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Show 654 DR. F. H. H. GUILLEMARD ON BIRDS COLLECTED [Julie 16, time the web of the feather becomes eroded. It still remains webbed at the base, however, and generally carries a spatula for some time. Indeed, this spatula may sometimes be seen in the full, or nearly full, plumaged bird. In the process of elongation the shaft becomes thin and widened, though still remaining of a brown colour; and although Salvadori doubts whether the curious quill-like plumes of the full plumage are assumed without moult, an individual of the present series shows that this is the case, and that the result is produced by the gradual incurving of the already flattened shaft. The last stage is in the appearance of the red subalar plumes, from which the bird derives its specific name. I have noticed that the females and quite young males seem alike to have the two median rectrices somewhat narrow and rather shorter than the others, and that the prolongation of these is not invariably a change of the earliest period. The Batanta birds appear to have the yellow less bright. There is less of it on the back, and it merges into the black of the forehead without the distinct line over the vertex as in the others. 161. DlPHYLLODES MAGNIFICA (Penn.). Diphyllodes magnifica, Salvad= op. cit. vol. ii. p. 634. a-c. 3 • Salwatti ? (Bruijn). d. 8. Salwatti. Iris brown ; bill greyish blue; feet bright blue. Length about 22*0 centims., wing 11*3. This bird is known to the hunters of the Rajah Ampat as Bila rotan, Malay for " cut rattan"-from the appearance of the yellow mantle, which is certainly not unlike a sloping section of a large rattan. I cannot help regarding this species as decidedly rare, for in spite of the large collections we obtained in Mysol, Salwatti, and the Arfak, not one single example of this species was shot either by ourselves or our own hunters. 162. DIPHYLLODES CHRYSOPTERA, Gould. Diphyllodes chrysoptera, Salvad. op. cit. vol. ii. p. 64 I. a. 3 . Ansus, Jobi (Bruijn). b. 2- Ansus (Bruijn). Mr. Laglaize informed me that the iris of the male is yellowish. The bill and feet are as in D. magnifica. W e were unable to obtain this species during our visit to Jobi, and it seems to be far from common on that island. I have seen skins intermediate between this and the last species from the eastern side of Geelvink Bay ; and I feel certain that a series from this locality and Jobi would show that the two so-called species are in reality not separable. 163. DIPHYLLODES WILSONI (Cass.). Schlegelia respublica, Salvad. op. cit. vol. ii. p. 642, a-d. 8 . Marchesa Bay, Batanta. e-g. 2 • Marchesa Bay. |