RUey — Three New Birds from China and Japan. 163 



with a slight slaty cast, hut leaving out of consideration the differences 

 in tlie intensity of the black in the different specimens before me, as some 

 of it is probably due to the length of time the birds have been kept in 

 collections, whether exposed to light or not, the differences in the size of 

 the bill will, in my opinion warrant the separation of an east Asiatic and 

 a Japanese race. 



A male from Sakhalin Island* agrees fairly well with Japanese birds 

 and in measurements is even slightly smaller. For the present, I refer 

 it to the Japanese race. Lonnbergt in writijig upon the Sakhalin bird 

 says they average a little larger and are more intensely black and glossy 

 with the crimson of the head more brilliant than in European specimens. 

 He also gives a table of measurements of ten specimens. 



The material before me of the three races under consideration measures 

 as follows: 



Three males of D. m. mar tins 

 One male of J>. to. silvif vagus 

 One male of D. m. reichenowi 

 One male, Sakhalin Island 



Three females of D. to. martins t 

 One female of D. to. silvifragus 

 One female of D, to. reichenowi 



Eophona melanura sowerbyi subsp. nov. 



Type. — U. S. National Museum, No. 213,242, adult male, Chang Kow 

 Hsien, Hupeh, China, February 4, 1908. Collected by Walter R, 

 Zappey. 



Similar to E. to. melanura but much lighter in color above and below; 

 the rump lighter gray, inclining to whitish posteriorly (uniform neutral 

 gray in E. to. melanura); the black of the wings, tail, and head less 

 intense. Wing, 107.5; tail, 82.5; culmen, 20.5; tarsus, 22; middle toe, 18. 



Female differs from the same sex in E. to. melanura in being lighter 

 below with the top of the head concolor with the back, which is near 

 Saccardo's umber (grayish in E. to. melanura) the black of the wings 

 and tail less intense. AVing, 104; tail, 82; culmen, 21; tarsus, 22; middle 

 toe, 18. 



Remarks. — Loxia melanura Gmelin§ was founded on Le Gros-Bec de 

 la Chine of Sonnerat.H Latham'sf description seems to be a mere trans- 

 lation of Sonnerat. The bird that served Sonnerat for his description 



•U. S.N. M. No. 159,334. 



t Journ. Coll. Scl. Imp. Univ. Tokyo, xxiii, Art. 14, 1908, 44. 



t One female in this series is extraordinarily large, much larger than any male of 

 D. m. martius before me, and really nullifies the value of this set of female averages for 

 comparison. 



$Sys. Nat., i, pt. i, 1788, 853. 



II Voy. Ind. Orient, et Chine, ii, 1782, 199. 



irSyn. Birds, ii, pt. 1, 1783, 145. 



