of the Indian and Australian Regions. 43 



Le Soui-manga a gorge violette, Audeb. & Vieill., Ois. Dor. ii. 

 p. 56, t. 32, cJ adult., ex Sonn. 



Certhia affinis, Shaw, Gen. Zool. viii.i. p. 208 (1811), ex Audeb. 

 & Vieill. t. 32. 



Nectarinia coccinigastra, Temm., PI. Col. livr. 65, t. 388. f. 3, 

 $ adult., " Manilla '^ (May 27, 1826), descr. orig. 



Nectarinia philippensis (part.), Meyen, Reise, Zool. p. 206 

 (1834). 



Certhia zeylonica, L., ap. Meyen, /. c. <S adult.,"Manilla," nee L. 



Nectarinia affinis, (Shaw), Jard., Nat. Lib. xxxvi. pp. 216, 262, 

 t. 20, S adult., " patr. incert." 



Anthreptes expectata, Licht., Nomencl. Av. Mus. Berol. p. 56, 

 "Manilla" (1854). 



Nectarinia coccineogastra, Temm., Von Martens, J. fiir Orn. 

 1866, p. 12, no. 48; Id., Preuss. Exped. Ost-Asien, p. 189. 



Hab. Luzon (Von Martens) . 



Specimens, of both sexes, brought to Prance from the Philip- 

 pines by Poivre, enabled Brisson to describe the species which 

 Linnaeus named Certhia sperata. Brisson described the crown 

 as of a metallic-violet colour; Sonnerat, from specimens 

 obtained by himself, recorded that part as being metallic- 

 green; and Temminck used expressions, when describing the 

 varying hues of this beautiful species, which convey a meaning 

 slightly differing from that transmitted by the two older 

 authors. Setting aside the extreme improbability of three 

 closely allied yet distinct species of this isolated form coexisting 

 at Manilla, it seems pretty clear that the slight discrepancies to 

 be found on comparing the original descriptions result from 

 the difficulty of noting the iridescent hues of metallic plumage. 

 Violet and green are frequently interchangeable, according to 

 the light, as, for instance, in the dorsal plumage of A. malac- 

 censis, (Scop.). Reichenbach, however, enumerates C. sperata, 

 L., C. affinis, Shaw, and N. coccinigastra, Temm., as three distinct 

 species (Handb. Spec. Orn. nos. 651, 652, 653)*. 



* Certhia cmrantia, Gm. (ex Latli. G. Synop. i. ii. p. 724, no, 38), 

 brought from Africa by Smeatlimau, and suggested by Shaw (Gen. Zool. 

 vii. p. 207) to be a variety of C. sperata, L., can be nothing else than 

 Certhia crocata, Shaw & Nodder (Vivar. Nat. vi. t. 210), i. e. C. violacea, L. 



