106 



ORIOLUS Linn. 



(Sharpe, Cat. Eds., Ill, p. 181, 1877.) 



chinensis Linn. (p. 203.) 



Isabellas Grant, Bull. B. O. 0., IV, No. XX, Luzon 

 p. ii (1894). 



albiloris Grant, Bull. B. O. C., Ill, p. xlix Luzon 



(1894). 



samarensis Stecre, List. Bds. 

 Stoore Exp., p. 17 (1890). 



and Mams. Leyte 



steerii 1 ftharpe. (p. 213 pt.) 



[basilanicus Grant, Ibis, 1896, p. 532.] 



Basilan 



S;i in ill- 



Mindanao 



Tawi Tawi 



cinereogenys Bourns and Worcester, Occ. Bongao 

 Papers Minnesota Acad., I, No. 1, p. K> 



(1894). 



1 Grant makes the extraordinary statement that a glance at the original 

 description and figure of O. steerii is sufficient to show that the Xegros bird is 

 the one described (Ibis, Oct., 1896, p. 532) and quotes Cat. Bds. Ill, p. 213, pi. x 

 (1887), in support of his contention that Bourns and I were mistaken in sup- 

 posing that the type of 0. steerii comes from Basilan. He therefore rejects our 

 name of 0. nigrostriatus for the Negros bird on the ground that it is a synonym 

 for 0. steerii and assigns to the Basilan bird, which lie agrees with us is quite 

 distinct from the Negros bird, the name O. basilanicus. 



Had Grant followed his own suggestion and glanced at the original description 

 of O. steerii which occurs in Trans. Linn. Soc., Ser. II. Vol. 1. p. 329, he would 

 have discovered that two specimens only were collected by Steere; that one 

 specimen (a) was an adult male from Isabela de Basil fin, while the other (b) 

 of which the sex was not determined, came from Negros. Also that the type 

 described was an adult male. Furthermore, he seems to forget that the type of 

 this species, which, by the way, still bears a label in Dr. Sharpe's well-known 

 hand, is at present in the bird collection of the University of Michigan. It was 

 before Dr. Bourns and myself when our description of O. nigrostriahift was 

 written. This type is an adult male from Basilan. Grant's 0. basilanicus 

 therefore becomes a svnonvm of 0. steerii. WORCESTER. 



