G. CEYX. 177 



Ceyx DiLLWTNNi and its allies. 



It is somewhat remarkable that, after the lapse of twenty j'cars 

 since I finished mj- 'Monograph' of the Aleedinichf, during the 

 whole of which lime I have made a point of collecting material for 

 a proper compi-eheiision of these little red Cei/ces, we are still 

 without a solution of the problems which were discussed bj' Count 

 Salvador! and myself in 187<* and 1871. I have lately taken advan- 

 tage of the presence of my friendly opponent in England to go over 

 the whole matter with him, and Count Salvadori confesses that he 

 is as much puzzled to understand the plumages of Cei/.v dillwynni 

 as I am myself. 



We are agreed that Ceyx sharpii is only a stage of plumage of C. 

 dillwynni, but what stage cannot yet be exactly determined. It can- 

 not be a young bird, for the bill is bright rec?, and the young birds of this 

 group of Ceyces have a hlaclcish bill. We also know that the nestlings 

 both of C. dillwynni and C. tridactyla are as brightly coloured as the 

 adults. What, tlien, is the red-shouldered bird which occurs with 

 C dillwynni in Borneo, but does not have blue scapulars and wing- 

 coverts, nor. apparently, a blue spot behind the ear-coverts? Is it the 

 adult female of C. dillwynni'? If so, and the nestlings of both male 

 and female are alike, then the latter, beginning with the bright 

 plumage of the male, would gradually lose it and become entirely red. 

 This theory would account in a measure for the number of specimens 

 in the C.-sharpii stage of plumage which occur in collections ; they 

 would be adult females with traces of the " male" or "immature"' 

 plumage. 



Count Salvadori has described a series of specimens of the true 

 C. dillwynni from the island of Xias on the western side of Sumatra, 

 and yet no specimen of the true C dillwynni (i. e. with blue scapu- 

 lars and wing-coveits) has been found in the intermediate island of 

 Sumatra. 



In Java also there has never been found a true C. dillwynni, and 

 both sexes of the Javan Cey.v, when adult, seem to have a red 

 plumage, like the supposed female of C. ddlwynni, but always 

 showing some streaks of lilac-blue on the lower back. We have here, 

 therefore, an apparently parallel case with that of the yEgithinfB 

 (cf. Sharpe, Cat. B. vol. vi. pp. 5, 6), where the Javan species is 

 peculiar to the island, and both sexes wear the plumage which is 

 characteristic of the female of one of the allied species. I am not 

 certain whether the true C. dillwynni goes to Malacca, but some very 

 puzzling specimens have been received from the Malayan Peninsula, 

 which are either true C. dillwynni in changing plumage, or are 

 hybrids between Ceyx emrythra and C. tridactyla. 



2. Ceyx dillwynni. 



Ceyx tridactyla (nee Poll.), Reichenb. Handb., Alced. p. 8, Taf. 403 b. 



tig. 3389 (18.51) : Motley^- Dillw. Nat. Hist. Lnbuan, p. 13 (18.5.5). 

 Cevx dillwvnni, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1868, pp. 591, 593 ; id. P. Z. S. 



1869, p. oil : Salvad. Atfi R. Accad. Torino, iv. p. 461 (1869) ; 



VOL. XVII. N 



