374 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vou56. 



forms. The theory that one form migrates into the territory of the 

 other, besides being improbable, would help us little, for both 

 armstrongi and " humii " occur in the north as well as in the south. 

 The bird described as Halcyon hmnii by Doctor Sharpe^ is sup- 

 posed to be more uniformly bluish above than Sauropatis chloris 

 wnnstrongi^ and to lack the blackish nuchal bf^nd of the latter; but 

 the evidence of intermediates points to the probably correct conclu- 

 sion that this plumage represents the extreme development of the 

 fully adult male Sauropatis chloris armstrongi^ possibly even to be 

 regarded as a blue phase, for all the males are by no means so 

 bluish. The most greenish birds, however, are females, and although 

 there is no absolute line of demarcation between the sexes, the fe- 

 males are usually duller, very much more greenish above, including 

 the wings, with ear-coverts and nuchal band more blackish, and sides 

 of body without buffy tinge. Although with this view of relation- 

 ship, a wide range of color variation must be allowed in Sauropatis 

 chloris armsti'ongi^ it is not so very much greater than occurs in some 

 of the other races. The most bluish old males of Sauropatis chloris 

 amistrongi (=" humii ") are in this respect more highly colored than 

 any unworn examples of Sauropatis chloris cyanescetis that I have 

 seen, but in some cases the difference is not great. The occurrence of 

 Sauropatis chloris armstrongi in either Borneo or Sumatra is of 

 course erroneous, and the specimens so recorded by Doctor Sharpe^ 

 belong to Sauropatis chloris cyanescens. 



The colors of the soft parts in this race as given on specimen labels 

 are as follows : Iris dark brown or blackish brown ; bill black, the base 

 of mandible creamy white; feet pale plumbeous, plumbeous gray, 

 dark plumbeous, or dark brown, the claws black. 



The proper name for this subspecies is Sauropatis chloris arin- 

 strmigi; for although Doctor Sharpe described his Halcyon chloris 

 subsp. a. armstrongi^ and Halcyon humii^ in the same volume, the 

 former has anteriority. The only indication of type locality given for 

 Sauropatis chloris armstrongi is the statement that it occurs from 

 the Sunderbunds to Burmah, Tenasserim, and Siam.^ The type in 

 the British Museum is, however, so Mr. Charles Chubb informs me,^ 

 one of the Gould collection from Siam. 



Similarly, no more definite indication of type locality was given 

 for Sharpe's Halcyon humii ^ than " Siam to the Malay Peninsula and 

 Sumatra." Doctor Hartert subsequently designated Mergui, Tenas- 

 serim as the typical locality ; but the type of this form is still in the 



^Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. 17, 1892, p. 281 (Jaram, Selangor, Malay Peninsula). 



»Idem, pp. 278, 283. 



« Idem, p. 277, pi. 7, flg. 1. 



♦Idem, p. 281, pi. 8. 



* In a letter. 



«Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. 17, 1892, p. 281. 



