( 19V ) 



of the crown, which is small or large (though always smaller than in //. mixfyal- 

 asia australasia) ia H. a. da.mmi'riat)ii, is never large, but only small or almost 

 and sometimes quite (in four out of eleven) absent. Kuhn found this form on 

 Letti and Moa ; and, judging from Dr. Finsch's note {Notes Lei/den Mus. xxii. 

 p. 282), the form from Babber, which he quotes as H. a. dammeriatia, mnst belong 

 to interposita. (Type of //. a. infiTposita, No. r)2Sl, H. Kiilin coll., Moa, 2. xii. 

 1902, c?.) 



5 ? , Letti, 27. xii. 19U2. (Nos. 6504, 6505.) 



6 c?c?,3 ? ?, Moa, November, December 1902. (Nos. 6211— (i2l;5, 6247— 6249, 

 6281, 6282, 6283.) 



" Iris dark coflee-brown, bill above black, lower mandible white with 

 blackish tip, feet dirty (blackish) grey." 



We are thus now acquainted with four forms of //. australasia : — 



1. //. australasia australasia (Vieill.). Of larger size, whole pileum green, 

 cinnamon portions of plumage deep and rich. Timor, Lombok, Sumba, Wetter, 

 Eoma. 



2. //. australa.sia dammeriana Hart. {^Nov. Zool. 1900, p. 19). Same size, only 

 a patch in middle of pileum blue, cinnamon parts as rich as in H. a. australasia. 

 Uammer. 



3. //. australasia interposita Hart. About same size, only small patch in 

 middle of pileum blue, sometimes reduced to absence, cinnamon colour paler. Moa 

 and Letti, ? Babber. 



4. //. australasia minor A. B. Mey. Smaller, almost whole pileum blue, size 

 less. Timorlaut. — It is a mistake to unite this form with H. a. australasia. 

 Not only is the size less (wing about 1 cm, shorter), but the cinnamon colours are 

 also much paler, apparently still paler than in H. a. interposita ; but only four 

 specimens have been examined by me. Dr. Finseh (^Notes Leijden Mus., xxii. 

 pp. 281, 2S2) attempts to show by measurements that //. a. minor, of which he had 

 no specimens, is not smaller than //. a. australasia. His method, however, is most 

 objectionable, as he measures the specimens of //. a. australasia himself, and 

 quotes those of H. a. minor as given by Meyer. This is apt to lead to 

 erroneous conceptions, because two ornithologists do not, as a rule, measure 

 equally. Moreover, the measurements thus confronted by Dr. Finseh do not 

 conclusively prove that //. a. minor is of the same size as H. a. australasia ; for 

 of the former he quotes the wing 72—76, tail 50-52, bill 37—38 mm. ; of the 

 latter the wing 77—87, tail 53—61, bill 33—42 mm.— always a much larger 

 average. Had all the specimens been measured by one person the differences 

 would be more conspicuous. The geographical distribution also demands differences 

 of the Timorlaut form, as between it and the tyiiieal //. a. australasia another form 

 (or other forms) is (or are) found— /.t-. //. a. interposita (and //. a. danmcriana). 



71. Halcyon chloris chloris (Bodd.). 



Ateedn chlvris Boddaert, Titbl. PI. Enl. p. 49 (PI. 783, 2) (1783, ex Buffon (locality on plato 

 erroneously Cape of Good Hope, but Buffon states that the correct locality is Buru), and 

 Latham (locality Buru). Typical habitat : Buru ! 



Ualajon chloris, Finseh, \ote.^ Leydeii .l/«s. xxii. p. 280 (Wetter, Kisser, Babber, Letti). 



The treatment of the chloris group of Halcyon in the Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xvii, 

 is certainly very unsatisfactory, because it is split up into several species and 

 subspecies. It must either be united under one name (a very simple method, but 



