I 86 Stejneger, The Tvjo Race^ of Saxicola oenanthe. LApril 



THE TWO RACES OF SAXICOLA CENANTHE. 



BY LEONHARD STEJNEGER. 



When preparing my paper ' On the Wheatears {Saxicola) occur- 

 ring in North America' (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XXIII, No. 1220, 

 p. 473-481) in which I have demonstrated the existence in this 

 hemisphere of two forms, viz., Saxicola oenanthe in Alaska and 

 Saxicola cemnthe kucorhoa in Greenland, I wrote to my friend 

 Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe for the wing measurement of certain 

 African specimens in the British Museum. The answer came too 

 late to be incorporated in the paper quoted, but the facts contained 

 in it are so interesting that I take this means of publishing them 

 and thus further strengthen the claims of the two races for recog- 

 nition. 



The measurements kindly sent by Dr. Sharpe, for which I here- 

 by extend my cordial thanks, are as follows : 



Saxicola oenanthe. 



I $ Ashi Kisa, Interior of British East Africa. Lord 



Delamere coll Wing 94 mm. 



d $ $ Ashi Kisa, Interior of British East Africa. Lord 



Delamere coll " 97-99 " 



1 5 Ashi Kisa, Interior of British East Africa. Lord 



Delamere coll. ........" 94 



5 ^ (J British East Africa, F. J. Jackson coll. ..." 95-97 



2 $ $ British East Africa, F. J. Jackson coll. ..." 90-97 

 Total 16 specimens from East Africa ....." 90-99 



Average . . . . "94-5 



Saxicola oenafithe Icucorhoa. 

 I ad. Gambia. West Africa Wing 104. mm. 



These figures, it will be seen, fully substantiate my contention 

 that there are two races, one with the wing normally not exceeding 

 100 mm., and one with the wing normally not shorter than 100 

 mm., and that the latter is confined to the extreme west of Europe 



