OE 5S PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 331 
3efore leaving this theme [ will call attention to the fact that in some 
of the males the fore neck and breast are pure black, while in others the 
black is more or less suffused with blue. [am inclined to think that 
this blae wash is due to the freshness of the plumage, and asit is found 
both in fall and spring specimens, it may indicate that these feathers 
are shed twice a year. It does not seem to be due to age. 
This explanation has no bearing upon the question in regard to the 
curious specimen in the Leiden Museum figured in Fauna Japonica 
plate xvii D, lower figure, which has received the name Cyanoptila 
cyanothorax. In the latter work (p. 47) it is deseribed as being ‘des 
teintes beaucoup moins pures. Le noir de ja queue s’avance jusque 
vers la base de cet organe, et le noir des parties inférieures est rem- 
placé par une teinte Vun bleuatre sale.” Blyth describes the same spec- 
imen (Ibis, 1870, p. 165) as “ having the throat, breast, and ear coverts 
* * * of a dull whitish color, while the back is strongly tinged with 
verditer.” This hardly represents a regular plumage, much less a distinet 
species, and Blyth’s surmise that it is ‘“‘probably a female in quasi- 
masculine attire” is most likely the correct explanation. The absence 
of black on the fore neck and of white on the tail feathers clearly indi- 
cates the female sex; that the females are apt to assume amore or less 
bluish plumage is illustrated by the specimen alluded to above, which 
has the feathers on the crown tipped with sky-blue. 
xe Measurements. 
H | | & 
| | | | | 8 
| | a 
| | Sex | | | | | g c= 
SEeKT a a » 6 SASS. | . 7 eS a 
Beant ( oe and und | Locality. Date. B = 5 
| age. | } a 2 2 
| pen eae 
| | By euler 
cla || a) & 
| | Pile) ) a a 
a = a ae = = a x [= = 
120367 | Henson, 102..-| fad ..; Hakodate, Yezo .........-. | Nov. 12, 1882 | 92 61 |10 [18 18 
120368 | Henson, 1243..| ¢jun-.....- UL ae Nien pe ia Oct. 7,1884] 89 | 58 | 9.516 16 
120369 | Henson 1381../ Qad.-|....-- MOS eae oer ae Ser May 20,1885} 90 | 59 |12 |17 17 
120370 | Henson, 1402.-| Qad -..|....-- dGstic. Sabo 2 see May 20,1885} 88 | 58 |11 {17 17 
91813 | Jouy, 1064.....| ghorn} Yokohama, Hondo..-....-. Apr. 29,1883 | 90 | GO |11 j17 |...... 
88614 | Jouy, 453....--| Shorn| Fuji, Hondo.....-.......-.-. July 8,1882] 89} 59 |11 (16 | 17 
91379 | Jouy, 638... --- Jdjun =| Chiusenji Lake, Hondo. --.| Aug. 30, 1882 | 94 | 63 |11 /16 18 
88615 | Jouy, 364....-- Cad a |; Wop eondo.. 22822 oseee oe June 30, 1882 | 90 | GO [11 16 | 16 
109339 | Namiye....... OLE peel a ne A ena Nea ea May 5,1885| 87/57 |11 |16.5; 17 
88616 | Jouy, 614....-. Ontives pe ROL] L pe ONGO cer «ue memes 2 st July 28, 1882} 89 | 59 '}....|.... Vat eaee 
: | | 
1 
Poliomyias ferruginea (GMEL.). (210) 
K This is the same as Pallas’s M. luteola and Temminck’s M. mugimaki, 
as evidenced, among other things, by Pallas’s own synonymy (Zoogr., 
I, p. 470). 
Henson’s collection contains not less than five specimens of this bird 
So rare in Japan, and throws considerable light on the question of sex- 
ual differences and seasonal changes in this species. It would have 
been impossible for me to gain a full and correct idea of these facts, had 
I not been permitted to examine an unparalleled series of thirty-five 
Specimens collected in Corea by my friend P. L. Jouy. The conclusions 
ponesae 
t 
a 
> 
