■1875.] THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. 401 



GoESACHius, Bonaparte. 



200. GORSACHIUS MELANOLOPHUS. 



Ardea melamloplm. Raffles, Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 326, adult, "Sumatra" (1821); Layard, 

 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, 2nd ser. vol. xiv. p. 114, "Ceylon; " Blyth, Ibis, 1865, p. 38; 

 op. cit. 1867, pp. 173, 309 ; Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 413; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 478, 

 " Ceylon." 



Nycticorax limnopJiilax, Temm. PI. Col. 581, >v., "Java" (1835); Bp. Consp. ii. p. 156; 

 Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Ardece, p. 55, " Philippines, Bangka, Java." 



Gorsaclmis goisagi, Temm., Bp. Consp. ii. p. 138, no. 122 (adult, Mus. Paris); Swinhoe, 

 Ibis, 1865, p. 358; op. at. 1866, pp 123, 403. 



Tigrisoma limnicola, Reichenb. Syst. Av. p. 16 (1852). 



typus, Pucheran, Bp. I. c. 



Ardea (Botaitrits) 'philippensis, Gm., apud v. Martens, J. f. 0. 1866, p. 28, no. 155 (nee Gm.). 



"l Nycticorax goisagi, Temm. PI. Col. 582, adult, "Japan" (1835); Faun. Japon. p. 116, Tr. Z. p. is. 

 pi. 70; Bp. Consp. ii. p. 138, no. 122,>?;. ex Japan; Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Ardew, p. 54. V-^^Q. 



■? Gorsachius melanolophus (Raffles), G. R. Gray, Hand-list, no. 10177, "Japan." 



It is still a matter of some doubt whether the species of the genus Gorsachius which occurs 

 in Ceylon, Tenasserim, the Sunda islands, the Malayan peninsula, and the Philippines (Ardea 

 melanolopha. Raffles) is the same as that which inhabits Japan {Nycticorax qoisagi, Temm.). 

 Professor Schlegel {I. c.) keeps them distinct, whereas Mr. Swinhoe, in his last list of the Birds 

 of China [l. c), unites them. Professor Schlegel's materials for comparison consisted of four 

 Japanese individuals, two from Java, one from Bangka, and one from the Philippines, while 

 Mr. Swinhoe appears to have obtained his in Formosa only. The most marked differential 

 character possessed by G. melanolophus is its black crown and long black crest, each plume in the 

 Immature bird {Nycticorax limnophilax, Temm.) having a bold subterminal white irregular 

 mark. In no authentic Japanese individuals do the crown and crest seem to be black ; in the 

 adult they are of a rich purple chestnut. Prince Bonaparte {I. c.) described two individuals : 

 one, contained in the Paris Museum, having a black crest, he noted as the adult; the other, 

 with the head and nape bright chestnut, as the young. They are both stated to be " ex Japan, 

 nee inss. Philippensibus." They are certainly examples of adult birds; for the immature 

 plumage of the Archepelagic, the Formosan, and the Japanese races have been fully described. 

 The type of Ardea melanolopha is described by Sir Stamford Raffles (/. c.) as possessing a black 

 crest*. Mr. Blyth (Ibis, 1865, p. 38) mentions that he has seen A. melanolopha from Malacca 

 Arracan, Ceylon, and the Philippines, that the adult is similar to G. goisaqi, but has a lono- 

 black-crested pileus at all ages, while G. goisagi from Japan has no black on the crest at any ao'e. 

 This opinion Mr. Blyth subsequently modified {op. cit. 1867, p. 173), in consequence of some 

 observations of Mr. Swinhoe {op. cit. 1866, p. 403) on the seasonal changes of the crest-feathers 

 based on two adult specimens sent from Formosa. Mr. Swinhoe speaks positively of the black crest 



* Mr. Blyth (/. c.) considers that A. melanolopha, Raffles, is the young ; but Sir Stamford's description a"-rees best 

 with the adult plumage. 



