404 Letters:, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 



" Alcyone philippinensis (Gould)/' and wish to offer a few 

 remarks on the points at issue. 



The question is simply this : are there in reality two such 

 species as Ceyx cyanopectus and Ceyx philippinensis, or are 

 we simply dealing with opposite sexes of the same species ? 

 Dr. Steere brought back with him in 1888 abundant materials 

 to settle this question conclusively, but on examining his 

 pamphlet on the Birds and Mammals of the Steere Expedi- 

 tion, we do not find that he referred to it in any way. 



Without doubting in the least Mr. Whitehead's ability 

 to determine the sexes of birds correctly, we are still per- 

 fectly certain that Mr. Ogilvie Grant's conclusion is in- 

 correct, 



Ceyx cyanopectus is an extremely common bird in several 

 of the localities visited by us in 1890-93, notably in Masbate 

 and Mindoro. The form with the blue pectoral band and 

 the form which lacks it are invariably found side by side and 

 in equal abundance. If they belong to distinct species then 

 we have repeatedly witnessed a remarkable occurrence, 

 namely, the pursuit of the female of one species by the male 

 of another. 



Furthermore we have been the victims of a remarkable 

 series of coincidences, as among the scores of specimens that 

 have passed throiigh our hands we have never yet found an 

 exception to the rule that the birds with the blue pectoral 

 band are males. Immature males, however, have the plumage 

 of the females, lacking the pectoral band. 



Mr, Ogilvie Grant's conclusions were drawn from five 

 specimens. These were " a male and female of ' Ceyx cyano- 

 pectus ' and a male and two females of C. philippinensis." 

 We do not hesitate to express the opinion that the male of 

 *' C. philippinensis " owed its lack of the blue pectoral band 

 to the fact of its being immature, and that in the case of the 

 '' female " of Ceyx cyanopectus a mistake in sexing was made. 

 Such a mistake might readily occur, as anyone who has ever 

 sexed small Kingfishers in the tropics must know. They 

 putrefy rapidly, and except in the breeding-season their 

 ovaries and testes are often so minute as to require careful 



