284 



REVIEW OF JAPANESE BIRDS. 



lisbes tbeir ideniity beyoud a doubt. The cbaracteristic featberiug of 

 the throat is the same, and the color of bill and naked skin is also 

 unmistakable, as evidenced by the following description by Mr. Jouy 

 from the fresh bird : " Ui>per mandible dusky purplish, lower mandible 

 pale reddish; naked skin dusky; iris dark brown." In the Nagasaki 

 bird the dark color of the face and the light brown of the bill are very 

 strongly and abruptly contrasted. 



Whether the P. minor of "Fauna Japonica" really is a younger bird 

 of the black-faced si)ecies which Swiuhoe collected in Formosa, Peter- 

 sen iu Kiusiu, and Jouy in Korea is not quite certain, but I am of the 

 opinion that there is sufficient reason for using the name given by Tem- 

 minck and Schlegel. Swiuhoe compares his birds with the description 

 in " Fauna Japonica" in the following manner: " In P. minor the feath- 

 ered forehead, it is said, is ' un peu ^chancre par devant, et ne depas- 

 sant guere le bord anterieure de I'ceil.' So far it would agree with our 

 (2). But 'la partie emplumee des joues ue s'avance que jusque sous le 

 bord posterieur de I'ceil.' This last shows a greater expansion of bare 

 skin than iu our most developed (4)." To this 1 would remark that, as 

 already stated, I regard the type of P. oninor as very young, and that 

 the greater extent of naked skin is due to its younger age. At any rate, 

 Bonaparte's expression "gulte parte plumosa antice valde protracta 

 acuminatim " is to me sufficient evidence that the specimens in question 

 are correctly referred to P. minor. Should, however, an inspection of 

 the type disprove this conclusion, then I would propose Flatalea sicin- 

 hoei as a fitting name for the Formosan black-faced species. 



Tables of dimensions. 

 I. — Platalea mixor (Koreaaiifl Japan). 



II. — Platalea minor (Formosa; /rfe Swinhoe). 



