( 184 ) 

 IS. Alopecoenas hoedtii (Schleg.)- 



Leptoptila Eoedtil Schlegel, Nalerl. Tijihrhr. Dierk. iv. p. 30 (1871 : Wetter). 

 Alopecoenas Hoedli Finsch, Notes Leyilen .Uus. xxii. p. .'iiKl, pi. .'). 



This remarkable pigeon is ouly found on Wetter. It is of course not a 

 Li'ptojitila (a purely American genus), nor a Phli'i/oeiias, and must be jilaced in 

 a special genus : Alopecoenas Finscb. 



Mr. Klihn sent II c?c? and 8 ??, shot on Wetter in April llJUl and 

 October 1902. (Nos. 3754, 5744 — 5752, 5699, the rest withoiit numbers.) 



c? : "Iris dark coffee-brown, feet jiurjilish (violet, reddish violet, brownish 

 violet, purple), bill black."' 



? : " Iris dark coffee-brown (brownish black), feet violet (pinkish crimson, 

 crimson), bill black." 



Hitherto only known from the two specimens in the Leyden Museum, and 

 not even obtained by Schadler. 



RALLIDAE. 

 I'l. Rallina fasciatus (Haffl.). 



Rallus fasriatus Raffles, Trans. Liun. Soc. xiii. p. 328 (1822 : Sumatra). 



? ad., Kisser, 22. iv. 1901 (No. 3799). "Iris burnt oehreous red, eytdid 

 bright crimson ; feet brownish red ; bill dull black." 

 (Rallina tricolor cicla Hart, is found on Dammer.) 



20. Amaurornis phoenicurus leucomelaena (Miill.). 



[Rallus phoenicurus Forster, Zonl. hid. p. HI, pi. 9 (1789 : Ceylon).] 



GaUinula leucomelaena (1. Wiillur, Verh. Xat. Gesch. Xed. Lid., hind- en \'ultatL-undc, p. 158 



(1839-44 : Timor). 

 Aniaiirurnh plwtidcura (errorc) Finsch, Notes Leyden Mas. xxn. p. 3U4 (Wetter). 



A mistake has been made by Legge, Sharpe, Finsch and others in 

 uniting the form leucomelaena with Indian phoenicurus. It is perfectly true 

 that young ..1. ph. phoenicurus have not so much white in the face as adult 

 ones, but one must not compare the young of one form with the adult of 

 another, or vice ivrsei ; and altogether old birds show differences generally better 

 than young. If comparing the proper material we find that fully adult A. ph. 

 phoenicurus have a white forehead, .1. ph. leucomelaena never; that adult 

 A. ph. phoenicurus have the lores, a line above the eye and sides of neck 

 white, while adult ^1. ph. leucomelaena have the lores, all the space above 

 the eye, a wide stripe below the eye and the sides of the neck to about the 

 middle dark slate-colour, the lores and face sometimes spotted with white ; and 

 that A. ph. phoenicurus has the breast and abdomen white, the sides only slate- 

 colour, while .1. ph. leucomelaena has these parts slate-colour, near the white 

 rather darker, only a wide white band along the centre. This last diU'erence is 

 even seen in young birds, which have much more white along the middle of the 

 underside in A. ph. phoenicurus. The young of both forms have the dark portions 

 on the under surface brownish, the white shaded with dusky edges to the 

 feathers. We must distinguish three subspecies : 



1. Amaurornis phoenicurus phoenicurus : adult birds with forehead, lores and 

 sides of head white, breast and abdomen mostly white. Hab. Indian Peninsula 



