Systematic and Distributional Notes on Southern African Birds.Pdf

Vol. V II hiatus of some southern group has long remained in an unsatisfactory state, dis African group similarly,reviewed. but this hasIt notwould been havepossible been due highlyto thedesirable to north-eastwardstreat the East fromSouth Africancentral sub-continent,Tanganyika,inhabiting andthe themorewith Courserother arid athe grasslandsSomalidistributional Aridof regionthe south and west of the. to describe anought to apparentlybe recognised. agreementdistinctive This reviewbeing initiallypopulationgeneral arose throughin theinhabitingthe needliterature lack of material;the as to it howis, however,many discussedforms briefly. The status of the (1) A REVISION OF THE SOUTH-WEST ARID RACES OF Two distinct and disjunct population groups of the Double-banded In this paper, only the southern African group of populations is THE COURSER (TEMMINCK) Issued, by the Durban Museum, Durban, South Africa SYSTEMATIC AND DISTRIBUTIONAL NOTES ON ) Rhinoptilus africanus . 2 1 (Ornithologist, National Mus.eum of Southern DURBAN MUSEUM NOVITATES 0 2 d e t 1 ,2 0 0 a MICHAEL P. STUART IRWIN d SOUTHERN AFRICAN BIRDS ( r e h miles in central Africa. s I i s s u e d l Rhodesia, Bulawayo) RHINOPTILUS b u P e h t 3 0 t h (Temminck) exist: a southerly one y b •by d 1 e t n M a r a y g e c , , n 1 9 6 3 e c AFRICANUS i l r e d n u y a w e t a G t e n i b Part a S y b d 1 e c u d o r p e R 2 Notes on Southern African Birds north-eastern portion of the Bechuanaland Protectorate.' Oh initial study it became apparent that it would be impossible to describe any new forms without a proper understanding of racial variation as a whole, and at the same time be able to satisfactorily define the geographic limits of the various taxonomically recognisable forms. To date, four races have been named from the region under review, these are: R.a.africanus (Temminck), Cat.Syst.Cab.Ornith., 1807, pp. 175, 263: Great Namaqualand; R.a.bisignatus (Hartlaub), Proc.Zool.Soc.Lond., 1865, p. 87: Benguela; R.a.sharpei Erlanger, J./.O., 53, 1905, p. 60: Windhoek; and R.a.granti W. Sclater, Bull. Brit.Orn.Cl., 1921, p. 132: Deelfontein. Of these forms, Sclater (1924) recognised besides a/ricanus, the forms granti and bisignatus, but makes no mention of sharpei, which for reasons to be discussed later, he apparently regarded as a synonym of a/ricanus. Friedmann (1930), though not directly concerned with the southern African races, upheld the distinctiveness of all the named forms, while Peters (1934) recognised bisignatus and granti, with sharpei as doubt fully distinct from a/ricanus, Roberts (1940) accepted granti and sharpei in addition to the nominate, and in turn, Vincent (1952) accepts sharpei and granti, but notes that the former is widely con sidered as doubtfully distinct from a/ricanus, while later McLachlan ) . 2 1 and Liversidge (1957) recognised granti, but not sharpei. Most 0 2 recently Mackworth-Praed and Grant (1962) admit, in addition to d e t the nominate subspecies, only sharpei and bisignatus, the latter of a d ( which is considered extra-limital to the territories covered by all r e h the other above-mentioned authors, with the exception of Sclater, s i l b Peters and Friedmann. u P e The description of Cursorius a/ricanus by C. J. Temminck was h t y based on a bird collected by Levaillant on his journey north to the b d e Orange River in the years 1783-84 and supposedly came from t n a Great Namaqualand, which territory lies to the north of the river, r g e in southern South-West Africa. Unfortunately the Type appears to c n e be no longer in existence, and as so much doubt surrounds this and c i l r the other journeys of Levaillant there cannot be any degree of e d n certainty that the original bird did in fact come from Namaqualand. u y There has long been suspicion that Levaillant in his journeys may a w e not have even reached the Orange River. t a G The two most recent discussions on Levaillant’s northern journeys t e n i are those of Grant (1957) and Forbes (1958). .Grant, after closely b a S studying Levaillant’s works, traces his northern journey, and fully y b accepts, contrary to some previously expressed opinion, that he d e c both reached and crossed the Orange River, indeed travelling as u d far as to the north-east of present-day Keetmanshoop. However, o r p e R C.africanus be accepted that great doubt consequently surrounds the origin should be designated as the localities said to have been visited by Levaillant, southit at wouldleast ofseem best to arbitrarily restrict the type-locality of the Little Namaqualand,did not then cross theofthe the Orangepossibility River, butarises perhapsthat countobtainedtheof supposedhis travels.name his Whatever bird thein truth, itmust nevertheless Forbes, original description, gave no precise type-locality, but merely stated had a confused history. Grant (1915) inlocality reviewing of whichthe is accordinglyraces of amended.Museum and Art Gallery,Cape DurbanProvince, Museum collectedRegistration on No. 7 June,14893, 1962, and now in the Durban Neotype Great Bushmanland, venientnorthern Capethat Province,whichthe type-localityLevaillantand that adder, a may shouldsuitable close or beto themay restricted Orangethat not River.river, to haveand Pofadder, reached,However,to theno itas thesouth-eastmaterial seemsnominate hascon ofnominate racebeen Pella occursavailable form Drift, at toPof-for preventexamination any critical from region.further anyRatherconfusion. thanof between suggest theany change Vanrhynsdorp ofUnfortunately established names, and Pofadder,whereabouts in theleaving north-western Unfortunately, a Cape, large too gapfew specimensin a have been available to ascertain ever havingeven reached the Orange River does not exist in the ac Macdonald (1957), thisthat was anhis obviousbird inhabited “Sudosten”to Deelfontein,Africa, butCape as Province.pointed out Thisby was because Erlanger, in his by the paler nominate form, as no specimens have been available as Erlanger’s R.africanus, It is, therefore, proposed that an adult 1950), finds that acceptable geographical.evidence for Levaillant at Windhoek, in South-West Africa. Grant’s restriction, therefore, the Cape Province and Orange Free State that Grant haderror, andpreviously at the same timea proposedconfusing the name ofprocedure. the name However, Sclater (1921) corrected this with Deelfontein as the type-locality, for the dark populations of The type-locality and validity of Erlanger’s Type ) . be chosen, as the 2 op. cit., 1 0 was originally based on the bird now known as 2 of mistakenly restricted the type-locality of d R.a.sharpei e Type t Cursorius africanus. a d following upon his previous researches (Forbes, ( r was actually based on a bird collected by Lxibbert e h s i l b u to the dark birds of the Cape Province was by M. P. S. Irwin P e h T ype t y b Neotype d e would appear no longer to exist. t If it were argued that Levaillant n a r g e of c £ lapsus R.a.granti n from Pofadder, north-west e c i l R.a.africanus, r e d for “ south-western” , R.a.sharpei n R.a.granti, nom nov., u y becomes replaced a w e t a G R.a.sharpei the type- t e R.a.granti have also n i b a S y b d 3 e c u d o r p e R those taken in November had lost much of the intensity of their range of the thedifferent fact thatraces thesecan gapsmapping onlyin our individual knowledgebe approximated thoroughranges,do existtherefore, perusaland theofin allowance limitstherangecertain literature of mustfrom has befailed which madetoto closeforbeno these filledgaps.material has in, hasrevealedInand everthere the mensbeenarebroad have stillcollected; picturebeenlarge availableareasof withinvariation,for even the examination. havingmucha species’ seendetail at theremainsEven one timeso, athough sufficient directlythisnumber offrom specimens southern thefrom African problems populations associated of this species with(aside fromthe that arisingtype-locality of then mistakenly chosecalled to treat darker specimens beingmens showedthose a newlygradation moultedfrom a indark February,to a light whilstsandy rufous, the thus create the impressionclaturally of extremerecognisable individualthough forms variability as intoyet shouldcourserclosepoorly is geographicalknownunderstood to undertakecontactcan bringlocal and migratorydifferent exists andmovements,a whitishnomen- grey which,formbut tois a bepygmy described form. in this paper.Finally in north-eastem Bechuanalandsharpei there difficult to draw nominatea dividing raceline asis southernintergradationan altogether birdsis gradual.palerwith version,dark but backs it is and sometimescinnamon undersides.the most The heavily saturated birds inhabiting the south and south natus apparent omission in nominatehis form, this probably being the reason for this form’s trend, but instead takes on an increasingly sandy hue. areas. a wide range of localities. In this particular study, almost 100 speci 4 a series from Deelfonteinalso (the beentype-locality stated toa of samplebe a comprisefactor, bothsince Sharperesident (1904)and notedmigratory that birds.in Wear has and Angola. increasinglyThe pallidname populations in South-West Africa, Bechuanaland R.a.sharpei), west of the Cape Province and Orange Free State, giving way to Other complications may arise to cause confusion: thus this Throughout the species’ range geographical variation is orthodox, In the past, the confusion that has surrounded the status of the of coastal Angola is not widely differentiated from ) . R.a.sharpei. of central and northern South-West Africa continues this 2 1 0 2 d seems to have largely arisen through no single worker e t a d ( r Notes on Southern African Birds e Unfortunately following up this action, Sclater" h s i l b u P R.a.granti e Systema Avium h t y b d e t R.a.sharpei n a covers these heavily saturated r g e c n e in 1924.

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