1878.] IN THE BEITI8H-MUSEUM CATALOGUE. 577 



As yet not one has been recorded from the three large Sunda Islands, nor from the Philippine 

 archipelago ; nor has one been found at Malacca. Exclusive of C. hottentotta, the species form Ibis, 1878, 

 a natural section of the Dicmmlce, limited in distribution (with the exception of R hima'ensis) P' ^^" 

 by the bounds of the Austro-Papuan area, the Moluccas inclusive, D. leuco^s and D. ;pectomlis 

 dvpelling on its confines in Celebes and the Sula Islands. 



Chihia hottentotta. — The title given to the Chinese race of this species {hrevirostris) and its 

 reference (Mus. Hein. i. p. 112. no. 603) are not to be found in the list of synonyms, although 

 C. bremrostris is considered by Mr. Sharpe as being specifically inseparable. An examination of 

 the type specimen at Halberstadt, and a comparison made with forty examples from China, lead 

 me to the same opinion. The bill is slightly shorter ; but that is all. 



The " long silky hairs " of Mr. Sharpe, which spring from the base of the maxilla in C. hotten- 

 totta, and, recurved back, fall over the nape, are really the denuded shafts of a certain number 

 of the frontal plumes. Under a lens the aborted rudiments of the lateral webs can be readily 

 detected. Behind these denuded shafts are usually a number of elongated frontal crest-plumes 

 in different states of perfection. 



Chaptia. — Three species are admitted ; yet, as Mr. Sharpe emjiloys the expression " sub- 

 species " for forms which, in his opinion, are closely allied, it is not easy to detect his reasons 

 for allowing C. malayensis and C. hrauniana to stand as full species. The former is little else 

 than a smaller form of C. mnea, while the latter is hardly distinguishable at all. 



BucH.\KGA. — Hodgson formed this genus for the reception of B. albirictus * and B. annectens. 

 The latter species is scarcely congeneric with the former ; but all the long- and deeply forked- 

 tailed Asiatic species constitute a natural group, to which Hodgson's generic title is generally 

 applied. Mr. Sharpe includes in the genus an African species f, which has hitherto, and 

 apparently with good reason, been classed under' a separate section. 



Buchanga atra. — Under the specific title given by Hermann to the common King-Crow of IWs, 1878, 

 Southern India Mr. Sharpe includes all the forms which inhabit Ceylon, India, Burma, China, ^' ^'*' 

 and Java. None of the races which by different authors have been separated under distinctive 

 titles are allowed even to rank as subspecies J. This is an easy way of disposing of one of the most 

 difficult points which occur among the Dicruridge ; but it by no means exhausts the question. 



Mr. Sharpe observes (p. 246) that he " cannot understand why Vieillot's title of macrocercus 

 applies particularly to the Javan bird." It was founded on Le Drongolon of Le Vaillant (Ois. 

 d'Afr. t. 174), who omitted to state the origin of his type. The assumption that it came from 

 Java merely rests on its probability ; and so far Mr. Sharpe is entitled to his doubt. But then, 

 if the origin of the type cannot be established, why does Mr. Sharpe adopt its title for his 

 variety a, which includes all the British-Museum specimens of the Indian continental races, and 

 for which Hermann's title of atra is the oldest and is strictly applicable ? 



The totally distinct African species, D. assimilis (Bechst.) =1). musicus, Vieillot, is treated 



* Mr. Sharpe gives B. macrocerca as the name of the type— a title he does not admit when dealing with the species. 



t D. musicus, Vieill.= C. adsimilis, Bechst. 



t As Mr. Sharpe permits Bisscmuroides dkruriformis to stand as a subspecies separate from B. andamanensis, and 

 Buchanrja insularis as a subspecies of B. ccerulescens, the principle on which, for instance, B. minor is united with B. albi- 

 rictus is not very apparent. 



