248 DR. F. H. H. GUILLEMARD ON BIRDS COLLECTED [Mar. 17, 



add considerably. Ou the 20th of April, 1883, I arrived at Sulu 

 Island in Mr. Kettlewell's yacht ' Marchesa,' then on her way to 

 New Guinea, and stayed there over a month, calling again at the 

 group for a few days on our return journey. During these two 

 visits our party collected over the whole of the western half of Sulu 

 Island, and also visited Paugasinan, Lapac, Siassi, and Tawi-tawi, 

 though, owing to our limited time on these latter islands, we were 

 unable to obtain many specimens. Our total collection numbered 

 over 200 individuals of 60 different species. 



The total number of species recorded by Mr. Sharpe from the 

 Sulu group is 20. These I have had to reduce by four — Cuculus 

 fucatus, Carpophaga pickeringi, Calcenas nicobarica, and Gallus 

 stramineicollis. The thi"ee first are given on the authority of Cassin, 

 who records them as from " Mangbi, one of the Sooloo Islands." 

 This has naturally led Mr. Sharpe astray. Mangsi, though no 

 doubt originally under the jurisdiction of the Sultans of Sulu, who 

 used at one time to own a considerable portion of Borneo, is not one 

 of the Sulu group at all, but is an island oiF the N. coast of Borneo, 

 lying between Banguey and Balabac. It is 200 miles from the 

 nearest island of the Sulu Archipelago, and its avifauna is doubtless 

 directly derived from the adjacent mainland. Gallus stramineicollis 

 is, I have no doubt, merely the result of the crossing of G. bankiva 

 with the common fowl. All the natives from whom I inquired agreed 

 that there is but one species of Jungle-fowl on the islands; and I have 

 myself had abundant evidence of the freedom with which it inter- 

 breeds with the domestic bird. There thus remain 16 species of 

 presumed authenticity in Mr. Sharpe's list ; and to these I have been 

 able to add 49 others, bringing the full total up to 65 species. I 

 do not pretend that this is by any means an exhaustive list, even of 

 Sulu Island alone, still less of the other islands of the Archipelago, 

 but, as will be seen, it is more than sufficient to show the main 

 source from which the bird-life of that group is derived. 



If from the 6,5 species above mentioned we deduct those birds, 

 for the most part of wide distribution, which are common alike 

 to Borneo and the Philippines, we have 39 species left. Of these, 

 two are new species described in the following pages, and three 

 (^Bicrurus pectoralis \ Ptilopus /ormosus, and Artamides j)ollens) 

 are from the Celebes group and the Ke Islands respectively. 

 One, Carpophaya pickeringi, though obtained by Cassin from 

 Mangsi, is new to Sulu. Of the rest, three are presumably Bornean, 

 as against no less than 30 Philippine species unrecorded from the 

 former country. 



The three Bornean birds — Scops rufescens, lyngipicus ramsayi, 

 and Gerygone Jlaveola — demand a moment's consideration. The 

 Sulu habitat of the first-named species rests on a single individual 

 which was believed to have been shot on Sulu Island by Mr. Bur- 

 bidge. Mr. Sharpe informs me that the bird reached him unlabelled, 

 and together with other birds shot by Mr. Burbidge in North 



^ Bicruriu^ pectoraUi,\\a.a\iii\\cr\.o ovly been recorded bv Wallace iVoui the 

 Sulla Islands, and by Briiijn from the Obi group. 



