282 Phillips, Birds of Sinai. [.July 



FALCONIDiE. 



Astur brevipes Severtzoff . Levant Sparrow Hawk. — Four cf o" ; 

 Akaba, April 20. A flock of 1200 to 1800 apparently all of this species seen 

 migrating north on this date. This bird is very rare in Egypt and has not 

 been taken in Africa (outside Egypt). This migration was perhaps from 

 southern Arabia. The specimens were very fat but their stomachs were 

 empty. 



Cerchneis tinnunculus (Linn.) Kestrel. — One d> ; Tafeleh, 

 southern Palestine, May 3. 



Strigid.e. 



Strix butleri Hume. Butler's Owl. (Plate XVII). — One o* ; Wady 

 Feran, Sinai, March 31. Wing, 245 mm., tarsus, 48 mm., tail, 150 mm. 

 This specimen, apparently an adult male, was brought into camp alive by 

 an Arab. It constitutes the third known record of this extremely rare owl. 

 In size it seems to be the same as both the other specimens. In color also 

 it corresponds very closely with Hartert's description (Vogel der Pal. 

 Fauna, p. 1027) and this description is based on both the other specimens. 

 From Hume's original description of the type (Stray Feathers, VII, p. 316) 

 my specimen apparently differs in having the first primary less plain 

 colored and more like the others as to its barring. 



Hume's bird came from Omara, on the Mekran coast of southern Balu- 

 chistan in 1878; the skin was badly damaged. In 1879 Tristram (Stray 

 Feathers, VIII, p. 417) discovered one other skin that had remained un- 

 identified in his own collection for ten years. This one was from Mt. 

 Sinai (exact locality not given). 



This owl must be a rock-living bird. The plate shows typical Feran 

 scenery with Mt. Serbal in the background. 



Halcyonid^e. 



Alcedo ispida pallida Brehm. Kingfisher. — Two cf cf ; Akaba, 

 April 15. Zedlitz (1912) in his work on Sinai, throws out this rather poorly 

 marked form. The beak is usually thinner and more pointed than in the 

 western birds. 



Meropid^e. 



Merops apiaster Linn. European Bee-eater. — Three; Akaba, 

 April 16. 



Caprimulgid^e. 



Caprimulgus europoeus meridionalis Hartert. Night-jar. — One 

 cf ; Wady Kerak, Palestine, May 5. 



