i6<S Menage Expedition to the Philippines 



we left the next morning, in the launch for Sibuyan. The dis- 

 tance from here to Tablas is short, and the passage reasonably 

 safe in the native boats, but it is much farther to Sibavan, and 

 the passage at this time of the year a very dangerous one for sail- 

 boats of any description. Had we not caught the launch we 

 should have been obliged to wait until it made another trip. 



We got to work without loss of time, and shortly found sev- 

 eral interesting species of birds. The three which especially at- 

 tracted our attention are a woodpecker, a kingfisher and a ''flow- 

 er-pecker." We found a magnificent flycatcher which has the 

 colors of Cyanomyas coelestis, but the splendid crest on the head 

 is longer than in any specimen of C. coelestis I have ever seen, 

 and that bird has never been found in any of the islands near 

 these. We secured sixty-four species of birds in all, and they 

 are a queer set, quite different from those of Romblon and Tablas. 

 I should have been glad to remain in Sibuyan another week, but 

 we had to choose between leaving at the end of two weeks and the 

 risk of being stranded for some time, and it seemed best to go. 



Since our arrival we have been busy packing our specimens 

 and rearranging baggage preparatory to another trip, so that 

 we may be able to make a quick move in Manila if it is necessary 

 to do so. I now expect to go next to Masbate. 



The result of our work for the last seven weeks may be 

 briefly summed up by saying that we have discovered a numiber 

 of species of birds, possibly new; have made a larger and more 

 varied collection of land shells than we ever did in the same 

 length of time before, and have found what birds and animals 

 exist in three islands where the birds and animals had never 

 been studied before, and concerning which nothing was previous- 

 ly known. 



The fauna of this island was probably once identical with that 

 of Tablas, so far, at least, as birds and mammals are concerned. 

 The present differences have been brought about by the destruc- 

 tion of the forest here. The fauna of Sibuyan is quite distinct. 

 All three islands are poor as regards number of species, the dif- 

 ference being apparently made up, in many cases, by the great 

 abundance of representatives of the species which do exist. 



Manila, October 30, 1892. Our steamer was four days late 

 in Romblon, and we had to wait all that time with baggage 



