404 BIRDS OF TUE LIU KIU ISLANDS. 



Hypsipetes amaurotis (Temm.)- 



1 have already aunouuced (Zeitscb. Ges. Orn., 1887, p. — ), ou the an- 

 thority of Messrs. Pryer aad Namiye, that the typical H. amaurotis 

 visits the Liu Kin Islands during the winter, at which season both 

 species are found there. 



To make quite sure 1 asked Mr. Namiye to lend me the specimen he 

 collected, and by his courtesy I am now enabled to compare it with 

 specimens from Japan proper. 



In coloration it agrees perfectly with specimens from Kiusiu and 

 Hondo, and while smaller than any of the specimens included in my 

 former table of dimensions (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 188G, p. GI3),it agrees 

 perfectly with a specimen collected by Mr. Petersen at Urakami (now in 

 the Zoological Museum of the University in Christiania, iN^orway, and 

 kindly lent me for examination by Prof. liobert Oollett). The latter 

 specimen is labeled " male," but this may be a mistake. At all events 

 there can be no doubt as to the correctness of referring the Liu Kiu win- 

 ter visitor to the true H. amaurotis. 



The specimen in question measures as follows : 



6 ad. [Toldo Educational Museum. Napa, Liu Kiu. March 8, 1886. 

 Namiye coll.).— Wing, IIS'^'"^ ; tail-feathers, lOS'"'^ ; exposed culmen, 24°i'" ; 

 tarsus, 22"^'" ; middle toe, with claw, 22""". Total length (according to 

 label), 2U5""". 



Icoturus komadori (Tkmm.). 



One may imagine my delight at finding a true/, komadori in the last 

 lot received from the Tokio Educational Museum. 



It will be remembered that when describing I. namiyei (Proc U. S. 

 Nat. Mus., 1886, p. 644) I had no access to a specimen of the bird origi- 

 nally described by Temminck, and that for distinctive characters I had 

 to rely upon Mr. Seebohm's description of the type specimens of J. feowm- 

 dori ; and in assuming his description to be correct I was not mis- 

 taken, for the specimen now before me sustains the former diagnosis 

 beautifully, and proves the specific distinctness of /. namiyei and I. 

 Icomadori. 



The structural difterences, as, pointed out in the original description, 

 are at once sufficient to distinguish the two species most trenchantly. 

 I. komadori has a much shorter first i)rimary, much shorter than one- 

 half the second, while in /. namiyei it is longer than one-half the sec- 

 ond. I. komadori has the second primary intermediate between sixth 

 and seventh; in I. namiyeiit is intermediate between ninth and tenth. 

 In the former the point of the wing is formed by the third, fourth, and 

 fifth primaries, third being much longer (4'""') than sixth, while in 

 the latter the sixth is so much louger than the second ; third, fourth, 

 fifth, and sixth being longest. In I. komadori the distance between the 

 tips of the longest primaries and those of the longest secondaries is 

 nearly twice as great as the same distance in I. namiyei. In other 



