Menage Expedition to the Philippines 167 



I shortly had all the small boys of Romblon in my service, 

 and during- our two weeks' stay made a large and, I think, a 

 very complete collection of the land shells of the island. In Tab- 

 las and Sibuyan we made fine collections of shells also. We have 

 about eight thousand specimens. 



The shells are brought in alive, a few at a time. To sort out 

 the good from the bad, bargain for the good ones, kill the ani- 

 mals and remove them from their shells, wash the shells, and 

 then wrap each one in paper, and pack them all, has been a good 

 deal of an undertaking. The shells are a very fine set, right 

 through, and as we got none of these species when in the Phil- 

 ippines the first time, I think they will be valuable to the Acad- 

 emy, both for exhibition and exchange. Each of these three is- 

 lands has its own set of shells. 



Just two weeks from our arrival in Romblon, we left for 

 Tablas, on the steam launch. We established ourselves in a town 

 called Badajos, The forest was conveniently near, birds and 

 shells were abundant and we put in two very profitable weeks. 

 We were fortunate in having uninterruptedly fine weather during 

 our entire stay. We found immediately two species of birds of 

 great interest. One is a new Diarurus,''' the other a flycatcher. 

 I am not prepared to say that the latter is new, as there has been 

 a species of this genus, Philentoma, recorded from the Philip- 

 pines for some years, and while I have never seen a specimen of 

 the bird, nor a description of it, the name fits, and I am inclined 

 to think that we have found out at last where *' Philentoma cyan- 

 iceps" came from. If not, a fine new species of the genus is dis- 

 covered. The two new species found in Romblon are also abund- 

 ant in Tablas. We shot a single specimen of an owl likely to 

 prove new, and found seventy-four species in all. I have al- 

 ways feared that the birds of this island might prove identical with 

 those of Panay. Prof. Steere felt so sure they would be the same 

 that he did not think the island worth visiting. Fact is better 

 than theory, however. The island differs from Panay not only in 

 the occurrence of a number of species of birds entirely distinct 

 from Panay representatives of the same genera, but in the ab- 

 sence of whole families, as hornbills and woodpeckers, as well 

 as in the absence of deer, which abound in Panay. 



We were very fortunate in making connections on returning 

 from Tablas. Arrived in Romblon one evening in a native boat, 



