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Show 100 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON BIRDS FROM LABUAN. [Feb. 16, towards the tips of the feathers, which are subterminally barred fulvous or whitish, the innermost very broadly and plainly barred with sandy buff; scapulars black in the centre, with broad marginal bands of sandy buff; primary coverts and quills blackish, the secondaries vermiculated with sandy buff, the innermost greyish; first four primaries with a large white spot, extending on to both webs in the second, third, and fourth ; centre tail-feathers greyish brown, vermiculated with sandy buff and crossed with eight bars of darker brown, the rest of the feathers dull brown, crossed with about eight vermiculated bands of fulvous, none of them very distinct, the two external feathers almost uniform except for a few notches of sandy buff on the outer web, the terminal third being pure white ; sides of face rufescent, mottled with dark brown bars, the cheeks whitish, barred with brown and forming an indistinct moustachial stripe ; throat rufous, mottled with brown bars, on the lower part a distinct gular patch of white ; chest ashy brown, barred with buffy-white, all the feathers more or less mottled with fulvous vermiculations ; remainder of under surface fulvous, barred with dusky brown; under wing-coverts dark brown, barred across with sandy buff, the lower series uniform blackish like the inner lining of the wing. Total length 9 inches, culmen 0*45, wing 7*0, tail 4*9, tarsus 0*6. I cannot identify this Goatsucker with any Malayan species, most of which are in the museum. The species given by Count Salvadori are Caprimulgus affinis, C. arundinaceus, C. macrurus, C. borneensis, and C. concretus ; and with none of these does it agree at all. With regard to C. borneensis, described by Mr. Wallace for the first time in Count Salvadori's book, there can scarcely be a doubt that it is the true C. concretus of Bonaparte. Mr. Wallace had very probably overlooked the correction of the Ashantee habitat of this bird given in the ' Conspectus' (p. 60), and doubtless did not compare his Bornean bird with the description of an African species. The great peculiarities of C. borneensis are the broad transverse white markings on the under surface and the unspotted quills, both of which are mentioned in Bonaparte's description. The large white tail-spots and the four spots on the quills are very prominent characters in C. salvadorii. I may add that the types of C. borneensis from Banjermassing are in the museum and before me as I write. The figure of C. concretus (Plate XXII. fig. 2) is from one of these typical specimens. Family ALCEDINIDAE. 5. C E Y X SHARPII, Salvad. Atti R. Ac. Tor. iv. p. 463 ; Sharpe, Monogr. Alced. pl. 42 ; Salvad. Ucc. B o m . p. 98. Count Salvadori points out that the figure of this species in my ' Monograph ' is " very inaccurate ;" but beyond the difficulty which any one will find in representing the exact brilliancy of a lilac tint by the hands of colourists, I cannot allow the inaccuracy of the plate. The fault lies more with the species, for three specimens of C. sharpii occur in the present collection along with C. dillwgnni, and I feel tolerably certain that Count Salvadori's species will turn out ulti- |
