44 BOURNS AND WORCESTER: PRELIMINARY NOTES. 



The bill of P. napoleonis.is black tipped with pale horn color. 

 The legs, feet and nails are brown. The eyes chocolate brown. 

 One of our birds has but one spur on the left leg. 



In young birds the ocelli are at first grey with black centers. 

 The irridescent blue-green color appears first in the middle of the 

 ocellus and gradually spreads outward . 



P. napoleonis is extremely shy. All our specimens were snared, 

 though Mr. Bourns caught a glimpse of a female on one occasion. 

 Our males average as follows: Length, 20.43. Wing, 7.10. Tail, 

 8.'i6. Culmen, .93. Tarsus, 2.40. The females are somewhat smaller: 

 Seven specimens average 16.52 in length. Wing, 6.53. Tail, 5.94, 

 Culmen, .87. Tarsus, 2.15. 



Ardea jugular is of Dr. Steere's list is Demiegretta sacra, (Gm.). 



Circus philippinensis Steere. 



Circus philippinensis Steere, List B. & M. Steere Exped. p. 7 (1890). 



Although Gurney, Everett and others doubt the validity of 

 Dr. Steere's C. philippinensis and the presumptive evidence against 

 the existence in the Philippines of a peculiar species of this genus 

 would seem strong, the single female of our collecting most nearly 

 agrees with Dr. Steere's description and we accordingly provision- 

 ally adopt his title. 



Spilornis holospilus (Vig.). 



Spilornis holospilus (Vig ); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 1. p. 293 (1874). 

 Spilornis panayensis Steere, List B. & M. Steere Exped. p. 7 (1890). 



Dr. Steere has attempted to separate the representatives of this 

 genus from the central Philippines under the name S. panayensis, 

 on the ground that they ar^ smaller and lighter in color than is S. 

 holospilus. We find that both light and dark birds occur through- 

 out the range of the species in the islands. We have very dark and 

 richly colored birds from the central islands, but we do not find any 

 constant difference in size between them and birds from other parts of 

 the group. We think that S. panayesis was founded on differences 

 due to change of season and to individual variation and believe 

 that the species is not a valid one. 



Ninox japonica (T. & S. ). 

 Ninox japonica (T. & S.); Sharpe. P. Z. S. 1879, p. 325. 

 There is no doubt as to the identity of the birds in question, which 

 are from Cebu. Three males n;ieafeure 12.62 inches in length. Wiug, 

 8.98. Tail, 5.37. Culmen, .71.' Tarsus, 1.27. 



