IB BOURNS AND WORCESTER: PRELIMINARY NOTES. 



C. menagei seems to be strictly confined to the island of Tablas 

 where it is not rare in the deep woods. 



12. Oriolus ciaereogenys sp. nov. 



In uniting the Tawi Tawi birds with' O. steerii from Basjlan and 

 Mindanao, Dr. Sharp has evidently overlooked the fact that the Tawi 

 Tawi birds invariably Have the cheeks and ear- coverts clear ashy 

 grey, while in birds from Basilan and Mindanao they are just as 

 invariably olive green. As we find no exception to this rule among 

 our fourteen specimens from Basilan and twenty from Tawi Tawi 

 we have no hesitation in separating the birds from the latter locality. 

 It may be added that the rump of the Tawi Tawi bfrds is rather 

 brighter, and the throat decidedly lighter than in Basilan bir^s. Not 

 one of our Tawi Tawi birds shows the uniform grey throat of O. 

 steerii. Both species show great variability in the color of under 

 tail coverts. In some specimens they are pure yellow and in others 

 heavily streaked with black. 



Fifteen males from Tawi Tawi measure as follows: Length, 8.01 

 inches. Culmen, .96. Wing, 4.59. Tail, 3.19.- Tarsus, .83, 



Habitat: Tawi Tawi. 



13. Oriolus nigi-ostriatus sp. nov. 



Similar to 0. steerii, from which it differs in having the lores, 

 chin, throat and upper breast decidedly darker ashy and the mesial 

 stripes of feathers of breast and abdomen broader and much deeper 

 black, the general color of wing darker and the washing on inner 

 webs of quills white instead of yellow. Rump yellower thp,n in O. 

 steerii, the edges of feathers of rump bright yellow. Wing more 

 like that of 0. assimilis thalb that of O. steerii, only a few of the 

 secondaries and tertiaries having any wash of yellowish green. 

 Lower primary coverts have no yellow wash. Sexes alike. Length, 

 8.75 inches. Culmen, 1.08. Wing, 4.67. Tail, 3.60. Tarsus, .82 



The first specimen of this species was obtained by Dr. Steere Jn 

 the island of Negros in 1874, and was described by Dr. Sharpe 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. (2) Zool. i, p. 329 (1877), who called attention to 

 certain differences between it and O. steerii from Basilan but did 

 not care to found a species oh such slender evidence as he had at 

 hand. The Steere Expedition obtained a single specimen in Mas- 

 bate, which Dr. Steere incorrectly identified as O. assimilis, a 

 mistake which could not have occurred had he had any specimens of 

 O. assimilis for comparison. Strangely enough the species is far 

 more closely allied to O. steerii than to its geographically much 

 nearer neighbor in Cebu. 



