66 REVIEW OF THE 
in including the genera Leucocerca and Sauloprocta ; moreover 
I found, and Dr. Sharpe adheres now to this opinion , that 
the genus Neomyias, established in his catalogue, has to 
be reunited with Rhipidura. 
The genus, as it is understood in this review, con- 
tains the considerable number of 75 species, of which five 
are described here as new. 
Although I was fully aware of the difficulties to meet 
with, I made an attempt to find a natural order in which 
to place the numerous species of this genus. For this pur- 
pose I divided the whole genus into a group with small 
(13 em. or less) and another with large bill (more than 
13 cm.). This classification is, I am sorry to say, not 
quite perfect, as the last species of the small-billed group, 
R. albiventris from the Philippines, would, in fact, rather 
belong to the second group. On account of its red back, 
however, which forms a characteristic of a section of the 
first group, and its near relationship to R. cyaniceps, 1 
prefer to close the first group with it, rather than placing 
it at the head of the second. On the other hand I placed 
in my second group, for similar reasons, a species with 
short bill, &. pectoralis, as it has no other relationship 
whatever with the short-billed group. The further classi- 
fication of the species of each group into well-defined sec- 
tions and subsections will be learnt from the key to the 
species, and I am pleased to say that but a very few 
species had to be placed, as it were by force, into one or 
other section of the genus. 
I cannot close these few introductory lines without 
any expression of gratitude, especially to the address of 
Dr. Sharpe, for the kindness with which I was allowed 
to examine the rich materials in the British Museum and 
to increase the number of our species of this genus with 
such which were hitherto wanting in the series of the 
Leyden Museum. 
Notes from the Leyden Museum, Vol. XV. 
