Dicrurus annectens, Hodgs.; Sharpe, Cat. B. iii. p. 231; id. Ibis, 1878, p. 414.
The first occurrence of this species in Borneo was recorded by me in my list of Governor Ussher’s Sarawak collection; but it cannot be uncommon in North-western Borneo, to judge from numerous specimens which have been sent from Labuan and from the opposite coast by Governor Ussher and Mr. Treacher. Two specimens are contained in the collection made on Kina Balu by Mr. Burbidge.
9. Chibia borneensis, sp. n.
C. similis C. pectorali, ex insulis Suluenisibus, sed plumis lanceolatis colli lateralis metallice chalybeo-viridibus nec purpurascentibus, et maculis jugularibus et præpectoralibus valde minoribus et conspicue metallicis chalybeo-viridibus distinguenda. Long. tot. 10, culm. 1·3, alæ 5·9, caudæ 4·5, tarsi 0·85.
An adult and young bird, in Mr. Treacher’s collection.
This is an interesting addition to the avifauna of Borneo, and seems to indicate an entirely new species. It bears considerable resemblance to C. bimaensis of Timor and Lombock, but differs in having the long silky plumes on each side of the lower back black instead of greyish white; while the Timor bird has not, like C. borneensis, any long hair-like plumes on the head. On the other hand the latter character allies it to C. pectoralis of the Sulu Islands; but it may be recognised on comparison by the much smaller and more metallic spots on the throat and fore neck, which are steel-green, as also are the neck-hackles. In C. pectoralis the spangles are large, dull, and incline to purplish in tint. This species appears to me to be a thorough Chibia, and I do not at present see how naturalists can avoid recognizing the existence of Chibia in the Malay archipelago; nor do I understand how the Indian and Malayan species are to be separated, when such a perfect gradation is now offered by C. borneensis and C. pectoralis. Under these circumstances I believe that Salvadori’s genus Dicruropsis, which I was lately inclined to admit (Mittheil. k. zool. Mus. Dresd. iii. p. 360), cannot be sustained; and I therefore revert to my old opinion concerning these birds (Cat. B. iii. p. 234). I have given this species the name of borneensis to celebrate the addition of a Chibia to the avifauna of Borneo. Mr. Treacher has also procured a single specimen of it on the Lawas river.
The young bird from Kina Balu differs from the adult in being duller black, with fewer and less metallic chest-spots and hackles.
10. Buchanga stigmatops, sp. n.
B. similis B. leucophææ, sed macula lorali alba magna distinguenda. Long. tot. 10, culm. 0·9, alæ 5·3, caudæ 5·1, tarsi 0·7.
The presence of white on the facial region of a species of grey Buchanga would seem to ally it at once to B. leucogenys. In the Bornean bird, however, of which I have three specimens before me, the white is confined to a large loral spot in front of the eye, whereas in B. leucogenys the eyebrow and ear-coverts, as well as the feathers below the eye, are also white or whitish. The new species is also of the same dark grey as B. leucophæa (B. cineracea of my Catalogue, iii. p. 250), and not of the light pearly grey which is another character of B. leucogenys. One specimen was contained in Mr. Burbidge’s collection, and two in Mr. Treacher’s.