628 DR. F. H. H. GUILLEMARD ON BIRDS COLLECTED [June 16, 



50. Sauromarptis gaudichaudi (Q. et G.). 

 Sauromarpfis ffaudickaudi, Salvad. op. cit. vol. i. p. 487. 

 a-h. (S . Waigiou. 



i-n. 2 . Waigiou. 



o-r. 5 . Batanta. 



s. Jr. S- Batanta. 



t-x. c?. Mysol. 



y, z. 2 • Mysol. 



a', b'. 2 ■ ^ru- 



c'. 2 • Salwatti. 



Iris brown ; bill greenish yellow ; tarsus pale olive-green. Length 

 31 '7-34 centims. ; wing 13'5-i4*5 centims. 



In spite of Salvadori's opinion to the contrary, I cannot helj) 

 regarding the blue- tailed bird as the male, and the chestnut tail as, 

 in adult individuals, an invariable mark of the female sex. Salvadori 

 holds that the females also assume the blue tails, but only in extreme 

 adult Ufe ; and, secondly, that the male has at first a chestnut tail, 

 but assumes the blue tail at an early stage. 



The present series does not bear this first assertion out. Without 

 a single exception ail the adult examples with chestnut tails are 

 marked 2 ; all those with blue tails <^. Among the former are 

 some which are undoubtedly old birds, with the maxilla worn and 

 notched at the edge, but the tails show no sign of turning blue. 

 Again, in Salvadori's series of 98 individuals, of those labelled as 2 > 

 with the tail blue, two only have Beccari's initial appended ; the 

 rest are birds obtained from Bruijn. Conversely, of those labelled 

 cJ with a chestnut tail, all are from Bruijn with the exception of 

 two, which are of Beccari's collecting. I do not for a moment wish 

 to imply that INIr. Bruiju's collectors are more unreliable than 

 natives usually are, but I can only say that of my own hunters there 

 was but one on whom I could depend for the accurate determination 

 of sex. 



The females have not the same deep glossy black back as the 

 males, and the scapulars are in no case edged with blue. Example 

 s is a young bird, with a very short beak and tail ; the collar, eye- 

 streak, loral spot, and sides of throat are fulvous ; the blue on the 

 wings is much paler ; the tail beneath is red as in the female, but 

 on the upper surface tlie basal half is strongly tinged with blue. It 

 is a male. The bill is greenish black ; basal half of mandible 

 whitish. 



51. Melidora macrorhina (Less.). 



Melidora macrorhina, Salvad. op. cit. vol. i. p. 500. 



a. (S . Waigiou. 



b. Jr. d • Waigiou. 



c. 2 • Waigiou. 



d. Jr. 2 • Dorei. 



Iris brown ; bill — maxilla very dark brown, mandible greenish 

 yellow ; feet greenish brown. Length of adult 33' 7 centims. ; of 

 immature birds 27'0 and 29"5 centims. ; wing 11*5 centims. 



