1 92 1.] the Near East and Tropical East Africa. G23 



Corvus corax ruficollis Lesson. 

 Corvus riijicollis Lesson, 1831 : no loccality. 

 Corvus umhrinus Sundevall, 1838 : Senaar. 

 Corvus infamatus Wagner, Miinch. gel. Anz. viii. 183'J, 

 p. 301 : Arabia Petraja, Egypt, and Dongola. 



Corvus corax krausei Zedlitz, Orn. Monats. 1908, p. 178 : 

 N.E. Africa, probably Suez, and El Tor in Sinai. 



I have not been able to examine the type of infumatus 

 which is in Munich, but I am told the specimen resembles 

 typical ruficollis but has a more slender bill. The type of 

 ruficollis probably came from the Cape Verde Islands (cf. 

 Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1913, p. 37). As regards krausei, 

 the race is based on four birds from Sinai which have black 

 plumage with a poor gloss as opposed to the coppery plumage 

 ol ruficollis. They are also said to have very slender bills. 

 As regards the black plumage, I believe these four birds are 

 nothing more than immature ruficollis., which do not assume 

 the coppery plumage till the first moult. This has already 

 been pointed out by Hartert, and I can confirm it from birds 

 shot in north Sinai in early autumn. But Greyr (J. f. 0. 

 1918, p. 115) disagrees, and finds that birds of eight or 

 ten months show a certain amount of brown on the head, 

 neck, and back. 



Now, as Suez is said to be one of the localities from which 

 krausei comes, I would jioint out that I recently saw some 

 thirty Ravens at Suez, and could see through my glasses that 

 every bird w^ns typical ruficollis as regards plumage. This 

 was in April. There is an adult bird from Suez in the 

 British Museum which in colour differs in no way from 

 the birds from Egypt, India, or other localities. 



The wing of Jcrausei is also said to be small. Now the 

 only Sinai bird with an exceptionally small wing is one 

 in the Brehm (Collection at Tring, labelled "Arabia Petrsea," 

 an adult male. The specimen has a much worn wing, not 

 exceeding 350 mm., and a culnien 65 mm. long and 25 mm. 

 high. By comparing the date on which the bird was shot 

 with Brehm's Reiseskizzen, it must have been obtained near 



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