Notes. 531 



It is not alhomger, Blyth^ at least I think not, because that 

 species appears to have a short stout tarsus^, while ours has a 

 particularly long" and slender one, a tarsus of 3 to a wing- of \% 

 inches, against a tarsus of 8'9 and a wing' of 14 in ouis, and because 

 even in the adult (and if our bird belonged to this species, it must 

 be quite a 3'oung one) the crest in alboniger appears to be nearly 

 an inch shorter, and to be broader, and differently shaped. It 

 belongs to the same sub-g'roup, I believe, but it cannot be I 

 think identical. 



It cannot be LatJiami, Tickell, (does any body know what 

 that is?) for the length of that species is given at 18 inches, 

 while ours was at least 23 ; nor can it be nmms, Wallace, 

 Ibis 1868, p. 14, which with a wing 11, has a tarsus of only 2"6 

 a mid toe feathered nearly to the first joint, and a crest con- 

 spicuously white tipped. 



The only remaining Asiatic species that I am acquainted with 

 is philippensis, Gurney, from the Philippines, and it is decidedly 

 closer to this than to any of the others. These are Mr. Gur- 

 ney^s dimensions : 



"Total length 25 inches; wing, 14-75; crest 2-5; tarsus, 3-5." 



These do not agree over well with ours, a longer wing, a much 

 shorter crest and tarsus. 



Then the tail has seven bars, not four, as in ours, but there is 

 the broad interspace dividing off the last bar as in ours, and 

 *\ the throat has a broad blackish band running down its centre, 

 with two similar and nearly parallel bands proceeding from the 

 corners of the mouth, the tln-ee bands all merging in a cluster 

 of dark brown lanceolate marks " Mr. Gurney adds " upon the 

 upper portion of the breast, " but in our bird, on the basal portion 

 of the throat. H not phili2)23ensi,i, it \s new; if new, how can 

 one believe in such a species restricted to a little corner as 

 this would seem to be, unless indeed it has been confounded in 

 Ceylon with Kienerii ; \i phiMppensis what does it mean by turn- 

 ing up in Travancore of ail places ? que diable allait il faii'e dans 

 eette galere ? " 



However I will describe it in detail ; it is an enigma to me 

 and if new, shall stand as 8. sphynx, nobis. 



Dimensions, (from the skin a very good one,) length, 22 

 to 23; wing 14"1 ; the fifth quill the longest; the fourth, 0'15 ; 

 the third 0-65 ; the second 1-6 ; and the first, 4-3 shorter than 

 the fifth. Tail, 10-2; external feathers, 0-7 shorter than the 

 rest. Tarsus, 3*9; mid toe and claw, 2"5 nearly. 



The firstfive quills very conspicuously notched on the inner webs, 

 the sixth also notched but more feebly — the second to the seventh 

 (both inclusive) conspicuously emarginate on the outer webs. The 



