624 



Col. R. Meinertzliagen on Birds from 



[Ibis, 



El Tor. The bird is not black as hrause'i should bo, but has 

 the coppery plumage of rvjicollis. 



As regards other Sinai birds, through the kindness of 

 Professor Koenig, who has a series from Sinai, I am able to 

 give the following measurements : — 



Wing 350-378; culmen, length 57-5-G2-5, height 21-22-5. 



Zedlitz (J. f. 0. 1912) gives the following measurements 

 for his series of krausei from Sinai : — 



Wing 355-375 ; culmen, length 58-64, height 21-23. 



Two birds from Nekhl (central Sinai) in the Giza 

 Zoological Museum measure: wing 387-405; culmen, length 

 59-63, height 23 ; whilst a female in Koenig's collection 

 from Sinai has a wing of 385 mm. (J. f. 0. 1918, p. 147). 



So Sinai birds have a wing varying from 350-405, and a 

 culmen wdiose leng-th is from 57'5 to 65 mm. and heioht 

 from 21 to 25 mm. 



Now from the series in the British Museum, Tring 

 Museum, Giza Zoological Museum, and in my own collection, 

 I have obtained the followinfj measurements : — 



Number of 



birds 

 examined, 



15 



6 

 15 



1 



2 



6 



9 



3 



4 

 11 

 10 



G 



Culmen. 



Locality. Wing. 



Cape Verde Islands 363-378 



Algeria 3G6-389 



S. Algeria (Geyi-) 356-410 



Nigeria 384 



Siwa Oasis, W. Egypt . . . 395, 406 



Lower Egypt and Suez . 368-420 



Upper Egypt 365-418 



Khartoum 373^12 



Sokotra 350-395 



South Palestine 366-412 



E. Persia and India 370-il3 



S. Arabia and Muscat . . . 355-401 



Length. 

 61-64 

 63-68 

 57-69 



64 

 66,70 

 61-73 

 64-73 

 67-69 

 63-75 

 61-68 

 62-70 

 60-65 



Height. 

 20-24 

 21-24-5 

 20-25 



22 

 23, 24-5 

 20-24 



21-5-25 

 20-23 

 24-25 

 21-24 

 21-25-5 

 20-24 



350-420 



20-25-5 



On these measurements I am unable to substantiate 

 krausei or infumatus, and therefore shall treat them as 

 synonyms of ritjicollis. 



