392 
Birds of Celebes: Muscicapidae. 
Distribution. Transcaspia (E a dele 21, 18, 23); S. E. Persia (Blanford 7); Afghanistan 
(St. John 20); Baluchistan (Blanford 7); Himalayas and India (Hume etc. 24, 25); 
An’akan (Blyth); Burmali (Oates 75*'*'*); Tenasserim (W. Earn say and Davison 
24); Java (Horsfield & Wallace 7, Vorderman 11); Lombok (Wallace 7, 
etc. 87); Sumbawa (Guillemard 17); Sumba (ten Kate 30, Doherty 37); Flores 
(Wallace 7, AVeber 31); Timor (Wallace 7, ten Kate 27); Samao (ten Kate 
27); Saleyer Island (Everett 57); Celebes — S. Peninsula (S. Miiller b 1, b 2, 
AVallace 7, Weber 31, Platen 16, etc.), AVest Celebes (Doherty 38), Central 
Celebes — Lake Posso (P. &F. Sarasin 36), K. Peninsula — Eurukan (Platen fide 
Nebrkorn); ?Bomeo (Brunsw. Mus. 13); Philippines — Luzon, Panay, Cebu, 
Negi-os, Bohol, Masbate, Siquijor (lO^^^, 26, 33, 29); ?Palawan (Hartert 29). 
Ceylon and Southern India are inhabited by a Stonechat, P. hicolor Sykes, 
which seems to be only a subspecies of P. caprata. According to Legge, the 
typical form differs from P. hicolor by its smaller size, the smallness of its bill, 
the more glossy and intense hue of the black of its upper surface and breast, “and 
there is generally, more especially in Malay specimens, more white on the rump” 
(8). The Indian female is described by Oates as having the upper tail-coverts 
ferruginous; they are almost white in Celebes. P. caprata was originally described 
from Luzon. This bird seems to be a resident in the East India Islands, and one 
that has established itself there in recent times. Platen got its eggs in North 
Celebes, Everett in the South. It ranges down the chain of islands from Java 
to Timor, but its occurrence in Borneo still remains to be fully established, for 
the two specimens from Verreaux in the Brunswick Museum do not afford 
sufficient proof. It is a rare species in Celebes and the eggs in the Nehrkorn 
Collection are the only evidence of the presence of the bird in the north of 
the island, therefore it requires specimens of the bird itself to establish its 
occurrence positively ; in the south it seems to be rather more plentiful. Five 
or six of the Philippine Islands have produced examples, Luzon the largest 
number. It (or a form of it) is, as Mr. Oates remarks (24), a resident species 
throughout the whole of India and Burmah, except the southernmost part of 
the Peninsula (where F. hicolor replaces it) and portions of Tenasserim. In 
Turkomenia, however, Drs. Radde & AValter record it as a summer visitant. 
It has been stated to occur in New Guinea, in virtue of a specimen in spirit 
obtained during the voyage of the “Gazelle” but Count Salvador! (5,9) 
is, we should think, probably quite right in regarding the label as erroneous. 
The genus Pratincola, according to Sharpe, ranges, as remarked above, 
over the whole of Europe, Africa and Asia extending into the East Indies as 
far as Celebes and Flores. P. caprata is a very distinct species, the bird most 
like it being, perhaps, P. alhofasciata (Riipp.) of Abyssinia, which has a white 
patch on the sides of the neck. 
