The Birds of Africa, Comprising All the Species Which Occur in The
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: ^rpl, THE BIRDS OF AFRICA, COMPRISING ALL THE SPECIES WHICH OCCUR ETHIOPIAN REGION. BY &C. G. E. SHELLEY, F.Z.S., F.R.G.S., (late gkenadier guaeds), aitthor of "a handbook to the birds of egypt,' "a monograph of the sunbirds," etc. VOL. III. LONDON PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR EY CAVENDISH SQUARE, W. E. H. POETER, 7, PEINCES STEEET, 1902. liw^<J^ ? SEP 18 1902/ ^fiiii CONTENTS. vi. LIST OF PLATES—VOL. IIL Plate XV., Ordei- I. PASSERIFORMES. Suborder II. OSCINES. Section II. ALAUD^. Family VII. MOTACILLID.^. Genus III. MACRONYX. The Long-clawR, as Dr. Bovvdler Sharpe calls them, in the " Birds of South Africa," may be described as heavily-built Pipits. Their feet are extremely large, the hind claw long, and also the tarsus, so that the outstretched feet extend well beyond the end of the tail, although the tail is not abnormally short. This character, together with the bright colouring of the throat, and often of the breast, render the species of this genus easily recognisable. Anatomically they are Pipits. Type. iMacronyx, Swains. Zool. .Journ, iii. p. .344 (1817) .... M. capensis. KEY TO THE SPECIES. n. Five outer pairs of tail-feathers with white ends ; throat and centre of breast reddish orange capensis. 2. h. Four outer pairs of tail-feathers with white ends ; no shade of red on the throat or breast. «^. Throat and some of the breast bright lemon yellow. «2. Smaller ; wing less than 4 inches ; upper croceus. parts paler ; less brown on the breast V b^. Larger; wing 4-2 to 4-4; upper parts darker ; more brown on the breast . fuellehorni. "^ [Jan\iary, 1902. ; 2 MACRONYX CAPENSIS. b^. Throat orange yellow; eyebrow brownish, with only the portion in front of the eye orange, c^. Some yellow on the middle of the abdomen aurantiigtcla. i e d^. No yellow on the breast or abdomen . flavicollis. c. Three outer pairs of tail-feathers with white ends ; throat and centre of the breast carmine red amelim. I ^ Macronyx capensis. Alauda capensis, Linn. S. N. I. p. 288 (1766) Ca])e of Good Hojie. Macronyx capensis, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. x. p. 623 (1885) Cajie Col., Natal, Transvaal ; Simonds, Ibis, 1887, p. 333 Orange Biver State ; Distant, Naturalist in Transvaal, p. 164 (1892) ; Kuschel, J. f. O. 1895, p. 348 egg ; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 171 (1896) Sharpe, Ibis, 1897, pp. 412, 514 Zululand ; Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers. p. 93 (1899) egg ; Stark, Faun. S. Afr. B. i. p. 238 (1900) ; Marshall, Ibis, 1900, p. 238, Mashona. Adult male. Upper parts mottled brown, the feathers with blackish brown centres and broad pale edges ; lesser wing-coverts partially washed with orange yellow on their edges ; bend of wing orange yellow ; ends of primary-coverts, quills and outer web of first primary narrowly edged with white ; the five outer pairs of tail-feathers have white ends widening towards the outer one, which has the outer web white ; a broad orange yellow eye- brow extends from the nostril ; remainder of the side of the head bufi'y brown, washed with orange and inclining to white in front of the eye ; a narrow black band extends down the sides of the throat and widens out into a broad black collar across the crop, enclosing a bright orange red throat ; centre of body, thighs and under tail-coverts chrome yellow, the latter with large black basss to some of the feathers, and shading into buify brown on the flanks, which show some dark shaft-stripes ; axillaries white, partially washed with yellow ; under wing-coverts white, passing into orange the of the wing quills brown with partial narrow pale yellow at bend ; ashy inner edges. Bill grey with the culmen and tip dusky ; iris hazel, tarsi and feet dull chrome yellow. Total length 8 inches, culmen 0-65, wing 3-9, 1-35. tail 4, tarsus Newcastle, J , 13. 6. 81 (A. E. Butler). Ad^ilt female. Very similar in plumage to the male, but slightly duller ; eyebrow and throat paler and rather less yellow on the breast. Upper mandible brown, lower one grey ; iris brown, legs flesh-colour. Pinetown, 2 , 7. 1. 75 (T. L. Ayres). Immature. Differs in having the upper parts blacker, with the pale MACRONYX CAPENSIS. 3 edges to the feathers narrower ; eyebrows and throat brownish buff, very shghtly mottled with orange ; black throat-band absent ; crop spotted with a few blackish shaft-marks ; bend of wing whitish orange. Wing 3-8. Grahamstown (Layard). The Cape Long-claw ranges from Cape Colony into Zululand and Mashona. I met with the species near both Cape Town and Durban, singly or in pairs. They appear never to assemble in flocks, but to be very generally distributed over suitable country, such as the open veldt which is here and there interspersed with bushes and ant-hills, on the tops of which they imme- diately perch when disturbed. No doubt on account of this habit Levaillant called the species " L'Alouette Senti- nelle," a more euphonious name than " Cut-throat Lark " or " " Kalksentje ; by which they are generally known to the colonists. Like the other members of the genus Macronyx, it is " partial to certain localities, for Layard writes : Mr. "W. Atmore declares that it is never found on Karroo soil, and we do not remember noticing it near Beaufort ; certainly it is not recorded in Victorin's collections from the Karroo, though he appears to have met with it plentifully in the Knysna district." The species is common in Southern Cape Colony, Natal, Zululand and the Transvaal ; but according to Dr. Bradshaw it is not found along the northern border of Cape Colony, and it has never been recorded from so far north as the Zambesi River. " Mr. T. E. Buckley writes : Very common through Natal and the High Veldt part of the Transvaal. They are found singly or in pairs, and fly with several very rapid beats of the wing together, uttering their call-note all the time, which is exactly what Layard calls mewing." Mr. T. ;; 4 MACRONYX CROCEUS. Ayres considered this species to be the commonest and most regularly distributed of all the Pijjits in the Transvaal and met with it as far north as the Inshlangreen River during his expedition into Mashona with Jameson. From " the latter country Mr. Guy Marshall writes : This hand- some Pipit is generally distributed throughout the open country, but is nowhere plentiful, being found only singly or in pairs." According to Stark, they feed principally on insects and their lai'vse, and occasionally a few seeds. " The nest is artfully concealed in a hollow under the grass, and is a cup-shaped structure built of dry grass and root fibres. The eggs, laid in October or November, are from three to four in number, cream-coloured, closely spotted and speckled with various shades of brown and purple. They average 1-05 X 0-77." Macronyx croceus. Alauda crocea, Vieill. N. Diet. H. N. i. p. 365 (1816). Macronyx croceus, Sharpe, Ibis, 1870, p. 481 Volta B.; Keichen. and Liihder, J. f. 0. 1873, p. 217 Accra; Shelley and Buckley, Ibis, 1872, p. 290 Accra; Fisch. J. f. 0. 1878, p. 279 Wanikalaiid id. Zeitfcchr. 1884, p. 308 Maurui Kilimanjaro ; Sbarpe, Cat. B. M. X. p. 626 (1885) Gambia, Gold Coast, Niger, Gaboon, Angola, Natal, Zambesi, Dar-cs-Salaam, Mombasa; Fiscb. J. f. O. 1885, p. 137 Lindi to Galaland, Wapokomoland and Barawa ; Biittik, Notes Leyd. Mus. 1885, p. 174; 1886, p. 253 LUieria ; Sousa, Join. Lisb. 1886, p. 84 Ibo h.; p. 165 Cvce; Reichen. J. f. O. 1887, p. 73 Buwana B. ; Matsch. t. c. p. 143 Boga-Katani ; Eeicben. t. c. p. 305 LeopoldvMe ; Shelley, P. Z. S. 1888, p. 28 ^Vadelai Eeicben. J. f. O. 1889, p. 284 Quilimane ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1891, p. 589 Machako's ; Eeicben. .J. f. O. 1892, p. 52 Uganda ; Bocage Jorn. Lisb. 1893, p. 162 Galamja ; Shelley, Ibis, 1893, p. 27; 1894, p. 23 Nyasaland ; Eeicben. VOg. Deutsch. O. Afr. p. 199 (1894) Usegua, Bagamoyo, Lindi, Arusha, Bmvana, Ugalla, Karagxce, Kawende ; Kuscbel, .7. f. O. 1895, p. 343 egg; Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 170 (1896); Eendall, Ibis, 1896, p. 174 Transvaal; Sbarpe, Ibis, 1897, MACRONYX CROCEUS. 5 p. 514 Zuht ; Shelley, t. c. p. 527 Nyasa ; Reichen. J. f. 0. 1897, p. 42 Togo; Jackson, Ibis, 1898, p. 136 Witw ; Shelley, t. c. pp. 379, 553 Nyasa; Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1898, p. 71 Shire; W. L. Sclater, Ibis, 1899, p. 112 Inhambaiie ; Alexander, t. c. p. 563 Zambesi; Jackson, t. c. p. 629 Karirondo, Kampala, Ntchi, Man ; Hartert iu Ansorge's " Under Afr. Sun," p. 348 (1899) Unyoro ; Nehrkorn, Kat. Eiers, p. 93 (1899) ajij ; Stark, Faun. S. Afr. i. p. 239 (1900); Sharpe, Ibis, 1900, p. Ill Mosambique ; Marshall, t. c. p. 238 Mashoiia ; Salvad. Ann. Mus. Genov. 1901, p. 763 Scnegambia; Hartert, Nov. Zool. 1901, p. 310 Niger. Macronyx flavigaster, Swains. B. W. Afr. i. p. 215 (1837) Senegal; Fraser, P. Z. S. 1813, p. 51 Accra; Gordon, Contr. Orn. 1849, p. 10 Gold Coast. Macronyx striolatus, Heugl. J. f. O. 1863, p. 164 Gazelle II. ; Woodward, Ibis, 1897, p. 411 Zulu ; 1900, p. 524 St. Lucia Lake. Adult male. Upper parts pale ashy or rufous brown with blackish brown brown centres to the feathers of the crown and mantle ; wings dark with rather broad pale edges to the feathers, of a tawny buff shade passing into bright yellow towards the outer feathers ; under wing-coverts golden dusky yellow mottled with some black and white ; under surface of quills with faintly marked, broad, tawny buff inner edges; tail dark brown with yellow the end third of the four outer pairs of feathers white ; a broad eyebrow, remainder of the sides of the head and neck ashy brown fading almost into white above the gape, and next to the black gorget which starts from the gape and encircles the middle and lower throat ; chin and throat tail-coverts golden bright golden yellow ; chest, abdomen, thighs and under yellow with black shaft-stripes on the front and sides of the chest and the flanks, which latter are partially pale tawny brown.