SARCOPS. 719 



with Dicceidce, Loriculi, and other fruit-eating birds. It nests in dead 

 trees." (Bourns and Worcester MS.) 



734. SARCOPS MELANONOTUS Grant. 

 BLACK-BACKED COLETO. 



Sarcops calvus SHABPE, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1890), 13, 97 (part); 



MCGREGOR and WORCESTER, Hand-List (1906), 109 (part). 

 Sarcops melanonotus GRANT, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club (1906), 16, 100; Ibis 



(1906), 469; McGREGOR, Phil. Jour. Sci. (1907). 2, sec. A, 332 (notes 



on specimens from Bohol and measurements). 



Basilan (Everett, McGregor) ; Bantayan (McGregor) ; Banton (Celestino) ; 

 Bohol (McGregor) ; Catanduanes (Whitehead) ; Cebu (Everett, Steere Exp., 

 Bourns & Worcester, McGregor}; Dinagat (Everett}; Leyte (Everett, 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 Exp., Bourns & Wor- 

 cester} ; Panay (Steere Exp., 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. 



T T ntil recently Sarcops has been considered to be a monotypic genus. 

 It is true that in 1877 Sharpe described Sarcops lowii 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 8. 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. 



