Bii'ds of Buldbac and Pahiwcui. 29 



belong to the fully-adult birds, from whatever locality. But 

 on viewing the upper surfaces of a series of Balabac-Palawan 

 specimens side by side with a series of Luzon-Mindanao 

 birds, the first-mentioned character is at once seen to be a 

 good one, the green tract on the backs of the former series 

 forming a comparatively narrow band, whereas in the latter 

 series it extends nearly to the rump. It is noticeable, 

 further, that the cobalt and green hues are much brighter 

 than in any of the specimens from Luzon or Mindanao, 

 though it is no doubt very possible that this may be owing 

 to the freshness of the Balabac-Palawan skins. 



I have, therefore, no longer any doubt that P. pro- 

 pinqua differs sufficiently from P. erythrogastra to make it 

 necessary that it should be separated from the latter by the 

 appropriate appellation which Dr. Sharpe originally bestowed 

 upon it. And in this case it will follow that the locality 

 " Mindanao '' given in the ' Catalogue of Birds ' will require 

 correction, as, indeed, it would in any case, for the type was 

 described from Balabac. 



37. Pitta atricapilla. Less, 



Brachyurus sordidus (Miill.) ; Sharpe, Tr. Linn. Soc, 

 ser. 2, Zool. i. p. 331. 



Dr. Sharpe {t. c.) says that the Bo" leau Pitta muelleri is 

 distinguished from P. atricapilla by the almost entire 

 absence of the black abdominal patch, and by having the 

 thighs blackish instead of ochraceous brown. The large 

 extent of the black patch in the latter species is without 

 doubt a stable character, for although one occasionally meets 

 with individuals of P. muelleri which have the black on the 

 belly of very markedly larger extent than is found in the 

 ordinary run of these birds, it never attains to the develop- 

 ment constantly presented by adult birds of P. atricapilla. 

 The coloration of the thigh-plumes, on the other hand, seems 

 subject to a good deal of variation in the Bornean species. 

 In a series of fourteen skins from Balabac and Palawan 

 before me, the thighs are uniformly russet-grey with a faint 

 wash of pale green in some instances, and a fcAv have obsolete 



