J 884.] THE EAST-INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 427 



is elevated into a new species, G. timorlaoensis (Meyer). Dr. Meyer 

 admits that the separation is based on very minute differences', which, 

 however, he believes will be found constant. On comparing the 

 Timor- Laut birds with Ke specimens in the British Museum de- 

 termined by Count Salvadori, the case stands as follows : — Timor- 

 Laut skins vary from 240-290 millim., while G. keyensis (Salv.) 

 ranges from 235-255 millim. Length of wing in the former 165- 

 170 millim., and in G. keyensis (Salv.) 175-185 millim. The tail is 

 shorter in G. timorlaoensis than in G. kei/ensis ; while the tarsus agrees 

 in both. In Timor-Laut specimens the external web of the outer- 

 most primary, where in the upper portion the colour is blue, and 

 in the lower green, exactly agrees with a specimen from Ke, of the 

 'Challenger* collection, determined as G. keyensis by Salvadori. Both 

 these are males. A female from Ke has the same region of this 

 feather blue throughout its length ; while a female from Timor-Laut 

 has a very narrow yellowish edge to the green-blue margin of the 

 primary. A female, of the ' Challenger' naturalists, also determined 

 by Salvadori as G. leyensis, is identical in coloration ; while, lastlv, 

 the colour of the under surfaces of the wings can scarcely be detected 

 to differ. It would appear therefore, so far as the skins from 

 Timor-Laut and Ke, in the British Museum and in my own collec- 

 tion, afford material for forming an opinion, that these differential 

 characters will not be found to have the constancy that Dr. Meyer 

 expected. The wing measurements certainly are less in Timor-Laut 

 specimens. It is probable that the differences in coloration are due 

 to age only, and are not sufficient to separate the Ke from the 

 Teniniber bird. 



Artamus nnischenbroeki, Meyer, is the name proposed for the 

 Timor-Laut Wood-Swallow, which had been determined by Dr. 

 Sclater as A. leucoyaster (Val.) (P. Z. S. 1883, pp. 51 & 200). 

 Of the Artamus from Dr. Meyer's identical locality I liave in 

 my own collection three specimens. I have examined carefully 

 seventeen others from different localities, in the very long series 

 in the British Museum derived from Celebes, the Philippines, 

 Sumatra, Java, Lombock, Flores, Timor, Batjian, Burn, Halma- 

 heira, Goram, Arn, Batanta, and from N. Australia. Tiie sj)ecies 

 in the Dresden Museum from the underlined localities are ad- 

 mitted by Dr. Meyer to belong to A. leiicogaster. It is impos- 

 sible to separate my Timor-Laut skins from specimens collected in 

 Zebu by the ' Challenger ' Expedition, and determined by Lord 

 Tweeddale (P. Z. S. 1877, pp. 544-545). The colour in both is 

 absolutely the same. Lord Tweeddale, however, remarks on the 

 difference of dress — "one in which the upper plumage is of a light 

 bluish and cinereous colour, the other where it is of a nioie smoky 

 brown and bluish ash. This does not seem to depend on sex ; for 

 one of these examples (Zebu 36y) is marked <?, while I possess a 

 Luzon example exactly similar, which Dr. Meyer determined to be 

 a $. The other Zebu example (No. 370) is marked 2, and is in 



' " Gcojfroius \tiinorlanensiii\, G. 7ceyc-nsi, Sal., simillimus, sed minor et pri- 

 marise extimas pogonio exteruo virescenti diversus.'' 



