1920.] South African Accipitres G25 



59. Hypotriorchis cuvieri (Smith). African Hobby. 



This is a rare species in South Africa, and the only speci- 

 mens in any of the South African Museums appear to be au 

 adult and a young male in the South African Museum at 

 Cape Town. 



60. Chiquera ruficollis (Swains.). Red-necked Falcon. 

 This is another somewhat rare species in South Africa. 



I have personally only met with three specimens, all in 

 the Windhuk district of the South -West Protectorate, 

 and I have nothing to record with regard to its habits. 

 One of the specimens mentioned above, an adult male, 

 which I secured, had in its crop the remains of a small 

 bird. 



A few years ago Mr, Austin Roberts described, in the 

 * Annals of the Transvaal Museum,' a new Falcon under the 

 name of Falco horsbrvghi, from two specimens shot by 

 Mr. C. B. Horsbrugh in the Pretoria district of the Trans- 

 vaal. In ray opinion this Falcon, of which I have examined 

 the type specimens in the Transvaal Museum, is only 

 C. ruficuliis in the young plumage, as it agrees very well 

 with Sclater's description of that plumage, and also with 

 the description given by Gurney in his ' Notes.' In order 

 to try to elucidate the matter I made careful drawings of 

 the type specimens and sent them home to Mr. Ogilvie- 

 Grant, asking him to compare them with specimens in the 

 British Museum. This he very kindly did, and informed 

 me that they were absolutely identical with young specimens 

 in the Museum. However, Mr. Roberts still upholds his 

 opinion that his species is distinct, basing this on the fact 

 that his specimens were shot in the vicinity of a nest 

 containing young in down. He believes that they were 

 the parents and therefore adult. Secondly, the wing- 

 measurement is somewhat larger. It is possible that 

 F. horsbruyhi may yet prove to be distinct, but for the 

 present I prefer to treat Mr. Roberts's name as a synonym 

 of C. ruficollis. 



