from the New Hebrides. 339 



No. 91. J ad. Hoy Head, Espiritu Saato, Aug. 7, 1899.— 



Bill black; feet dirty yellow; iris red. 

 Nos. 120, 121. S ? ad. Hoy Head, Espiritu Santo, Sept. 18, 



1899. — Stomach contained beetles. 

 The ('acomantis from the New Hebrides is distinct from 

 the New Caledonian bird and also from that of the Fiji 

 Islands. Capt. Shelley found only a slight difference in the 

 size of the bill to separate Cacomantis shnus of Fiji from 

 C. bronzinus of New Caledonia. C. bronzinus and C schis- 

 tacei(jularis have very similarly coloured tails, the outer 

 rectrices having narrow white bars on the inner web ; but in 

 the former bird the rufous of the under surface is continued 

 right up to the chin, whereas in the New-Hebridean examples 

 the entire throat is dark slaty grey. In C. simus, from the 

 Fiji Islands, the throat is pale grey to a certain extent, but 

 the tail-markings are very different, for the white tips and 

 tail-bands are very broad and often extend right across the 

 feathers. 



Halcyon farquhari Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, x. 

 p. xxix (Dec. 1899). (Plate VII.) 

 No. 9. ? ad. Hoy Head, Espiritu Santo, Aug. 7, 1899. — 



Culmen black; genys whity flesh, tip black; legs bluish 



i)lack; iris dark. 

 No. 29. ^ ad. Tangkunen, Mallicollo. — Iris dark brown, 



with black centre ; legs black. 

 No. 112. ? ad. Hoy Head, Espiritu Santo, Sept. 16, 1899. 

 This is a remarkable new species of Halcyon of the Cyan- 

 alcyon section, and apparently quite distinct from any of those 

 described. From H. leucopygius, which seems to be its 

 most direct ally, it is at once recognizable by its blue lower 

 back and cinnamon-orange breast and abdomen. It cannot 

 be confounded with H. winchelli or H. quadricolor or any 

 other species of the red-breasted group, as the cinnamon- 

 orange colour of the underparts is quite peculiar. 



Halcyon juli^ (Heine) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xvii. p. 264( 1892) ; Wiglesw. t. c. p. 14. 

 No. 21. ? ? juv. Sandwich Bay, Mallicollo. — Upper man- 

 dible black ; lower mandible white, black at tip ; iris dark. 



