1921 .] the Near East and Tropical East Africa. 625 
I also find that ruficollis shows great variation, not only in 
size but in the amount and density of the coppery plumage, 
especially on the nape and mantle, and that this variation is 
not constant within a definite area. 
Distribution .—(Near East.) Breeds in southern Palestine 
south of a line Gaza, Hebron, north to Jerusalem and east 
to Jericho and a few miles north. North of this line occurs 
laurencei. In winter I have seen many of the hitter at 
Jerusalem and on the Jerusalem-Hebron road, but never in 
the Jordan Valley or on the eastern slopes of the southern 
Judsean hills. Also I have never at any season seen 
ruficollis north of their breeding area. They apparently 
breed in the hills throughout Sinai and near Suez on both 
sides of the Gulf of Suez. They breed in the Egyptian 
Desert fringing the Delta, but do not occur in the Delta. 
West of Alexandria their place is taken at Solium by 
Corvus c. tingitanus. At Siwa Oasis, south of Solium, 
ruficollis is resident and common. 
Fresh eggs taken in Palestine from 15. iii. to 17. iii. 
CORVUS CORNIX. 
I have examined the following birds :— 
North- West Europe. 
61 from Great Britain, Faroe Islands, Finland, Sweden, 
northern and central Russia, and Germany. 
$ . Wing 316-340; culmen, length 49-60, height 19-5-22. 
$ . Wing 305-331; culmen, length 49-54, height 19-21. 
Hartert (Vog. pal. Fauna) gives wings of such birds as 
320-340 mm., and Stresemann (Avif. Macedon.) as 305- 
338 mm. 
Balkans. 
3 birds from Rumania. 
2 $. Wing 311, 320; culmen, length 57*5 and 58, height 
20 , 22 . 
1 $ . Wing 316 ; culmen, length 59, height 20. 
Parrot gives the wings of two Greek birds as $ 309 and 
$ 294 mm. 
