1922.] the Kear East and Trojiical East Africa. 37 



Apus a. kalaliariots Reieliw. Orn. Monatsb. 19(H) : Kala- 

 hari Desert, South Africa. 



Upper parts paku- and browner thau in A. a. apus, fre- 

 quently almost hukino- th(> dark patch in the centre of the 

 hack. Head paler, esj)ecially on the forehead, the feathers 

 often having paler fringes. Primaries and tail as in^. a. apus, 

 but usually paler. In worn plumage birds become much 

 browner, losing most of the blue and green gloss on the 

 back. The white on the chin is frequently purer and reaches 

 further down the throat than in ^4. a. apus. Sliaft-stripes 

 on the chin-feathers are less frequent than in A. a. ajyus. 



Wing of males 165 to 180 mm., and of females 163 to 

 177 mm., once 180 mm. 



Some breeding birds from Palestine appear to approach 

 the typical race, but the majority are })ure pekinensis. The 

 race maricitzi, having been described from a winter bird, has 

 no typical breeding locality. All so-called maricitzi which 

 I have examined are indistinouishable from birds breedino- 

 at Pekin^ in Persia and Baluchistan. As always happens, we 

 find intermediate birds where the races A. a. apus and A. a. 

 pekinensis meet, but no such intermediate forms are constant 

 in any area from which I have examined birds ; I therefore 

 prefer to treat maricitzi as a synonym of pekinensis. 



This Swift breeds throughout northern Asia, at Quetta 

 in Baluchistan, in eastern Persia, Caucasus, Armenia, Asia 

 Minor, Palestine and Syria, and Cyprus. It has been 

 obtained on passage at Gondokoro (southern Sudan) on 

 23.iii., in Egypt on 29. iv., and there is a female in my 

 collection from the Victoria Nyanza shot on 2. iii,, and one 

 obtained by Archer in northern Somaliland on 15. ix. 



Birds winter in India and Africa south to the Transvaal 

 and Kalahari Desert. Perhaps a few winter in Palestine, 

 for I saw some near Jericho in late February. 



Palestine breeding birds arrive in the coastal area during 

 the first few days of Marcli, and at Jerusalem in the first few 

 days of April. There are large breeding colonies at 

 Jerusalem, Hebron, Nazareth, Tiberias, Nablus, and Jenin. 

 First eggs laid at Jerusalem on 5. v. 



