IN TIMOR-LAUT. 365 



Captain in the Dutcli Army, and of appreciation of liis extreme l-;in.dn.ess 

 and hospitality, and of the greatest possible assistance rendered by him 

 to me in Sumatra, and more especially in Aniboina to my wife and myself, 

 both before' and after ovir return from the Tenimber Islands. Dr. Machik 

 is -well known in the Archipelago foT liis e.'itensive collections of Molusca 

 fishes, sna,kes, and insects. [H. 0. F.] 



42. Geocichla schistacea, Meyer, op. cit. 



43. Pitta yigorsii, Ged. fide Meyer. 



44. MUNIA MOLUCCA, L. 



45. Erythruba trichroa, Kittl. 



46. Calornis gdlaris, G. E. Gr. 



C. metaJlica, Sclater, P. Z. S. loc. sup . cit. 

 C. circumscripta, Meyer, op. sup. cit. 



The species of Calornis from the Tenimber Islands has been distin- 

 guished from C. metallica as a new specie.^, C. circumscripta by Dr. Meyer. 

 1 have a large, series of skins in my collection, and that they belong to a 

 species distinct from C. metallica is undoubted, and, as Dr. Meyer observes, 

 they can, when mixed up with any number of species of Calornis, be un- 

 hesitatingly picked out by the coloration of the throat. The throat-plumes 

 in C. metallica are prominently longer and more mucronate than those in 

 the Timor-laut specimens. The violet of the mantle, however, contrary 

 to the note of Dr. Meyer, has the blue-green reflexions observable in (.'. 

 metallica quite distinct in most of my specimens, if the eye be "'placed 

 between the bird and the light" in position A, as described by Di*. Gadow 

 (P. Z. S. 1882, p. 409), that is with "Ihe eye and the light almost in a 

 level with the planes to be examined." A species of Calornis discovered 

 by Mr. Wallace in Mysol (of which the type is in the British Museum) 

 was named C gularis by G. li. Gray ; but was considered by Count 

 Salvadori (the label bearing the name in his handwriting) as C. metallica, 

 while it remained unique. After comparison of this skin with Timor- 

 laut specimens, the two are unquestionably identical. C. circumscripta 

 (Meyer) must, therefore, be considered henceforth a synonym of C. gularis, 

 G. E. Gr., which must now be removed from being a synonym of C. 

 metallica to specific rank, confirming the opinion expressed in 1876 (' Ibis,' 

 p. 46) by Mr. Bowdler Sharpc, who says : " I must pronounce this, 

 contrary to Lord Walden's opinion, a very good species, distinguished by 

 its purple throat and small (ill, the culmen only measuring '65 inch, as 

 against '85 in C. viridescens." This measuiement is not the only one by 

 which the sjieeies can be distinguished, for the jihimage in every specimen 

 is so constant that the skins cannot easily be confounded ■witli any other. 

 ('. gularis is slightly less, and more brightly metallic — a more beautiful 

 bird, in my opinion, even than the true C. metallica ; the purple of the' 

 thro.it, which is more chastely and delicately feathered than in C. 

 metallica, is separated from the i)urplo of the back and upper breast by a 

 narrow and very bright green band, 'the total length of the bird in 14 

 specimens ranged from 210-250 niillim. Count Salvadori (P. Z. S., 1878, 

 p. 89) remarks : " Some specimens (of C. metallica) have the throat more 

 purpli.sh than others, one from Mysol (C gularis, Gray) cannot be 

 separated from others from Halniaheira and Cape York." I have not seen 

 any Halmaheira specimens ; but the Cape-York bird undoubtedly differs 

 by the purple on the breast, which is green in C gularis ; the green neck- 

 band is much broader, and the throat is more markedly green and with- 

 out purple. It has, I believe, been separated as C. purpurascens, Salv. 

 The Admiralty-Island Calornis is somewhat similar to C. gularis, but is at 

 25 



