42 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL, MUSEUM. 



VOL. 64. 



appear as if old females approach the males in this character. A 

 male from Temboan, July 20, has the back barred and the breast 

 streaked as in the females, and the tail feathers narrowly barred 

 on the inner web. It is in worn plumage and may be a bird of the 

 year. A female from Tobea Island, Buton Strait, South Celebes, 

 November 14 (No. 234092), is darker on the back than any specimen 

 in the above series, but it is in fresher plumage, before much fading 

 has set in. A Javan female. No. 218358, Buitenzorg, June 2, can 

 not be distinguished from Celebes examples in the same stage of 

 plumage, except for the thighs which are more heavily spotted. 



Oberholser^^ described Cerchneis moluccensis microbalia from So- 

 lombo Besar, a small island between Borneo and Java. He evidently 

 founded this race upon a single male specimen, the type, which I have 

 carefully compared with our Celebes material. None of the sub- 

 specific characters given in the original description seem to hold. 

 The top of the head is rusty like the back as in the female, not with 

 a grayish tinge like the fully adult male from Celebes, and the breast 

 is more heavily streaked. These slight differences may prove to be 

 individual, not geographic. It might well be that Bornean speci- 

 mens may prove to be separable from those of Celebes, as the two 

 islands have so little in common; if so, Oberholser's name may be 

 available for such a race, but until that time there is no advantage 

 in recognizing a form on mere conjecture. In any event Oberholser 

 admits that the ranges for the three races will have to be redrawn, 

 as they appear to be more or less speculative. 



A specimen of Cerchneis moluccensis moluccensis from Ternate 

 (No. 125027), marked as a male, but, judging from the color of the 

 top of the head and the barred tail, is probably a female, is darker 

 both above and below and is less streaked on the breast than any 

 female in the Celebes series. 



The two extremes of the series before me are given in the measure- 

 ments below : 



Three males from Celebes 



Type of Cerchneis m. microbalia 



Six females, Celebes 



One female, Java 



One female, Ternate (Cerc/ineis m. moluccensis) 



Wing. 



mm. 



200-228 

 230 



210-240 

 214 

 227 



TaU. 



mm. 



136-150 



152 



140-162. 5 



141 



143 



Culmen 

 from cere. 



mm. 



15-16 



15 



14. 5-16. 5 



15 



18 



83. ICTHYOPHAGA HUMILIS HUMILIS (Miiller and Sclileeel). 



Two adult females, Toli Toli. November 28, and December 22, 



1914. 



Proe. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 54, 1917, p. 17S. 



