( 253 ) 



All onr specimens have tlie white specninm on the primaries distinctly <le- 

 veloped, though in man)' of them it is very small, and perhaps generally smaller 

 than in D. sinensis sinensis. Hartlanb mentions a Hainan specimen in which the 

 alar specninm is only indicated. 



Dcndrocitta sinensis formosae Swinh. {Ibis 1803, p. 387) is another subspecies 

 of this group with the lower abdomen whitish, the mantle more reddish and about 

 the basal half of the middle rectrices grey, while D. sinensis sinensis and D. sinensis 

 insulae have the rectrices all black to the base, or only a small, though varying, 

 amount of grey on the central jiair, and, often, there is more grey in the tail in 

 D. s. insulae than in D. s. sinensis. 



270. Cissa katsumatae Rothsch. 



Cism Katsumatae Rothschild, Bull. B. 0. C. xir. p. 9 (Oct. 1903— Hainan). 



12 cJ? Mt. Wuchi, November lOuO (No. B. 183). 



1 ? Mt. Wuchi, 24. iii. 1903 (No. 183).— Type. 



1 cJ? Chiteriang, 0, 8, i. 1904 (No. 183). 



1 ? without exact locality, 18, iv. 1904 (No. 183). 



1 <J Mt. Wuchi, 15, xi. 1905 (No. 183). 



This beautiful Cissa was described by Mr. Rothschild from a single female. 

 As stated in the original description it differs from C. chinensis in the absence of 

 black snbterminal cross-bars, followed by whitish tips, on the inner secondaries, 

 which are reddish chestnut with wide greenish blue tips. It must be added that 

 the bright chestnut-red colour disappears in time, and is replaced by greenish- 

 brown, when the skins dry out more and more, and the fat or grease which the 

 feathers contain to a certain degree when fresh, evaporates — at least this is my 

 explanation of the fact that in all skins of Cissa the yellowish green colour seen 

 in freshly killed examples is gradually replaced by a pale blue, and the chestnut 

 or blood-red by a greenish brown. Exposure to light is not necessary to bring 

 these changes about; 1 have found out that it also takes jilace in skins which are 

 entirely shut off from the light, though more slowly. In the absence of black 

 anteapical bars on the inner secondaries C. katsumatae agrees with C. jefferyi from 

 Borneo and thalussina. from Java, but both the latter forms have wide whitish blue 

 tips to the inner secondaries and ditferenlly marked rectrices. In C. katsumatae 

 the central pair of rectrices are yellowish green (dull blue in older skins) while the 

 lateral ones have wide (2 cm. and more) black bars and wide (25 to 3 cm.) pale 

 bluish grey tips, palest at their ends. The size is much less than in C. chinensis. 

 The tail is considerably shorter. Wings of males 140 to 145, of females 138 to 

 143 mm. The tails measure 15 to 10 cm. Iris dark cherry-red or "madder 

 brown " (Ridgway, Nomeal. Col. iv., Fig. 3), bill and feet orange rufou.s-red. 



1 am inclined to think that C. Itatsumatae should be treated as a subspecies of 

 C. chinensis, but we must take into consideration the fact that two species of Cissa, 

 namely ^V.s-.s« minor and Cissa je^'rri/i, are both apparently together on the same 

 mountain. Interesting notes on their occurrence are found in .Jolni Whitehead's 

 fine book on Mount Kina Bain. In the Hand-list, v. p. 609, the habitat of C. minor, 

 by an oversight, has only been given as " Sumatra." A comparison of a series from 

 both Sumatra and Borneo would be desirable. In any case, in view of the occurrence 

 of two closely allied species together on Borneo, we cannot be too careful in 

 regarding any Cissa as subspecies of another. 



