“Vergleicht man die vorstehende Beschreibung von Ninox Plateni Blas. mit den Beschreibungen von Ninox spilonotus und Ninox mindorensis so ist das Ergebniss ein unsicheres, wenig befriedigendes. Der Umstand, dass in der Beschreibung von Ninox spilonotus nur von Flecken und an keiner Stelle von Bindenzeichnung die Rede ist, sowie, dass die Innenfahnen der grösseren Schwingen als ‘spotted and barred with light rufous brown’ beschrieben werden, genügt vollkommen, um jeden Gedanken an Gleichartigkeit von N. Plateni und N. spilonotus auszuschliessen.” [↑]
[31] Cf. Auk (1908), 25, 371. [↑]
[32] The validity of the following species is doubtful:
Prioniturus suluensis W. Blasius; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 29.
- Prioniturus discurus var. suluënsis Blasius, Jour. für Ornith. (1890), 140.
- Prioniturus suluensis Salvadori, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1891), 20, 419.
Adult.—“Very much like P. discurus, from which it differs in being larger and in the greater extension of the blue color on the crown, where it begins from the anterior edge of the forehead and extends to the occiput; also lores bluish green; on the nape and upper part of the back there is a very distinct olive patch, of the same color as the under parts. Length, 343; wing, 163; central tail-feathers, 165; lateral tail-feathers, 76; bill, 23; tarsus, 17.” (Salvadori.)
“The Sulu bird (P. suluensis Blasius) has been separated on account of its larger size and the blue on the crown being more extended, beginning at the anterior edge of the forehead and extending to the occiput. Its larger size (wing 165 mm.) one can appreciate, but the supposed difference in the blue on the crown and other minor characters mentioned are equally found in birds from Basilan, Mindanao, etc., so that P. suluensis can only be considered a rather larger insular race of P. discurus, which it absolutely resembles in plumage.” Grant, Ibis (1895), 263.
The blue on the crown and forehead seems to be a variable quantity in Prioniturus discurus and its allies and the status of suluensis and waterstradti can only be determined when good series from various localities are studied. [↑]
[33] In many specimens otherwise in adult plumage, the cheeks are green, but this seems to be invaded by extension of blue from the crown as the birds become older. [↑]
[34] The key is that of the Catalogue of Birds with slight changes. [↑]