56 



THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



No. 561. Tahiti. Female. Eyes black.] 



Having now, for the first time, an opportunity of examining specimens of the 

 Collocalia of Tahiti, I find no specific distinctions from the well-known Collocalia 

 fuciphaga, so widely distributed in the Indian and Malay archipelagos. The specimens 

 before me are not of so light a greyish-browu as one would expect from the descriptions 

 sent me by Herr von Pelzeln ; on the contrary, the whole under-surface is a little darker 

 than in Javaii specimens ; but the difference is so slight that no character can be based 

 on it. 



Collocalia vanicorensis corresponds in coloration exactly, but may perhaps be kept 

 separate on account of the smaller size. From the latter, Collocalia fromcica, Gm. (from 

 Bourbon and Madagascar), seems scarcely separable ; only the under tail-coverts show a 

 more intense green gloss. Mr Wallace (I.e.) is perhaps right in uniting also these two 

 species with Collocalia fuciphaga. 



2. Halcyon veneratus, Gm. 



Halcyon veneratus, Skarpe, Mon. Kingf., p. 245, t. xciii. ; Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1877, 

 p. 741. 



[No. 548. Tahiti. Male. 

 No. 549. 

 No. 550. 

 No. 551. 

 No. 552. 



No. 553. ,, Female. 



No. 554. 

 No. 555. 



No. 556. „ „ ] 



The excellent series before me does not confirm the view that either the dark band 



