and female, immature, 24 miles south of Malele, Kenya 

 Colony, July 29, 1912. 



Female, immature, Lekiundu River, Kenya Colony, August 4, 1912. 



The male from Turturo is of the black phase {niger). 



Mearns recorded the following facts about the colors of the soft 

 jjarts: An immature female had the cere and bill black, the gape 

 margined with yellowish; an adult male had the tip of the bill 

 blade, the base of the bill and the cere orange ; the melanistic speci- 

 men had the bill and cere all black. The feet were orange yellow 

 in the immature female, orange in the adult male, and yellow 

 blotched with black in the melanistic bird. The color of the iris was 

 recorded only for the black specimen, in which it was hazel brown. 



3 Synopsis of Accipitres, 1922, p. 30. 



