239 



Remarks. — At first sight the form of Maratua Island appears so 

 different in color from Microtarsus atriceps atriceps (Temm.) 

 as to need no comparison with that bird, but it must be borne in 

 mind that atriceps, in a part of its Indian range only, shows a color 

 variant — M. cinereoventris (Blyth) — in which gray replaces the 

 yellowish of breast, upper abdomen, hind neck, and sometimes the 

 upper back; however, the rump, the upper and under tail-coverts, 

 under wing-coverts, tail, and wings remain with the yellowish of 

 the normal plumage. Possibly, therefore, the species atriceps 

 carries a latent tendency to vary toward gray, and our wholly 

 black and gray island form, with no yellow whatsoever anywhere 

 in its plumage, is not so fundamentally different as it appears. 



The new form differs from M. chalcocephalus (Temm.), of 

 Java, in larger size and much darker colors, and in having the tail 

 tipped with gray instead of white. 



Kittacincla barbouri, sp. nov. 

 Thirteen specimens: adults of both sexes, and one immature 

 female. 



Type. — No. 235959, Museum of Comparative Zoology, adult male, from 

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



Characters. — Similar to K. stricklandi (Motl. and Dillw.)of northern Borneo, 

 and with a white crown as in that species, but much larger, with much longer 

 tarsus and bigger foot, and with the tail wholly black. The female is similar to 

 the male but smaller, and the black portions of the plumage are duller, less 

 glossy black. 



Measurements. 



No. 



Sex 



Wing 



Tail 



Tarsus 



Bill to base of forehead 



235959 



Male 



108 



149 



32 



23 



235961 



(I 



106 



144 



31 



22 



235962 



(( 



105 



150 



32 



23 



235964 



(( 



112 



142 



31 



21 



235966 



<( 



105 



143 



31 



22 



235967 



Female 



98 



114 



29 



21 



235968 



(( 



96 



115 



30 



21 



235969 



« 



94 



114 



29 



19 



235970 



(( 



96 



112 



29 



20 



235971 



(( 



100 



112 



30 



21 



Remarks. — The shama of Maratua Island, besides being much 

 larger than stricklandi, differs from it conspicuously in having the 

 three outer pairs of rectrices black instead of white. The one 

 immature female (M. C. Z. No. 235972), however, has some slight 

 grayish-white freckling on the three pairs of outer rectrices, and 

 one adult male (M. C. Z. No. 235966) has similar freckling on all 

 three outer feathers on one side of the tail and on one feather on 

 the other side. This condition of the tail in two examples cer- 



