110 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON BIRDS FROM LABUAN, [Feb. 16, 
number, the white on the outer one very much extended and reaching 
across the outer web of the external rectrix, comes within 0°3-0°45 
inch of the tip of the feather. 
Australia. A male from Port Essington obtained by Mr. Jukes 
has the abdomen and under tail-coverts spotted, as, indeed, have all 
the Australian specimens. Wings black, strongly shaded with grey. 
Tail-feathers 14, the outer tail-feather almost entirely white, ex- 
cepting a margin of black along the basal half of the outer web and 
a narrow terminal band about 0°25 inch in width. Two other birds, 
collected on Cairncross Island during the voyage of the ‘ Rattle- 
snake,’ agree with the Port-Essington example in having a very de- 
cided grey shade on the wing, and have the under tail-coverts much 
spotted. In both of these the rectrices are 14 in number, but the 
black border to the outer web of the external one extends, though 
more narrowly, right along the edge of the feather, while the black 
terminal border is much broader. These Australian birds with 
their grey-washed wings and whiter tails are nearer to C. luctuosa of 
Celebes. 
The above comparison of specimens proves to me pretty clearly 
that Professor Schlegel is right in uniting C. spilorrhoa to C. bicolor ; 
for certainly no one can draw the line between them. As a rule the 
Indo- Malayan examples at one end of the series have unspotted ab- 
domens and more black on the tails, while the Australian birds are 
tolerably thickly spotted on the abdomen and have more white on 
the tails; and at the same time I must observe that I have never 
seen an Australian example with unspotted under surface. As will 
be seen, however, by my observations made above, there is no limit 
to any of these characters, nor are the variations coincident with lo- 
cality. 
57. CALG@NAS NICOBARICA, 
Mr. Low has sent quite a long series of this bird, which neverthe- 
less seems to be new to the avifauna of Borneo, as it is not included 
in Count Salvadori’s book. The specimens agree exactly with others 
from the Nicobars and the Moluccas. 
Family TRERONID&. 
58. TRERON VERNANS (L.); Salvad. . c. p. 286. 
A pair of this Dove are sent by Mr. Low; and I have compared 
them with others in the Museum from the Philippines, Sumatra, 
Penang, Sarawak, Macassar, Tenasserim, and Siam. I cannot find 
any real difference between examples from all these localities. Some- 
times the greenish shade ou the forehead is absent ; but this charac- 
ter is not constant, some specimens from the same place having this 
shade and others not showing it. The extent of the vinous colour 
on the neck also varies in extent, and I can find no constancy in 
this character also. 
