( 2fi ) 



23. Pitta vigors! (iould. 



? ad.. Kalidupa, 3. i. 1902. - Iris coft'ee-brown, feet pale flesh-cnloiir. bill black." 

 (No. 4586, Kiihn coll.) 



The occurrence of this bird on the Tukaug-Be.si Islands is most unexpected, and 

 I am inclined to think that it is only an accidental visitor there. If there was 

 n resident race, one would expect it to differ from tyjiical vigorsi, though the 

 distribution of the latter i.>; much wider than we knew formerly. 



24. Hirundo javanica Sparrm. 

 Common on Kalidui.a and I'.inongka. (Nos. 4267, 4268, 4269, 4270, 4271, 4593, 

 4594, 4595. 4590, Kiihn coll.) 



2'). Monarcha inoruata kisserensis A. V>. Meyer. 



[MnscicrijKt hiomala (iarnot, V<iy. "Coquille," Zool. Atl. PI. X^■I. fig. 2 (1826); 

 i. 2. p. 591 (1828 : New Guinea).] 



Monarcha inornntua \ax. kisserensis ]\Ieyer, Sitsungsber. & Ahh. Isis, Dresden, 

 1884. p. 22 (Kisser). 



A series from Kalidupa and Binongka. (Nos. 4265, 4266, 4293, 4294, 4295, 

 4296, 4297, 4410, 4573, 4574, 4575, 4576.) 



I have doubtfully ajiiilied the above name to these specimens. One thing is 

 certain: they differ from the (typical!) New Guinea birds as follows: the grey, 

 especiallv on the liead, neck and mantle, is lighter, more whitish; the abdomen is of 

 a dee])er chestnut colour; the bill is smaller. They seem to agree very well with 

 Kisser specimens (Kiihn coll.). It is, however, doubtful if the name cinerascens of 

 Temminck, based on Timor specimens, is not available for these forms, but I have 

 no Timor specimens to compare. The subspecies of this flycatcher are difficult to 

 study. Dr. I'insch (Kotes Leyden Mus. xxii. 1901. p. 259) denies the possibility of 

 distinguishing any local forms. He says that the different colorations are due, in 

 both sexes, to age. While freely admitting that Dr. Finsch is quite correct in 

 remarking that the grey of the head, hindneck and foreneck is darker in young 

 birds, lighter in adult ones, while the abdomen is lighter rufous in the young, deeper 

 and more chestnut in old ones, I have sufficient adult birds for comparison to show 

 that New Guinea birds are lighter rufous and darker grey (having also larger bills), 

 and that those from the South- West Islands, Dammer, Timorlaut, the Tukang-Besis 

 and other places have a lighter grey and deeper chestnut-rufous colour. 



Monarcha inomata commatata \_Mon(i.rcha commukUa Briigg., Abh. Ver. Bremen 

 1876 v. p. 68 " Manado "— errore : Siao (?Sangi)] is evidently a darker grey form, 

 and well recognisable as a subspecies ; nevertheless, I cannot understand why ^Messrs. 

 Mejer & \\'iglesworth, who fully grasped the value of recognising subspecies, and 

 u.«ed trinomials frequently, allowed ^' commutatus" to stand as a species, with two 

 names, side by side with "inm-natus," while " commntatua" is no more distinct, in 

 my opinion, than " kisserensis " — the exact distribution of which is not yet under- 

 stood, and obscured by the occurrence of young birds and probably also sometimes 

 by aberrant individuals. 



26. Pratincola caprata (L.). 

 ?, S.W. Buton, 25. xi. 1901. (No. 4135, Kiihn coll.) 



