1873.] a. E. Dobson— On Indian Pteropi. 117 



M. Govinda S . 21 



4 22 



& 23| 



& 22 x 



g " J according to Mr. Hume 



" ." I " * " " t»» *\ m ' Stray Feathers. ' 



M. major, J or ? ... 277 to 29 ' J 



From the above dimensions it is apparent that a bird, in the flesh mea- 

 suring 26 inches, cannot be our common kite. The probability is greatly 

 in favour of its being M. melanotis. 26 in. could only be obtained by measur- 

 ing a stretched skin of our common kite, and this an accomplished natura- 

 list like Col. Sykes would hardly have done. 



I have heard that Col. Sykes' types are all carefully packed away in 

 boxes, and it is to be hoped moths' eggs have not been packed up with 

 them. How necessary it is that these valuable types should be in some 

 museum where they might be properly cared for, and accessible. In the 

 British Museum they would be well cared for, and thither they ought to be 

 sent. 



There are several of Col. Sykes' types which require re-examination, and 

 especially that of Sylvia Rama. Dr. Jerdon was under the impression 

 that the true S. Rama was the smaller and more rufous bird separated by 

 Mr. Hume as " Jerdonia agricolensis" after examining a series of both 

 birds which I had prepared. The dimensions of Col. Sykes' original de- 

 scription favour Dr. Jerdon's view ; for they decidedly indicate the smaller 

 bird. I may mention in passing that the larger bird which Mr. Blyth 

 regarded as Sylvia Rama, has been identified by Dr. Tristram with Sylvia 

 caligata, Licht. 



I have digressed thus from the subject in hand to shew the necessity 

 for Sykes' types being accessible ; and I know from experience, that it is a 

 dangerous thing to shut up specimens in the tightest of boxes, unless they 

 have been previously thoroughly baked. The chances are that all these 

 valuable types have been reduced to a confused mass of feathers, or rather 

 of the remains of feathers. 



2. Notes on the Pteropi of India and its Islands, ivith descriptions of some 

 new or little known species. — By G. E. Dobson, B. A., M. B., Staff 

 Surgeon H. M.'s British Forces. 



(Abstract.) 

 According to Drs. Peters' and Gray's lists of the species of Pteropus no 



less than fifty species exist of which half inhabit a few small islands in the 



Malay Archipelago, and one species only Pt. medius, Temm. is known from 



the Continent of India and Burma. 



