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Show 18/0.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON BIRDS FROM MADAGASCAR. 389 coverts in the Madagascar bird, they seem to be a good deal longer than in the species from Mauritius. This may be accidental and exist in m y specimens alone, but, if found to be constant, would add another link in the present very slight chain of evidence as to the specific distinctness of the two birds. A full description of m y Madagascar specimens is given in m y paper on the African Swallows (P. Z. S. 1870, p. 296). Fam. MUSCICAPIDJE. 6. TERPSIPHONE MUTATA. Tchitrea holosericea (Temm.) ; Hartl. Faun. Madag. p. 45 (1861). Tchitrea mutata (Linn.); Hartl. Faun. Madag. p. 45 (1861); Scl. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 163 ; A. Newt. P. Z. S. 1865, p. 835 ; Grand. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. p. 385. Muscipeta mutata, Schl. & Poll. Faun. Madag. Ois. p. 76 (1868). Tchitrea pretiosa, Less. ; Hartl. Faun. Madag. p. 46 (1861); E. Newt. Ibis, 1863, p. 347. "Nossi Vola, Oct. 22nd, 1869. Native name Skate. Eyes black or dark blue." The changes which this species goes through are wonderful. Specimens in all stages of plumage are contained in the present collection, exhibiting all the differences portrayed by Professor Schlegel in his plates (/. ci). Fam. LANIID^E. 7. CEBLEPYRIS MAJOR, sp. n. C. affnis C. canae, sed conspicue major, coloribus saturatioribus, et rectricibus albo latiore marginatis. The specimens sent by Mr. Crossley are very much larger than ordinary specimens of Campephaga eana ; and both Mr. G. R. Gray and Professor Newton agree with me that the species is distinct from the bird collected by Messrs. Pollen and Van Dam in N.E. Madagascar, of which we have a considerable series in this country. In the last-mentioned birds the wing measures barely 4 inches in length, while in the specimens just received it reaches 4*4 inches, and, in addition to the longer wing, the whitish-grey tips to tbe tail-feathers are very much broader. 8. ARTAMIA VIRIDIS. Leptopterus viridis (Gm.) ; Hartl. Orn. Madag. p. 48 (1861) Roch and E. Newt. Ibis, 1862, p. 273 ; E. Newt. Ibis, 1863, p. 348; A. Newt. P. Z. S. 1865, p. 835. Artamia viridis, Grand. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1867, p. 386 ; Schl. & Poll. Faun. Madag. Ois. p. 84, pl. 27. "Saralalan, Nov. 20th, 1869. Native name Vorun sasat." I cannot perceive any characters whereby the present bird may be generically separated from Artamia leucocephala, the type of the genus Artamia. |