Page:Ibis - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/684

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628

Col. R. Meinertzliagen on Birds from

[Ibis,

It is curious that Stresemann (Avif. Macedon.) should have recognized the small southern race of the Hooded Crow as coming from the Balkans to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, but should have united them with the Cyprus bird under the name Corvus corone pallescens (Mad.). In fresh autumn plumage the Cyprus bird is much paler than birds from the Balkans, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt (and Sardinia), and must be recognized as a geographical race under the name

Corvus comix pallescens (Mad.).

Cretan birds appear similar to those from Cyprus in colour but are much larger, resembling more Corvus cornix cornix in size:

4 ♂. Wing 316-327; culmen, length 55-61, height 20-22;

1 ♀. Wing 313; culmen, length 56, height 20; and I have already described this bird as

Corvus cornix minos Meinortz. Bull. B. O. C. xli. 1920, p. 19.

In conclusion I recognize the following races of Hooded Crow:—

Corvus cornix cornix L.—Large and dark. Northern, western, and central Europe.

Corvus cornix sardonius Kleinschm.—Small and dark. Sardinia, Corsica, probably Sicily, Balkans, probably Asia Minor, Syria^[1], Palestine, and Egypt^[2].

↑ In Syria the Hooded Crow is a common resident at Aleppo, Damascus, and Baalbek, but not in the Lebanon or Syrian Desert. On the coast they do not seem to occur north of Sidon or south and west of Khau Yunus (near Gaza). They are absent from Galilee, the Yarmuk Valley, and the northern Jordan Valley. Not seen south of Hebron. Common in coastal Palestine, the Judæan highlauds north to Nablus, and in the Lower Jordan Valley near Jericho. Apparently common in Transjordania and on the Moab Plateau. (Tristram, Survey of Palestine.)
↑ In Egypt the Hooded Crow is confined to the Delta, and not to all of that. Absent from the Suez Canal throughout its length, and does not seem to occur much east of Tel-el-Kebir. In the western Delta they are gradually extending their range towards Alexandria, but so far have not reached that place by a few miles. The southern limit up the Nile is not yet known for certain, but they certainly occur as far south as Assouan.

[1] In Syria the Hooded Crow is a common resident at Aleppo, Damascus, and Baalbek, but not in the Lebanon or Syrian Desert. On the coast they do not seem to occur north of Sidon or south and west of Khau Yunus (near Gaza). They are absent from Galilee, the Yarmuk Valley, and the northern Jordan Valley. Not seen south of Hebron. Common in coastal Palestine, the Judæan highlauds north to Nablus, and in the Lower Jordan Valley near Jericho. Apparently common in Transjordania and on the Moab Plateau. (Tristram, Survey of Palestine.)

[2] In Egypt the Hooded Crow is confined to the Delta, and not to all of that. Absent from the Suez Canal throughout its length, and does not seem to occur much east of Tel-el-Kebir. In the western Delta they are gradually extending their range towards Alexandria, but so far have not reached that place by a few miles. The southern limit up the Nile is not yet known for certain, but they certainly occur as far south as Assouan.

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