APPENDIX. 
249 
ON THE BIRDS OF PALAWAN. 
[From 1 The Ibis.’] 
The following .account of the birds found in the Island of Palawan, with descriptions of several new 
species collected by me, appeared in ‘ The Ibis ’ for 1888, in a paper by Dr. Sharpe. In the same Journal 
for 1890,1 wrote a paper giving any notes I had collected on the ornis of this Island, and described the 
Buchanga under the name of B. palawanensis. I also added to the list the names of any species found by 
Dr. Platen and not obtained by myself. The present paper is a compilation of the two papers of Dr. Sharpe 
and myself, the only alteration that I have since made being the separation of the Palawan Cryptoloplia as 
a new species under the name of C. xantliopygia : hitherto this species has been confounded with 
C. montis of Borneo, from which it is easilv distinguished. 
J %j O 
I left Labuan on 18th June, 1887, in a small trading-steamer belonging to a Chinaman who had 
several stores on the southern end of Palawan. The steamer landed us at Taguso, on the S.E. coast 
(many miles south of Puerto Princesa), promising to return in two and a half months ; but as she did not 
turn up till nearly four, I was unable to change my collecting-ground to the N.W. coast, as I had 
intended. 
I will now give some account of our collecting-grounds. The coast is fringed with high forest, 
reaching inland about a mile ; this fringe is probably left by the natives to break the wind and to shelter 
their rice-crops. In the forest Megapodes abound, Pittas and Jungle-fowl are plentiful, and, more rarely, 
that prince of birds, Polyplectron. In the trees above the most numerous birds are the various species 
of Pigeons and Parrots, but nearly all the small species in the following list may be met with. 
Behind this band of forest are plains of coarse grass, inhabited by two species of Turnix; CisticoJoe 
and Centrococcyges and a few white Egrets attend the Sulu cattle. This sort of scenery continues until you 
reach the foot of the mountains, no great distance from the coast. When the great rush of birds from the 
north takes place these plains have a much more lively aspect ; hundreds of Wagtails, Pipits, Snipes, and 
other small Waders are continually flying up on your approach. 
The swamps at the river-mouths have also their occupants—Sunbirds, Bhipiduras, and several species 
of Herons and Kingfishers, which are not met with elsewhere. 
Towards the middle of September, after we had collected all the resident species within our reach, 
the sea-coast, with its rocky points and estuaries, was by far the most attractive hunting-ground ; for 
about that time the great winter migration from the north reaches the coasts and forests of Palawan. 
Most Waders passed between 5 and 6 P.M., all in one direction, S.W.; if a small flock settled and was 
disturbed, never did the birds return, but still hurried on their southward course. By continuing this 
line of flight they would touch Balabac, and then turn due south down to the coast of Borneo, where some 
remain for the winter, but most seem to travel further still. When the wind was blowing gales from the 
S.W., bringing up heavy clouds loaded with rain, then was the liveliest time for migrating ; on calm, and 
even moderate, days it was seldom worth while to visit the coast. All these great travellers were as fat 
as butter, and in no state for a bird-collector. 
The number of species as yet recorded from the island of Palawan is 157, of which 37 are peculiar 
to that island, 19 are found only in the Philippines, 36 in the Malayan, but not in the Philippine region, 
and 13 are common to both regions. Then there are no less than 49 migrants, which distribute them¬ 
selves over the Eastern Archipelago during the northern winter. One species (Dendrophila frontalis) is 
Malayan and not Bornean, and one (zEgithina viridis) has been hitherto only found in Borneo and 
Sumatra ; lastly Gallus banJciva, which is found throughout the Malayan and Philippine regions, but of 
which I believe no specimens are as yet known from Borneo. 
2 K 
