Vol. 5, p. 235-242. June 13, 1927. 



Occasional Papers 



OF THE 



Boston Society of Natural History. 



BIRDS FROM MARATUA ISLAND, OFF 

 THE EAST COAST OF BORNEO. 



BY OUTRAM BANGS AND JAMES L. PETERS. 



Dr. Eric Mjoberg, the well-known Swedish naturalist, 

 recently undertook an expedition to Borneo to engage in general 

 collecting. Through the generosity of Dr. Thomas Barbour, 

 certain of the major groups of vertebrates, including the birds, 

 were secured for the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 



From February 27 to March 23, 1926, Dr. Mjoberg was on 

 Maratua Island, where he secured 112 birds belonging to 16 

 species, 7 of which we describe as new. Although Dr. Mjoberg 

 neglected to note the date of capture on the labels of his specimens, 

 nevertheless we have been able to deduce the approximate date by 

 tracing the sequence of the original numbers. 



So far as we have been able to ascertain, no birds have been 

 collected previously on Maratua. 



There is practically no information to be had concerning 

 Maratua, which lies a short distance off the east coast of Borneo. 

 Dr. Mjoberg writes that it is a horseshoe-shaped coral island, 

 heavily forested, and that the surface is covered with sharp 

 limestone blocks alternating with depressions in the ground. 

 Near by is a small island, Kakaban, where no specimens were 

 secured. 



The collection, which is rich in novelties, furnishes an interest- 

 ing field for speculation. Several of the species that we record or 

 describe are identical with, or closely allied to, birds from the 

 Sulu Islands, while others that have no representatives at all in 

 the Sulus are clearly related to Bornean species, but differ so 

 trenchantly that we describe them as specifically distinct. 



Megapodius cumingii tolutilis, subsp. nov. 



One adult female. 



Type. — No. 235861, Museum of Comparative Zoology, adult female, from 

 Maratua Island. Collected March, 1926, by E. Mjoberg. 



