OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 125 



But Mr. Wallace obtained a specimen near Malacca of either 

 the true rufescens or mantis. It is a pity that Mr. Sharpe did not 

 give the length of the wing of this specimen which he records 

 as in the museum. He had also another skin from Malacca. 

 Are we to understand that the wings of these two birds also are 

 only 5 '2 ? This is by the way extraordinarily small for an Owl 

 of this group which measures 9*4 inches in length in the skin.* 

 If, however, these wings are really all 5-2, then they certainly 

 do not belong to the species which Blyth and Strickland, after 

 an examination of Horsfield's type, decided to be rufescens. 



It is impossible to decide among such authorities which is 

 right and which is wrong, but really now that Horsfield's types 

 are again available, it is to be hoped that Mr. Sharpe will take 

 an early opportunity of clearing up this difficulty. 



I would only add that whatever the true Scops rufescens may 

 prove to be, I cannot but think that the bird described by 

 Blyth, on Strickland's authority, as identical with Horsfield's 

 type of this, will prove to be neither more nor less than one 

 stage of Scops sagitlatus, Cassin — a name which, if Strickland 

 was correct, would have to give way to Horsfield's. 

 233 ter A. — Anthreptes rhodolsema, Shelley. 



With reference to my remarks, Vol. VIII., pp. 151, 152, 1 may 

 now mention that we have ourselves collected several specimens 

 of this species in the Malay Peninsula, so that its occurrence 

 there is no longer doubtful. 



289 B. — Muscipeta princeps, Tern. 



I think there is possibly some error in my friend Mr. Sharpens 

 diagnosis of this species, Gat. B. M., IV., 345. He says:— 



" b. Tail chestnut like the back. 



f 3 . Throat and breast grey, &c, &c, ... princeps, female. 

 but as a matter of fact princeps appears never to have the 

 tail chestnut. In the very youngest birds it is a dusky rufescent 

 brown, and apparently the adult females are like the immature 

 males. No single bird of this species, which we have as yet 

 collected of either sex, has had the tail chestnut. The birds 

 referred by this diagnosis to female princeps are really I believe 

 incii; at any rate one of the stages of incii answers accurately 

 to this diagnosis. 

 307 ter A. — Cyornis albo-olivaceus, Hume. 



Mr. Sharpe, in his last volume of the British Museum Cata- 

 logue, (IV., 457 note), remarks that this species will probably 

 prove to be the female or young of some bright colored male. As 



* Scops Owls, measuring about 7 inches say in the skin, will have wings of at least 

 5 5. How can a Scops, 94 inches long in the skin, have a wing of only 52 ? Yet this 

 is no mere misprint, for in the diagnostical table, torn cit. p. 47, rufescens is classed 

 as " size small ; wing not exceeding 56." The whole thing is a puzzle. 



