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52 Shortcommunications Acknowledgements IamgratefultoCOSTECandtheKilimanjaroRegionalandDistrictOfficersforpermissionto conduct this study and to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania for providing financial support. Many thanks to Dr N. Burgess,N.andE.Baker,ProfK.M.Howell,P.Nyiti,J.T.MushiandE.Tarimofortheirhelp onthisproject.IalsothankL.DinesenforunpublishedobservationsongreenbulecologyandT. D.EvansandL.Watsonforcommentsonanearlierdraft. References Belcher,CP. 1930. ThebirdsofNyasaland.London:TheTechnicalPress. Dov/sett-Lemaire, F. 1988. Fruitchoice and seeddissemination by birds andmammals inthe evergreenforestsofuplandMalawi.Revued'Ecologie(TerreetVie)43: 251-285. Dowsett-Lemaire,F. 1989.Ecologicalandbiogeographicalaspectsofforestbirdcommunities inMalawi.Scopus 13: 1-80. Keith, S., Urban, E.K. & Fry, C.H. (eds) 1992. The birds ofAfrica. Volume 4. London: AcademicPress. Mackworth-Praed, C.W. & Grant, C.H.B. 1960. Birds ofeastern andnorth easternAfrica. Volume2.London:Longman. Maclean,G.L. 1988.Roberts' birdsofsouthernAfrica.London: NewHolland. Stuart,S.N. 1983.Biogeographicalandecologicalaspectsofforestbirdcommunitiesineastern Tanzania. CambridgeUniversity,unpubl.Ph.Dthesis. NorbertJ. Cordeiro,3145 CanfieldAvenue,#13,LosAngeles, CA 90034, USA Scopus 18: 51-52, November 1994 Received7 December 1993 Further sightings ofan unnamed cliffswallowHirundo sp. in Ethiopia Wewatchedupto 12cliffswallowsforhalfanhourfromabout09:30on 18September 1993, feeding along the westernclifffaces ofthe smallgorgerunningnorthfromthe main Awash river gorge, immediately adjacent to Kereyou Lodge, Awash National Park,Ethiopia(8°53N,40°06E). Althoughtheyweretypicallyobservedflyingbelow the rim of the gorge, they were also noted occasionally moving up as far as the grassland and scrub beyond the rim and, much less frequently, joining the more numerous Eurasian Hirundo rustica. Striped H. abyssinica, and Red-rumped Swal- lowsH. daurica, inthe airspace above. AfricanRockMartinsH.fuligula, occasional HouseMartinsDelichonurbica.SandMartinsRipariaripariaandAlpineSwiftsApus melba, were also seenforcomparison. Generalimpression A dark hirundine with pale underparts and pale rufous rump. Smaller than Striped Swallow with more triangular wings and short notched tail. Flight very martin-like withperiods ofgliding, sharp turns and fluttering along arelatively short flight path. This contrasted with longer, steadier, sweeping glides ofthe other swallow species. Although we watchedthemforhalfanhourwith7 x42 and 10 x40binoculars, they Shortcommunications 53 nevercamecloserthan 30mandwereoften50mormoreaway. We lookedforthem again on 19 September 1993 at the same point, but they were not present. The followingis adetaileddescription. Upperparts Head,neck,wings,mantleandtaildarkblue-black,notasdarkasDelichonurbicabut darkerthanalltheHirundospeciespresent. Somebirdswereduller,perhapsbrowner. There was no obvious iridescence. Rump square andvariable in colourranging from buffy cream to pale rufous. Possibly the duller-backed birds had the paler rumps. Certainly thisvariationwasnot afactoroflight. Nopalemirrorspots onthetail. Underparts Extensivedarkcheeksanddarksidesofneckextendingwelldown,therebyrestricting whitish throatto anarrow but noticeable central area. Rest ofunderparts dirty white, possibly with abuffy tinge. Underwings not well seen. Flight feathers certainly dark underneath. Covertsperhapspalerbutoverall affectmuchdarkerthanH. abyssinica. Discussion The birds were clearly cliff swallows of the same species recorded from Awash NationalParkbyMadge&Redman(1989)andhithertounrecordedinEthiopia(Urban &Brown 1971).WeagreewithMadgeandRedmanthattheyappearnottobeRedSea Swallow H. perdita. The type specimen of this species is described as showing a bluish-black throat and upper breast with a pale chin spot. It also had a grey rump (Turner&Rose 1989).Thesecharacterswereabsentonthebirdswesaw.Thebirdswe observed are, in fact, most like the South Africa Cliff Swallow H. spilodera, from which they differ in the lack of black breast markings, apparent lack of rufous on forehead and lores andinhaving ablackercrown andnape (Maclean 1984). Subsequentobservations Agroupofcliffswallows ofthe same species was also watchedforabout5 minfrom about 13:00on25 September 1994bytheauthorsandJ.Harjula,flyingalongtheinner rim of the northern wall of the crater of Fantalle Mountain, some 25 km from the sighting atKereyouLodge (9°00N, 39°54E). Thebirds were observed alongside two Red-rumped Swallows. Interestingly, both the Red-rumped and the cliff swallows exhibited very pale buffto off-white rumps, though the cliff swallows were readily distinguishablebytheirflightpattern,theabsenceofachestnutnape,darkcheeksand sidesofthroat,lackoftail-streamersandmuchsmallersize.Itisworthnotingherethat numbers (up to 20) ofvery pale-rumped Red-rumped Swallows ofunknown origin were also seen from the same site on Fantalle Mountain and at the Kereyou Lodge gorge in September 1993. T—he origin ofthesebirds wouldbe interesting—toestablish. Thedatesofobservation 19September1993and25September1994 extendthe period when this species has been recorded in Ethiopia by two months. IDA has checkedtheareaupto25timesondifferentdatescoveringmostmonthsfrom 1991 to 1994,buthashadnoothersightings. Theothersitefromwhichthespecies isknown, atthe south end ofLake Langano (7°35N, 38°45E) in the Rift Valley, has also been frequentlycheckedbyJDA, PerOle Syvertsen andothers, butwithout success. 54 Shortcommunications There have been two other sightings of individual hirundines identified as cliff swallows, probably of this species, elsewhere in Ethiopia: one near Gibe over grasslandnotfarfromtheGiberivergorgeon 18October 1993 (JDA),theotherfrom nearJimmaon24 March 1994 (J. Harjula,pers. comm.). Observers visiting Ethiopia should certainly be alert for cliff swallows in any apparently suitable habitat: gorges and cliffs with nearby water and grassland, particularlyinthecentralandnorthernpartsoftheRiftValley andapparently usually withotherhirundines. References Maclean,G.L. 1984. Roberts' birdsofSouthAfrica. 5thed. CapeTown: TrusteesoftheJohn VoelckerBookFund. Madge, S.C. & Redman, N.J. 1989. The existence ofa form ofcliffswallow Hirundo sp. in Ethiopia.Scopus 13: 126-129 Turner, A. & Rose, C. 1989.A handbookto the swallowsandmartins ofthe world. London: ChristopherHelm. Urban, E.K. & Brown, L.H. 1971. A checklist ofthe birds ofEthiopia. Addis Ababa: Haile SelassieIUniversityPress. /.D.Atkins, doFCO (AddisAbaba),KingCharlesStreet,LondonSWIA2AHand W. G.HarveydoFCO (Nairobi),King CharlesStreet,LondonSWIA2AH 5copw5 18: 52-54,November 1994 Received 17 October 1994 An isolated population ofthe Olive-bellied Sunbird Nectarinia chloropygia in Ethiopia The Tepi-Mizan Teferi forests of South-West Ethiopia are poorly known omithologically.Duringavisittherefrom 12-16February 1993,1foundsunbirdswith olive bellies in two localities near Tepi (7°12N, 35°25E). There was a male in m secondaryforestgrowthatc. 1200 on 14FebruarynearGezmaret(7°07N, 35°26E) along the Tepi-Mizan road. Laterthat day there was a possible male at Tepi airstrip (7°12N,35°25E)atc. 1250m.On 16Februarytherewasamalewithafemalecloseto the site of the bird seen two days earlier. These birds were eventually identified unquestionably as Olive-bellied SunbirdsNectarinia chloropygia. In appearancethemales werereminiscentofEasternDouble-collared SunbirdsA^. mediocris, with adistinctive olive/yellow-olive belly, but they had the straighterbill typical ofN. chloropygia and the upper tail-coverts were green rather than metallic blue.Thefemalehadnoticeablestreakingonthechest.Thefirstbirdwasinsecondary growth at the forest edge, and the others in neglected cultivation with rank grasses, immediately adjacent on one side to the airstrip and on the otherto degraded forest/ secondaryforestgrowth.Thehabitatandaltitudeatwhichthesebirdsoccurredmatch the habitat preferences (forest edges, moist bushland, secondary growth) andknown altitude preferences indicated in Britton et al. (1980), Lewis & Pomeroy (1988) and Williams &Amott (1980) fovN. chloropygia.