J 
' 
SARCOPS. 719 
with Diceide, Loriculi, and other fruit-eating birds. It nests in dead 
trees.” (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 
734. SARCOPS MELANONOTUS Grant. 
BLACK-BACKED COLETO, 
Sarcops calwus SHARPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 97 (part) ; 
McGrecor and WorcestER, Hand-List (1906), 109 (part). 
Sarcops melanonotus GRANT, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1906), 16, 100; Ibis 
(1906), 469; McGrecor, Phil. Jour. Sei. (1907), 2, sec. A, 332 (notes 
on specimens from Bohol and measurements). 
Basilan (Everett, McGregor); Bantayan (McGregor); Banton (Celestino) ; 
Bohol (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Hverett, Steere Heap., 
Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Dinagat (Hverett); Leyte (Hverett, Steere 
Exp., Bartsch); southern Luzon (Whitehead, Bartsch); Marinduque (Steere 
Exp.) ; Masbate (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor) ; Mindanao (Good- 
fellow, Celestino) ; Negros (Meyer, Steere, Everett, Steere Eyp., Bourns & Wor- 
cester); Panay (Steere Eap., Bourns & Worcester) ;“Romblon (Bourns & Wor- 
cester, McGregor); Samar (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester) ; Sibuyan (Bourns 
& Worcester, McGregor); Siquijor (Celestino); Tablas (Bourns & Worcester, 
Celestino) ; Ticao (McGregor). 
Adult.—Differs from Sarcops calvus only in having the back black 
forming a distinct dark area between the silvery gray of the hind neck 
in front and of the rump and tail-coverts behind. 
Until recently Sarcops has been considered to be a monotypic genus. 
It is true that in 1877 Sharpe described Sarcops loww from Sibutu, but 
as the type of this species remains unique we may consider its status to 
be at least doubtful. In 1895 Grant called attention to some differences 
between specimens of bald starlings collected in localities east of the 
meridian 122 and those from localities west of that line. Quoting in 
part from Grant: “we find that east of longitude 122 degrees, or there- 
about, all the Philippine examples of S. calvus have the mantle and upper 
back brownish black; while west of this line all have the upper parts 
uniform silvery gray ; intermediate forms being met with only in localities 
situated along the line where the two forms intergrade.” 
In 1906 Grant designated the eastern race as Sarcops melanonotus 
which is here recognized. The difference between the two races, while 
evident enough in extreme examples, is not always well marked. As 
Grant states, specimens taken near the meridian 122 are usually inter- 
mediate in the color of the mantle and are not satisfactorily referable 
to either race. These intermediate birds occur in Basilan, Bohol, Marin- 
duque, Luzon, Tablas, Bohol, and Cebu. In Luzon and Bohol, at least, 
both varieties and intermediate specimens have been found. 
