( 479 ) 



<ielebrat('(l author, the descrijitioii of the male is incomplere and incomjirchensible, 

 and it is evident that either a ]iart of the mauuscrij)! has been lost by mistake, 

 or two descriptions have become mixed uji. 



4u. Culicicapa ceylonensis (Swains.). 

 Three specimens of this widely sjjread and common liird from Bungnnin, 

 identical with specimens from India, Assam, and Borneo. 



41. Alseonax latirostris (RafB.). 



Met with both on Sirliassen and linngnran Islands in adult and young 

 plumage, September and October 1893. 



This species has first been described by Pallas (Zoof/r. Rih^iso-Asiat., i., p. 401). 

 He says : " {Muscicapa t/risala) B. ourk'fiix Dauurica quam, ob summam simili- 

 tudinem, speciem distinctam pronunciare non ausim, magnitndine tamen et colore 

 <liftert, etc." It is, from the type in which the name is printed, obvions that 

 Pallas did not mean 'to name the bird " Dauurica," but simply to mention the 

 *' Dannrian variety," therefore the next oldest name, i.e. /atiro.'ifr/.s, has rightly 

 been adopted. 



4J. Hypothymis azurea (Bodd.;. 



Sirhassen and Bunguran. 



The specimens from Sirhassen undonbtedly belong to the widesjiread insular 

 form with the abdomen shaded with purplish l)luish, but one mak and ow Jema/i' 

 from Bunguran seem to be somewhat whiter on the abdomen and under wing- 

 coverts, although, I believe, belonging to the same form. 



There cannot be any doubt, that the name //. azurea (Bodd.j, founded on the 

 •• Gohe-mouches bleu des Philippine-'i" of Daubenton, ai)j)lies strictly to the 

 Philippine form, as locality and de.icription clearly indicate, although the belly is 

 too white on the plate ; all the figures of that time (and many recent ones, too, 

 unfortunately) must be taken cam iiratio .■•tili.i, as is obvious from any of them. 

 Therefore, in cases where descriptions and figures disagree, it is always the descrip- 

 tion we have to rely upon, as it is made by the ornithologist, while the plate is in 

 most cases done by an artist who is little if anything of an ornithologist. 



The black-naped Flycatcher from the Philippines is identical with that from 

 the Malayan Islands, which extends through thi- Jlabiy Peninsula, while the form 

 from British India has a somewhat whiter abdomen. There is liowever every 

 intermediate form between the two, and therefore they can only be regarded as 

 subspecies, if they are kept distinct. 



The subspecies inhabiting the Indian enjpire must be called H////t>f/i>/i>ii.-' (izurea 

 <:aer>.deocephala (Sykes), as Muacicdpit caernlea (im. also apjdies to the Philijijiine 

 race. 



Another closely allied form, H. azurea tytlcri (Beavan) inhabits the Andamans, 

 and is darker again than H. azurea (Bodd.) proper, but this form is also better 

 treated as a subspecies, as there are intermediate specimens between it and the 

 allied forms. 



For literature about the validity of these forms of lli/potlnjmis and their 

 nomenclature see : Sharpe, Cd.i. B., iv., pp. 274, 27.J, and 276 ; Walden, /bi.-i, 1S72, 

 ji. 102; Walden (Tweedd.), 7'ra/i.'<. Zool. Soc, ix., p. 182; Hume, Slra)/ Feath., 

 li., p. 2i: (1>'T4); Steere, UiKtonj nf B. coll. by the Stecre Exp. to the I'hilippine.'i, 



