ON A COLLECTION OP BIRDS MADE BY MR. M. NAMIYE, IN THE LIUKIU ISLANDS, JAPAN, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OP NEW SPECIES.By liEONHARD STEJNEOER.A short time ago the National Museum received a fine collection ofbirds from the Educational Museum of Tokio, Japan, the directorof wliich is Mr. S. Tegima. Besides numerous interesting and well-prepared specimens, especially from the provinces southwest of Tokio,there were several skins from Liu Kiu. At the same time, Mr. M. Na-miye, in charge of the ornithological department of the EducationalMuseum, forwarded to me for inspection another lot from the sameislands.The Liu Ki?, or Riu Kiu, Islands (often spelt Lew Chew, or Loo Choo),in connection with the Linschoten Archipelago, form a continuous chainof islands between Kiu-Siu, the southern of the Great Japanese Isl-ands proper, and the northern end of Formosa. Notwithstanding thisintermediate position between two so peculiar and remarkable zoogeo-graphical provinces, only little has been done in order to explore theirfauna. That of the Linschoten group is wholly unknown, and whatlittle we know of the birds of the Liu Kiu Islands is due to the Ameri-can Pacific Exploring Expeditions under Perry and Rodgers.The Liu Kiu Archipelago consists of three groups, a southern, theMiyaco Islands, or Nambu Sioto, south of 25? north latitude ; a middlegroup, Tsubu Sioto, or Liu Kiu proper, between 26? and 27? north lati-tude, and a northern group, Hokubu Sioto, between 27? and 29? northlatitude.The first and the last named of these groups have apparently neverbeen visited by naturalists, for the ornithological collections, at least,have only come from the main islantl of the middle group, OkinawaShima, or Great Liu Kiu. The present collection was also made onthis island during a short visit of Messrs. Tegima and Namiye duringthe month of March of the present year. Official business of morepressing nature prevented Mr. Namiye from devoting so much time tocollecting as he wanted. This is much to be regretted, for when welook at the excellent results of his short stay, there can be no doubtbut that he would have added more species to the Avifauna of the Jap-anese Empire. It is also desirable that the southern group shouldbe explored, since situated, as they are, even more southerly thanthe northern point of Formosa, pretty well isolated, and not far fromthe Tropic of Cancer, many interesting novelties and additions to thefauna may be expected to occur on these islands, which, moreover,seem to be very mountainous, the mountains reaching a height of atleast 600 meters.634
1886. J PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 635Okinawa Shima, or Great Liu Kiu, is a long and narrow island, itsgreatest length in a soiitliwestnortheast direction being nearly GO miles.It is well cultivated in the southern part, about the chief city calledNapa or Nafa, but further north it becomes rugged and mountainousand covered with forests.Turnix blakistoni Swinh,The discovery of this little quail-like bird on Japanese territory addsnot only a species and genus to the list of Japanese birds, but a wholesuperfaraily, Turnicoidew, or Turnicomorphcv as the group is called bysome ornithologists who consider it worthy of rank as an order.I am somewhat doubtful in regard to the specific name, for Swinhoe'sdecriptiou, if it can be called a description, is very short and unsatis-factory, and I have no Chinese si)ecimens for comparison. Here is whathe says (P. Z. S., 1871, p. 401)
:
"A male specimen of the T. ocellata group was procured by CaptainBlakiston at Canton, and kindly given to me. This differs too muchfrom the last [T. rostrata] for me to consider it of the same species. Itsnearest ally is the T. pugnax, Temm., of Malacca, but it is smaller,shorter-toed, and possesses a remarkably small bill. Instead of spotsit has numerous bands across the breast, and its upper parts are veryrufous. I propose to separate it under the name of its discoverer."I have before me a pair of " T. pugnax from Malacca" (U. S. Nat. Mus.,Nos. 15176 and 15177), or T. plumbipes Hoksf., as it ought to stand ac-cording to the opinion of the Marquis of Tweeddale, who considered itdistinct from the typical T. pugnax from Java, from the male of whichthe bird from Liu Kiu differs in the following points
:
(1) It is considerably smaller, with somewhat smaller bill and feet.(2) Its forehead differs distinctly from the crown in being buftish
?white wiih black streaks, the crown being dark rufous with blackishcenters, and a light median stripe.(3) On the upper parts the ground color is much more rufous and thelight marks more buffy.(4) It is less heavily banded on the flanks.So far as the description goes, the Liu Kiu bird, therefore, agrees tol-erably weir with the characters ascribed by Swinhoe to his T. blaMstoni.I should remark, however, that the Indian form, which Mr. Hume callsT. taigoor Sykes , also seems to differ from plumbipes chiefly by therufous tint of the upper parts (cf. Hume, Stray Feath., YI, 1878, p. 451).The occurrence of a Hemipode on Japanese territory is not very sur-prising, since a species of this family has been found on the ojjpositemainland as far north as Ussuri (latitude of northern Yesso).The following description of the Liu Kiu specimen may not be out ofplace
:
$ ad. Napa, Okinawa Shima, March 29, 1880. Coll. M. Namiye.?Fore-head whitish, slightly tinged with buff, each feather marked longitud-
636' BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.inally with black ; superciliary streak, lores, cheeks, malar region, ear-coverts, and upper lateral portion of neck similarly colored, the brown-ish black markings, however, occupying the tip of the feathers, form-ing semi-lunar, scale-like marks on the side of the neck ; a distinctlight hazel-colored spot behind the ear-coverts ; chin and throat white,slightly suffused with buff", unspotted; feathers of the crown and napeblack with broad hazel-colored tips, those nearest to the superciliumwith a light mark in the outer web, and those nearest to the middlewith a similar, but larger buffy white spot, forming a conspicuous lightmedian line from the forehead to the neck ; lower lateral portion of neckof a dull hazel inclining to cinnamon, and but faintly mottled withdusky; ground color of scapulars, and entire back, including rump andupper tail-coverts, of a raw umber somewhat irregularly overlaid withhazel inclining to rusty, and more or less conspicuously mottled andwaved with blackish, the shoulder feathers and longest rump feathersin the outer web marked with a distinct buffy spot which is set well offfrom the rest of the feather by a black line or spot; ground color ofunder parts creamy buff", becoming tawny buff on the flanks, crissumand under tail-coverts, the feathers of the fore-neck, upper breast, andsides of the breast each with a subterminal transverse spot of black,forming a series of interrupted cross-bars, and most of the feathers alsowith a very narrow blackish edge to the tips; primaries dusky, fadinginto brownish gray toward the tip, the outer webs with light edges,which are particularly well defined, and nearly white on the outermostpair ; secondaries similarly colored, but the edges more tinged with buffand the tips inclining to cinnamon, the inner ones in the outer websshowing trace of buff' cross-bars as an indication of the markings onthe tertiaries, which are hazel mottled with dusky and adorned withseveral transverse marginal spots of a light buff irregularly borderedby brownish black ; primary coverts like the primaries ; great second-ary coverts similar to the tertiaries, but the hazel inclines to cinnamon,the buff' occupies nearly the whole outer web, and the dark markingsassume more the character of regular cross-bars; the smaller uppercoverts similarly colored on both webs, the smallest ones with only ter-minal buff" spot and a subterminal black one, nearly obsolete in thosenearest to the edge of the wing; largest feather of the alulii duskywith a broad and well-defined buffy white edge to the outer web ; underwing-coverts and axillaries ashy gray, those nearest to the edge andthe tips of the axillaries strongly washed with cinnamon ; tail-featherslike the elongated rump-leathers and difficult to distinguish from thelatter. Bill and legs appear to have been of a bluish horn-color, thegonys light yellowish.Dimensions.?Total length liO'"?, according to the measurement ofthe fresh bird by the collector. Wing, 73'"?' ; tail-feathers, 20'"'" ; ex-posed culmen, 12""" ; tarsus, 24'"'" ; middle toe with claw, 20?'?.
1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. ^37It may be well to remark that the individual variation as to color isvery great in the Hemipodes, and that the females of the present groupare larger than the males, and have the chin, throat, and fore-neck uni-form blackish.Treron permagna, sp. n.DiAGN.?Rectrices underneath uniform slate black, the tips borderedwith ashy; tail slightly graduated; third primary sinuated in the innerweb; under tail-coverts dark-olive green broadly bordered with palecreamy yellow ; secondaries and their great coverts narrowly edged withthe same ; primary coverts uniform blackish ; lower abdomen of a creamyprimrose-yellow ; rest of plumage dull olive-green above, clearer on therump, clear yellowish oil-green on forehead and under parts. Size verylarge: wing over 200'"'".Type.?No. 17, Coll. Namiye ; Napa, Okinawa Shima, Liu Kiu Islands,March 9, 1886.Habitat.?Okinawa Shima, middle group, Liu Kiu Islands, Japan.The identification of the present species has caused me considerabledifficulty. It is much larger than Treron formosce Swinhoe* fromFormosa, being, so far as I can see, the largest species in the wholegenus Treron in its widest sense, though otherwise evidently closelyresembling the female of that species. But the specimen before me,which Mr. Namiye collected at Napa, March 9, 1886, is marked on thelabel as being a male. Should the determination of the sex be cor-rect, the present species would be unique amongst its nearest allies inhaving the small upper wing-coverts olive-green in the male and notchestnut.But even if the specimen be a female, it differs sufficiently from Swin-hoe's description of the types of his T.formosce to warrant the separation.First, as to dimensions : His female has the wing 7.2 inches long andthe "tail -' 1 inches, while Namiye's bird measures, wing 8.3 and tail 6inches ! It is consequently much larger even than the male T.formosce,which, according to Swinhoe, has the wing 7.8 and the tail 5 inches,with a graduation of 0.5 inch, while in permagna the latter measurementis nearly 1 inch. It should also be remarked that my mode of meas-uring gives the smallest possible dimensions, for the wing is not flat-tened, and the tail is measured by thrusting the point of the dividersbetween the central tail-feathers down to the base.In general coloration my bird agrees tolerably well with Swinhoe'sdescription (when we remember that ^'yellow on the head and rump" isa misprint for ' yelloicer^^), except that it has the throat uniform withthe rest of the under parts, and not " grey, each feather margined withyellowish green." In the details, however, there seem to be some dif-ferences, which will be apparent from the subjoined full description of
*Ibis, 1863, p. 396, and 1866, p. 312 ; nee Sphenocercusformosce Swinhoe, Ibis, 1866p. 122, quae T. sororia SWinh.
638 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.T. permagna. In regard to the coloration of the wing the discrepanciesare very considerable, as will be seen from the following comparison
:
T.formoscB $.
'Primary coverts and seconda-ries black, margined -with clearyellow.'Tertiaiiea and other covertsgreen, some of them beinglikewise mai-gined."?Swinh.,Ibis, 1863, p. 397.
T.fortnosce cT-
"The primary coverts with moreor les.s greyish black, marginedwith yellow.""Outer tertials greyish black,narrowlj' edged with greenand light yellow; the rest ofthe tertials the color of theblack."?Swinh., Ibis, 1866, p.312.
T. permagna.
Primnry coverts uniform black,without liiiht edgings. Sec-ondarie.s edged with yellowish.Tertiaries uniform olive green,without light edges. Six outergreat secondary coverts edgedwith yellowish. No other cov-erts light edged.
I have a strong suspicion, however, that Swinhoe has not named cor-rectly the parts he described. I believe that by '' prima^-y coverts'''' hereally meant the ^^ great secondary coverts,''^ and that, in the descriptionof the inale, by '? outer tertials" he meant "outer secondaries." Thefact remains, however, that in the iemales he describes two sets of cov-erts as having yellow edges, while in the bird before me only the outergreat coverts are colored in such a manner.The following is a careful descrii)tion of the type of T. permagna.S (!) Napa, Okinawa Shima, March 9, 1886. Coll. Namiye.?Upper i)artsdark olive-green, clearer on the rump and hoary on occiput, cheeks,sides of neck, cervix, and interscapilium ; forehead, anterior part ofcrown, and lores, like the under })arts, clear oil-green, gradually deep-ening backwards to the abdomen into olive green ; middle of lowerabdomen and crissum of a delicate creamy crimson yellow ; featherscovering tibia and sides of abdomen olive green, edged with a similaryellow ; under tail-coverts, the longest of which reach beyond the tipsof the lateral rectrices, dark olive green, broadly (about 5"?) marginedwith pale creamy yellow ; sides of breast, asillaries, as well as the wholeunder side of the wing, dark slate, with a somewhat glaucous glossto the under side of remiges ; upper side of the remiges brownishblack, the outer webs towards the edge washed with olive green ; sec-ond, third, and fourth primaries distinctly, but very narrowly, edgedwith pale yellowish in the middle portion of the outer web ; the outerwebs of the sis outer secondaries similarly edged, though somewhatbroader and in the apical half only ; the corresponding greater covertscolored exactly similarly ; tertiaries and all the other upper covertsuniform olive green, with a scarcely perceptible purplish wash on thesmaller ones, except the primary coverts, which are uniform blackishbrown, without light edges; tail above olive green, the central pair oftail feathers uniformly so, the rest with the inner edge slaty black(about 7?"" wide) ; under side of tail slate black, each feather tippedwith ashy on the portion not covered by the succeeding one. In thedried skin the bill is light horn-blue iu its terminal half, whitish alongthe edges, the basal portion being horny bluish black ; feet a dull burntcarmine.Dimens'wns : Total length, according to Mr. Namiye's measurementof the fresh bird, 405?""; stretch of wings, 645??. Wing, 211"""J tail-
1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 639feathers, loS"''" ; graduation of tail. 24"'" ; exposed culmen, 21"'" ; tar-sus, 28?"^ ; middle toe with claw, 37??.Treron permagna is the second species of the Green Pigeons knownto occur in Japan, the other species being the well-known T. sieboldii.*The two species may be easily distinguished thus :
?! Lower breast and entire abdomen yellowish-white ; the outer tail-feathers abovewith a subtermiual black band T. sieholdii.a- The yellowish white of the body confiued to the middle portion of the lowerabdomen and the crissum ; the tail-feathers without auy subtermiual cross-baud T. permar/na.A close ally of T. sieboldii is found in Formosa, viz, Swinhoe's T.sororiusj, if, indeed, it really be separable. It would be interesting toknow how the corresponding bird from the intermediate islands iscolored.Megascops elegans (Cassin).This species is not new to the Japanese fauna, for the type was takenon board a vessel while in Japanese waters, west of the northern islandsof the Linschoten group, consequently not far from the locality whereit has now been rediscovered by Mr. Kamiye, who obtained a femalespecimen at Oroku, Okinawa Shirna, March 28, 1886.In order to determine this specimen I went to Philadelphia, where,by the courtesy of the authorities of the Academy of Natural Sciences,I was permitted to institute a direct comparison with Cassin's type of
'''Epliialtes elegans^ I found, as I had anticipated, that the bird col-lected by Mr. Namiye is identical with the type, agreeing as itdoes veryclosely both in size and coloration. It is slightly more rufous all over,but otherwise it matches it so closely, and especially in the amount offeathering on the tarsi, that two specimens more similar are scarcelyfound in any of the species of this variable group. The type specimenhas hardly any indication of occipital or cervical bands and certainlyless than several specimens of M.japonicus now before me. The Liu Kiuspecimen shows more of a cervical light band, though it is by no meansvery pronounced. It seems not justifiable to refer the present speciesto M. lettia and M. japonicus to M. scops as subspecies because of theabsence or presence of these bands, which apparently are quite an un-stable character.The present species is certainly very closely allied to 31. japonicus,from which it is easily separated, however, by its superior size and bythe greater extent of the naked portion of the tarsus. The colorationjs very much the same, the individual variation being almost endless,but it seems as if J\L elegans has the blackish markings on the top ofthe head larger and darker, thus making the crown conspicuously darkerthan the rest of the upper parts ; a feature which I do not find in anyspecimen of my series of M.japonicus. The ear-tufts seem to be larger
*Columba sieboldii Temminck, PI. Color., iv, liv, 93, pi. 549. (18:?5.)t Ibis, 1866, p. :511= Treron sonorius Gray, Hand-1. B. , ii, p. 224 ( 1870. )= SphenocercusformoscB Swinhoe, Ibis, 1866, p. 122, nee Treron formosoe Swinhoe, 1863!
640 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.than in the latter species, tbe largest feathers in both specimens of 3f,elegans being 27'"? long, besides being rather stiff and narrow, while inthe specimen of M. japonicusj in which they are best developed (U. S.Nat. Mus., No. 96395), they are only 17?? long, and at the same timeless markedly differentiated from the other feathers. The colorationof these tufts, too, is more pronounced in iJf. elegans, their inner websbeing more rusty and less mottled with dusky, while the outer webs aremore heavily marked with blackish.The original label attached to the type specimen of M. elegans readsas follows : " En Mer. Cotes du Japon. Lat. 29? 17' 00" N. Long.1260 13' 30" E. Mardi 2 Avril 1850. Yeux jaune serin," and on theunder side of the stand is written : "Eph. affinis. Verr. Mss. Japan,J. B. W.," and with lead-pencil, in Mr. Cassin's handwriting : " E. ele-gans Cassin."Whether this bird is the same as E. glahripes of Swinhoe, as sup-posed by Mr. Sharpe (Cat. B. Brit. Mus., ii, p. 87), I cannot say withabsolute certainty without a specimen of the latter, the more so sincehis description does not specially mention the amount of feathering onthe tarsus, which in 31. elegans is very much less than in M. lettia, ofwhich Mr. Sharpe makes it a subspecies. If glabrijJ^s has the characterassigned to " lettia and allies" on p. 46, viz, " tarsi plumed to the baseof the toes, the feathering running some waydown themiddle and outertoes, so that the junction with the tarsus is always hidden," then elegansis a bird toto ccelo different from that described by Swinhoe, for the dis-tance between the feathering of the tarsus and the junction of the toeswith the tarsus is more than 5?? in both specimens of M. elegans.Sharpe also describes the nuchal and cervical bands of the Chinesespecimens as much more distinct than found in my birds. On the wholeI feel greatly inclined to doubt the identity of elegans and glahripes.The individual variation in coloration of these owls being so enor-mous, the following description does not enter into any considerabledetail, only such points, being taken in as are deemed essential.9 ad. {Oroku, Okinawa Shima ; March 28, 1886. Coll. M. Namiye).?Ground color of upper surface russet fading into Isabella-color on thewings, and strongly tinged with ferruginous on crown and cervix, andwith hazel on the rump, all over minutely mottled with dusky, espe-cially dense along the shafts, the feathers on the middle of the crownbeing nearly black with irregular ferruginous spots, while on some ofthe feathers of the hind-neck the dusky mottlings are crowded intoirregular bars towards the tip, leaving the basal and central portionnearly spotless, thereby forming a faintly indicated tawny band acrossthe cervix ; most of the outer scapulars have the outer webs white,slightly marked with tawny and with one or more large blackish spotsat the tip, thus forming a narrow longitudinal whitish bar on the shoul-ders 5 two or three of the middle wing-coverts have also a large whitishspot, more or less tinged with tawny, in the outer web; ear-tufts long,each feather more or less solid blackish in the outer web and ferruginous
1886.1 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 641tawny in the inner, only the tips of the latter being mottled with dusky
;
face whitish mottled with dusky and slightly tinged with tawny, all thedusky mark being bordered with tawny ; a blackish semilune limits the au-ricular region posteriorly ; ground color of the entire under surface, ex-cept the legs, white with minute and delicate transversal dusky bars, eachof which are very narrowly edged with tawny ; near the middle line ofthe body from the breast backwards the feathers are nearly immaculatein the inner webs, forming a whitish median line ; the dusky mottlingsjoin at the shafts of the feathers, covering throat and sides so as to formmore or less conspicuous shaft streaks ; basal portion of all the feathersstrongly tinged with tawny, which is quite conspicuous on throat, fore-neck, and sides ; feathers of tibte and tarsi pale tawny, each featherwith a subterminal dusky bar ; axillaries nearly uniform whitish witha very pale tawny wash, under-wing coverts being colored more likethe legs ; remiges and great wing-coverts dusky with more or less dis-tinct cross-bars of a dull cinnamon buff, which on the basal half of theouter web of the second, third, and fourth primaries becomes nearlywhitish ; in the inner webs the brownish bands are more or less mottledwith dusky, while in the outer webs the dusky interspaces are similarlymottled with the same color as the light bands ; tail-feathers coloredsimilar to the wing-feathers, but the light cross-bars are proportionallynarrower and less well defined, especially towards the tip, their numberon the middle pair being about ten. Bill and feet, in the dried state,dark horn blue, the former with the extreme tip whitish.Lower part of tarsus naked for a distance of 6'"'". First primaryslightly shorter than sixth ; second intermediate between fourth andfifth ; third and fourth equal and longest. Inner webs of first, second,and third primaries abruptly sinuated ; outer webs of second, third, andfourth gently sinuated.The dimensions are included in the following
:
Comparative table of measurements.
1. MEGASCOPS ELEGANS.
Mnsenm andNo.
Philada. Acad..Educ.M.,Tokio
Collector andNo.
Namiye.... ad.?ad.
Locality.
29? 47' N. lat. ; 126?13' 30" E. long.Oroku, OkinawaShima.
Date.
Apr. 2,1850 1 172,78Mar. 28, 1886 166 75
Remarks.
20... Type.22 210 Stretch otwing, 585.
2. MEGASCOPS JAPONICUS.U.S. Nat. 96398.Do. 96397.Do. 96395.Do. 96396.Do. 96394. Ringer, 182 'cfad.Blakist., 2295. 1 cf ad.Blakist., 2076. 1 cT ad.Blakist., 2077 . ? ad.Blakist., 1514. $ ad. Nagasaki, Kiusiu.Hakodadi, Tesso..dododo June 10, 1881Sept. 16, 1877Sept. 19, 1876Sept. 19, 1876Sept. 20, 1874 148 63
642 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.Motacilla melanope Pall.Amale of this species collected at Napa, March 9, 1886, differs inno wayfrom other Japanese specimens except in having a rather strong washof green on the interscapilium. The throat is mixed white and black,the feathers of the latter color still partly in their sheaths. The tail-feathers are also moulting.Total length, lOO?"" ; stretch of wings, 260'""^ (according to the label).Wing, SS"'"; exposed culmen, 12?^? j tarsus, 21"^'"; middle toe, withclaw, 18"?'.Hypsipetes pryeri, sp. n.DiAGN.?Similar to H. amaurotis Temm., but somewhat smaller, witha broad (about 12??.) collar of burnt umber brown across the throat,uniting the ear-patches, and with the gray of the under parts replacedby raw umber ; top of head darker, and rest of upper surface more oliva-ceous.Type.? 9 collected by M. Namiye at Napa, Okiuawa Shima, March8, 1886.Habitat.?Okinawa Shima, Liu Kiu Islands, Japan.This new species, which 1 take a pleasure in dedicating to Mr. Pryerin recognition of his meritorious work in Japanese ornithology, is quitedistinct from the common Brown-eared Bulbul of Japan, and may atonce be distinguished from this species by the characters given in theabove diagnosis.In some respects it comes nearer to the Bonin Shima bird, S. squami-ceps KiTTL., which sometimes, though, as shown by Dr. A. B. Meyer(Zeitsch. Gea. Ornith., I, 1884, p. 211), quite erroneously, has been con-sidered identical with the common Japanese bird. Dr. Meyer is notcorrect, however, when asserting that the latter is materially inferiorin general size, for, as shown by the table of dimensions given below,the average size of S. amaurotis is considerably larger than the meas-urements given by him. Unfortunately the only specimen of the Boninbird at my command is in a very poor condition, but then there are twogood plates by Kittlitz, and the comparative description by Dr. Meyer,quoted above, which will assist us in pointing out the features by whichit differs from H. amaurotis proper and from H. pryeri.It is then evident, both from Dr. Meyer's measurements and my own,that H. squamiceps has a comparatively longer tarsus than either of thetwo other species; it furthermore jiossesses a broad dusky pectoralband, very well represented in the original figure (M6m. Sav. Etr., I,pi. xvi), and by Dr. Meyer described as a " broad blackish pectoral bandnot quite continuous in the middle." In having the throat, fore neck,and other under parts brown, and not gray, H. squamiceps agrees withH. pryeri, but judging from my specimen of the former, this brownishcolor is of a different tint, less yellowish than in the latter species.In additioij, I should remark that it may later on be expedient torecognize the individuals breeding in Yesso as a distinct race, charac-
1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 643teiized by the paleness of the flanks and the general lighter tone of theunder parts, but at present, with only two specimens from that island,I refrain from naming it. I may also mention that a specimen fromTate-Yama, collected by Jouy, October 28, agrees with the Yesso birds.This would not invalidate the status of the latter as a distinct race,since it may be presumed that in winter or during the migrations itmay occur in Hondo, especially on the western side. Additional speci-mens from Yesso are therefore very desirable, in order to have thequestion settled.A specimen from Chusan, China (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 85685), ac-quired by Mr. Jouy at the Shanghai Museum, differs in no essentialfrom the typical Japanese S. amauroUs.Comparative table of measurements.
1. HTPSIPETES PRYERI.
644 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.
nasal groove overhung by the membrane, oval and slightly oblique,and removed from the feathering a considerable distance; bristles atbase of upper mandible tolerably well developed.Wings short, rounded, and very concave; distance of secondariesfrom tip of longest primary less than the length of the exposed culmeo.Tail much shorter than wing, slightly rounded.Feet long; tarsus nearly twice as long as exposed culmen, roundedbehind, booted ; toes long and slender, outer toe longer than inner
;
hind toe long, with a strong curved claw.Type.?leotums namiyei Stejneger.The other species belongi'^g to this genus is Icoturus Jcomadori {=Tem-menick's Sylvia lomadori, =Erithacus komadori of Seebohm in Cat. B.Mus. v.). So far as I can see, these birds have nothing to do with the Tuy-dince, Lusciniina', or wliatever that group may be called, which includesthe English Robin. The very concave wing apparently at once removesthem from that neighborhood and suggests '' Timaliine" relationship.Another character by which Icoturus differs from the true robins is theremoteness of the nostrils from the frontal feathering, thereby also indi-cating relationship with " Timaliine" forms. True, the tarus is booted,but, I think^ in a somewhat different way from that of the Turdidce, andresembling that of the Enictiridw (Stejneger, in Stand. Nat. Hist., IV, p.489, 1885), in being rounded behind and not sharply edged. In fact, Icannot see that it differs from the "aberrant Timaliine group" Enicnri(or Heuicuri, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., VII, pp. 312-323), except 1).\the shape of the tail being slightly rounded instead of furcate. Theshape of the bill is identical; the wing rather 7nore "Timaliine"; andthe tarsus and toes indistinguishable from the corresponding parts in thrEnicuri. As to the tail it should be remarked, that in the latter groni>its shape varies greatly from the deeply forked and very long tail oiEnicurus proper to the nearly square and short tail of 3Hcrocichla, fromwhich there is only a very short step to the slightly rounded tail of Ico-turus. Even in style of coloration the difference is not very great*, a^considerable similarity will be found between Icoturus and EydrocicJdarujicapilla (Temm.), especially in the coloration of the anterior part ofthe body. Unfortunately the first plumage of the Icoturi is not known,as that might go a long way in settling the question of their true rela-tionship.Icoturus namiyei, sp. nov.DiAGN.?Similar to I. komadori Temm., but with the flanks and a>illaries uniform ashy, and the under wing-coverts ashy and rufous ;second primary equals the ninth, much shorter than the eighth; thirdshorter than fourth, fifth, and sixth, which are longest.
* In coloration, however, the Icoiuri very forcibly remind one of certain Ferncarii(la>. Shonkl color count for more than strncture, then Icoturus would come vi !close to Myrmeciza longipea, from Panama, to which it has a most astonishing super-ficial resemblance.
1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 645Type.?U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 109474.Habitat.?Liu Kiu Islands.The type of the present species, which I take the pleasure to nameafter its discoverer, was collected by Mr. Namiye, at "Nagogatake,Liu Kiu," apparently the same as Nago Take of Hassenstein's map, amountain in the northern part of Okinawa Shima.Icoturus namiyei is evidently closely related to I. Icomadori, but thedifl'erences are so strongly marked that I feel no hesitation in describingit as a distinct species, although having no si)ecimen of the latter athand for direct comparison. The specimen before me is undoubtedly amale in full adult plumage, so the differences cannot be,due to age orseason, the more so as the proportions also seem quite different. I takeSeebohm's description of the type specimen of J. Jcomadori (Cat. B.Brit. Mus., V, p. 298) to be correct, and shall now give in tabular formthe characters by which I. namiyei differs from that description
:
I. namiyei cf ad. I. komadori cT ad.
rianks uniform ashy gray.Under -wing-coverts ashy gray, the outer websand the tips margined with rufous orange, simi-lar to the color of the back.Axillaries uniform ashy gray.Bastard primary, 26.5""""'.Length of wing, 72""".Longest tail-feathers, 52""".Tarsus, 29'""'.Wing with the fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries
"Flanks black; the feathers of the * * * upperflanks margined with white. * * *.""Under wing-coverts black, margined withwhite."
"Axillaries white, with, dark centers.""Bastard primary, 0.8 inch " (=20.3""")."Length of wing, male, 2.9" (=73.7?"")."Tail, male, 1.9" (=48.3'?"')."Tarsus, 1.02" (2C'"'?)."Wing with the third, fourth, and fifth primariesnearly equal and longest; second primary about nearly equal and longest; second primaryequal to the ninth. about equal to the sixth."
It will be seen that I. namiyei has the wing much more rounded, witha longer first primary, and that while the other dimensions are nearlythe same, the tarsus is proportionately longer. I have not introducedthe length of the culmen in the above comparison, as I do not knowhow Mr. Seebohm measures it. The culmen is given by him as 0.68inch (= 17.3?'") ; the " exposed culmen " of my bird is 14??, but from theextreme cranial base the culmen measures 19??. both measurementsdiffering considerably from Mr. Seebohm's. I may also remark thatMr. Seebohm describes the " rest of the under parts" (except chin, throat,breast, and flanks) as " white," while in my bird the tibiae are ashystrongly suffused with rufous, and the under tail-coverts pale rusty.Description.? S ad. ( U. S. JS^at Mus. No. 109474 ; Nagogafale, LiuKin, March 21, 1886. Coll. M. Namlyie).?Entire upper side, includingwing- coverts, tail-coverts, and rectrices beautiful orange rufous, deep-est on top of head, lightest on the ear-coverts 5 in the middle of theforehead the rufous goes clear to the bill, but the sides of the foreheadare jet black like the lores, the anterior part of the supercilium, cheeks,chin, throat, fore neck, and upper breast, the posterior outline of theblack on the sides of the upper breast being as abrupt and well definedas in the middle ; sides of body (the whole region covered by the folded
64G BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.
wings) and the axillaries uniform ash gray, the latter slightly lighter;lower breast, abdomen, and crissuiu white, towards the sides washedwith ashy; tibial feathers ashy sutfused with rufous; under tail-covertspale rusty; exposed portion of the remiges of a color similar to thatof the back, but inclining to burnt umber; inner webs dusky with palerusty edges. Bill jet black; legs horny, brownish gray. Total length,according to Mr. Namiye, 152'"'", and stretch of wing 241?'"'. Wing,72mm. tail-feathers, 52"""; exposed culmen, 14"^? ; tarsus, 29""" ; middletoe with claw, 23""" ; graduation ot tail, 5""".Turdus naumanni Tkmm.An adult male, differing in no way from typical specimens of theEed-tailod Thrush, was collected in Oroku, Okinawa Shima, March 2S,1886. The total length is given as 240""" ; stretch of wing, 400?^^'.Wing, 130??; tail-feathers, 89'""?; exposed culmen, 17"'"' ; tarsus, 32?'"';middle toe with claw, 27??'.Monticola solitaria (Mull.).An adult female from Napa, Liu Kin, March 5, 1886 (U. S. Nat. Mus.No. 109473), in the gray plumage. This species was also collected atNapa by the Rodgers Expedition, during the winter 1854-1855. A malein chestnut plumage is in the collection of the U. S. National Museum(No, 21146).
?
Cf. I'etrocossypus manillensis, Cassin, Proc. Acad. Phila.1862, p. 314.lanthia cyanura (Pall.).A male in the olive plumage was collected at Nagogatake, Liu Kiu,March 16, 1886 (TJ. S. Nat. Mus. No. 109475).Chelidon namiyei, sp. u.DiAGrN.?Similar to Chelidon javanica (Sparrm.), but considerably'larger, with the gloss of the upper surface more greenish, and the grayof the under side purer; under tail-coverts margined with pure white.Type.?Coll.Namiye,Urassoimagiri, Okinawa Shi ma, Liu Kiu Islands,March 11, 1886.Habitat. Liu Kiu Islands, Japan.Tested by Mr. Sharpe's "Key" to the species of this genus (Cat. B.Brit. Mus., X, j), 124), the present species would have to be sought forin tbe section embracing " rustica and allies,'' viz, savignii, giitturalis,erythrof/astrn, and tylleri, as far as length of wing is concerned, it beiugabout 4.60 inches in Ch. namiyei. It must be compared, however, withthe species following, which have the " wing extending beyond the tipsof tail," and ''no band on the fore neck," especially those with whitespots on thetnil-feathers and with the under tail-coverts "smoky brown."Chelidon. namiyei is at once distinguished from Ch. neoxena by themuch shallower furcation of the tail, it being about 20"'? deeper in theAustralian species, which, in fact, has the tail nearly as furcate andthe outer tail-feathers quite as attenuated as Ch. gutturalis.
ISHii.] PROCEEPTNGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 647Our new is{)ecies is much nearer related to Ch. javanica, from which,however, it differs not only in size, being, as it is, considerably larger,but also in coloration. The gloss of the upper surface is more green-ish ; the brown of the throat is more chestnut ; the gray of the underparts deeper and less tinged with rusty; the under tail-coverts darkerand tipped with pure white margin not tinged with rusty, as in theJavan bird. It should be remarked, however, that in the unsexed speci-men in the Philadelphia Academy, these tips are nearly white. Thetail of the present species is somewhat more furcate, but in spite ofthis, the outer rectrices are less attenuated at the tip.The following descri[)tion of the type specimen is appended for thesake of completeness.$ ad. ( Urassowiagiri, OJcinawa Shima, Liu Kiu, March 11, 1886. Coll.31. Namiye). Above, except forehead and anterior portion ot crown,black with a strong gloss of steel-blue, somewhat inclining to greenish;forehead and anterior half of the crown deep chestnut, the feathers ofthe latter being bluish black in the center ; lores deep velvety black ;cheeks and lower ear-coverts, chin, throat, and fore neck bright tawnyhazel inclining slightly to cinnamon, and becoming somewhat lightertowards the breast; upper half of the ear-coverts, sides of neck bluishblack, like the back, this color descending on the side of the breast,forming a distinct serailune on each side, which partly separates thehazel of the neck from the rest of the under surface, which is of anearly pure drab, each feather near the middle line of the body broadlythough not very distinctly margined with whitish, the under tail-covertsgradually becoming blackish towards the tip, which is broadly and dis-tinctly margined with white; under wing-coverts and axillaries of adrab color similar to that of the breast, but darker ; wings and tailabove black with a faint gloss of steel green ; the tail-feathers, exceptthe middle pair, with an oblique oval white spot in the inner web to-wards the tips, those on the outer pair being the smallest.Total length, according to Namiye, llo"""" ; stretch of wings, 325??.Wing, US'"? ; longest tail-feathers, 58?? ; furcation of tail, 14?"' ; ex-posed culmen, 8.5?? ; tarsus, 10?? ; middle toe with claw, 15??.In order to better show the differences in size and proportions betweenthe present species and its two nearest allies I append the followingTable of comparative measurements.
1. CHELIDON NAMIYEI.
Museum and No.
648 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN.Table of comparative measurements?Continued.2. CHELIDON JAVANICA.
Museum and No.
Philad'a. Acad., A -?Do
Collector andNo. Xocality.
Verreaux J ad. Javado "Coupang", Java
Bate. 2 \:ibe =^ I
^
00 ai';w ;h a
1102 48|
I 99; 46;
3. CKELIDON NEOXENA.
Philad'a. Acad .DoDoDo Gould, 1047 .
.
i ad.Gould, 1048.. 5 ad.Gould, lOiS.. 5 ad.Gould, 1050 .. ? ad. Kottnestlsl., Austr.W. Austr.V. Diem. Land...do 117117111108
1886.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 649I shall designate the Japanese bird as Pericrocotus ja/ponicus (TypeU. S. Nat. Mus., No. 109349), taking the mainland bird to be the trueP. cinereus. This name, however, was based on a female from thePhilippine Islands, consequently on a bird with gray head, and it is,therefore, impossible to determine from his descrijition whether thename belongs to the Japanese or the Continental form, the more so sincehe gives no other measurements than those of total length and tail. Adirect comparison with the type will be necessary to settle the questionbeyond doubt. In the meantime I feel justified in retaining P. cinereusfor the form which has been so designated by most writers, and espe-cially by Mr. E. B. Sharpe in his valuable Catalogue of Birds in theBritish Museum (vol. iv, pp. 83, 84).Pericrocotus tegimw, as the following comparison with P. cinereus andP. japonicus will show, is, perhaps, the most distinct and best-delinedspecies of the group containing the gray Pericrocoti. It will be observedthat only such characters have been included in the above diagnosis,which probably apply to the females as well as to the males.The males of P. tegimce differ from the males of P. cinereus and P.japonicus :(1) By having the whole crown bluish black, only leaving a narrowwhite band on the forehead and a short superciliary stripe white, whilein the two last-named forms the white covers the whole forehead andanterior half of the crown.(2) By the bluish black of the upper head and neck not ending ab-ruptly, but gradually becoming lighter backwards over all the upperparts which are much darker than in any of the allied species.(3) By having the entire upper surface of the wing uniform blackish,with the exception of a small but well defined white speculum at thebase of the outer secondaries, while the other forms have the bases ofthe primaries and secondaries as well as the outer webs of the tertia-ries ashy, and the latter margined with more or less white, while all thecoverts, except primary coverts, are bordered with gray.(4) By possessing no trace of the white speculum on the outer webof the sixth primary.(5) By having the lower fore neck and upper breast dark ashy, instrong contrast with the white of the throat, upper fore neck, and middlelower breast and abdomen, while in the allied forms the whole undersurface is pure white.(G) By having the under side of the shafts of the four central tail-feathers black, these being white in P. cinereus and P. japonicus.(7) By having comparatively much shorter wings than either of thetwo other forms.In view of this comparison, extending over nearly all the essentialparts, a detailed description of P. tegimw is deemed unnecessary in thepresent connection. I may remark that both specimens are preciselyalike, except that in the specimen now in the U. S. National Museum
650 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN,(the type) the white on the forehead is some-what broader, it being onlya very narrow line in the one sent for examination.Comparative table of measurements.P. TEGIM^.
Museum andNo.
U.S. Nat. 109476
Collector andNo.
Namiye.
.
do
Namiye..
? doJouy, 387Jouy, 628
5 ad,5 ad,
Locality.
Liu KinChatanmagiri,Okinawa.
Date.
Mar. 11, 1886Mar. 12, 1886
18S6.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 651Spinus spiiius (Lin.).A pair collected at Napa, March 5 (U. S. Nat. Mus., Nos. 109479109480), concludes the list of species which were sent from these inter'esting islands.Of this species I have only two more Japanese male birds for com-parison with eight European males. In the former the black cap seemsto reach furtherdown on the hind neck than in the western birds. Addi-tional Japanese specimens are, therefore, desirable", as with the presentseries I do not feel justified in separating the eastern bird.