56 



BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



PSALIDOPROCNE ANTINORII Salvador! 



Psalidoprocne antinorii Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Geneva, 1884, p. 123 : Denz, 



Ethiopia. 

 Specimens coixected: 



2 males, 1 female, Aletta, Ethiopia, March 10, 1912. 



1 female. Loco, Ethiopia, March 13, 1912. 



The present species is one of the forms of Psalidoprocne peculiar 

 to northeastern Africa, agreeing in this respect with hlanfordi and 

 pristoptera. P. antinorii is easily distinguishable from the other two 

 named above in that it has a purplish-bronze sheen on the feathers, 

 particularly of the upperparts. 



As far as known, P. a7itinorn occurs only in Ethiopia from Harrar 

 and Adis Abeba to Gara Mulata, the Shoan Lakes region, Gofa, and 

 Kaffa, and the north end of Lake Rudolf. Neumann ^° writes that 

 it inhabits the whole south Ethiopian mountainous region south of 

 the Hawash Eiver and that its altitudinal range is from 7,600 to 

 10,300 feet. It does not occur in the drainage area of the Blue Nile. 



The breeding season is little known, but appears to be rather pro- 

 longed. Neumann found that the birds were in breeding condition 

 in Kaffa in the beginning of March. Erlanger,^^ on the other hand, 

 found a nest with two very young nestlings at Adis Abeba on July 26. 



The present four specimens are very uniform in color, a fact that 

 is in keeping with Neumann's observation that the color is very con- 

 stant in this species. Inasmuch as relatively few specimens are 

 available in museums, I give in table 7 the measurements of the 

 four birds. 



Table 7. —Measurements of four specimens (adults) of Psalidoprocne antinorii 



from Ethiopia 



The female from Aletta is molting the remiges, rectrices, and the 

 feathers of the forehead and crown. This accounts for its short tail, 

 as the longer outer rectrices are missing. Reichenow ^- gives the 

 wing dimensions of antinorii as 95 to 110 mm, which indicates a 

 greater maximal variation than is shown by the birds before me. 



•ojourn. fiir Orn., 1905, p. 202. 



" Ibid., p. G79. 



1^ Die Vcigi-l Afrikas, vol. 2, p. 429, 1903. 



