244 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant on the 



issued till fully six months later, for the copy in the British 

 Museum was not received until the 19th of November, 1890; 

 under these circumstances Prof. Steere's name Ceya; minda- 

 nensis has priority. 



Messrs. Bourns and Worcester have united C basilanica, 

 Steere, with C. mindcmensis , and state that with a very large 

 series of specimens from Mindanao and Basilan they are 

 unable to detect the slightest diflFerence between the birds 

 from the two islands. We have only the types and the pair 

 of birds from Basilan to judge from, and these certainly 

 appear to belong to different species, for the Basilan birds 

 have no trace of black in front of the white spot on the side 

 of the neck, while in Mindanao birds the black is strongly 

 marked. Possibly this character is variable ; in C. dillwynii 

 it certainly is, for the black in front of the yellowish-wbite 

 neck-spot is absent or present in birds from the same locality. 



Mr. Whitehead did not meet with C samarensis in Leite. 



Ceyx samarensis (Samar). jj^ 



2 adults j Culmen l-65-i-7 



measure | Wing 2-35-2-4 



In adults and young alike the 

 spots on the wing-coverts larger 

 and bright French blue. 



Ceyx melanura (Luzon), jj^ 



6 adults j Culmen 1-4 



measure | Wing 21 



In adults and young alike the 

 spots on the wing-coverts smaller 

 and dull blue. 



[Iris black; bill and feet vermilion. — J. W.] 



63. Alcyone fluminicola (Steere). 



Ceyx fiuminicola, Steere, List Birds & Mamm. Philippines, 

 p. 10 (1890) ; Sharpe,Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xvii. p. 187 (1892). 



This species should, in our opinion, be placed with the 

 genus Alcyone ; for its habits, like those of A. cyanipectus 

 and A. nigrirostris, are quite different from those of Ceyx. 

 The latter are found in the forests far from water, and feed 

 chiefly on insects. The black-billed species of Alcyone 

 mentioned above are exclusively met with in the neighbour- 

 hood of rivers and streams, and their food consists of fish. 



[Iris and bill black ; feet coral-red. — J. W.] 



64. Halcyon gularis, Kuhl; Grant, Ibis, 1896, p. 556. 

 The White-throated Kingfisher from Samar. 



