42 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



HIRUNDO LUCIDA ROTHSCHILDI Neumann 



Eirundo rothschildi Neumann, Orn. Monatsb., vol. 12, p. 143, 1904: Schubba, 

 west Kaffa, Ethiopia. 



Specimens collected: 3 males, 1 female, Hakaki River, Ethiopia, January 14, 

 1912. 



I refer these specimens to rothschildi with a certain degree of 

 mental reservation as to the validity of this race. Hartert '^^ writes 

 that "this form requires confirmation. The rufous colour on the 

 forehead and throat is, in my opinion, not different from that of 

 some lucida, collected by Ansorge at Cachen and Gunnal in Portu- 

 guese Guinea, and the more purple colour of the upperside appears 

 to be the only difference." I have seen one Senegambian lucida and 

 find it difficult to place much confidence in rothschildi, but prefer not 

 to reject the latter without seeing more abimdant material. Assum- 

 ing, then, that this race may hold, we should use the following ar- 

 rangement : 



1. H. I. lucida: Senegal and Gambia to Portuguese Guinea. 



2. H. I. subalaris: Central and eastern portions of the Belgian 

 Congo. This race differs from the typical form in that it has the 

 under wing coverts pale grayish brown, not white as in lucida, and 

 has the sides of the body heavily tinged with grayish brown; the 

 outermost rectrices are said to be longer and the bill larger than in 

 lucida, but three specimens of subalaris examined do not show this. 

 Sclater ^^ considers suhalaris a synonym of lucida, but I find it to 

 be quite distinct. 



3. H. I. rothschildi: Known from central and southwestern Ethiopia 

 (Adis Abeba, Hakaki River, and Schubba). 



Gyldenstolpe ^^ considers angolensis a race of lucida. In this he is 

 mistaken as far as the evidence available indicates. The two forms 

 are very clearly defined and no intermediates are known, so while it is 

 true that the two have some characters in common, the gap between 

 them is sufficient to separate them specifically. Furthermore, since 

 subalaris and angolensis appear to be geographically coincident in 

 the eastern Congo, the two groups can not be considered conspecific. 



Eirundo lucida remained unrecorded from northeastern Africa 

 until Erlanger®* collected an adult female and two young males at 

 Adis Abeba in August and September, 1900. Neumann ^^ procured 

 one at Schubba in April of the following year, and the bird was not 

 met with again until Mearns collected the present four birds. 



«Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 377, 1922. 



^- Systema avium ^thiopicarum, pt. 2, p. 575, 1930. 



«3Kongl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1924, p. 226. 



« Journ. fur Orn., 1905, p. 676. 



•5 Ibid., p. 200. 



