SOME NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF SOUTHERN PALAWAN AND 



ADJACENT ISLANDS 



By John T. Zimmer 

 {Port Moresby, Papua) 



In 1916 it was my good fortune to spend most of March and 

 the first few days of April on Palawan, perhaps the most inter- 

 esting island of the Philippine Archipelago, taken from a natural- 

 history standpoint. Geographically, Palawan is very close to 

 Borneo, and this proximity is reflected to a marked degree in 

 the fauna of the region. 



During the visit in question particular attention was paid to 

 the bird life of the area, and a number of very interesting avian 

 species were collected. Some of these are of particular value 

 in view of their rarity everywhere or because of their inf requency 

 of occurrence in the Philippine Islands or in the local fauna 

 of Palawan. Some are new to that island and one is sufficiently 

 distinct from the typical form, as found in other parts of the 

 Archipelago, to warrant its description as new. 



The bulk of the collection is not of exceptional importance 

 otherwise than as the record of the captures may be of value in 

 considering the distribution or relative abundance of the species 

 concerned. Certain birds were seen which were not collected 

 for one reason or another, but as all of these have been taken 

 on Palawan by previous workers and as most of them are well 

 known to me through acquaintance in other parts of the Philip- 

 pines, there are few of them whose identity is at all doubtful. 

 To make the account complete, all forms that were seen are 

 listed whether collected or not, and the specimens taken are cata- 

 logued. These specimens are in my private collection at Lincoln, 

 Nebraska, U. S. A. 



I am indebted to Mr. R. C. McGregor, of the Philippine Bureau 

 of Science at Manila, for freedom of access to the collection 

 of that institution and for his assistance in the comparison of 

 certain specimens, and to Mr. Frank Reid, formerly lieutenant- 

 governor of southern Palawan, and his assistant Mr. Tobin for 

 many courtesies extended during the period of investigations, 



ITINERARY 



Leaving Manila on the steamship Panglima I reached Puerto 

 Princesa, the capital of Palawan, on March 4. That afternoon I 



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