ne en Re ene te ~ Fe ee a Ne ade iid yee ener arerencnererereos eR Seer ee eC oeee = ty fie TBI SS. A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY. EDITED BY ARE RED NEWTON, M.A; -F.R.S., PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, F.L.S., V.P.Z.S., ETC., ETC. VOL. VI. NEW SERIES= Ibidis interea tu quoque noinen LONDON: fe JOHN VAN VOORST, 1 PATERNOSTER ROW. : 1870. : Mag ALERE C) FLAMMAM. PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, PREFACE ENGAGEMENTS no less pressing than numerous have for some time past urged upon me the advisability of retiring from the Editorship of ‘Tas Isis.’ Still I was loth to give up a duty, in the performance of which I was en- couraged by an ever increasing confidence on the part of my fellow ornithologists, until I had discharged it for as long a period as my predecessor, and until I had found a willing successor among the many able contributors to this Journal. That period is at length arrived; and when I state that Mr. Osperr Satvin is about to conduct a Third Series of ‘THE Isis,’ I feel that I have no need of any excuse for relinquishing the post I have filled for the space of six years. During that time I have met with kindness and forbearance which I shall never forget, though I am unable duly to express in words my appre- ciation of it. I can but assure all who have cooperated with me that 1am most heartily thankful to them, while I do not doubt that they will continue their valuable support to my successor. iN Magdalene College, Cambridge. October 1870. . | “Hit sit ehicrsaiat cent fa oO? Mit ye. te tete 7 HA . >t" a NA I ’ 2 or GPa Vt) Le a eat eb (ea ¥%; i Ai fa Pah Won ual na ty rr he Vateieee shila (be tcde ce - . *) f\. ; i Th Misti i & L ee Hit AvaiE YS tetie Ge gittreestg. Teal One und Te ory ats) at Uetnaielse oft oy Rags haar ‘won eae i . puth aath < 0 ie iif? ae ee a ee os ‘4, Bb (iF vie PITUUTNn ea ca faiv mee Teed Pe) Poet EL wv ha ogee ne : sO te A ean 0 EN, ye a iy peo ety, ee hae Mie Ha as 3s ram Wal: fr 4 re me eae hig iz . Wer si =U 9 nh i i) A ey ote ‘ aS : i bhatt 2 at é j il Piet £8 aivyyees eh . Vea ie Sy Me Pisa Babes 5 i “> Poe ore bh ci Pitts) be are wi « ve i Lia se a : pa ee iii f yee 7 xt im wri u ; . cae, { agi) A L Pai’) Rt Moma hav indie ie . = ‘ \ Ah , ‘i ‘he a } ~ ve v1 ?\ \ ie Th i} Uh ‘ ‘s Yt ope ety Sol Te Sie ae ae cls | | ; Pas ; me 7 * ° 0 | a ae eee 7 f? Ct) 8 i i + | . ; A i a mtanl i 4 ‘ f ) oe “wy a ‘ * NE eh ae Sate =) hl i. = : ; . 251 hee alee pa ’ Spgs oe we } ae | , hie } BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 1870. Ordinary Members. Anprew Anperson ; Futtehgurh, North-West Provinces, India. Joun H. Barnesy-Luriey, M.A.; Brockhampton, Herefordshire. Henry Bucxtey, F.Z.8.; Edgbaston, Birmingham. Tuomas Epwarp Bucxtey, B.A., F.Z.S.; Westwood House, Beverley. ArtrHur Wiiii1Am Cricuton, B.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S.; Broadward Hall, Salop. Henry Keres Dresser, F.Z.8.; The Firs, South Norwood, Surrey. Henry Mavrice Drummonp-Hay, C.M.Z.S., Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Perth Rifles ; Seggieden, Perthshire. Dantet Grravp Ettior, F.Z.8.; New York. Henry Joun Etwes, F.Z.S., late Captain, Scots Fusilier Guards ; 41 Portman Square, London. Tuomas CAMPBELL Hyron, F.Z.S8.; Eyton Hall, Salop. Gxrorer Goocn Fowrer, B.A.; Gunton Hall, Suffolk. Rev. Henry Extiorr Fox, B.A.; 22 Cornmarket, Oxford. Freperick DuCanr Gopman, F.LS., F.Z.8.; 55 Lowndes Square, London. Percy Sanpen Gopman, B.A., C.M.Z.8.; Borregaard, Sarpsborg, Norway. Joun Henry Gurney, F.Z.8.; Marldon, Devon. Joun Henry Gurvyey, jun., F.Z.8.; 2 Beta Place, Alpha Road, London. James Epmunp Harrine, F.L.S., F.Z.S.; 24 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. Rev. Witt1am Henry Hawker, M.A., F.Z.S.; Ashford, Sussex. vl Rey. Hersert 8. Hawkins, M.A., Rector of Beyton, Suffolk. Witremw Hupteston Hupieston, M.A., F.Z.S.; Umberleigh House, Devon. Attan Ocravian Hume, C.B., Commissioner of Imperial Customs, Agra, India. Hon. Hepworrs Hyrron-Jotire ; Heath House, Sussex. Leonarp Howarp Irsy, Major, 74th (Highland) Regiment, Gibraltar. Arruur Epwarp Knox, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.8.; Trotton House, Sussex. Right Hon. Tuomas Lyrrreron, Lord Litrorp, F.LS., F.Z.8., &e. ; Liltord Hall, Northants. C. H. T. Marswatt, F.Z.S., Captain, Bengal Staff Corps. G. F. L. Marsuatt, F.Z.S., Royal (Bengal) Engineers. ALEXANDER GoopMAN Morg, F.L.S. &c.; 3 Botanic View, Glasnevin, Dublin. Epwarp Crovecn Newcome; Feltwell Hall, Norfolk. Aurrep Newron, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., V.P.Z.8., Professor of Zoology in the University of Cambridge. Epwarp Newron, M.A., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S., Colonial Secretary, Mau- ritius. Joun Witriam Powrert-Orpe, F.Z.8., late Captain, 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ; Auchnaba House, Argyllshire. E. J. Ruoprs: Exchequer and Audit Department, Somerset House, London. Grorce Dawson Rowtry, M.A., F.Z.S8.; Chichester House, Brighton. Ospert Satyin, M.A., F.LS., F.Z.8., &e.; 32 The Grove, Boltons, London. Howarp Saunpers, F.Z.S.; 7 Radnor Place, London. Paine Lurtey Sctater, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., Sec. Z:8., &e.; 15 Lower Belgrave Street, London. G. Ernest SHettey, F.Z.8., late Captain, Scots Fusilier Guards ; Avington, Winchester. Rev. Cuartes Witiiam Sueruerp, M.A., F.Z.8.; Trotterscliffe, Kent. Rey. ALrrep Cuaries Suiru, M.A., Rector of Yatesbury, Wilts. Rowranp M. Spertine, Commander, Royal Navy. Henry Srevenson, F.L.S.; Unthank’s Road, Norwich. Hamon Styteman Le Strance; Her Majesty’s Legation, Washington. Rey. Epwarp CavrenpisH Taytor, M.A., F.Z.S.; Oxford and Cam- bridge Club, London. Grorce Cavenpisu Taytor, F.Z.8.; 42 Elvaston Place, London. Vil Rev. Henry Baker Tristram, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S., &c., Master of Greatham Hospital, Durham..: Henry Morris Urcuer, F.Z.8.; Sheringham Hall, Norfolk. Right Hon. Arruur Viscount Wan: F.L.S., Pres. Z.8.; Walden Cottage, Chiselhurst, Kent. Rev. J. Wittrams; Tring Park, Herts. Extra-Ordinary Members. Epwarp Brytu, Hon. Memb. As. Soc.; 25 St. George’s Road, Regent’s Park, London. Aurrep Russet Wattace, F.Z.S.; Holly House, Tanner Street, Barking. Honorary Members. Professor Spencer F. Barxp, Assistant Secretary to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Doctor Epvarp Batpamus, Moritzswinger, No. 7, Halle a. S. Doctor Jean Casanis, Erster Custos am Koniglichen Museum der Friedrich-Wilhelm’s Universitit zu Berlin. Doctor Gustay Harttaus, Bremen. Tuomas C, Jerpon, Retired Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals, Madras. Epear Lroponp Layarp, F.Z.8., South-African Museum, Capetown. Aveust von Prtzetn, Custos am k.-k. zoologischen Cabinete in Wien. Professor J. Rernuarpr, Kongelige Naturhistoriske Museum i Ajé- benhavn. Rosert Swinuor, F.Z.8., F.R.G.S., Her Majesty’s Consul at Amoy. JuLES Prerre VerReaux, Aide- (ae du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle a Paris. n a Ne . aL ; i" roti, he a iy : 7 es aan il as alae e: sale 3 rk a" ERRGT Uitte a fete: a oe ae UE iy eyits, u Sy? ck a ee ‘ Th) ee ren ae fa .4 oo aye Poe is ees ee oe ; M ois u ay ee inane ie e 7 j : Fh - (es Gee 12.1 cract fuk i> | ie Me ny 7 af wh 5 ty . : tik; a ror) pier % 4 ie LP i4i a's 7) moe geese; ee: a i 7 , Ja” eee cnt ees . +h a BS | a my ; Fiore » os { 7 i : ‘ - . . 7; 1s “ ‘ = ; ent Se calor i ed . a cae a : CONTENTS or VOL. VL—NEW SERIES. (1870.) Number XX1., January. Page I. Notes on the Birds of the Peninsula of Sinai. By Cravupe W. Wyart, of the late Sinai Surveying Expedition . . . . 1 II. On the Sun-birds of the Indian and Australian Regions, By Arruur Viscount WaLpen, P.Z.8. &. (PlateI.) . . . 18 Ill. Ona Fourth Collection of Birds from the Fantee Country. Bye it Dasranrn (Plates ls Ti). (tein ii tas eae. 752 IV. A List of the Birds of Turkey. By H. J. Etwes, F.Z.S., late Captain Scots Fusilier Guards, and T, E. Bucxrey, B.A., EN oe a LIE RE eae et eee em one 1 BO V. On the Ornithology of Hainan. By Roserr Swinnor, ede Seuicn celal) ed 7s 7eked BE) sae aat ol Str ial en yen ae ae VI. Notes on the Birds of the Island of St. Helena. By Joun OT ICGRE coset! LPS foo hoe gw aha ge Ae © 7 VII. Additional Notes on Wr. Lawrence’s List of Costa-Rica Birds: “By Ossenr Sanvin, MA. W278... Ge. <0.) 6 6 es 107 VIII. Notices of Recent Ornithological Publications :— 1. English :—G. R. Gray’s ‘ Hand-List of Birds ;’ ‘ Gould’s Monograph of the T'rogonide,’ 2nd ed. part ii., ‘ Birds of Asia,’ part xxi., ‘Supplement to the Birds of Australia,’ part v., and ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ parts xv. and xvi.; Sharpe’s ‘ Mono- graph of the Alcedinde,’ parts iv.—vi.; Hutton on the Sailing Flight of the Albatros ; Bowden’s ‘ Naturalist in Norway ;’ Sterland’s ‘ Birds of Sherwood Forest ;’ Cecil Smith’s ‘ Birds of Somersetshire ;’ Robert Gray and Anderson’s ‘ birds of Ayr- shire and Wigtownshire ;’ Turnbull’s ‘ Birds of Kast Pennsyl- Wania amen owAersey Ce ic SMS SA ork ot mance chs peemeee ALG x CONTENTS. Page 2. German :—Cabanis on the Ornithology of Von der Decken’s Travels ; Von Heuglin’s ‘Ornithologie Nordost-Afrika’s,’ Liefe- rungen 1-11; Hartlaub and Finsch’s ‘ Ornithologie Ostafrika’s —Kinleitung ;’ Borggreve’s ‘Vogel-Fauna von Norddeutsch- land;’ Droste-Hiilshoft’s ‘ Vogelwelt der Nordseeinsel Borkum ;’ ‘ Bericht iiber die XVII. Versammlung der Deutschen Ornitho- logen Gesellschaft ;’ Seidlitz’s ‘ Bildungsgesetze der Vogeleier’ . 127 3. Finnish :—Miiklin’s ‘ Vetenskapliga Grunder fiir Bestiim- mandet af Fogelarternas Ordningsfoljd;’ Malmgren’s ‘ Orni- thologiska Notiser’ and ‘ Anteckningar om Finlands och Skan- dinaviska halfons Anseride’ . . . . + 1st 4. Italian :—Bettoni’s ‘ Uccelli che acne in ontecdias ; De Betta ‘ Sulla straordinaria od accidentale Comparsa di Uccelli nelle Provincie Venete;’ Salvadori’s ‘ Monografia del genere Coa a ce. et en . 132 5. Portuguese :—Bocage’s papers in ihe I coat ‘dd Seinveine and ‘ Museu nacional de Lisboa—Psvttaci, Accipitres’ . . . 134 6. Australasian :—Diggles’s ‘ Ornithology of Australia,’ parts xvi.-xx.; Ornithological papers in the ‘ Transactions and Pro- ceedings of the New-Zealand Institute’. . . . . . . . 1385 IX. Letters, Announcements, &e. :— Letters from Messrs. Allan Hume and Jerdon, Dr. Malmgren, Capt. Shelley, Messrs. H. J. Gurney, J. E. Harting, and R. B. Sharpe, Dr. Salvadori, and Mr. Swinhoe; Announcement of Messrs. Marshall’s Monograph of the Capitonide; Delay of Notices of Recent Ornithological Publications . . . . . . 186 NoumBer XXII, April. X. Notes relating chiefly to the Birds of India. By Epwarp BiyrE,) Hon. Mem. :As, Soci <2 oe tae) eee ee ca, XI. Note on the Systematic Position of Indicator. By P. L. SCLATER, McA.) Ph... BOR: 2) 0 ae ae es ere eer XII. Stray Notes on Ornithology in India. By Arran O. Hume, C.Be se 6. oy ays), <, seh ea ot eee er XIII. On some other new and little-known Birds, collected during a Voyage round the world in 1865-68 by H.I.M’s.S. ‘Magenta.’. By Henry Hittyer Gierion, 8c.D., C.M.Z.S., and ‘'uomas Satvapor1, M.D.,C.M.Z28.. . . . . . . . 185 CONTENTS, XIV. A List of the Birds of Turkey. By H. J. Exwss, F.Z.8., late Capt. Scots Fusilier Guards, and T. E. Bucxzezy, BEAL ses. heat Boo eer | ae XY. On rare or little-known Limicole. By James Epwonp Harrine, F.L.S., F.Z.8. (Plates V., VI.) XVI. On the Oriolide of the Ethiopian Region. By R. B. Sarre, F.L.S. (Plates VII., VIII.) aE hc XVII. On the Ornithology of Hainan. By Roperr Swinuor, F.Z.8. &e. (Plate IX.) . XVIIT. On Existing Remains of the Gare-fowl (Alca im- pennis). By Atrrep Newton . Ra ae 2 Le os XIX. Notices of Recent Ornithological Publications :— 1. English :—Sclater and Salvin’s ‘Exotic Ornithology,’ parts ix.—xiii.; Rodd on the Birds of Cornwall; Ornithological Papers in the ‘ Proceedings’ of the Glasgow Natural-History Society ; Eyton’s ‘Supplement to Osteologia Avium;’ A. C, Smith’s ‘Spring Tour in Portugal ’ 2. French :—Marey on the Flight of Binds 3. Dutch :—Keulemans’s ‘ Onze Vogels in Huis en Tuin; Crommelin’s papers in the ‘ Archives Néerlandaises’ 4. German :—Van der Hoeven’s ‘ Annotationes de Dr aa ardeola;’ Cramer on the Development of the Egg in Birds; Magnus’s Physiologico-Anatomical Researches into the Breast- bone of Birds; Von Pelzeln’s ‘ Ornithologie Brasiliens,’ Abth. iii. 5. Lussian:—Von Middendorff on Bird-life in Siberia 6. American:—Elhot’s‘ Birds of North America,’ parts x.—xy.; Sumichrast on Birds of Vera Cruz; Lawrence on new American Birds, Birds from Yucatan, from Puna Island, and new South- American Birds ; Ridgway on obscurely known species of Ame- rican Birds . XX. Letters, Announcements, &ec. :— Letters from Messrs. Layard, Hume, Brooks, and R. Gray, Col. Tytler, Lord Walden, Mr. C. Horne, Capt. Feilden, Herr von Pelzeln, Dr. Salvadori, and Messrs. Sclater, Harvie-Brown, Hawkins, H. Saunders, Elhot, and Tristram; Mr. Skeat on the meaning of the name of the Grey Lag Goose; Death of Lieut. Beavan ; Ornithological Activity Xl Page . 230 . 256 . 262 xi CONTENTS. Page Number XXIII., July. XXI. On the Birds of Novaya Zemlya. By Goren GILLeTt, La Pannier mem anne et doles Us 25> topo GIVE XXII. Additional Notes on various Indian Birds. By R.C. Brayan, Bengal StaftCorps, C.M.Z.8.° 24. 6.2 2 ee) ode XXIII. A List of the Birds of Turkey. By H. J. Kiwes, F.Z.S., late Capt. Scots Fusilier Guards, and T. K. Bucxtery, BA EEA Bet Shoal, US ts SRA Oh TAA ee thn emer, XXIV. On the Ornithology of Hainan. By Roserr Swinuoer, FEZe8:-Gies plate Ie aye! ee ee Pee Rr enn te Soares XXY. The Natural History of Quiscalus major. By Exxirorr Cours, M.D.;:United(States Amy. hte.) =es ce 6s Pee en oUG XXVI. On rare or little-known Limicole. By James Ep- muND Harting, F1L.S., ¥-2,5:,) (Plate X10.) cer. cee een XXVII. Notes on some of the Birds inhabiting the Province of Auckland, New Zealand. By Capt. F. W. Hurron . . . 392 XXVIII. Stray Notes on Ornithology in India. By Artan Lal. Oe 2 ee yee SUM mes a: SRG ee yee) XXIX. Remarks on some lately-deseribed Pitte, with a Synopsis of the Family as now known. By D. G. Exxior, EL.S., B.Z.8.;&c. (Plates X17 XMM) Sho. ees ee 08 XXX. Critical Remarks on Dr. von Heuglin’s ‘ Ornithologie Nordost-Afrika’s.’ By R. B. Suarps, F.L.S., F.Z.8., Libr.Z.8. 421 XXXI. Letters, Announcements, &¢.:— Letters from Messrs. Hume and J. W. Clark, Heer J. P. van Wickevoort Crommelin, Mr. Layard, Dr. Hartlaub, Messrs. Tristram and Meek and Capt. ea, Death of Prof. Blasts: <= 1285. sialic, ed Ome AMC PT err Ree ee fe 513) CONTENTS. Numper XXIV., October. XXXIT. Notes on various Birds observed in Italian Mu- seums in 1866. By the Baron pe Setys-Lonecnamps, Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium XXXIITI. Remarks on some disputed species of New-Zealand Birds. By Watrer Bouter, F.L.S., F.G.S., C.M.Z.S. XXXIV. Note on the “ Tehagra” of Le Vaillant. By E. L. Layarp, F.Z.S. &c. SH reba wn ache Nak Me Ayah XXXY. List of Birds obtained in the Irawadi valley around Ava, Thayet Myo, and Bassein. By W. T. Buanronrn, 0.M.Z.S. XXXVI. On Additional Collections of Birds from the Fantee Country. By R. B. Suarez, F.LS., Libr. Z.8., &. (Plate XIV.) Bie aes ies i -4 Sots gale Ber) Gem y XXXVII. Fourth Appendix to a List of Birds observed in Malta and Gozo. By Cuarztes A. Wricut, C.M.Z.S. XXXVIITI. Notes on some Old-World species of Passerine Birds. By H. B. Tristram, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. XXXIX. On a new Muscicapine bird from Madagascar. By R. B. Saarpn, F.L.S., Libr. Zool. Soc., &e. (Plate XV.) XL. Third List of Birds collected during the Survey of the Straits of Magellan by Dr. Cunningham. By P. L. Scrarer, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., and Osprrt Satvin, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S. With additional Note by tHe Eprror . 5 PEE ae XLI. Notices of Recent Ornithological Publications :— 1. English :—Blanford’s ‘ Abyssinia’; Marshalls’ ‘ Capito- mde, parts i—iv.; Sharpe’s,‘Alcedinide, parts vil.ix.; Wal- lace’s ‘ Contributions to the theory of Natural Selection’; Mor- rell’s ‘Comparative Anatomy—Aves’; Im Thurn’s ‘ Birds oe Marlborough’ : 2. French CShinhonss Maine. Rdwards’s : Recher ances re miques et paléontologiques,’ livr. 26-30, and ‘ Oiseaux Fossiles.’ 3. Belgian :—Dubois’s ‘ Planches coloriées des Oiseaux de oe Belgique’ and ‘ Planches coloriées des Oiseaux de 1 Europe.’ Xl Page . 449 . 455 . 460 . 499 XIV CONTENTS. Page 4. German:—Finsch and Hartlaub— Die Vogel Ost-Afrikas’ ; Selenka ‘Klassen und Ordnungen des Thier-Reichs— Aves’ ; Claus’s ‘Grundziige der Zoologie’; Victor Carus’s ‘ Handbuch der Zoologie” . . : . 612 5. Swedish even on he. Binia of (land ui Scania Sundevall’s Swedish Birds; Holmgren’s ‘ Birds of Scandinavia’ 515 6. Danish :—Krarup-Hansen on the Flight of Birds . . . 616 7. Swiss :—‘ Bulletin de la Société Ornithologique Suisse” . 517 8. Ltalian :—Salvadori’s papers in Italian Journals ; Bianconi on the Tarso-metatarsus of Birds. . . . Coe OLS 9. Portuguese :—Bocage on West-African Oenitholog Sages Oe) 10. American :—Elliot’s ‘ Phasianide’; Dall, Bannister, and Baird on the birds of Alaska; ‘Vargasia’ . . . 519 11. Australasian : jeainalozieal Papers in the trata tions and Proceedings of the New-Zealand Institute’ . . . 522 12. Indian :—Hume’s ‘Scrap Book’; Ornithological papers im the * Journal) of the Asiati¢ Society, 4. 9 2 ee . 523 XLII. Letters, Announcements, &e. Letters from Capt. Elwes, Messrs. Hume, Blanford, Gurney, C. and G. Marshall, and Sharpe, Sir Victor Brooke and Dr. Salvadori; Extract from a letter from Herr Robert Collett; Weathsor Draborey: 22-2 hn Sst hay Ee SO ee eee eo liixe Veh eae ae ee ar I ieee SEAL oo tame ate sor? Bees Wigs edo 3 “iL ite { Ries, DMs. 2. te it Hemixus) castanonotus yak a. eee. 3 Hiew2: Eypsipetes permiger ii) hk. ce y Ver porns’ Gy TAMIONUS ie eget de oi apsucun 8 qin jesse sy soi SAT EIT ils a 72 0) 120) 2 Us ee > Brack yurismesarhynehUs. 2)... 6. eels feces) oes BAe ROAR Heatran sk G Xa: Sohn tee tae Smaak { ee 2 —" DAN KANUS) <> sh. secede es ke { Hig: I, Drymooca. brachyptera.. 2.00... . ne ' (Figs. 2, 3. Pytelia schlegeli............ Rae . Pseudobias wardi PLATES IN VOL. VI. NEW SERIES. ae 1. AXthopyga christine... . . Pe Oy alee ae Hiss A Neel arOpitlar STAVE 2 6 isi06 6 6 oe dee ean easels { Biosys Cassimia rubicumdas 6. . 2. ions «ne 1a: OW Ike capameee ection aoe Brie mara oops er PAS UN PTAA CHMIUSs, sy oy 3)d 0s. sss ya eterclielteete, + ap Acyatee abel | Big: eo Memaleemay faber s.:5)..0'.0k {cl ae a MU CALS» 502 tt a a's) o aha Ne ae SMMOMMIAS ASLAGICIE sta Wily ot ure wen een acee cen Fe VENOMS! t's SUA ilage peer ns Onision wea { Bigg jOrielus mieripenmisyo. 5 ass stan.h oi ond oo Op LG Get UUme Fat eS I ee ae Beets Fig. 2. Fig. 2. Fig. 2. 1 * Miscalled on plate ‘ Herphoris.” + Miscalled on plate ‘‘ Agialitis.” DAT UITHTe teh AL een (atone eee aah ae eee ew hed ees hod med eee ee hl head ERRATA ET CORRIGENDA. Line 4 from bottom, for Dromoxia read DRoMOLAA. 13, for pEBRIL read DABRI. 2, for Heterornis read Heterornis. 2, for Lingsuy read Lingshuy. 2 from bottom, for Joucrert read bourcier? ; and for 141 read 142. 2 from bottom, for XX. read XXI. 16, after We insert are. 15, for June read July. 14, for 325 read 225. 17, for WesTERMANI read WESTERMANI, 1, for Roake read Rocke. note, for Boustoffen read Bouwstoffen. 26, for melanotus read me/anotis. 15, for twenty-nine read twenty-eight. 17, for BANKANA read BANKANUS. Ea. 1 Bas NEW SERIES. No. XXI. JANUARY 1870. I.—Notes on the Birds of the Peninsula of Sinai. By Craupe W. Wyart, of the late Sinai Surveying Expedition. Tue feathered inhabitants of the peninsula of Sinai, as might be expected from the nature of the country, are not very nume- rous, especially in the winter months, during which season most of the birds that form the subject of this paper were ob- tained ; and many of them can only be regarded as accidental or occasional visitors, since of several species I only met with single examples ; but as it is a country little known to ornitho- logists, perhaps a few short notes upon them may not be unac- ceptable to some of the readers of ‘The Ibis,’ together with a slight sketch of the route I followed. On the 11th of November, at 4 o’clock in the morning, I crossed the Red Sea. The moon and stars were shining brightly ; not a ripple disturbed the water; the hoisting of the sail was only an excuse for laziness on the part of the sailors, who, at the same time, just dropped their oars into the water, prefer- ring to wait for the breeze, which usually springs up from the north about 6 o’clock, and would in a couple of hours take us down to Ain Musa, where I expected to find the rest of the party, who had started the day before. Very slowly we ap- proached the opposite shore. The beautiful night at last gave way to the early morning, but the sail hung as heavily as when we first started ; so we decided upon landing and performing the rest N. S.— VOL. VI. B 2 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. of our journey, about ten miles, on donkeys, which we had stowed away, in case we should need them, in the bow of the boat. We had not, however, proceeded more than half a mile before the growling of camels showed we were approaching an encampment, which proved to be the one I was in search of, Ain Musa not having been reached the day before. After breakfast the donkeys were sent back again, and we started on our first day’s journey in the desert, making up a goodly retinue of forty-four camels, thirty-three of which car- ried our luggage and provisions. For the first three days our course lay between the Tih (a range of mountains which extends across the peninsula) and the sea, over vast rolling plains, generally covered with grit and shingle only, though in some places the dreariness of the road was somewhat relieved by the appearance of a few desert-herbs, and bushes of the “retem” (Retama retam), a broom, the juniper-tree of the Bible. Most of the former, however, were dried up and withered. Signs of life were very few and far between. A few lizards dashed across the track in front of our camels ; occasionally Corvus umbrinus might be seen, a con- spicuous object in so featureless a country; two or three Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus) flew over our heads ; and at night our camp was always visited by Motacilla alba, running about amongst the luggage in a most familiar manner. A journey of three days brought us into Wady Gharandel, where we were to encamp and spend the following day. In one of the neighbouring wadys I met with Cotyle palustris and Sazicola leucocephala. In Wady Gharandel there are some tamarisks (Arab. “tarfah”’), and at the Jower end a shallow stream, which never fails, it is said, even in the middle of sum- mer. Here the next day, when I was taking a walk, I flushed a couple of Teal (Anas crecca) from amongst the rushes, and a small flock of Pigeous (Columba schimperi) flew out of a cliff above us, followed by a Lanner-Faleon (Falco lanarius). Higher up the wady there is a colony of Milvus egyptius. The next day we were off again. The character of the country began to change, the wadys became deeper, and mountains appeared in the distance, and the following day we entered the Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 3 sandstone region. In Wady Narb, where there are a few acacia trees (Acacia seyal), the shittah trees of the Bible, I saw the pretty Blackstart (Pratincola melanura) and Phyllopneuste trochilus. At the foot of Sarbut-el-Khadem we first met with Caccabis heyi, which is only found amongst the mountains: they proved to be very fat and good eating ; in fact, this and the other Partridge (Caccabis saxatilis) are the only fat things in the Peninsula. The greatest part of our journey now lay up the Wadys Khamileh, Barg, Berah, and Esh Sheikh. The bare rocky mountains, which completely shut in the wadys on both sides, though they do not often rise perpendicularly, became higher and higher as we proceeded southwards. In some places in Wady Esh Sheikh the tamarisk abounds; and it seemed as if it ought to be rather a likely place for birds, though we only noticed Ruticilla tithys and Ammomanes deserti. The latter was abundant. On arriving at Sinai, after we had paid a visit to the monks at the convent, we pitched our tents in the valley below, about 4900 feet above the sea, at the foot of Ras Susdfeh, which towered up above us nearly 2000 feet. The mornings were now getting very cold, and the shattered appearance of Cynthia cardui showed the approach of winter in these high regions. The thermometer descended below the freezing-point most mornings, and before another month had passed we had had 10 degrees of frost. Snow was to be seen on the tops of the mountains; and on one occasion the ground around our camp was quite covered with it in the early morning, though it soon yielded to the heat of the sun. Few insects were to be seen; and all the herbs and plants, from the seeds of which many of the feathered race obtain a sustenance, were leafless. Birds of prey were very scarce, not only here but all over the Peninsula. Occasionally I saw Neophron percnopterus. I ob- observed also Aquila bonellii two or three times soaring along the mountain-side, always, however, out of gunshot. Tinnun- culus alaudarius passed over our tents on one occasion, and Falco lanarius I saw twice in the neighbouring wadys. The Rev. F. W. Holland shot Athene persica on the plain of Er Réhah one evening. Its crop was found to be full of ants. It is con- B2 4, Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. sidered by the Arabs to be a bird of ill omen, the reverse of what it is in Palestine (vide Ibis, 1865, p. 261). It is certainly a searce bird in the desert. We only met with it three times while we were there. The Arabs told us that they use the flesh when they are ill as a sort of charm. They put it into the fire and inhale the smoke*. When we first arrived, a flock of Corvus umbrinus was to be seen most mornings in the neigh- bourhood of our camp. They were very shy, and I was not at that time able to get a specimen; and though I tried to trap them, they were too wary, managing to take the bait without being caught. After a few days they all disappeared; and I did not meet with them again till we were on lower ground. On two occasions I saw on the plain of Er Réhah flocks of a larger Raven, probably Corvus corax. Of the two Partridges, Caccabis heyi and C. saxatilis, the former was by far the most abundant, and was generally to be met with in large coveys, running up the mountain-side at a great pace, and creeping under the rocks and boulders. They feed upon the seeds and buds of various herbs and plants; but their favourite food seems to be the seed of the shiah, the crops of those I shot being gene- rally found to be full of it. C. savatilis we did not often meet with. It is much more restricted in its habitat, keeping to the higher wadys. There are more, I think, in Wady T’lah than elsewhere. Its food is the sameas that of C. heyi. Mota- cilla alba and Ammomanes deserti were generally to be seen within the precincts of our camp; the latter also frequented the plain of Er Rahah in large flocks, and was the commonest bird we had. Three Chats were to be found on this plain— Dromolea leucocephala and D. leucopygia, both equally plenti- ful, and Sawicola lugens (Licht.). In Wady T’lah, the warmest wady in the neighbourhood, the monks have a few fruit-trees, pomegranate, apricot, and so forth, which grow almost in a wild state. There are also a few palms. On the top of one of these one morning I saw, as I was standing under it, a pair of Amydrus tristrami alight. They were uttering cries something like that of the Common Starling, though when this bird is * { Another curious instance of the use in India of Owls’ flesh as medi- cine has been recorded by Mr. Malan (Zoologist, 1848, p. 2141).—Ep. ] Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. Cr really singing, as I have since heard him in Wady Feirdn and amongst the clefts of Petra, I think I never heard a more beau- tiful songster. Every morning, as soon as the sun rose up, the plain of Er Rahah was enlivened by the presence of Dry- moca eremita, hopping about among the herbs and plants; and some cold mornings they were so tame that it seemed as if they might almost be caught in a butterfly-net. The way in which they dropped their wings and cocked their tails reminded me of the Wren of our own gardens and woodlands. This little bird is truly an inhabitant of the wild and desolate, having its home amongst the bare mountains of the Sinaitic peninsula, as well as at Petra, where it is not uncommon, creep- ing amongst the retem-bushes that now grow among the ruins and mounds of rubbish, and in the ravines in the neighbour- hood of the Dead Sea, where it was first discovered by Mr. Tris- tram a few years since (Ibis, 1867, p. 76). Ruticilla tithys was not uncommon—or rather the cock bird, for I only once saw the hen; but lower down the mountain the sexes seemed to be equally distributed. Of Fringillide we found two species, Serinus hortulorum and Carpodacus sinaiticus, The former was scarce; but the latter was generally to be found on the plain of Er Rahah, and in the neighbouring wadys, feeding on the seeds of the shiah and other plants. On New Year’s Day our camp was struck, and we proceeded down the pass of Nubk-el-Hawy on foot, while the camels with our luggage went round by Wady HEsh Sheikh. By the pass we entered Wady Soldf, down which we travelled until we reached Wady Feiran, making altogether a three days” journey, and, descending some 2800 feet into a much warmer climate, all real cold was left behind, though it was still chilly in the early morning. The oasis of Feiran, at the lower end of which we pitched our tents, is shut in by lofty mountaims. Palm-trees extend for a couple of miles up the wady, intermingled with the nebuk (Rhamnus. nabeca) and tamarisk. Not far from our tents there was a small stream, which, after running a short distance, lost itself in the bed of the wady. On all sides were to be seen the uprooted palms prostrated by the “seil” or flood of last year. 6 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. This seemed to bea likely place for birds. They were not, how- ever, so plentiful as I had expected, though I found some species that did not occur in the higher regions, while most of those that did occur there were still to be found here, though gene- rally in smaller numbers. The Bulbul (Jaus wanthopygius) was very abundant and tame. I sometimes saw as many as a dozen in the same tree near a certain well. They seemed to be very fond of the fruit of the nebuk, which was just ripe. They might often be seen hanging to the boughs, looking like large Titmice, and as if they were trying, if possible, to belie their relationship to the Turdide. Amydrus tristrami was not uncom- mon, the two patches on his wings shining like gold in the sunshine as he passed over our heads, very different from the dull russet hue of the cabinet specimen. Phyllopneuste tro- chilus and P. rufa found it warm enough for their winter quar- ters, and Cyanecula suecica and Sylvia melanocephala were occasionally to be seen amongst the tamarisks near the stream. Pratincola melanura was the commonest and the boldest species we had here; and often, when I was skinning the birds we had shot, one would come and perch on a tamarisk tree within a yard of my head. Phasmoptyna capensis we only obtained once. One of our men was at work among the ruins of Feiran, when he saw this Owl looking out of a hole in the wall. He imme- diately shut him in by closing the hole with a stone, and he was afterwards captured; but, as he refused all food, the follow- ing day we killed him. In Wéadys Aleiyat and Ajeléh the shittim-tree grows in considerable numbers, but always singly; so they do not afford much cover to birds. At El Hessul, a small oasis, about a mile from the oasis of Feiran, Passer salicarius was not uncommon, and seems to be the only Sparrow thafi occurs in the peninsula. Columba schimperi we now and then met with, but it could not be called common. Mr. Holland said they had been more numerous last year. About the beginning of February, I went down to the sea- coast, a fortnight in advance of the rest of our party, taking with me two Arabs, while a couple of Camels carried my lug- gage. We proceeded up Wady Solaf, stopping for the night where Wady Hebran joins it; and a cold night it was. When Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 7 T got up the following morning, I found the water in a basin be- side me frozen. We descended Wady Hebran nearly the whole of the next day, getting into a much warmer climate, and about 5 o’clock we stopped again under some palms by a little purl- ing stream. Here, after I had gone to bed, I heard the “ Hood- hood” of the Arabs. It went up the wady, and, judging by the sound, it must have passed close to me. I was sleeping in the open air, yet I did not see anything of it. The Arabs say it is an evil spirit, and that they never saw it. I heard it per- haps half a dozen times while I was in the Peninsula, and have fired a gun in the direction from which the sound came, in hopes, if it proceeded from an Owl, of putting him up. How- ever, I never saw anything. Could it be the hoot of Phasmo- ptynx capensis? At the lower end of the wady, a fine rocky gorge, I saw a fine specimen of Bonelli’s Eagle, perched on a lofty crag, but could not get a shot at it. By the stream I found Motacilla sulphurea. On the third day we crossed the arid gravelly plain of El Gaa, which extends along the western coast between the mountains and the sea. I spent altogether the best part of four days upon it, m hopes of falling in with Sand-Grouse, but all I saw of them was the mark of their feet en the ground, My Arabs said that four birds passed over my tent one morning while I was at breakfast. Near the embou- chure of Wady Hebran, where there are some thick stunted bushes, I shot a pair of Marmora’s Warbler (Sylvia sarda), but unfortunately lost both of them in the bushes. They were only winged. I was, however, close enough to identify them, as, in trying to catch them, ny hand was often within a foot of them. The beautiful red ring round the eye I saw very dis- tinctly. I visited the same spot the next day ; but I never met with the bird again. Lanius excubitor was not uncommon here, sitting on the top of the seyal-trees, on the look-out for desert- beetles. A seven hours’ tramp over the plain of Hl Gaa brought me. within three miles of Tor. I bad my tent pitched on some high ground above the marshes, not far from the palm-groves which belong to the monks of the Convent. In front of Tor, which consists of a few huts inhabited chiefly by fishing Arabs, there is a small bay. The marshes, which are not of any great 8 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. extent, were for the most part dry, so that I could get about without any difficulty to visit the salt-ponds amongst them. These generally abounded in minnows, as also did the small stream which runs down through the marshes to the sea. The tamarisk grows on the upper parts; and a stunted thorny bush, which grows upon the sandhills, takes its place as you approach the sea. I had now got into a much warmer climate, very different from the bracing air of the mountains. Very few of those birds which inhabit the mountain district occur here. The plain of El Gaa, on the borders of which my tent was pitched, was, as I have before said, almost destitute of birds; and my attention was chiefly confined to the marshes and the sea-shore, as the palm-grove proved little better than the plain. The only reason I can assign for this absence of the feathered race is the ex- posure of the trees to high winds, which blow constantly off the sea, and perhaps the want of other vegetation. Palms growing alone, are not, I think, a very favourite resort of birds. The first bird I saw upon the marshes was Alcedo ispida. 1 just caught sight of his blue back as he darted from under a high bank over one of the salt-ponds, when he was immediately lost to view. For three mornings successively he did this before I was able to get a shot at him. I did not see this bird again until I was at Akabah, which is situated at the head of the gulf of the same name; but on the eastern shore, and thus just out of the Peninsula, it is common, and may be generally seen sitting on the stones in the still waters, when disturbed flying up into the palm-grove, which comes down within a few yards of the sea. Of the Chats, Sazicola monacha was the only species that was abundant, and was chiefly confined to one part of the marshes and sandhills, where the samphire grew, on the top of which they used to perch. Cock birds were more plentiful than hens. 8S. lugens I saw now and then and shot, in order to satisfy myself it was not S. libanotica. Of S. deserti I obtained a pair. Calandrella deserti and Anthus spinoletta were both common, the former frequenting the sides of the stream in large flocks, the latter running along the sides of the salt- ponds. Galerita arenicola was to be seen occasionally in small Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 9 flocks, and Sylvia dorie was not uncommon, frequenting the same spot as Saxicola monacha. A few flocks of Sand-Grouse (Pterocles coronatus) visited the marshes, probably to drink, in the early morning. On two occasions I saw the whole flock alight in the middle of the stream, where the water was hardly an inch deep; but they were off again before I could stalk them. In the bay, in front of Tor, there were generally some Gulls; but they were very shy, and, as there was no covert, there was no means of getting at them—though I managed to obtain an example of Larus gelastes as I was one day returning along the shore from Jebel Nagus, which, having fallen into the water, was retrieved by a passing Bedawy, regardless of the Sharks, which abound along this coast. Through my glass I was able to distinguish Chroicocephalus ridibundus and C. melanocephalus. Towards the end of February I again ascended the mountains, after an absence of more than three weeks. There seemed to have been more change in the flora than in the birds, the retem and several desert-plants being in full blossom. Coty/e palustris, however, had found his way up as far as Wadys Solaf and Feiran; and on the following day I shot our Common Martin (Chelidon urbica), which had probably wandered some- what out of its usual course, as this was the only occasion on which I met with it amongst the mountains. After I had spent a few days at Wady Feiran, during which time I ob- tained Lanius auriculatus and Saxicola eurymelena, both evi- dently just arrived, I started for a three weeks’ trip to the mining-districts of Maghara and Sarbut-el-Khadem, thence by Wady Baba to the coast. At the Hammam bluff we turned southward again to Sarbtt-el-Jemel, and descended to the plain of Er Ramleh, which extends along the base of the Tih mountains. Along this plain we travelled until we again as- cended the mountains. There are no running streams in this part of the peninsula; but many of the wadys were bright and green from the effects of the winter rains. Hovering over a retem bush in full blossom, in a small wady at the foot of Sar- bit-el-Khadem, I first met with Sylvia bonelli. In Wady Baba there is a good deal of vegetation, palms and shittim-trees. did not, however, find any birds I had not before met with 10 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. amongst them. In Wady Hamr I obtained Sylvia rueppelli, which was not uncommon amongst the retem-bushes. We reached the Convent valley again on March 25th. I found Saxicola cenanthe had made his appearance on the plain of Er Rahah during our absence, as well as S. amphileuca. On the 30th, Anthus campestris arrived. On the 2nd of April I started for Akabah, and proceeded by Wadys Sa’l, Hudherah, and El ‘Ain to the sea-shore. On the way down, I fell in with a few of our common spring visitors— the Redstart, Cuckoo, and Yellow Wagtail, the latter accom- panying us the greater part of a day, running round the legs of our camels. At El Noweyba, where there are some palm-trees and bushes growing close to the water, I found Budytes flavus, var. cinereocapillus, Savi, Merops persica, and Hirundo domestica. Our road now lay for the rest of the journey along the shore, close to the blue waters of the Gulf of Akabah. A more quiet, lifeless, and desolate scene could hardly be imagined. Not even a Gull was to be seen, until we got near the head of the gulf : half-a-dozen Swallows, just arrived, a pair of Tringoides hypoleu- cus, and the Grey-headed Wagtail were all the birds we saw during a forty-miles’ ride. On reaching the Arabah, a vast wady separating the desert of the Tih from the mountains of Edom, at the head of the Gulf, we were out of the peninsula of Sinai. I afterwards went to Petra, by Wady Ithm and along the highlands of Edom. I much regret I could not make a stay aud collect in this interesting region. Judging from what I saw from the back of a camel, its ornithology differs very much from that of the peninsula, partaking rather of that of the “ South Country ” of Palestine. In the following list those species which are marked with an asterisk were obtained by Mr. Holland, during former visits to the peninsula. *Gyps FULVUS (Gmelin). Griffon Vulture. I never saw either the Griffon or Laeemmergeyer while I was in the peninsula; the former, however, has been observed by Mr. Holland, on a former visit, feeding upon a dead camel near Akabah. Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Stnat. 11 NeorHRon PERCNoPTERUs (Linn.). Egyptian Vulture. Arab. “ Rakhamah.” Generally distributed, but not very common. AQuILA BONELLU (Temminck). Bonelli’s Eagle. Seen occasionally, in the mountainous parts of the peninsula. *Bureo FEROXx (S. G. Gmelin). Long-legged Buzzard. Wady Gharandel. Mitvus mtarans (Bodd.). Black Kite. I expect this bird is a spring visitant to the peninsula: on the 1st April, when I was on the top of Jebel Katherina, I ob- served a great many Kites wheeling round, far overhead; I have no doubt but they were of this species, which I found in abun- dance the following week on the highlands of Edom, and at Petra. Isaiah (ch. xxxiv. ver. 15), foretelling the desolation of Edom, probably refers to this bird— There shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate;” for the identity of the Hebrew “ Dayah,” translated ‘“ Vulture,” in our version of the Bible, with the Arabic “ H’dayah,” has been pointed out by Mr. Tristram (Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 181). Mitvus aeyrtius (Daud.) Egyptian Kite. Occurs at Wady Gharandel. Fatco Lanarius (Linn.). Lanner-Falcon. Seen a few times—at Wady Feiran, Wady Gharandel, and other places. TINNUNCULUS AaLauDaRius (G. R. Gray). Kestrel. Generally distributed, but nowhere abundant. PHASMOPTYNX CAPENSIS (A. Smith). Obtained once in Wady Feiran. Bubo ascalaphus we never met with ; and, as far as I could find out, the Arabs do not know it. ATHENE PERSICA (Vieillot). Southern Little Owl. Scarce ; we only met with it three times; and I never heard its note at night while in the desert. Cucutus canorus (Linn.). Common Cuckoo. I saw the Cuckoo twice in Wady Hudherah, April 4th and 12 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinaz. Sth. It was common enough along the highlands of Edom a few days later. Merops apiasterR, Linn. European Bee-eater. I saw one of these birds at El Noweyba, by the Gulf of Aka- bah, on April 6th, It had probably just arrived; three days later I found it in abundance at Akabah. Aucepo 1spipa, Linn. Kingfisher. I obtained this bird once on the marshes near 'Tor—the only occasion on which [ met with it whilst in the peninsula. Urvura Epors, Linn. Hoopoe. The Hoopoe is well known to the Arabs; it is a spring visit- ant, but had not arrived before I left. Cyprsetus arrinis, J. E. Gray. Galilean Swift. I have no doubt but I saw this bird in Wady ‘Ain, April 6th ; but unfortunately I was unable to obtain a specimen in the short time we stayed there. Hirunpo riocourt, Audouin. Cairene Swallow. A single bird of this species passed us, while we were at luncheon, in Wady Ureit. Its dark breast is not easily mis- taken. Hrrvunvo rustica, Linn. Chimney-Swallow. The first one I saw was on April 6th, by the Gulf of Akabah ; on the two following days I saw several. CuELIDON URBICcA (Linn.). House-Martin. I met with a few of these birds in Wady Wisset, March 16th ; it was the only place where I saw them, with the exception of a single bird I shot in Wady Feiran. CoryLe paLustris (Steph.). Marsh-Martin. Resident and abundant on the coast during the winter; it ascends the mountains as the spring advances, and first made its appearance at Wady Feiran about Feb. 27th. I never met with its congener C. rupestris in the peninsula; but on the highlands of Edom I found them flying about together. Lantus Excusrtor, Linn. Great Grey Shrike. Common on the plain of El Gaa where there are any shittim- Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 13 trees; I also found it near Wady Mokatteb and Sarbut-el-Kha- dem, in March. Lantus auricuuatus, P. L. 8S. Miller. Woodchat. Obtained once at the oasis of Feiraén, March Ist. Lantus cotuurio, Linn. Red-backed Shrike. I picked up a dead specimen of this species, April Ist, in Wady Lejah. It was evidently a last year’s bird. The dryness of the air would account for its preservation. L. nubicus is pro- bably a spring visitant to the Peninsula. I shot it at Akabah on 11th April. Ixus xantuoryaius (Hempr. & Ehrenb.). Arab. “ Andalib.” Occurs only in the oasis of Feiran, where it is very common. SAXICOLA @NANTHE (Linn.). Wheatear. A spring visitant. Towards the end of March it was to be seen everywhere. The hen bird arrived a few days before the cock. SAxIcOLa DESERTI, Riipp. Desert-Chat. I shot a pair of these Chats near Tor. SAXICOLA EURYMELZNA, Hempr. & Ehrenb. I shot a single specimen of this species in Wady Aleiyat, March Ist. It was probably passing on its way to other coun- tries, as I never met with it again. It arrives in Palestine in March (Ibis 1867, p. 95). SaxicoLa AMpHILEUCA, Hempr. & Khrenb. A spring visitant. First noticed March 29th. Saxicota LuGens, Licht. Mourning Chat. The only Chat that is universally distributed, occurring every- where, from the highest mountain-regions to the sea-shore. Dromon#a Leucoryeta, A. EH. Brehm. White-rumped Chat. Common everywhere throughout the mountain district. Dromo#va LEUcOcEPHALA, A. KE. Brehm. White-headed Chat. Arab. “ Bagaa.” As common as the last-mentioned species, and frequents the saine localities. 14. Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. DromoL#a MONACHA (itipp.). I only met with this Chat on the marshes and amongst the sandhills near Tor, where it occurs in abundance. *PRATINCOLA RUBICOLA (Linn.). Stonechat. Wady Lapata. PRATINCOLA MELANURA (Riipp.). Blackstart. This bird is very common from the lower parts of the moun- tains, as far up as WAdy Feiran, above which I never saw it. Ruricittia tTirHys (Scopohi). Black Redstart. Tolerably common in the mountain district. RuviciLLa PH@NiIcURA (Linn.). Common Redstart. Observed once in Wady Sa’l, April 4th. Cyanecuta susecica (Linn.). Bluethroat. Occurs at Wady Feiran, but is not common. SYLVIA CAPISTRATA (Riipp.). Riippell’s Warbler. A spring visitant, first seen March 10th. Not uncommon near Sarbut-el-Khadem and in Wady Hamr, amongst the retem bushes. Two of my specimens have black legs, while in the others the legs are of a light colour. *SYLVIA DESERTI, Tristram. Wady Lehala. SYLVIA MELANOCEPHALA (Gmel.). Sardinian Warbler. | I only met with this bird in the oasis of Feirén, where it frequents the tamarisks. SyzviA sARDA (Marm.). Marmora’s Warbler. This bird, as I have before said, I met with at the embou- chure of Wady Hebran; I saw it so plainly as to leave no doubt as to its identity. Sytvia por1#, De Filippi. Doria’s Warbler. Not uncommon on the salt-marshes near Tor. PHYLLOPNEUSTE TROCHILUS (Linn.). Willow-Wren. Common everywhere where there is any vegetation, except in the higher parts of the mountains; I never saw it at a greater altitude than Wady Feiran. Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. bb Puy tiornevste rurA (Latham). Chiffchaff. Found in the same localities as the preceding species, and is equally abundant. PHYLLOPNEUSTE BONELLU (Vieillot). Bonelli’s Warbler. A spring visitant, first observed March 10th. Frequents the retem-bushes to catch the insects that are attracted by the bloom. Dryma@ca premita (Tristram). Hermit Warbler. Inhabits the mountainous parts of the Peninsula; it is very common on the plain of Er Rahah, and in the wadys in the neigh- bourhood of Jebel Musa; also occurs among the lower parts of the mountains, but not so abundantly. It seems, in fact, to appear in greater numbers as the elevation increases. Moracitzia auBa, Linn. White Wagtail. Common, and of universal distribution. Moracitia FLava, Linn. Yellow Wagtail. Observed once, April 4th, in Wady Sa’l. MoraciL1ia SULPHUREA, Bechstein. Grey Wagtail. I met with a pair of these birds, at the lower end of Wady Hebran, where there is a stream of water. Bupyres riavus (L.), var. cinereo-capillus, Savi. Not uncommon on the shore of the Gulf of Akaba. ANTHUs CAMPESTRIS (Bechstein). Tawny Pipit. A spring visitant. ANTHUS SPINOLETTA (Linn.). Water-Pipit. Frequents the sides of the salt-ponds, near Tor. *CERTHILAUDA DESERTORUM (Stanley). Bifasciated Lark. Ain Musa. GALERITA ARENICOLA, Tristram. Occasionally met with in small flocks of 5 or 6, on the marshes near Tor. AMMOMANES DESERT! (Licht.). Very common amongst the higher parts of the mountains, less abundant lower down. 16 Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. CALANDRELLA DESERTI, Tristram, [bis, 1859, p. 58. Large flocks of these birds frequent the sides of the stream which runs through the marshes near Tor. Carpopacus stnairicus (Licht.). Sinaitic Grosbeak. Local; frequenting the higher parts of the mountains, the plain of Er Réhah, and Wadys Lejah and T’lah. I also met with it in Wady Aleiyat at the foot of Mount Serbal. FRINGILLA C@LEBS, Linn. Chaffinch. I shot this bird in Wady Feiran. SeRINUS HoRTULORUM, Koch. Serin-Finch. Occurs on the plain of Er Rahah ; not common. Passer saticarivs, Vieillot. Spanish Sparrow. Only found in the oases in Wady Feiran. Corvus umBrinus (Hedenborg). Brown-necked Raven. Arab. “ Ghorab.” Common, and universally distributed. C. corax I believe I saw on the plain of Er Rahah, and C. affinis on that of El Gaa on one occasion. I recognized the latter from Mr. Tristram’s figure of it (Ibis, 1866, p. 72). AMYDRUS TRISTRAMI, Sclater. Russet-winged Starling. Wady Feiran, common. CoLUMBA SCHIMPERI, Bonaparte. Schimper’s Pigeon. Occasionally met with in Wady Feiran, Wady Gharandel, and other places. Prerocies coronatus, Licht. Arab. “ Gata.” This is the only species of Sand-grouse which came under my observation. They frequent the plain of El Gaa, and the marshes near Tor. They are very shy and difficult to approach. CaccaBis SAxATILIS. Rock-Partridge. Arab. ‘ Shinar.” Frequents the highest parts of the mountains in the neigh- bourhood of Jebel Musa; it also occurs near Serbal, I believe, though I never met with it there myself. I found it much more common on the highlands of Edom and at Petra than in the Peninsula. Mr. C. W. Wyatt on the Birds of Sinai. 17 Caccapis HEYI. Hey’s Partridge. Arab. “ Hajjal.” More common than the preceding species, and generally dis- tributed amongst the mountains. *CoOTURNIX COMMUNIS (Bonnaterre). Quail. Mr. Holland, in 1861, shot two or three Quails at Wady Gha- randel, and by Wady el Akhti. From what Mr. E. H. Palmer could find out, the Arabs seem to know the bird, and call it “ Summaneh,” which comes from the same root as “ salwa.” ANGIALITIS LESCHENAULTI, Lesson. I found this Plover running, in large flocks, amongst the sandhills by the bay near Tor; I also met with single birds along the shore. AKGIALITIS FLUVIATILIS (Bechstein). Little Ringed Plover. Shot once amongst the marshes near Tor. *VANELLUS GREGARIUS (Pallas). Plain of Er Rahah. Macuetes puenax (Linn.). Ruff. I shot a female once near Tor. Toranus eiorris (Linn.). Greenshank. Toranus ocuRopvws (Linn.). Green Sandpiper. Trineca MinuTA (Leisler). Little Stint. I obtained specimens oi this and the two preceding species on the marshes near Tor. TRINGOIDES HYPOLEUCUS (Linn.). Common Sandpiper, Common on the seashore. Grus CINEREA, Bechst. Common Crane. When I was at Tor, in February, I saw single birds on the marshes most days. Anas crecca, Linn. Teal. A hie | Wady Gharandel. *Anas acuta, Linn. Pintail. *MERGUS SERRATOR, Linn. Red-breasted Merganser. Ain Musa. N. S.—VOL. VI. c 18 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds Crconta ALBA, Bechst. White Stork. Arab. “ Najeh.” I did not see this bird myself; but Captain Palmer, R.E., saw a large flight of birds, which I have no doubt were of this species, in Wady Feirén, March 5th. Mr. KE. H. Palmer also saw a flight. ‘ Najeh ” means literally, “a white sheep.” *EGRETTA GARZETTA, Linn. Little Heret. Shore of the Gulf of Akabah. PuHacacrocorax. CARBO (L.). Common Cormorant. Very common in the bay near Tor, and along the coast of the Red Sea. Larus GELAstgs, Licht. Slender-billed Gull. This Gull is common in the bay at Tor. CHROICOCEPHALUS RIDIBUNDUS (L.). Black-headed Gull. CHROICOCEPHALUS MELANOCEPHALUS (Natterer). I was able, through my glass, to distinguish both this and the preceding species, which were both common in the bay at Tor. II.—On the Sun-birds of the Indian and Australian Regions*. By Arruur Viscount WatpeEN, P.Z.S. &c. (Plate I.) Aut those Sun-birds which are not found in the Ethiopian region form the subject-matter of this paper. The geographical range of the group extends, on the mainland of Asia, from the mouth of the Indus, in the west,-to the shores of the Chinese Sea in the east. It includes, besides Ceylon, nearly all, if not all, the islands of the Indo-Malayan and Austro- Malayan subregions. Its most northern and north-western limit is reached in the neighbourhood of Kotegurgh, on the Sutlej, and its most south- * The term “Indian Region” is here used in a purely geographical sense. As a zoogeographical expression, I find difficulty in recognizing its value; for the avifauna of continental Asia, south of the middle range of the Himalaya and of its eastern extensions, may be roughly said to consist of two distinct groups of birds—the one inhabitants of the mountains and their slopes, the other inhabitants of the plains. The first, in whatever part of India proper they occur, are allied to Indo-Malayan forms; the last are closely connected with African species or genera. of the Indian and Australian Regions. 19 ern in the colony of Queensland. The only large islands within this area where no Sun-birds have as yet been discovered, are the Indo-Malayan island of Formosa and the Austro- Malayan islands of New Britain and of the Salomans. The total number of species is about forty, and they are divisible into three natural genera (Arachnechthra, Atthopyga, Chalcostetha) and two smaller groups, among the members of which the affinities are not so evident (Nectarophila and An- threptes). Arachnechthra is the most largely diffused, contains the greatest number of species, many nearly allied, but well defined, includes the most widely spread of all the Hastern Sun-birds, A. asiatica, and is generically the most closely connected with the Ethiopian Nectarinie, through Cinnyris osea, Bp., a species I am strongly inclined to consider con- generic. Being a dominant group, we find it universal in the distribution of its members. Besides occurring in Ceylon, in India, and in the Indo-Chinese countries, they are spread throughout the two subregions Mr. Wallace has so well defined, the Indo-Malayan and Austro-Malayan, and overlap the range of all the other genera. Arachnechthrais represented in Sindh, as well as in New Guinea, in Ceylon, in Queensland, in the Philip- pines, and in the Sunda Islands. thopyga is confined to a more restricted range. It is typical of the Indo-Malayan subregion, in which I comprise the lower Himalayan ranges and their Terais, from western Nipaul to the bend of the Sampo, the mountainous regions to the east and south-eastward of that river, and of India generally, as well as the countries of Assam, Sylhet, Aracan, and Tenasserim. One species has found its way to, or has been left behind in, the highland jungles of Central and Western India; and another is to be met with beyond the Indo- Malayan frontier, in Celebes. In Ceylon the group is unre- presented. Chalcostetha, with one exception, is a_ purely Austro-Malayan genus, the exception, C. insignis (Jard.), an Indo-Malayan form, presenting affinities in several directions. The genus Anthreptes consists of one species, which perhaps ought not to be separated from Nectarophila. It occupies almost the entire Indo-Malayan area, and passes over into Celebes and the Sula Islands. In Nectarophila we find two c2 20 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds Indian and two Indo-Malayan forms, the two Indian, N. zeylo- mica and N. minima, being nearly related, one Indo-Malayan, N. brasiliana, showing affinities to Chalcostetha, a fourth, N. sperata, being perhaps a Philippine representative of N. zey- lonica, and the fifth, N. grayi, representing N. brasiliana in the Island of Celebes. The Indo-Malayan subregion is the richest in species; and the greatest number are to be found concentrated in the island of Sumatra, the metropolis also of Arachnothera. In the plains and lowlands of India proper only three or four species occur. Ten or eleven specific forms are peculiar to the Australian region, including two Indo-Malayan generic forms, besides which two Indo-Malayan species have partially invaded its frontier. The remaining Nectarinie all belong to the Indo- Malayan subregion, as I extend it. After Sumatra, which pos- sesses nine, comes Java with seven, and Borneo with five or six species ; while the Malay peninsula seems equally rich with Su- matra, if authors are exact in the habitats they assign. Ceylon possesses four, the same number and the same species as are found in Southern India. A few species more than I shall enumerate occur in our books, but have not been since recognized. The majority of them are either described from manufactured specimens, or else are badly described species belonging to other groups such as Trochilus. One, if not two, seem to be bond fide species, as, for instance, Cinnyris leucogaster, Vieill., from Timor. Some species perhaps still remain to be discovered in the interior of Borneo, in New Guinea and its islands, in the Philippines, and in the mountainous districts of Siam and Cochin China; yet the materials we already possess are sufficiently extensive to permit of generalization, while the nomenclature of the species known is in a state of confusion which will justify, I trust, this imperfect attempt to introduce order. ]. ARAcHNECHTHRA astatica, (Lath.), Ind. Orn. i. p. 288, no. 22, “India,” gaduit. (1790), descr. orig. ? Certhia cirrhata, Lath., tom. cit. p. 299, no. 62, “ Bengala” (1790), ex Lath. Synop. Suppl. i. p. 182, no. 57, descr. orig. C. chrysoptera, Lath., tom. cit. p. 299, no. 64, “ Bengala” of the Indian and Australian Regions. 21 (1790), ex Lath. Synop. Suppl. i. p. 133, no. a9, descr. orig. C. mahrattensis, Lath., Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. 36, no. 3, “ India” (1801), ex Lath. Synop, 11. p. 164, no. 20, “ Mahratta country,” descr. orig. C. saccharina, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vii. i. p. 258 (1811), ex Lath., nec Cinnyris saccarhina, Steph. op. cit. xiv. p. 233. Purple Indian Creeper, Edwards, Gleanings, i. p. 116, t. 265, fig. inf., descr. orig. Violet-breasted Creeper, var. B, Lath., Gen. Hist. iv. p. 248, no. 41, ex Edwards. Le Sout-manga violet, Audeb. & Vieill.*, Ois. Dor. u1. p. 31, t.12,. gadult. “ Malabar,” descr. orig. Cinnyris todeus, Less., Dict. Sc. Nat. 1. p. 24 (1827), ex Audeb. & Vieill. t. 12. Certhia nitens, Hermann, Obs. Zool. p. 137, ¢ adult. ‘« Tran- quebaria” (1804), descr. orig. Le Soui-manga a cravate bleue, Audeb. & Vieill., Ois. Dor. ii. p. 53, t. 31; patr. non indic. ¢ adolesc. Cinnyris cyaneus, Vieill., Enc. Méthod. Orn. p. 599, no. 56 (1823), deser. orig. C. orientalis, Frankl., P.Z.S. 1831, p. 122, no. 105, gadult. ‘India centr.,”’ descr. orig. C. currucaria (L.), Sykes, P. Z.S. 1832, p. 98, no. 133, “ Poona.” C. epauletta, Hodgs., Ind. Rev. 11. p. 272, g adult. “ Nipaul” (1837), descr. orig. C. strigula, Hodgs., l. c. “ Nipaul” (1837), deser. orig. Nectarinia mahrattensis, (Lath.), Jard., Nat. Lib. xi. pp. 222, 264, t. 24, gadult. “ India.” Arachnechthra currucaria, (.), Cab. Mus. Heim. i. no. 572; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 364, no. 234, nec Linn. Eastern Creeper, part., Lath., Gen. Hist. iv. p. 232, no. 21, “ India.” Hab. Throughout all India, the greater part of the west of Central India, the North-west Provinces, Sindh, North Burmah, - top of the Neilgherries (Jerdon) ; Ceylon (Layard); Nipaul * The folio edition is quoted. 22 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds (Hodgs.); Kotegurgh in winter, Rampoor (Stoliczka) ; Maun- bhoom (Beavan) ; Almorah (Brooks) ; Candeish (Mus. nostr.); Arracan, Calcutta (Blyth). The extreme western and eastern limits of this dominant species have not been as yet determined. When not in nuptial dress the males cast off all the black body-feathers except those on the mesial line. On this subject, which has given rise to much speculation, Mr. Blyth’s statement (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. xii. p- 978) that the females, when breeding, assume the full dress of the male, has been denied by Capt. Beavan (Ibis, 1865, p. 416). An inaividual, either of this species or else of some as yet unrecog- nized Arachnechthra, in the non-breeding plumage just described, formed the subject of Brisson’s Certhia philippensis grisea (Orn. ul. p. 615, t. xxx. f. 8). It cannot have been an example of A. lotenia; for the length of the bill is stated to have been 9 lines. Nor can it have belonged to any of the other known Arachnech- thre, because the wing-coverts of Brisson’s bird were of a polished steel-violet colour. The type-specimen, according to Brisson, was sent to M. Aubry from the Philippines. No binomial title has ever been given to Brisson’s species ; but, most unfortunately, Linneus added Brisson’s title* as a synonym to his Certhia cur- rucaria, the name he bestowed on a female or young male of either Nectarophila zeylonica or else of A. asiatica. Linnzeus’s type was given to him by Governor Loten, who procured it in Ceylon. Thus runs the diagnosis :—“ C. olivacea, subtus flavescens,” &c.; and then ‘‘subtus a gula ad anum flavescens” is added. No mention is made of the central dark stripe, nor of metallic wing- coverts. Brisson’s description therefore can in no way help us to determine the true C. currucaria, L.; yet every author, from Montbeillard down to the present time, has so used it. The word currucaria has even come to be an ornithological term ; for we find, in the ‘ Birds of India,’ Dr. Jerdon using this * Linnzeus omitted the word “ grisea,’ which makes Brisson’s title read C. philippensis, a different species, on which Linnzeus founded his C. philippina. Linnzeus, however, quoted the page, plate, and figure correctly ; yet he added the number 2, the number of the figure which re- presents C. philippensis on the same plate with C. philippensis grisea. This does not alter the main fact that the Linnean diagnosis of C. currucaria was original. of the Indian and Australian Regwns. 23 phrase (i. p. 372),—‘“a specimen has the currucaria or winter plumage of the last.” The Linnean description agrees best with the female of N. zeylonica; and to that species I have referred C. currucaria. Gmelin’s diagnosis is a reprint of that of Linneus; but in his additional remarks he copies from Brisson. Latham (Ind. Orn.), under C. currucaria, describes nothing but Brisson’s bird. Certhia asiatica, Lath., was described from a drawing of an In- dian example by Major Roberts. J have never met with any Indian Arachnechthra in the plumage described under C. cirrhata, Lath., stated by Shaw to have been described from one of Lady Impey’s drawings. C.chrysoptera, Lath., was described from a drawing in which the yellow axillaries were made to look like wing-coverts. C. strigula, Hodgs., was founded on a male in postnuptial dress. The dark sanguine pectoral band which marks the lower limit of the metallic pectoral plumage is not always so evident in this Sun-bird as in A. lotenia. Reichenbach (Handb. p. 295) separates Tenasserim individuals under Latham’s specific name of mahrattensis. I am unacquainted with the Tenasserim race ; but, if distinct, it must have a new title. 2. ARACHNECHTHRA LOTENIA, (L.), S. N. ed. xu.i. p. 188, no. 29, “ Zeylona,” gSadult. (1766), descr. orig. Certhia polita, Sparrm., Mus. Carls. fasc. iii. t. 59, patr. non indic., gadult. (1788), descr. ovig. ? Avis zeylonica omnicolor, Seba, Thes. i. p. 110, t. 69. Certhia omnicolor, Gm., S. N. i. p. 488, no. 53 (1788), ex Seba. ? Sickle-billed Creeper, Lath., Gen. Synop. 1. pt. 1. p. 705, no. 6, patr. non indic., ex Mus. Brit., deser. orig. Certhia falcata, Gm., tom. cit. p. 470, no. 30 (1788), ex Lath. Le Sucrier bronzé, Le Vaill., Ois. d’Afr. vi. p. 170, t. 297, ieee sep Aricac: | Cinnyris eneus, Vieill. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. xxxi.p.495 (1819), ex Me Vallt. 297, f..1. Purple Indian Creeper, Kdw., Gleanings, uu. p. 116, t. 265. f. sup. dadult., patr. incert. 24 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds Certhia purpurata, Shaw, G. Zool. viii. pt. i. p. 201 (1811), ex Edw. t. 265, f. sup. Le Soui-manga pourpre, Audeb. & Vieill., Ois. Dor. 11. p. 29, t. 11, gadult., patr. non indic., descr. orig. Cinnyris purpuratus, Vieill., N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. xxxi. p. 509 (1819), ex Audeb. & Vieill. t. 11. ? Le Sout-manga a cravate violette, Audeb. & Vieill., Ois. Dor. ii. p. 35, t. 15, patr. non indic., ¢ adolesc. Nectarinia lotenia (L.), Jard., Nat. Lib. xxxvi. pp. 220, 263, t. 23, ¢ adult., “ India.” Hab. Malabar, Carnatic, Madras, not observed elsewhere in India (Jerdon) ; Ceylon (Layard); Deccan (Moore). Described from a Ceylon specimen obtained by Governor Loten. Linneus having carelessly added the Certhia madagas- cariensis viridis, Briss., as a synonym, Jlotenia passed until recently as the title of the Madagascar bird, N. angaladiana, (Shaw)*. Seba can only have meant this Ceylon species. Reichenbach (Handb.) enumerates Cinnyris eneus, Vieill., as a good species from South Africa ! A. lotenia, though the type of Arachnechthra, Cab., is isolated from the rest of the species of that genus by the great develop- ment of the bill, a speciality of structure which may account for its restricted geographical range. 3. ARACHNECHTHRA FLAMMAXILLARIS, (Blyth), Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. xiv. p. 557 (1845). Nectarinia jugularis, Vieillot (Jard.), ap. Blyth, op. cit. xi. p- 979, 3, 2, “ Tenasserim.” Hab. Arracan (Blyth) ; Moulmein, Kyodan, Salween valley (Walden, P. Z.S. 1866, p. 541); Pinang (Moore, Cat. HE. 1. C. Mus. i. no. 1080) ; Pinang (Mus. nostr.) ; Siam (Gould, P.Z.S. 1859; p. dol): The yellow under-plumage is much paler than in A. pectoralis, (Horsf.). The superciliary streak is very faint in the male, but more prominent in the female. The origin assigned to the specimen marked “ China, very rare,” in the Derby Museum at * The oldest title for this Madagascar species appears to be Certhia notatus (!), P. L. S. Miller, Natursyst. Anhang, p. 99, no. 82 (1776), ex Buff, Pl. Enl. 575, £. 2, 3. of the Indian and Australian Regions. 25 Liverpool, and identified with this species by Mr. Blyth (Ibis, 1865, p. 30), must be regarded as doubtful (conf. Swinhoe, Ibis, 1866, p.129). This species has yet to be compared with A. ju- gularis, from the Philippines, but appears to differ at least in possessing a maroon transverse pectoral band. 4. ARACHNECHTHRA RHIZOPHOR#, Swinhoe, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 4th ser. iv. p. 436, “Hainan” (1 Dec. 1869). Closely allied to A. flammazillaris; but possessing a steel- blue frontal patch. 5. ARACHNECHTHRA PECTORALIS, (Horsf.), Tr. Linn. Soe. xi. p- 167,3,9, “Java” (1820), descr. orig. Nectarinia eximia, Tem., Pl. Col. livr. 23, t. 138. f.1,2,¢, 9, “Java” (July 26,1823), descr. orig.; S. Miller & Schl., Verh. Nat. Gesch. Ned. Overz. Bez. Zool. Aves, p. 61, no. 10 [1846*]. Cinnyris ornatus, Less., Dict. Sc. Nat. vol. 1. p. 15, ¢, 2 (1827), ex Temm. t. 138, f. 1, 2. Cinnyris luteoventer, Less., Tr. p. 298, no. 29, go, “Sunda Islands” (1831), descr. orig. (fide Pucheran, Rev. Mag. Zool. 1853, p. 488). Nectarinia pectoralis, Horsf., Jard., Nat. lib. xxxvi. pp. 226, 2OOrte or fo Ue oS Java.” Hab. Java, Sumatra, inland as well as on the coast, in enclosures and bushes, never on the mountains (Miiller) ; Nicobars (Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1846, p. 370; Von Pelzeln, Novara, Aves, p. 52); Andamans (Tytler, Ibis, 1867, p. 822); Banjermassing (Motley fide Sclater) ; Lombok, Flores (Wallace) ; Labuan (Motley & Dillwyn). Both Blyth and Moore state that this species is found in the Malay Peninsula. I have never seen an authentic Malayan spe- * |My. G. R. Crotch, whose useful determination of the dates of pub- lication of the several livraisons of the ‘Planches Coloriées’ we have already printed (Ibis, 1868, pp. 499, 500), has kindly informed us that the ornithological plates in the ‘ Zoologie’ of the great Dutch work cited in the text, with the exception of those representing the species of Pitte (published in 1889-40) appeared in 1846; but the descriptions of the spe- cies of Nectarime in the volume containing the ‘ Land en Volkenkunde’ appeared in 1848. We have accordingly added those dates to Lord Walden’s text.—Ep. | 26 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds cimen ; but I do possess an example of A. flammazillaris (Blyth) from Pinang. Sumatran and Javan individuals in my collection are undistinguishable; those from Flores and Lombok are much larger, the bill being fully +125 in. and the wing °25 longer. The female is olive-green above, and sulphur-yellow underneath. The pectoral and abdominal plumage of the male is gamboge-yellow, as in A. frenata (Miller). No ma- roon band separates the steel-blue plastron from the yellow breast. A Lombok male in my collection has a longitudinal metallic blue stripe from the chin to the breast, the forehead and rest of the plumage being the same as in the female. Is this the postnuptial attire? ‘The orange axillaries are not to be detected. Reichenbach (Handb. no. 722) erroneously refers this species to Audebert’s and Vieillot’s 29th plate. 6. ARACHNECHTHRA FRENATA (S. Miller), Verh. Nat. Gesch. Ned. Overz. Bez. Land- en Volkenk. p.173, note, d, 9, “ New Guinea, Menado ” [1843] ; op. ct. Zool. Aves, p. 61, t. 8. f. 1, 3 adult. [1846]. Nectarinia australis, Gould, P. Z.S. 1850, p. 201, “ North Australia.” Hab. Batchian, Ternate, Aru Islands, New Guinea, Islands of Torres Straits (G. R. Gray); Sula Islands, Celebes, Mysol, Moluccas (Wallace); Kaisa Island (Wallace, Mus. nostr. 2). N. australis, North-east coast of Australia (J. Macgillivray). Differs from A. pectoralis, (Horsf.), by wanting the metallic- blue frontal patch, by having the yellow supercilium and yellow cheeks more strongly marked, and by being larger even than Lombok examples of that species. In all other characters the two species are identical. An example of a female has the under- plumage quite as deep yellow as the male, it likewise possesses a yellow supercilium. After comparing a considerable series of Cape-York examples of N. australis, Gould, of both sexes, with authentic individuals of NV. frenata, Miller, I have come to the conclusion that they are not specifically separable. Mysol, Ce- lebes, Aru, and Sula examples appear to have the tips of the outer rectrices of a deeper yellow than in Cape-York individuals. A Sula specimen, in the British Museum, has the bill consider- Se of the Indian and Australian Regions. 27 ably longer than in those from all other localities. Otherwise it does not differ. 7. ARACHNECHTHRA JUGULARIS, (L.), S. N. ed. xu. 1. p. 185, no. 7, ¢ adolesc., “ Hab. in Philippinis” (1766), ex Briss. no, 6. Certhia philippensis minor, Briss., Ornith. i1. p. 616, no. 6, t. 32. f.5, ¢ adolesc., “ Ins. Philipp.,” descr. orig. (1760). Certhia philippensis olivacea, Briss., tom. cit. p. 623, no. 10, t. 34. f. 4, “Ins. Philipp.” Sadult., descr. orig. (1760). Grimpereau olive des Philippines, Buff., Pl. Enl. t. 576. f. 4, d adult., ex Briss. no. 10 (?). Certhia tricolor, P. L. 8. Muller, Natursyst. Anhang, p. 99, no. 31, Sadult., “ Philippines” (1776), ex Buff. t. 576. f. 4. Petit Grimpereau des Philippines, Buff., Pl. Enl. t. 576. f. 3, 6 adolesc., ex Briss. no. 6 (?). Premier Grimpereau de [Isle de Lugon, Sonn., Voy. Nouv. Guin. p. 63, t. 80. f. A, dadult., descr. orig. (1776). Second Grimpereau de Isle de Lucon, Sonn., /.c. f. B, 2 vel o juv., descr. orig. Certhia quadricolor, Scop., Faun. et Fl. Insub. 1. p. 91, no. 67 (1786), ex Sonn. t. 30. f. A, B. Certhia jugularis, L., part., Gm. S. N. i. p. 474, no. 7 (1788), ex Linn. Certhia gularis, Sparrm., Mus. Carls. fase. iv. t. 79, “ Insula Martinique” (!), ¢, descr. orig. (1789). Cereba gularis, (Sparrm.), G. R. Gray, Gen. 1. p. 101, sp. 4; Bp., Consp. Av. 1. p. 400, sp. 4, “ Amer. Merid. ” (!) Certhia currucaria, L., var. 8, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 286, 3 adolese., ex Linn. no. 7. ‘Cinnyris zeylonicus, Vieill., N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. xxxi. p. 507, nec Linn. Le Soui-manga a gorge bleue, Audeb. & Vieill., Ois. Dor. ii. p. 51, t. 29, ¢ adult., “ Lucon.” Nectarinia. zeylonica, Kuhl, Nomina System., p. 10, no. 576, ex Buff. Pl. Enl. t. 576. f. 4, nec Linn. Nectarinia jugularis (Vieill.), Jard., Nat. Lib. xii. p. 228, t. 25. f. 2, g adult., “ Philippines,” op. cit. p. 267. 28 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds Certhia philippensis, part., Meyen, Reise, Theil 11. p. 206 (1834). Certhia sperata, L., 2, Meyen, tom. cit. p. 207, 3 adult., “ Manilla,” nec Linn. Certhia philippensis, Briss., tom. cit. p. 613, no. 4, t. 30. f. 2, 2 vel ¢ juv., “Ins. Philipp.,” descr. orig. (1760). Certhia philippina, L., S. N. ed. xii. 1. p. 187, no. 2, “Philipp.” (1766), ex Briss., no. 4(?). Nectarinia pectoralis, Horsf., ap. G. R. Gray, Genera, ii. App. p. 33, ex Buff. Pl. Enl. 576. f. 4, nee Horsf. Nectarinia jugularis, (lu.), Von Martens, J. fiir Orn. 1866, p.13, no. 49; Jd. Preuss. Exped. Ost-Asien, p. 189. Hab. Philippine Islands (Jardine, Von Martens). Brisson described three species of Certhia from the Philip- pines, which appear to have all belonged to the present species. His “no. 10,” collected by Poivre, was founded on the adult of an undoubted Philippine Nectarinia, a species since referred by common consent, except Reichenbach’s, to C. jugularis, L. To this species of Brisson no binomial title has ever been directly given by any author. Linnzeus identified it with his own C. zeylonica, one of those blunders of his which have since led to so much confusion. Brisson’s species “ no. 6” was described from a Philippine specimen in Aubry’s cabinet; on this Linnzus founded his C. jugularis. From Brisson’s original account, we may conclude that the type was either a young male of his “no. 10,” or else an adult male of that species in postnuptial plumage. Species “no. 4” was described by Brisson from a Philippine individual also in Aubry’s collection. Its identifi- cation is rendered uncertain by our being still totally unac- quainted with authenticated females of the only two Sun-birds ac- tually known to inhabit the Philippines, Nectarophila sperata and A. jugularis, or with either of these species in young male plumage before the metallic feathers appear. But if the title C. philippina, L., was founded on species “no. 4” of Brisson, it must merge in either N. sperata or A.jugularis; and therefore the. identification is of little importance. I say, 1r founded on Brisson’s species “no. 4,” as about this there is some doubt ; for, while Linnzus cites Brisson’s diagnosis only, his own contains a character not = orga of the Indian and Australian Regions. 29 found in Brisson’s account. It is thus expressed :—“ rectricibus intermedtis 2 longissimis.” Brisson’s words are, ‘‘rectricibus binis intermedius nigris.” Linneeus placed C. philippina third in a list of four species, which certainly do all possess elongated central rectrices, C. pulchella, C. famosa, and C.violacea. His diagnosis of all four species begins with the phrase above quoted. They are the only species Linnzeus described thus characterized, which looks as if he intentionally grouped the four together on account of this character. Yet the remainder of the diagnosis of C. phi- lippina agrees with that of Brisson’s “no. 4;”’ and in the absence of evidence of its being original, it is most likely that Linnzeus committed an error when compiling, and that thus the word “< longissimis”” slipped from his pen instead of “ nigris.”” Should it be shown that the Linnzan species did possess elongated mid- dle rectrices, it is clear that it was not an Arachnechthra. Sparrman’s plate represents either a male moulting into post- nuptial plumage, or else a male assuming full nuptial dress. Prof. Sundevall, in his critical exposition of Sparrman’s ‘ Mu- seum Carlsonianum’ (K. Vet. Akad. Handl. 1857) states that the type is a Javan bird; but this must be a mistake, unless it be a young example of 4. pectoralis (Horsf.) with the frontal patch undeveloped, in which case Horsfield’s title would be super- seded*. Figure B, in Sonnerat’s plate, may have been taken from a female or very young male of C. sperata, L. Figures 3 and 4 of the ‘Planches Enluminées’ no. 576, were perhaps drawn from the original Brissonian type-specimens in the col- lection of De Réaumur and Aubry, or else coloured after Brisson’s description. P. L.S. Miiller, clearly, describes from figure 4 of the plate just mentioned, although he does not indicate the source whence he obtained his description, beyond giving Buf- fon’s name. Montbeillard’s account (Hist. Nat. Ois. v. pp. 506— 510) is not original, but copied from Brisson, the dimensions included. According to Sir W. Jardine’s description of this species, the * Do all the Sun-birds of this group, after breeding, doff their metallic feathers, except on the mesial line, in the same manner as A. asiatica and A, lotenia? If they do, C. gularis, Sparrm., may be A. pectoralis (Horsf.), in partly postnuptial plumage. 30 Lord Walden on the Sun-birds only full and trustworthy account that has yet been published, taken from a Philippine specimen obtained by Mr. Cuming, the steel-blue plastron is intensely dark on the centre, but does not extend so far down as in A. pectoralis, (Horsf.). Meyen, most unaccountably, regarded the Philippine Arachnechthra as the female of C. sperata, L. 8. ARACHNECHTHRA ZENOBIA, (Less.), Voy. Coq. Zool. i. p.679, no. 104, t. 30. f. 3, ¢ adult., “Soya Mountams, Amboyna,” (1826), descr. orig. Cinnyris clementie, Less., Dict. Se. Nat. 1. p. 18 (1827), ex Less. 1..¢. Nectarinia zenobia, (Less.), S. Miller & Schl., Verh. Nat. Gesch. Ned. Overz. Bez. Zool. Aves, p. 60 [1846]. ?Le Sucrier bronzé, Le Vaill., Ois. d’Afr. vi. p. 170, t. 297. f. 2, “ Africa’? | Chalcostetha zenobia, (Less.), Reichenb., Handb. p. 286, no. 663. Hab. Amboyna, not uncommon among the farm enclosures and sparsely covered heights (Miller); Ké, Bouru, Amboyna, Ceram (Wallace) ; Dorey, New Guinea, Gilolo (G. R. Gray). Lesson refers C. clementie to figure 2 of his plate above cited, which represents Diceum erythrothorae 9. Bonaparte (Consp. i. p. 409) cites figure 1 of the same plate, which represents D. ery- throthorax g. If the specimen from which Le Vaillant figured his alleged female of Le Sucrier bronzé was not manufactured, it must have been one of A. zenobia, as suggested by M. J. Verreaux to Prof. Sundevall in his remarks on Le Vaillant’s bird (no. 297, K. Vet, Akad. Handl. 1857). A specimen in my possession, ob- tained from a large collection of birds sent from Queensland, and consisting of authenticated Queensland species, represents a form exactly similar to Ceram examples of A. zenobia (Less.), excepting that it is smaller in its principal dimensions, and that it possesses a steel-blue frontal patch. Thus this alleged Queensland bird bears to A. zenobia the same relation that A. pectoralis (Horsf.) does to A. frenata (S. Miller). Can it be the one mentioned by Mr. Ramsay as Nectarinia australis (Ibis, 1865, p. 85, no. 32) ? 9. ARACHNECHTHRA HypoGRAmmiIca, (S. Miller), Verh. Nat. —. “tire elle of the Indian and Australian Regions. 3] Gesch. Ned. Overz. Bez. Land- en Volkenk. p. 173 note, “Su- matra, Borneo” [1843] ; Id., op. cit. Zool. Aves, p. 63, t. 8. f. 3, $ [1846]. Anthreptes macularia, Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xi. p. 107, 2, “ Ma- lacea”’ (1842). Anthreptes nuchalis, Blyth, op. cit. xu. p. 980, 3, “ Singapore” (1843). Hypogramma nuchalis, (Blyth), Reichenb. Handb. p. 314, no. 740. Hab. Sumatra, Borneo, in the plains as well as in the moun- tain forests (Miller) ; Singapore (Blyth) ; Pinang (Moore). The metallic plumage is restricted to the nape, lower back, and upper tail-coverts. The Singapore, Pinang, and certainly Borneo habitat of this species require confirmation. 10. ARACHNECHTHRA SIMPLEX, (S. Miller), Verh. Nat. Gesch. Ned. Overz. Bez. Land- en Volkenk. p.173 note, ¢ 2, ‘ Sumatra, Borneo” [1843], deser. orig. ; op. cit. Zool. Aves, p. 62, t. 8. f. 4, g [1846]. Nectarinia frontalis, Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xiv. p. 558, 3, * Singa- pore” (1845), deser. orig. Arachnoraphis simplex, (Miller), Reichenb., Handb. no. 736. Hab. Sumatra(Miller); Singapore, Malayan Peninsula (Blyth, Cat. Mus. Cale. no. 1362). In the zoological part of the Dutch work cited, Miiller says that this Sun-bird is only found in Sumatra, having previously stated that it also inhabited Borneo. For its Malaccan habitat ~ we have Mr. Blyth’s authority. I have never met with a speci- men from the Malay Peninsula. It is possible that Mr. Blyth’s Singapore type came from Sumatra. This species forms an- other most interesting lmk im the chain of affinities which unite the members of the natural group Arachnechthra. In it the metallic plumage is confined to the frontal region, the rest of the plumage being soberly coloured as in the female. 11. ArRacHNECHTHRA? FLAVIGASTRA, (Gould), P. Z.S. 1843, p- 109, “ New Ireland;” Jd. Voy. Sulphur, Zool. p. 43, t. 24. Arachnoraphis flaviventris, part., Reichenb., Handb. p. 313, no. 735. oe Lord Walden on the Sun-birds “A single specimen only was obtained ;” yet two figures are given in the plate cited! The upper figure agrees with the diagnosis. The lower differs by having the rump _ yellow. It is not stated whence the subject of the lower figure was pro- cured. This species does not appear to have been since ob- tained. The figure resembles a female of A. frenata (Miull.). Reichenbach (/. c.) has mixed up