1846.] Notes on the Fauna of the Nicobar Islands. 369 



are of a beautifully bright cherry-red, devoid of the lake or " peach- 

 blossom" tinge prevailing on the same parts of P. malaccensis , and 

 which, in the latter species, is continued round the nape : the crown 

 also is not of the deep emerald-green of that of P. malaccensis ; 

 the occiput and nape incline to light straw-yellow ; and there is a well 

 denned black line from the nostril to the eye : all which combine with 

 its superior size, and other minutiae that might be pointed out, as the 

 absence of red above the ear- coverts, to distinguish it from P. malac- 

 censis. Indeed, it holds much the same relationship towards that 

 species, which P. Alexandri does towards P. torquatus ; and P. caniceps 

 stands in the same position towards P. pondicerianus ; P. schisticeps, also, 

 towards P. cyanocephalus. — P. erythrogenys, so far as we are yet aware, 

 is peculiar to the Nicobar Islands, where it occurs abundantly. 



Bulaca seloputo, (Horsfleld) : Strix pagodarum, Tern. Capt. Lewis 

 informed me of a very beautiful Owl which he obtained, but the speci- 

 men was lost through the carelessness of a servant : he could not re- 

 cognise the species among the fine collection of Owls in the Society's 

 Museum, but identified it positively from a Malayan specimen belonging 

 to Dr. Cantor. The present species has been much confounded with 

 its Indian representative ; which latter has been referred, not very satis- 

 factorily, to Strix sinensis, Lath. A very large white Eagle was also 

 shot by Capt. Lewis, but he could not succeed in penetrating the very 

 dense jungle into which it fell : this was probably Blagrus dimidiatus, 

 (Raffles.) 



Todiramphus occipitalis, nobis, ante pp. 23, 51. Peculiar, so far as has 

 been yet observed, to the Nicobars. 



T. collaris, (Scopoli and Swainson) : Alcedo chlorocephala, Gmelin. 

 Nicobarian specimens of this bird are remarkably brilliant, with much 

 less of the green tinge than usual upon the crown and back. 



Merops philippinensis. Found also throughout India, and in the Ma- 

 layan peninsula and archipelago. 



Collocalia fuciphaga, (Thunberg), vide p. 22, ante. 



Gr acuta javanensis, vide p. 3 1 , ante. Inhabits the southern Islands only. 



Sturnia erythropygia, nobis, ante p. 34. Hitherto observed only upon 

 the Islands. 



Calornis ajfinis, A. Hay, ante p. 36. Upon the average, this bird is 

 less brightly glossed than C. cantor, of the Malayan peninsula and archi- 



