( -"is* ) 



VII. 



LIST OF A COLLECTION OF BIRDSKINS MADE IN THE ARU 



ISLANDS BY CAPTAIN CAYLEY WEBSTER 



FROM MAY TO JULY 18'.»6. 



1. Paradisea apoda L. One female. '"Iris ])ale yellow." — 2. Aeluroedm 

 melanotis Gray. — 3. Cicinnurus regius (L.). The Aru skins do uot differ i)ercept,ibly 

 from those of other countries, though ou the whole the wing is a few millimetres 

 longer. (W.R.) — 4. Manucodia atra (Less.). — 5. Macrocorax fuscicajnllus (Gray). 

 — 6. Mino damonti Less. "White bar in the wing rather narrow. — 7. Oriolus 

 Jlatocinctus (King).— 8. Dicniropsis carbonaria (MtilL). Wing 147 ram. — 

 9. Graucalus caeruleogriseus (firay). — 10. Graucalus mdanops (Lath.). — 11. Arta- 

 t/ius leucogaster (Valenc.). Two specimens with remarkably short wings I — 

 12. Cracticus guoi/i (hesa.). — 13. Cracticus cassictis. 



14. Rhectes analogus A. B. Meyer, or R. aruensis Sharpe. 



In Zeitschr f. ges. Orn.l. p. 285 (1884) Dr. A. B. Meyer separated some 

 Aru specimens from R. analogus under the name of R. armmis. The skin before 

 us seems to agree with Meyer's birds, but Dr. R. B. Sharpe iu Ihin, 1888, p. 437, 

 declares that Meyer's R. cmalogus is only the young of his U. anicnsis. See also 

 Salvadori, Agg. Oni. Paptiasia, II. p. 97 (1890). E. H. 



15. Rhectes ferrugineus brevipennis subsp. ucjv. 



Aru specimens have the wing very short, only 128 mm. All individuals of our 

 very large series from New Guinea have the wings decidedly longer. A. B. Meyer, 

 in Zeitschr. f. ges. Orn. I. p. 285 (1884), had already pointed out this difference, 

 and it is only on account of his corroboration of our observation that we dare to 

 bestow a subspecific term ou this fori". E. H. 



16. Philemon novaeguineae aruensis A. B. Meyer. 



Fonr skins from Dobbo, uufortnnately not sexed. One of these, probably an 

 old male, has a very long bill and a very high Immj). These four birds have the 

 bOl 46, 46, 48, and 53 mm. long ; their height at hump is 18, 19, 20, and 24 mm. 

 Three specimens of P/i. novaeguineae subtuherosus {antea, p. 238) have the bill 43, 

 45, 45 mm. long, and their height at hump is 14, 15, 17 mm. E. H. 



17. Pitta novaeguineae Miill. k Schleg. — 18. Macropteryx mijstacea (Temm.). 

 Wings 222 — 224 mm. — 19. Fodargus ocellatus Q. & G. — 20. Eurystomus australis 

 Sw. — 21. Tanysiptera hydrocharis Gray. — 22. Halcyon sordidus Gould. The loral 

 spot cannot be called pure white, but has a distinct though faint buffy tinge. 

 Wing 116 mm. See antea, p. 244. 



23. Syma torotoro tentelare subsp. nov. 



Females from Aru have the black sjiot on the head in or behind the middle of 

 the crown about 15 mm. or more away from the base of the bill, while in specimens 

 from Northern Dutch New Guinea this spot is generally larger and e.xtends almost 



