Corvus cornix judaeus Meinertzhagen

Corvus cornix judaeus Meinertzhagen, 1919: 85 (Bir Salem in southern Palestine).

Now Corvus corone sharpii Oates, 1889 . See Meinertzhagen, 1926: 108; Hartert, 1928: 189; Blake and Vaurie, 1962: 272; Madge and Burn, 1994: 159–161; Shirihai, 1996: 573–575; Dick- inson, 2003: 513; Dickinson et al., 2004c: 95– 102; and dos Anjos, 2009: 630–631.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 675118, adult male, collected at Bir Salem, near Lod (= Ludd), 31.58N, 34.54E (USBGN, 1970a), Israel, on 17 December 1918, by Richard Meinertzhagen. From the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: In the original description, Meinertzhagen designated as type of judaeus the only specimen in the Rothschild Collection bearing the above data, and noted that he examined seven specimens, three collected by his party and four in the Rothschild Collection. The holotype and one paratype are the only Meinertzhagen specimens of this form that came to AMNH; the following five specimens in AMNH, including the four from Rothschild, are paratypes: ‘‘Jordan, Palestine,’’ AMNH 675114, female, 1 December 1898, collected by Bacher ; Rehobot, near Jaffa, AMNH 675115, male, 28 January 1911, AMNH 675116, female, 10 March 1911, AMNH 675117, sex?, 15 November 1910, all collected by J. Aharoni ; Rafa, AMNH 675119, male, 27 September 1917, collected by Meinertzhagen.

Meinertzhagen (1926: 108–109) synonomized judaeus with sardonius, and more recently sardonius has been considered a synonym of sharpii (Dickinson, 2003: 513; dos Anjos, 2009: 630–631) but was recognized by Shirihai (1996: 573–575). Species limits are difficult to define due to hybridization. Madge and Burn (1994: 159–160) considered Corvus cornix a species in the superspecies Corvus corone; Dickinson (2003: 513) retained the broad species C. corone; dos Anjos (2009: 630–631) considered C. cornix a separate species.