( ^17 ) 



MOTACILLIDAE. 

 127. Anthus rufulus medius Wall. 



Aiilhus medius Wallace, P. Z. S. 18t;3, p. 488 (Timor) ; Finsch, Sut. Lryr!. Mux. xxii. p. 275 

 (Kisser). 



11 (??, Letti, November, December 1002. (Nos. 5929, 5973—5976,6466— 

 6471.) 



7(??, Moa, November, December 1902. (Nos. 6164—6167, 6256, 6331, 

 6332.) 



5 c? 1 ? Kisser, April 1901. (Nos. 3824, 3825, 3851, 3852, 3903, 3904.) 



128. Motacilla boarula melanope Pall. 



4 J ?, Wetter, October 19U2. (Nos. 5573, 5721, 5857, 5858.) 

 1 ?, Moa, 6. xii. 1902. (No. 6284.) 



PLOCEIDAE. 

 129. Erythrura tricolor fVieill.). 



Fringilla tricolor Vieillot, Xour. Diet. tl'Hist. Xut. xii. p. 233 (1817 : Timor). 



15 c??, Wetter, September, October 1902. (Nos. 5505—5509, 5612—5615, 

 5689 — 5691, three vrithont numbers.) Nine of these are very fine adult males. 



1 (? ad., 9 ? and jnn., Roma, July, August 1902. (Nos. 5048, 5206—5209, 

 5312,5313, 5392—5394.) 



(? ad. " Iris blackish brown, bill black, feet pale brownish flesh-colour (pale 

 brownish)." 



Dr. Sharpe, apparently having compared nothing else than one specimen from 

 Timor, separated a single male from Timorlaut as Eiytkrura forbesi (Cat. B. xiii.), 

 because it had the hinder head, hind-neck and mantle entirely green without 

 any wash of blue. AVhen discussing the birds of Timorlaut and Dammer I called 

 the Erythrura from these islands E. tricolor forbesi, as they agreed perfectly 

 with the type oi forbesi. The birds we have now received from Wetter and Roma 

 are also exactly like all those from Timorlaut and Dammer, while the single one 

 from Timor has the blue of the forehead spread over the hind-neck and mantle. 

 But what is E. tricolor Vieillot ? This name is based on the " Aznvert " of 

 Vieillot's Ois. Chant. PI. 20, 1805, and there we find figured and described a bird 

 with the hinder crown, hind-neck, and mantle pure green, without a bluish wash 

 or tinge (" un joli vert-olive sur Tocciput, le dessus du cou, le dos . . . .") 

 How, therefore, can he bestow a new name on a bird because it has no blue on 

 the hind-neck? It seems to me that the single Timor male in London is an 

 aberrant example, because Dr. Finsch says (Not. Lend. Mas. xxii. p. 277) that 

 Wetter birds are quite like Timor ones, and because we have a male from Tenimber 

 (No. 2951) in which the blue spreads over the hind-neck on to the beginning of 

 the interscapulium. A fresh series from Timor, however, is much desired ! 

 There is a discrepancy in the description of the tail in Vieillot's original 

 description, but it appears to be due to some fault in the specimen or to a 

 fault in the drawing and text, such as we not uncommonly find in older 

 (and modern) writings. Otherwise the plate represents most clearly the bird 

 under consideration. 



