NyCTlMENK CEl'HALOTKS. 707 



Speckiiens examined. Fifteen (seven in the Leyden, two in the 

 lioriin Museum), from the following localities : — " Celebes," one ; 

 Menado, N. Celebes, three ; Burn, one ; Amboina, seven ; Ceram 

 one; Timor Laut, one ; Timor, one. 



L'otijpcs of species and tijpe of Kerrs V. c. melinus. — The species 

 was described by PaUas from two female specimens from the 

 " Moluccas," at least one of which seems to have been in Amsterdam 

 (in the poscssion of J. A. Schlosser). Whether any of the types are 

 still in existence is unknown. The only point of Pallas 's description 

 that needs some comment here is his note on the colours : " supra e 

 gryseo-cinerascens, dilutior etiam in capite & versus alas ; subtus 

 albo-pallidus, in ventre canus." This description would certainly 

 agree better with the colour of an adnlt male of the present species, 

 but the fact that Pallas found a foetus in the uterus of the specimen 

 thus described of course settles the question of its sex. It should 

 further be noted that Pallas does not refer with a single word to 

 the dorsal stripe nor to the equally conspicuous yellow spots on tlie 

 wings, nor is there any trace of either character in his figure. The 

 simplest explanation is perhaps that the specimen, at least so far 

 as tlie fur. and membranes were concerned, may have been in a 

 poor state of preservation, a suggestion apparently supported also by 

 Pallas 's statement that the foetus was '• semi-corruptus." All the 

 other points of his long and careful description, as well as the 

 external measurements and the size of the skull figure, accord better 

 with the present species than with any other known form of the 

 genus. Amboina may be fixed as the type locality of M. cephcdotes. 



As noted above, Pallas described this species as greyish ash- 

 coloured above. A specimen in Sir Ashton Lever's possession was, 

 Pennant says {I. c, 1781), "fine straw-colour" on the upperside. 

 Owing to this discrepancy in colour, Kerr separated the latter as a 

 variety under the name V. cephcdotes meJinus (1. c, 1 792). Curiously 

 enough, also Pennant (and of course Kerr, who only copies his words) 

 omits any reference to the dorsal stripe and the yellow wing-spots. 

 The fate of the type of melinus (evidently a female, judging from the 

 colour) is unknown [at tho dispersal of the Museum Levorianura, 

 in 180G, part of the collection went to Vienna, part was acquired 

 by Lord Stanley (13th Earl of Derby) and was by him in 1851 

 bequeathed to the Liverpool Museum, while yet a few specimens 

 turned up a few years ago and came to the British Museum ; see 

 'Ibis,' 1873, pp. 14-54, 105-124, 1874, p. 4tU, and A. Newton, 

 Diet, of Birds, Introduct. p. 12 (1890)]. Amboina may be fixed 

 as the typo locality of melinus. — Temminck {I. c, 1837) was tho first 

 to give a description and figure of the present species showing the 

 dorsal stripe and yellow wing-spots. 



'Technical names. — For about forty years, 1707-1810, this species 

 was commonly referred to under its earliest name, Vesperiilio cejiha- 

 lotes, though a few authors preferred to emphasize its evident 

 affinities by calling it Pteropus cephcdotes, while fewer still recognized 

 it as a distinct genus, Nyctimene cephcdotes. A change was effected 

 by the apiiearance of Etienne Geoffruy's paper on the " Eoussettcs "' 



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