( 6 ) 



spots. The eggs measure: 21:16, •>! : 15-8, 21:10, 21-5 : 15-G, 22-1 : 163, 

 21 : 16, 20 : 15, 2(Jo : 150, 20 : 15, 21 : 15-5, 21 : 16, 21 : 16-1, 20 : 15-6, 20 : 15-1, 

 21-5 : 10-1. 2(i-r) : 101, 20-5 : 14-8, 20 : 10-2. 2I>1 : 14"), 20 : 15-5, 21 : 10 mm. 



T. Aplonis kittlitzi Fiuscli & Hartl. 

 (Cf. Nov. ZoOL. V. p. 58.) (Wiglesworth No. 239 p. 44.) 



Common. " Iris deep yellow ; bill aud feet black." The natives seem to 

 believe that the striped, immature birds are belonging to a different species, aa 

 they call — according to onr collectors — the uniform glossy black birds " Aga," 

 the striped ones " Boei." 



Numerous nests were found from May to July and one in March, all in holes 

 of trees, in various heights from four to nearly twenty feet. The clutches consisted 

 of one, two, and three eggs. The eggs vary much in size and shape, but are 

 always similar to other spotted Starlings' eggs. Most of them are light bine, 

 marked witli rufous brown and lavender-grey or purplish grey. One is very pale, 

 almost white, aud is at the same time the smallest, measuring only 28'3 : 20-3 mm. 

 The two largest eggs from Ruk measure: 31-5:22 and 33-5:22 mm. 



8. Erjrthrura trichroa (Kittl.). 



Fringilla trichroa, Kittlitz in Mem. Acad. Petersb. 1835. 8 pi. 10 ; Salvadori, Oni. Papvas. e Moluc. 



n. p. 442 (1881) (parlim !) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XUI. p. 385 (^partim !) ; Wiglesworth 



No. 220 p. 42 (Carolines only !). 

 Erythrura glauca (sjiec. ix spirit !), Finsch in J. M. Godeffroy 1876, XII. p. 35. 



We have received a large series from Kuk Island. The local name is 

 "Lugopal." "Iris seal-brown (Ridgway III. 1); bill black; legs and toes wood- 

 brown ; claws paler brown." Specimens shot in November are mostly in moult. 



The somewhat remarkable distribution attributed to Enjthrura trichroa— •<r\z., 

 Carolines, Northern Moluccas, New Guinea, and Solomon Islands— led Mr. Rothschild 

 and me to study this species more closely, and wc found that it is separable into 

 a number of geographical forms : 



a. Erythrura trichroa trichroa (Kittl.). 



Carolines : Kushai, Ponape, and Ruk. Wc have not been able to examine 

 skins from Kushai, but those from Ponape aud Ruk are perfectly alike, aud the 

 description and figure of the types from Kushai agree entirely with them. 



These birds are of a dark green, the under wing-coverts are generally 

 washed with greyish-brown, the wing does not exceed 60 mm. in length, being 

 56 — 60 mm. long. 



h. Erythrura trichroa modesta Wall. 



Wallace in Froc. Zool. Soc. Loyid. 1802 p. 351. 



Moluccas : Batjan, Ternate, Halmahera. Specimens from the three islands 

 iu the Tring Museum. Generally of a less deep and more yellowish green, especially 

 on the underside. The under wing-coverts are clear buff, without the greyish 

 wash so frequent in E. trichroa trichroa. The wing is always over 60 mm. long, 

 reaching from 62 — 05 mm. 



