1882.] DR. W. BLASIUS ON BIRDS FROM CERAM. 709 



18. Carpophaga neglecta, Schleg. Ned. Tijdschr. Dierk. iii. 

 pp. 195, 344 (1865); Mus. Pays-Bas, Columbce, p. 90; Salvad. Prodr. 

 Orn.Papuas., Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, ix. p. 201,sp. 46; Lenz, J. f.O. 

 1877, p. 377, sp. 58 ; Rosenberg, Malayisch. Arch. 1879, p. 323. 



"jPe»2a/e. Iris brown. L. 42 cm., D. 9 era. Bill blue-grey ; feet 

 and cere reddish violet. Lokki, Ceram, 26 Nov. 1881." 



This species has been as yet observed only in the islands of Ceram, 

 Amboina, and Boano' ; it is a representative of the nearly related 

 C. perspicillata (Temm.). 



The specimen is in the Brunswick Museum. 



19. Myristicivora melantjra, G. R. Gray, Salvad. Prodr. Orn. 

 Papuas., Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, ix. p. 203, sp. 56 ; ibid. viii. p. 381, 

 sp. 36. 



M. bicohr (Scop.), Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Columbcs, p. 98 ; 

 Lenz, J. f. O. 1877, p. 379, sp, 62 ; Rosenberg, Malayisch. Arch. 

 1879, p. 323. 



Five specimens (three males and two females). For all, the label 

 repeats : — " Iris brown. Bill and feet blue-grey. Lokki, Ceram." 



1. "(S. L. 36 cm., D. 6 cm. 25 Nov. 1881. Cere blue-grey." 



2. "(S. L. 37 cm., D. 6 cm. 25 Nov. 1881." 



3. " c?. L. 37 cm., D. 6 cm. 16 Dec. 1881. Cere blue-grey." 



4. "2- L- 37 cm., D. 6 cm. 25 Nov. 1881." 



5. " $ . L. 37 cm., D. 6 cm. 3 Dec. 1881." 



I place this species under the name melanura, Gray, because Salva- 

 dori iu his 'Prodromus,' too, separates this species and the nearly 

 allied M. spilorrhoa, Gray, from M. bicolor (Scop.). Schlegel unites 

 the three forms in the *Mus. Pays-Bas' {Columbce, p. 98) under the 

 original name M. bicolor, and justifies this by the statement that the 

 extent of the black and the white on the feathers of the tail, and tlie 

 formation of the black spots on the lower tail-coverts and on the 

 feathers of the lower abdomen are very variable, so that no species 

 could be founded thereon. As I have only before me some specimens 

 from Ceram, and one specimen (male) sent by Dr. Platen from 

 Amboina (cf. Blasius and Nehrkorn, tom. cit. p. 429, sp. 32), 

 which have all been regarded as M. melanura by Gray and 

 Salvador!, I have not the possibility of comparison with the other 

 forms. But it is certain that some of the specimens before me, in 

 particular No. 2, shows so great an extension of the white on the 

 tail-feathers that they do not conform to Gray's original diagnosis of 

 M. melanura. 



In No. 2 the white on the two external tail-feathers protrudes far 

 beyond the shaft on the outer web, so that in some places only 

 a dark stripe of about 1 mm. width is left ; and at the tip the 

 darker colouring extends only about 1 cm. down, and on the left 

 side can be called only a " whitish grey." No. 3, on the 

 contrary, has a decidedly black tail ; the white of the inner web of 



' A small island near Ceram. 



