1873.] PEOM TUE AJ^^DAMAN ISLANDS. 239 



12. Entomobia smtrnexsis (Linn.), S. N. i. p. ISl. no. 11 (1776). 



" S. Andaman : iris dark brown, legs and feet dark red, bill coral-red." 



The six examples obtained by Mr. Ramsay in South Andaman difier from individuals from 

 all other parts of Asia in the intensity of their colouring. Instead of chestnut-brown, the 

 plumage of the head, shoulder-coverts, flanks, and under surface is deep chocolate-brown ; and the 

 blue portion of the plumage is much deeper in shade. I have compared these six individuals with 

 forty-three examples from all parts of India, from Ceylon, Formosa, Burma, Malacca, Cambodia, 

 and from Syria ; and the differences above mentioned at once distinguish the Andaman race. 



13. CALiALCTOJf COROMANDA (Lath.), Ind. Orn. i. p. 252 (1790). 

 " S. Andaman : 6,2, iris brown, legs and feet red." 



14. Alcedo bengalensis, Gm. S. N. i. p. 450. n. 20 (17S8). 



" S. Andaman : $ , bill above and tips of both mandibles black, lower coral-red ; legs and 

 feet vermilion ; Ross. Isl." 



15. Collocalia affinis, Tytler: Beavan, Ibis, 1867, p. 318. 



" Chatham Island: iris brown, feet light brown, bill black." 



A numerous series was obtained by Mr. Ramsay on Ross and Chatham Islands durino- the 

 months of January and February. The species is apparently the same as C. lincld, Ilorsf. and 

 Moore, and which I have very little doubt is the bird described from Java by Thunberg under Ibis, 1873, 

 the title of Ilirundo fuciphaga. Collocalia innominata, Hume, Str. Feath. i. p. 294, " Port ^'' ^^^' 

 Blair," as described, agrees well with Sikim and Malaccan examples of so-called C.fucijjhaqa 

 (Thunb.), and named hrevivostris by McClelland (P. Z. S. 1839, p. 155), the type specimen 

 of which was identified as being that of a Collocalia by Mr. Moore. 



16. EuDYJfAMis MALATANA, Cab. Mus. Hein. iv. p. 52, " Sumatra" (1862-63). 



Eudynamis honorafa* (Linn.), Ball, Str. Feath. i. p. Go. no. 38, " Andamaus." 



* Written horonata at page 173, [S. P. i.] by Mr. Hume (a quaint blunder ), with tlie suggestion that I had written honorata 

 througb a " clerical oversight." The Calcutta printers, in this instance at least, are not responsible; for they have been 

 made to reproduce, not correct, the palpable misprint in the ' Hand-list,' No. 9068. Surely, if there is not a copy of a 

 Linnseus, or even of a Gmelin or a Latham, in any Calcutta library, there must be a Latin dictionary accessible. For the reason 

 ■why Linnajus entitled the species Cucuhts honoratus, of. Walden, Ibis, ISOO, p. 327 [.w^J''", p. 58] ; in addition to which I 

 may quote Gmelin, i. p. 413. no. 7, " Caculus Iwnoratus. Habitat in Malabaria, rcptilihas victitans, hinc forte incolis sacratus," 

 which is only a repetition of Latham's remarks, Sacred Ciicl-oo, C. honoratus, L. (Syn. i. p. 526), " Inhabits Malabar, where 

 the natives hold it sacred. It feeds on reptiles, which, perhaps, may be such as are the most noisome ; if so, this seeming 

 superstition may have arisen from a more reasonable foundation than many others of the like sort." This is an indifferent 

 rendering of Montbeillard's observations on the " Cuil" (Hist. Nat. Ois. vi. p. 376), "II est en veneration sur la cote de 

 Malabar, sans doute parce qu'il se nourrit d'insectes nuisibles. La superstition en general est toujours une erreur, mais les 

 superstitions particulieres ont quelquefois un fondement raisonable." We have here an interesting illustration of the 

 crescendo growth of a fallacy. Brissou simply stated that the Kocl was held in veneration by the natives of Malabar, a 

 story Linnseus perpetuated by the title he bestowed. Montbeillard not only repeated the statement, but added as a reason 

 that it was because the Kocl destroj-ed noisome insects. Latham improved on the insects and raised them to the rank of 

 reptiles — a view Gmehn adopted ; whUe Stephens, under Caculus Iwnoratus, Linn. (Gcn.Zool, Ls.pt. 1, p. 104), as a climax, 

 credited the bird with killing both noxious reptiles and insects. 



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