270 Mr. W. E. Ogilvie-Grant on Birds 



He separates the typical B. subcristata from Australia 

 from B. s. reinwardti and other allied forms by the colour 

 of the throat and chest, which is said to be paler grey in the 

 former and darker in the latter. This supposed difference 

 does not really exist. The colour of the bands on the under 

 surface is chiefly a matter of age ; in young birds they are 

 dark chestnut or brownish-chestnut, and gradually become 

 black when the fully mature plumage is attained, i. g.,,when 

 the mantle, scapulars, and often one or two of the innermost 

 secondaries are dark brown, and the rest of the plumage of 

 the upperparts is dark grey. These remarks apply equally - 

 to B. subcristata and to B. s. reinwardti, though some of the 

 younger birds of the latter have the narrow dark bands 

 blackish, even in the first plumage. 



Mr. Stresemann has separated the specimens of Baza 

 from Fergusson Island as a new subspecies, B. s. megala, 

 which is said to be larger than B. s. rnnwardti. The only 

 example from Fergusson Island in the British Museum is 

 a female collected by A. S. Meek ; it has a wing-measure- 

 ment of 306 mm. and is clearly marked "female." Mr. 

 Stresemann has, however, entered this individual on his list 

 as a male (see page 307), presumably on account of its size. 

 By altering the sex, as determined by the collector, in the 

 specimens he has listed, Mr. Stresemann has endeavoured to 

 show that the female is always larger than the male. I do 

 not believe this to be the case, and the following measure- 

 ments of specimens in which the sex has been ascertained by 

 the collector seems to prove clearl}?^ that the sexes are 

 practically alike in size. 



I have examined the typical examples of B. s. pallida 

 Stresemann from Kei and Goram Islands. These have the 

 fore-neck and chest very pale grey, and the bands on the 

 underparts narrower than in B. s. reinioai'dti, from which 

 they are easily distinguished. Another good distinctive 

 character is to be found in the bands on the under surface of 

 the quills, which are much narrower and often incomplete 

 in B. s, pallida. 



