BIRDS OF ETHIOPIA AND KENYA COLONY 



57 



Swann ^^ recognizes three races of the black-winged kite, as fol- 

 lows: 



Typical E. c. coeruleus — Africa, Madagascar, Palestine, and south- 

 west Asia ( ? ) . 



E. c. vociferus — India, Ceylon, Burma, Yunnan, and Assam. 



E. e. hypoleucus — Philippine Islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Cel- 

 ebes, and Sula Islands. 



In the Museum of Comparative Zoology I have carefully examined 

 a good series of each of these races and find that vociferus is not 

 valid. It is supposed to be smaller than typical coeruleus (wing; 

 255-272 as against 272-285 millimeters) and the primaries are said 

 to be paler below, dark slate color, the base more or less whitish. 

 These differences do not hold. The color differences are not constant 

 and the variations are due to age, wear, and possibly sex. The 

 measurements given for the typical race (wing 272-285) are too 

 high as the following measurements show. There certainly is but 

 one form in Africa, and it seems as though Indian, and southern 

 Asiatic birds generally, can be matched by African examples. In 

 the following table the African birds are listed first. 



According to Erlanger ^ the black-shouldered kite is more com- 

 mon in southern Somaliland than in Gallaland or Shoa. The Frick 



»9 Synopsis of the Accipltres, ed. 2, 1922, pp. 160-161. 

 >Journ. f. Ornlth., 1905, p. 211. 



