NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE XXIII. 1916. 335 



ONE OF THE BAREST BIRDS. 



By ERNST HARTERT, Ph.D. 



(Plate I.) 



NO bird can very well be rarer than if only one specimen of it is known, and 

 that is the case with Callaeops periophthalmica. The history of it is 

 as follows : 



When the late John Whitehead, during his memorable exploration of the high- 

 lands of Lnzon, was in Manila, he saw the bird in the place of a bird-stuffer, and 

 finally acquired it. These are Whitehead's own words {Ibis 1899, p. 108) : 



" The unique specimen of this interesting Paradise Flycatcher was purchased 

 by me in Manila. It had been shot by an Indian, and left with the bird-stuffer, 

 unclaimed for years. I had expressed the desire to purchase this bird, but could 

 not prevail upon the Indian to part with it, until one afternoon, mach to my 

 delight, the man brought it to me, and I purchased it. The soft parts were stated 

 by my hunter (who skinned the bird) to have been pale blue, as in Zeocephus 

 rufus, which is probably quite correct." 



The specimen was afterwards described and made the type of a new genus by 

 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. It remained in Whitehead's collection, and was bought 

 with the latter, after the owner's untimely death, by Lord Rothschild. 



The original diagnosis {Bull. B. 0. Club iv. p. xviii) reads as follows : 



" Callaeops gen. nov. 

 " Genus simile generi ' Arses ' dicto, caruncnlam ophthalmicam exhibens, sed 

 crista longa lanceolatä, caudä cuneatä et pedibus debilibns distingaendum. 

 " Typus est 



Callaeops periophthalmica spec. nov. 

 " Omnino nigra : pectore mediano abdomineque albis : subcaudalibus et 

 axillaribus albo marginatis. Long. tot. 8 - 5 poll., alae 35, caudae 4-5, tarsi - 6. 

 " Hab. in insula Philippinensi ' Luzon ' dicta." 



Hardly anything can be added to this diagnosis, except what the author himselt 

 added in the Ibis 1895, p. 253, viz. that the "general colour is deep black with a 

 slight purplish gloss, especially on the back and breast, and that (according to 

 information of the native skinner) the wattle surrounding the eye, the bill and feet 

 were pale blue." The thighs are black. The wing. is, as I measure it, 91, tail 106, 

 outermost rectrices 35 mm. shorter. 



What is now the real systematic position of Callaeops ? Mr. Ogilvie-Grant 

 compared it only with Arses (a group of " Monarcha"), as quoted above. White- 

 head {Ibis 1899, pp. 108, 109) made the following remarks : 



" That this genus finds its nearest allies in Arses is, I think, open to doubt. It 

 more resembles Terpsiphone, from which genus it differs in wanting a lengthened 

 pair of centre tail-feathers, which are found only on apparently very old males. 

 The genus Terpsiphone is found as a migrant as far north as Japan, and will 

 doubtless some day be recorded from Formosa, while A/ses is an Australian and 

 Papuan genus. The crest is also like that of Terpsiphone, and not the short 

 velvety-pile-like plumes of Arses.''' 



