474 Birds of Celebes: Nectariniidae. 



ences of age, it is nevertheless practically certain that the almost nnnoticeable 

 marks of distinction which separate the Banka and Sangi birds will prove to 

 fall within the extremes of individual variation of the races in either locality- 

 The gap may be further filled up if the islands intermediate between Banka 

 and Siao, i. e. Biarro and Tagulandang harbour this species. Links also be- 

 tween Anth-eptes malaccensis celebensis and A. malaccensis — chlorigaster are pretty 

 sure to be found in some of the Philippines. Sooloo furnishes birds between 

 the typical malacce?isis and chlorigaster: "Professor Blasius has referred the Sula 

 bird to A. chlorigaster, and Dr. Guillemard to A. malaccensis. The specimens 

 now sent by Mr. Everett appear to me to belong to the latter species. One 

 specimen from Tawi Tawi is very like A. chlorigaster, but another from the same 

 island cannot be distinguished from A. malaccensis^'' (Sharpe, Ibis 1894, 251). 

 Here we see a case in which authorities find themselves, for want of a satisfying 

 principle of nomenclature, compelled to call the same thing by different names, 

 and we i^ity the feelings of a future writer on the history of the birds of Sooloo 

 who — if he uphold binomial nomenclature unchanged — has to make up 

 his mind which name to adopt. The name Anthreptes malaccensis — chlorigaster 

 (Scop. — Sharpe) cannot offend any one except by its length. If it be ob- 

 jected that the Sooloo birds have really rather more to do with the typical 

 malaccensis than with chlorigaster, then the sign A. malaccensis'^ chlorigaster or, 

 if they approach most nearly to chlorigaster., the sign A. malaccensis <^ chlorigaster 

 will serve to define them — the angle denoting something intermediate, its 

 base being turned in the direction of the subspecies with which it has most in 

 common, and its point in the directiom of the other subspecies towards which 

 its develoijment tends. Not having sufficient material to take into full con- 

 sideration the typical malaccensis, its racial variation in the direction of Flores 

 and Sumba^). and all the forms interconnecting it with chlorigaster, and with 

 only one specimen each (if correctly determined) of the species or subspecies 

 A. griseigularis Tweedd. (Siquijor Id., North of Mindanao) and A. rhodolaema 

 Shelley (Sumatra), we restrict this article to the two forms A. malaccensis celebensis 

 and A. malaccensis chlorigaster. 



The following is a general description of the species; 



Anthreptes malaccensis (Scop.). 



Adult male. Head above, hind neck and lower sides of neck, and mantle metallic 

 bottle-green, with or without a violet gloss; lesser wing-coverts, lower half of 

 back and upper tail-coverts glossy violet-blue (Royal purple); tail-feathers 

 dusky, with metallic edges; quills dusky; lores, sides of head and upper sides 

 of neck, middle and greater wing-coverts and edges of quills olive-green; a 

 long submalar stripe metallic violet-blue, more bottle-green near base of bill; 



>) That most conscientious worker, Mr. Hartert, finds himself reduced to ealliug- the Bali bird ./. 

 malaccenais, the Sumbawa bird A. malaccensis chlorogaster, and the Sumba one A. malaccensis celebensis\ (Nov. 

 Zool. 1890, 545, 567, 5S1). 



