f 21 ) 



30. Chrysococcyx rufomerus sp. nov. 



The tiilult male diiFers from Chri/sococcijx malayanus as follows : — 

 The crown of the head is not brownish or purplish brown, but deep metallic 

 green with steel-blue and bronze reflections ; the back is darker ; the entire 

 underside is widely barred with deep ,!j;reenish bronze, these bars bcinu' of a much 

 deeper colour than in C malayanus ; the tail has no rufous colour whatever ; some 

 of tbe greater upper wing-coverts have some edges and bars of white. The wings 

 have very pale or no rufous colouration to the inner webs. "Iris dark vermilion, 

 feet and bill blackish." The adult female seems to have a well-marked uniform 

 white patch in the middle of the abdomen. The iris of the female is described on 

 the label as " ochreous grey." Wing 05 — 99 mm. 



The young of both sexes is above pale greyish bronze, below greyish brown, 

 with more or less dark brownish bars on the flanks; the iris is " reddish grey." 

 This new form is perfectly distinct from (\ inahiyamis, and all the other species of 

 the genus known to me. It is probable that this and several others should only 

 be treated as subspecies, but as yet their history and distribution are too little known 

 to advance theories about their relationship. Future investigations will show, 

 whether C. rufomerus is only found on Dammer Island, or also on other islands. 



31. Ptilinopus xanthogaster (Wagl). 



Not rare in different parts of the island, at Batoe Merah and AVulur. " Iris 

 orange, feet greenish grey, bill sulphureous." 



All the specimens from Dammer have the neck more or less washed with 

 green, the green of the upi)erside somewhat yellowish, the foreneck rather greenish. 

 In this they agree with specimens from Banda. Some specimens from the Key 

 Islands are perfectly similar to those from Dammer, while the perfectly adult Key 

 birds have the neck beautifully greyish-white, the breast and abdomen very bright, 

 the back pure green. As, however, our Key series is selected from a larger 

 collection, and shot at diflerent times of the year, while our six or eight birds 

 from Banda and Dammer were all shot at the same time of the year, and as we 

 know that the greenish neck is a sign of immaturity, I am not able to say that 

 the Key birds are really different, and I am inclined to think that eiiually adult 

 liirds from all the islands are perfectly alike. Meyer has separated the Timorlaut 

 race as P.Jlavocirescens, but Salvadori seems to think that his characters are based 

 on immature individuals. We have, at present, not suflScient material to decide this 

 question. 



32. Ptilinopus lettiensis Schleg. 



A fine series from Dammer agrees with an adult male from Bebber (April 

 1898), received in exchange from the Leyden Museum. The yellow on the neck is, 

 however, deeper in the Bebber specimen than in the eight from Dammer, but the 

 depth of the yellow colour on the neck is not constantly alike in those from 

 Dammer, which were all shot in November. Until, therefore, a large series from 

 Lettie and Bebber are compared, the Dammer bird must stand as 1'. lettiensis. 

 The iris of the Dammer birds is " burnt-sienna red, the bill yellow, slaty-green at 

 base, feet bluish carmine." 



