190 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



lines (Truk Group) on 16 Februar^^ These birds have a spot in 

 front of the eye that extends back as a narrow superciliary stripe, 

 and the middle of the throat and chin distinctly yellow, characters 

 that are not mentioned by Dr. Finsch in his original description, nor 

 by Count Salvadori in the British museum catalogue (1893, 21, p. 93). 

 A young male in juvenal plumage from Ponape has these same mark- 

 ings indicated, so that there are no differences evident in the speci- 

 mens at hand. Fully adult birds from Ponape are not available for 

 comparison. In these yellow markings P. ponapensis resembles 

 hcrnshcimi from the Eastern Carolines. 



Measurements of the specimens with the sex indicated follow: — 



38. Globicera AURORAS (Peale). 



Carpophaga aurorae Peale, U. S. explor. exped., 1848, 8, p. 201. (Aurora or 

 Makatea Island). 



A female was collected on Makatea Island 6 October, 1899. This 

 bird is molting, and has not yet cast the six inner pairs of second- 

 aries nor the second pair of rectrices. These old feathers are dull 

 brown in color with a very slight gloss of blue, so that they are much 

 duller than the bright new feathers. From a study of skins (including 

 the types) in the U. S. N. M. collection it appears that Glohiccra 

 wilkesii (Peale) (U. S. explor. exped., 1848, 8, p. 203) described from 

 Tahiti is a synonj'm of Globicera aurorae, as the differences between 

 these supposed species are merely those of age (and perhaps of sex). 

 G. wilkesii was said to be darker in color than G. aurorae and to have a 

 smaller knob on the cere. In addition Peale ascribed to it twelve 

 rectrices instead of fourteen but this difference in the number of tail 

 feathers is due to an imperfection in the specimen that he chose for 

 type. As regards color, specimens from Makatea are found that are 

 as dark as those from Tahiti in corresponding plumage and the lighter 

 birds may occur in either locality. The size and shape of the cere 



