Vol.
•$']
•94•
-•

RIeLE¾,
Noteson the GenusCoracina

NOTES

ON
BY

THE

GENUS

S, DILLON

381

CORACINA

RIPLEYIT hasrecentlybeenmy pleasureand privilegeto work with Dr.
ErnstMayr on variousformsof the Campephagidae
collectedby the
WhitneySouthSeaExpeditionof the AmericanMuseumof Natural
History in New York. While studyingthe speciesCoracinacaledonica, ! was struck by the confusionexistingin the present-day
arrangementof the genus. It is only necessary
to refer to the recent
work of Mathews(1930)and Hachisuka(1935). I haveattempted,
therefore,to constructan arrangement,basedon the probablelinesof
speciation
within the genus,whichI hopewill proveto be satisfactory.
•To Dr. Mayr, who has been mostgenerouswith adviceand help, I
am indebtedfor assistanceon thispaper,aswell asto Mr. J. L. Peters,
who has kindly read the manuscript. The presentrevisionis notconcerned
with the African speciesof the genus.
The nameCoracinais nowgenerallyaccepted
for thisgenus. Oberholser (1932)supportsGraucalus,but his contentionis not upheldby the InternationalCode, nor is that of Mathews (1930). Sharpe(1879)hasgivena key to separatethe genusArtamidesfrom Coracina,
in both of which someof the formsof caledonica,
for example,have
beenlisted. One of the distinguishingcharactersusedis whetherthe
culmen is longer or shorterthan the tarsus. If this were a valid distinction,racesfrom nearbyislandswould have to be separatedunder
differentgenera,which could only add to the confusion. Thus Artamides must be abandonedas well as Paragraucalus,Ptiladela andCelebesica.

The forms of the genus Coracinavary greatly in size. All arecharacterized,however, by a rather strong, notched bill, about aslong as the tarsus;small, weak feet; and the following somewhat
varyingcolor characters:upper parts usuallygray, varyingsomewhat
in intensity;lower parts dark gray to white or barred blackishon
white; loresand sometimes
partsof the headdarker than the rest of

the body,often glossyblack;tertialswith blackishinner and paler
outer webs; under wing-covertsof a different color from the underparts;iris yellowin somespecies,
in othersreddishor blackishbrown.
The genusdiffersfrom Lalage by larger sizethroughout,stronger
bill, coarser,harder plumage,differentpattern of colorationon thewing, and by the lack, exceptin bicolor,of a well-defineddifference
betweenthe colorsof the upper and under parts. From Edolisoma

382

RIPLEY,
Noteson the GenusCoracina[Auk
L Julyit differsby comparativelylarger size,strongerbill, different color
pattern on the wing, and by having almostno differencebetweenthe
plumagesof the male and female.
HISTORY OF THE GENUS

The origin of the Asiatic forms of Coracina must be looked forsomewherewithin the continental borders of the Oriental region.
From the mainlandseveralwell-definedbrancheshavespreadout overthe chainsof islandsinto the Australian area. One branch, having
spreadover southernAsia, hasutilized the Sundachain to passinto
Australia and Melanesia. A second,moving out in two waves,theearlier a mountain form of the Greater Sunda Islands, the later a low-

land and small-island
form, hasspreadnorth throughthe Philippinesand from

there to New

Guineaand northern

Melanesia.

The

third

main branch is today confinedto the Moluccas,the Papuan area,
and Australia.

From the speciationevidenceaffordedby the group as a whole itseems as if there had been several centers at which evolution

hadproceededmore rapidly than elsewhere. These areas,agreeingwith
other distributional evidence (fide Wallace, Rensch, Stresemann,Mayr), are found to be (a) the GreaterSundaIslands,(b) the Philippine area, (c) Celebes,and (d) Papua. Certaingroupsof species
seem
to haveratherwell-defined
affinities,and for themI proposeto setup
three superspecies(for a definition of this term see Mayr, 1931)
namedin eachcaseafter the oldestspecificname of the group. This
resultsin the following arrangement:
Caledonica

SUPERSPECIES

1. Coracinanovaehollandiaeincluding maceLjavensis,floris, personataformerlyconsideredseparatespecies. Range: continentalAsia
from India to southeasternGhina south through Indo-Ghina, Siam,
Shan States,and Geylon, the Andamans,Formosa,and Hainan, theGreater and Lesser Sunda Islands, Australia and Tasmania.

2. Coracinafortis. Range: Buru Island, Moluccas.
3. Coracinaatriceps. Range: Geramand Halmahera, Moluccas.
4. Coracinapollens. Range:Timor Laut and Kei Island,Moluccas.
5. Coracinacaledonica. Range: New Galedoniaand islandsof the
Loyalty, New Hebridesand Solomongroups.
Striata

SUPERSPECIES

1. Coracinalarvata. Range: Greater SundaIslands (mountains).
2. Coracinastriata,includingthe species
surnatrensis.Range: lowlands of Greater Sunda and outlying islands.

Vol.58]

RI•'I•E¾,
Noteson theGenus
Coracina383

3. Coracinaschistacea.Range: Sula Islandsoff Celebes.
4. Coracinalineataincludingthe species
axillaris. Range:northernand eastern New Guinea, Numfor

Island, New Ireland, Solomon

Islands, eastern Australia.

Papuensis

1. Coracinaleucopygia. Range:Celebes.
2. Co•acinapapuensis. Range:Moluccas,New Guinea to Solomon
Islands,and nor•ern tropicalAus•alia from northernQueenslandtonorthwestern

Australia.

3. Coracinarob•ta.

Range: Queensland,New SouthWales, andVictoria, South Australia.

There •e a few other forms of Coracinawhich do not fit readily
into these•oups. I shall reservediscussionof them until a later
point in the paper.
Caledonica

sve•e•cI•S

In this•oup I haveincludedseveralspecies,
all of which•e uniformly l•ge (wing: 150-210min.), with moderatelylong tails (7085% of wing length). The adult-maleplumage is •ay or slatecoloredon the upper and lower p•ts with solid-colored
under wingcoverts (slightly b•red in one case). The under tail-covertsare
white, •ay or slate. There is usuallya blackishIoral streakandsome forms have the black extended

over the •own

or on the chinor throat generally. The wings and tail •e black. The rectrices
are tipped with white in varyingintensityexceptfor the two central
oneswhich•e almostalwaysof a •ayish coloration. The two exceptions to this •e pollens and caledonica,the blackish slate-coloredspecies.
The adult female resemblesthe male in general coloration,butlacks the black on the head and t•oat,

and, in some forms, even theblackIoral s•eak. In the white-bellied
forms,thereis a tendency
forthe femalesto have more or lessba•ing on the lower breastandabdomen.

Coracinanovaehollandiae.--The
assemblageof species
whichI havelumped togetheras novaehollandiaehas been known under at leastfo• septate names. At first sight this action may seemsomewhat•astic,but c•eful

examination of the series in •eAmerican Mu-

seum'svery extensivecollectionhasconvincedme that it is necess•yin order to indicatethe real relationshipsinvolved.
Coracinamaceiwith its racesis a widelyextendedspecies
with theex•emes of v•iation representedby macei and lawivora. C. macei

38'

RIPLEY,
Noteson the Genus½oracina

IL'Aul•July

not only lives presumablysomewherenear the ancestralhome of thegenus,but alsoprobablyresembles
fairly closelythe ancestraltype ofthisspecies.For a carefuldescriptionof theseracesseeSharpe(1879:34). In general,it is sufficientto say that the male plumageof
macei is rather unspecialized,
gray above and on the throat andbreast, with some barring on the whitish abdomen. In contrast,
larvivorais a much more specialized
form with black lores,sidesof
head and throat, and without barring. When the interveningraces
are examined,it is found that most of them differ much more widelyfrom macei than they do from each other. Actually, larvivora, forexample,resembles
floris from the LesserSundaIslandsmore closelythan it does macei. C. floris is somewhatdarker, the black on thethroat is more glossy,but otherwisethe birds are strikingly similar.
Unfortunately, between Sumbawa, the westernmostisland in therangeof floris,and the upper Malay Peninsula,the nearestrangeofa raceof macei,there is a gap which can only be closedby assigning
to novaehollandiae
the two racesof the former species
javensis,viz.,larutensisfrom the Malay Peninsulaand javensisfrom Java and Bali.
These two racesresemblemaceimore closelythan they do any of theother forms. The male and female are almost uniform gray incolorwith occasional
light barring on the belly or under wing-coverts.

The black loral streakis only indicated.
Summingup, therefore,the evidencefor and againstthe inclusionof thesebirdsin onespecies,
I shouldlike to point out the following
considerations:(a) the absenceof javensisand larutensisfrom Sumatra
and Borneo,althoughpeculiar,is far from unique (Dammermann,
1929); (b) the absenceof a Coracinafrom Lombokis paralleledby
another'Mittelland' species,
Zosterops
palpebrosa(Stresemann,
1939),and is perhapsexplainableby the fact of Rinjiani's devastingeruption(Rensch,1936); (c) C. javensisand maceihave alreadybeen unitedby Kuroda and others without, however,consideringthe possible
further

extension of these birds to the southeast.

In conclusion,
I may point out that the distributionof thesebirds
from continental Asia through the islands is a natural one, thatthe resemblances between

the birds of Lesser Sunda and Australia

and thosefrom the mainlandof Asia are too great to remain unrecognized,and that javensisand larutensis,althoughperhapsholdoversfrom an earlier typical macei wave, are still links in a chain
showingclearlythe line of distributionof this species.
FromSumbawa
to the eastthereis little changein the appearanceof thesebirds. C. personatafrom Timor differsonly in a slightincreaseof melanin pigment in the plumage, but retains the whiteVol.
•94• 58']a

PxIPLEY,
Notes
ontheGenus
Coracina

355

,,
;

/
;
;
,,

/

386

R,rL•Y, Noteson the GenusCoracina[Auk
I_Jul•

underwing-and tail-coverts.All the formsarerepresentative.
There
is one caseof apparent overlappingfrom Timor to the Little Kei
Islands,but it is now known that the specimensoœthe Australianrace, subpallida,œoundon theseislandsare winter visitors,not residents, as hinted by Hellmayr (1914). The remaining racesof thisspeciesare found in Australia. In contrastto personata,they are
paler in generalcolor,one race,subpallida,being the palestof any of
the subspecies,
quite whitishgray. All, however,vary principallyin
colorationonly, not in pattern or structure.
Coracinafortis and atriceps.--Ihave not includedthe speciesfortis
from Buru in novaehollandiae
as there have been no specimensforcomparison. Salvadori'sdescription,however,indicatesthat this bird
might be includedwithin novaehollandiae. C. atricepsfrom Ceramand Halmaherais next to fortis in rangeand presumablydiffersfrom
it only in the characterof a black crown. Otherwise, atriceps resemblesnovaehollandiaemost closely,having like that species,white
under wing- and tail-coverts. A tendencyto a solid black crown isinherent in the superspecies
as a whole, as demonstratedby specimensof typical novaehollandiae
in which the black of the foreheadextends back for some distance over the crown, and in far-away
kulambangrae,a race of caledonica,in which the crownis of a somewhat darker castthan the back. The final statusof atriceps,however,must await a critical examinationof fortis, the interveninglink in the
chain of distribution.

Coracinapollensand caledonica.--These
two speciesare without
doubt offshootsof novaehollandiae, but have become so suffusedwith

melaninasto havechangedsubstantially.The underwing-and tailcovertsof both are blackishor slate-colored.Togetherthe two species
are so closeto eachother that positiveidentificationwould not be aneasymatter,but the gap in their rangeis sogreat as to indicatethat
they are only parallel offspringof the sameparent stock.
To expressbetter the variationswithin this superspecies
I havedrawn up the followingchart:

vol.
,a1
1941
.J

mPLm Noteso,Ce,, Cora,l,a•

387

COLOR VARIATIONS IH TH]• Caledonica SUPI•RSP]•CI]•SoTM
AdultsGeneralUndercolora-

wing-

Under

tail-

tion

Crown

Throatcoverts

coverts

•acei

gray

gray

gray

white

larvivora
5arutensis

gray
gray

gray
gray

black
gray

white (somebarring)white
grayishwithgoris•ersonata

gray
dark

mbpallida

whitish

gray
gray

black
black

gray

white
white

bar-

ring
white

white

white
dark

black

white

white

black
slate

black
black

white
slate

white
slate

gray

gray

gray

•triceps
Oollens

gray
slate

;aledonica

slate

slate

slate

slate

slate

5ougainvillei

slate

blackish

black

slate

slate

slate

Striata

SUPERSPEGIESThis group consistsof severalspeciesranging from the Andamans
and GreaterSundaIslandsthroughthe Philippines,New Guinea andthe Solomons. The membersof this superspecies
are a good deal
smaller than thoseof caledonica(wing 120-170 millimeters). The
tail length showsa much greater range of variation, from 62-88%
of the wing length.
The plumageof the adult male rangesfrom gray to brownishgray
or slate on the upper and lower parts, occasionallybarred on theabdomenand vent, on the rump in one case,with black on the lores,
sometimesextending over the crown and throat. The under wingand tail-covertsare gray, sometimesbarred gray or black on white.
The wings and tail are much as in the precedinggroup except thatthe two central tail-feathersare usuallyblack.
The adult female resemblesthe male in general coloration, but is
usually heavily barred on the lower breastand abdomenwith blackon white. The under wing- and tail-covertsare barred, also,except
in one or two cases,and the rump is often barred. Severalmembersof this grouphavea yellowiris, a characterwhichtendsto disappear
in thosespecieslackingpronouncedbarring.
One species,larvata, which I have included in this group, is amontane one extending through the three Greater Sunda Islands.

388

RIPLEY,
Notes
ontheGenus
Coracina['Auk
L JulyMany membersoœthe species
lineataalsoare œound
up to fivethousand œeetthroughoutthe Papuan area. The third speciesoœthe
group,striata, is a lowland one œoundin secondary
growth and on
smallislandsin the GreaterSundaarea. Thus all the speciesoœthisgroup are representativein range,even though two oœthem occur
on the same islands.

½oracinalarvata.--Thisspecies
is characterized
by dark-grayplumage, a good deal oœblack on the head and throat, and dark underwing-covertsin the male; the œemale
lacksthe dark throat oœthe maleand hasbarredunderwing-coverts
and,occasionally,
somebarringon
the vent. Immature birds have very pronouncedbarring on theunder wing-coverts(a fact which Kurodaincludedin his descriptionoœthe adult male, 'Birds of Java,' 1: 181, 1933). Kuroda (1. c.) includedpersonataand parvulain thisspecies,
a groupingwhichserves
to indicatethe con•usionexistingin mostoœthe arrangementsoœthisgenus. This speciesdoesnot appear, on the surfaceat least, to becloselyrelatedto the other membersoœthe group,but the œollowing
factspoint towardits inclusionwithin this superspecies:(a) the position of larvatais representativewith reœerence
to striata;this location(montane)indicatesthat it belongsto an earlier wave oœthe common
striata ancestor;(b) ½. larvata resemblescloselytwo racesoœstriata,
guillemardi and mindorensis,œromthe Sulu Islands and Mindoro,and schistacea
œromthe SuluIslands;(c) Raven (1935)pointsout that
Mindoroand the Sulu

Islands

are remnants

oœ an old continental

area along with the Greater SundaIslands. These birds may thenpossiblyrepresenta more ancestraltype oœthe present-day
species,striata; (d) thus it may well be that the original wave of the striata
superspecies
spreadout overthe GreaterSundaareaand on throughthe Philippines,later to becomeisolatedand to be pushedinto outlying positionsby the secondwave.
½oracinastriata.--Theracesoœstriata are fairly uniform although
there are four unusualoffshoots.The adult male plumagein mostoœthe œorms
oœthis species
is a uniformgrayaboveand below,withlightly indicatedwhite tips to the rump-feathers
and the two central
tail4eathersgray. The adult female resemblesthe male, but hasbarredunderwing-coverts,
and barringon the abdomen,crissumand
vent. Oœthe four exceptionsto this characteristicplumage,two,guillemardi and mindorensis,
which are uniformly coloredlike thespecieslarvata, have been mentionedbefore. The other two races
deservespecialmention.
½. striatadobsoniis a very dark-coloredbird, brownishgrayon theupperparts,with barringon the abdomenin the male plumageand

VOl.
58]
•94!
.J

RIPLEY,
Noteson theGenus½oracina389

heavybarring on the whole of the under parts in the female. The
iris is crimson (fide Stuart Baker, 1924). This bird has been confused by some authorswith a race of novaehollandiae,andamana,
occurringalsoon the Andamans(seeStuartBaker, 1924:346). Oberholser(1.c.) omitsit from his list entirely. It wasnot until Neumann

TEXT-FIG.2.--Distribution map of the striata superspecies
showingthe range of://////,½oracina larvata and its races: 1, melanocephala;2, normani;
3, larvata....

, ½oracina striata and its races: 1, dobsoni; 2, sumatrensis; 3,

siraalurensis;
4, babiensis;5, kannegieteri;6, crissalis;7, enganensis;
8, vordermani;
9, bungurensis;
10, di#icilis;11, striata; 12, mindorensis;
13, panayensis;
14, cebuen-sis; 15, kochii; 16, guillemardi.....
2, schistacea. --.--,

Coracinaschistacea
and its races:1, petersi;

Coracina lineata and its races: 1, axillaris; 2, ma[orensis;

3, sublineatus;4, nigri[rous;5, malaitae;6, solomonensis;
7, ombriosus;
8, makirae;
9, gracilis; 10, lineata.

namedandamana (1915)that the existenceof the two separatespecieson thesesmallislandswasdefinitelyascertained.Whistler(1940)has
recentlynamedthis form andamanensis,
evidentlyoverlookingNeumann'sdescription. This fact is a good illustrationof the divisionthat existsbetweenthe two superspecies,
caledonicaand striata.
C. striata vordermani,a race from KangeanIsland, althoughbe.
longingto striata,hastwo characters(barredundertail-covertsin the390

Rn'LE¾,
Notes
ontheGenus
Coracina

[Auk
July

male, and whitish under tail-covertsin the female),that are foundotherwiseonly in the caledonicasuperspecies.This occurrenceof
similarcharactersin differentsuperspeciesof Coracinais not unique,as will be shownlater, and is a good illustrationof parallelismindifferent species.
Coracina schistacea.-TheSulu speciesis one that some authors(Mathews, 1930) would include with personataas being similar topollens. This species
is like pollensin havinga suffusionof melaninin the plumagebut exceptfor this it seemsto me to be much closer
to guillemardi, having like it the central tail-feathersblack, not slate
as in pollens. Likewise,the species
fortis from Buru would have to
be consideredits nearestrelative rather than pollens,a fact that, inview of the contrastin plumage betweenfortis and schistacea,seems
highly unlikely.
Coracinalineata.-This is a species(typeof the genusParagraucalus
Mathews)which sharesmany commoncharacterswith striata,suchas
barred under parts in the female,barred under wing-coverts,
and ayellowiris. Therecanbelittle doubtof itsrelationshipto thisgroup,
but the gap in distribution,the long isolationand differentenvironmentalassociationsof lineatamakeit impossibleto put it in any closer
relationship. The speciesis characterized
in the adult male by uniform bluish-grayplumageaboveand below,with a black loraI streak
and blackishtail. The under wing-covertsare finely barred. A chartof the varyingplumagecharacteristics
follows:
COLOR VARIATIONS IN THE aristac• Adults
Jarvats
ßtelanocephalatobsoniSUPERSPECIESGeneralUndercolor-•ving-

Under

tail-

Iris

ation

Cro•vnThroatcoverts

coverts

Belly

brown
brown
crimson

gray
gray
dark

gray
black
gray

black
black
gray

gray
gray
barredgray
graybarredgray
graybarredgraybarredbrownishgray•triata•ochilyellowyellow

gray
gray

gray
gray

gray
gray

barredbarredbarredbarred•uilIemardi

brown

slate

slate

blackishblackishblackish slate

slate

slate

slate

whistacea

brown

slate

black

black

blackishblackish

slate

slate

barredbarredbarredbarredbarredbarredbarredbarred

gray
gray

gray
gray

'.ineata•aforenais

yellowyellow

graybluishgraybluishgraybluish

gray

gray

gray

;xilIarisßigrifrons

yellowyellow

graybluishgraybluishgraybluish

gray

gray

gray

slate

Vol.
58]
•94•
a

RIPLEY,Noteson the Genus½oracina

391

PapuensisSUPERSPECIESIn the papuensisgroup I would place three species,leucopygia,
papuensisand robusta,which in many waysare exceedinglysimilar.
All are of medium size (wing 135-165 millimeters),with a relatively
long tail averaging80% of the wing length. All are dark gray above
and paler below,with white belly, under wing- and under tail-coverts.
All have a prominentblack loral streak. As pointed out by Stresemann (1940), leucopygiais obviouslyrelated to papuensis. This
monotypicspeciesdiffersfrom papuensisonly by having a yellow
iris and white rump-patch. The tone of the plumageis somewhat
darker, and the two central tail-feathers are blackish in the adultinstead of gray, but these differencesare not particularly striking.
The yellow iris, however,which is not otherwisefound in this superspecies,must be consideredas an exampleof parallel mutation. It
remains to be seenwhether at somefuture time thesedifferencesmay
be consideredof only subspecificrank.
The monotypicspecies
robustafrom Australiaresembles
papuensis
perfectlyin the adult plumage,differingonly in larger sizeand theslightlydarkertoneof grayon the upperandunderparts. The immatureplumage,however,is quite different,beingcharacterized
by a blackhead, throat and upper breast,and heavy barring on the abdomen.
Nonetheless,the two speciesare representativein their respective
ranges. This occurrenceof widely varying plumagein robustasuggeststhat it is a conditionwhich has been suppressedin the othertwo membersof the group. Taken with the evidenceof the distribution of this group (Moluccas,Papua,Australiaand Melanesia)these
two facts togetherpoint toward the conclusionthat the papuensis
superspecies
hasnot evolvedentirelyindependently,
but rather stems
from an older continental

form which has become lost or redirected

into another form. The forms included in the speciespapuensis
are: (1) melanolora,(2) papuensis,(3) meekiana,(4) angustifrons,(5) oriomo,(6) louisiadensis,(7) ingens,(8) sclaterii,(9) perpallida,(10) eyerdami, (11) elegans,(12) timorla6ensis,(13) ruertoni,(14) hypoleucus,(15) stalkeri.
ISOLATEDSPECIES

There are sevenspeciesof Coracina,found in Celebes,Halmahera
and New Guinea,whichfor the presentmustbe consideredseparatefrom the three main superspecies
enumeratedabove. All of these
forms have been so isolated, and the conditions on the islands haveevidentlybeen otherwiseso favorablefor change,that it is almost

392

RIPLEY,
Noteson the GenusCoracina['Auk
L Julyimpossibleto say what, if any, are the relationshipsof thesebirds.
That someof thesespeciesare even membersof the genusCoracina
has in the past been open to doubt, but critical examinationof allof them has convincedme that they do belongto this genusand noother.

Coracinaabbotti and C. parvula.-Stresemann(1940: 125) lists
abbotti as an Edolisoma,althoughhe qualifiesthis listing by saying
thatthe bird

has no near relatives

andin fact does not resemble

Edolisomamacgregori,the little-knownspecies
from Mindanao. Thisis certainly true. More than this, abbotti hardly seemsto me toresembleEdolisomafrom any other point of view than that of size.
It lacksthe distinctivewhite patch on wing-coverts
and secondaries,
and the black patch on the under parts coversthe throat only anddoes not extend on to the breast as it does in Edolisoma.

The Ameri-can Museumpossesses
a specimenof the very rare Coracinaparvula
from Halmaherawhich I have been able to examine. By comparing
thesebirds it at oncebecomesapparentthat the mysteriousCoracina
abbottifromCelebes is in fact a Coracina

and a close relativeofparvula. This form from Halmahera,formerly considereda subspeciesof personata(fide Mathews),is a much smallerbird, with adifferenttypeof plumageof a finer,softertexture,andwith the upperpartsa differentshadeof gray. Both thesecharacters
are similarto
thoseof abbotti which also has a black throat and white under wingcoverts. The only real differencesbetweenthe two speciesare thatabbotti is white on the breastand abdomenwhereparvula is gray,and hasa gooddeal shorterwing in proportionto its size. A chartof the characters follows:
COLORV.U•I.•IONS IN Cora½inaabbottiand parvula
Tail-wing

AdultsUpperparts

ThroM

Belly

Wing

index

•bbottiuniform

black

white

110

89

f•arvulabluish grayuniform
bluish gray

black

gray

142.5

82

Coracina temmincki.-This speciesoccurson Celebeswhere it
divides into three geographicalraces,with no very closerelatives.
The tail is nearly as long as the wing, which is short and rounded,and the suffusionof blue of a campanulashadeoverthe grayplumage
has servedto removealmostall the characterswhich might otherwise

Vol.
58']
•õ4•
.•

RIPLEY,
Vote onCo,in,

393

give somehint as to its position. If the blue could be suppressed,
however,temminckiat onceresembles
the caledonicagroup. A studyof the immature plumageshowsthe following characterswhen compared with a similar specimenof caledonica:
COLOR VARIATIONS IN Coracina
Under

Immature

Tertials

Tail

Belly

wing-coverts,

temmincki

subterminal spots

barredbarredcaledonica

subterminal spots

edged andspotted with whiteedged andspotted with whitefaintly
barredbarredThe resemblances
are there, but they are perhapsa little tenuous
to do morethancall attention

to them.

It remains

for some more

searchingmethod of analysis to determine how indicative theseresemblancesare.

Coracina

bicoloris the thirdof the isolated

forms from

Celebes.

Unlike all other formsof Coracina,the adult male is bicolored,glossy
black above with a white rump, and white below. This striking
coloration,however,is not entirely successful
in concealingthe factthat thereis a tendencyto barring on the rump and under parts,andparticularlyon the auricular area. C. dobsoni,the race of striata
from the Andamans,is the only other Coracina with a tendencyto
barring on the auricular area (fide Stuart Baker). This and the restof the barring are an indication that bicolor might be considereda highly evolvedoffshootof the striatagroup.
FORMS FROM NEW

GUINEANew Guinea has three very old aberrantformsof Coracina. The
first, caeruleogrisea,
containingthree races,is a montanespeciesin
New Guinea and a lowland form on the Aru Islands. It has a large,

powerfulbill, bluish-graygeneralcolor,no barring,a black loral
streak and chin, tawny under wing-coverts,and gray central tailfeathers. In sizeand generalcoloration,it is similar to membersof
the caledonica
superspecies,
but suchcharactersas the largebill, thetawny under wing-coverts
and the more bluish shadeto the plumage
indicate that it is not very closelyrelated. It is interestingto note,however,that the femaleand immatureplumagesof Coracinapollens,a memberof the caledonicasuperspecies,
have a tendencyto tawnycolorationon the under wing-coverts.

394

RIPLEY,
Noteson the GenusCoracina[Auk
L JulyCoracinaboyerifrom the lowlandsof New Guinea is a puzzling
speciesfor in sizeand in the colorationof the upper partsit exactly
resemblessuch forms as Coracina lineata axillaris, a member of thestriata superspecies
from the samelocality. It differs,however,very
markedlyin the uniform colorationof the under parts, the pale areaaround the bill, and the chestnutunder wing-coverts. The last characterand the fact of their distribution,hint at a relationshipbetween
this bird and caeruleogrisea.Examination of the immature plumages,however,as well as the obviouscorrelationof size and generalcoloration,incline me to the belief that this speciesshould be consideredas a highly aberrantoffshooto[ the lineatagroup. Thus thecharacterof the chestnutunder wing-covertsmay be consideredas
still anotherexampleof parallelmutationin the samegenus.
Coracinalongicauda
from the mountainsof New Guineais a species
which is, I am sure,a Coracina. It possesses
all the charactersof thegenus,but combineswith them other characters-such
as a peculiar
dark-bluish sheen on the head, very fluffy, disintegratedfeathers,
and a rather squaretail-that are not found in any other speciesofCoracina. A list of someof the charactersof longicauda,giving thename of the speciesof Coracinawhich that characterresembles,œollows:

COLORCX•RACTE•S0•* C. longicauda
Underwing- Undertailc• Adult!ongicauda

Bill

Head

coverts

coverts

Tailshort andblack likegray likebarred likeblack likeweak likepapuensis

atriceps or
mdanocephalacaledonica

lineatabicolorCONCLUSIONThe Oriental forms of ½oracinaexhibit to a striking degreethe
ability to evolve along parallel lines. Thus it becomesdifficult tosetup a singlecharacterby whichone species
can be recognizedor set
apart from another. Certain differences
do exist,however,and tenuousastheymayat timesappear,it is quite possibleto setup standards
within the genusand from theseto chart out speciesgroupsor superspecies. In general,thesethree main superspecies
showa remarkableamount of similarity in the makeup of their constituentspecies.
Only in a few isolatedcasesin Celebesand Papuaare there any forms
which cannot be identified readily as belongingto one or other ofthe superspecies.

VoL
•8]a
•94x

RmLEY,
Noteson the GenusCoracina
LITERATURE

395

CITED

•DAMMERMANN, K. W.

1929. On the zoogeographyof Java. Treubia, 11: 9.
HACHISUKA,THE MARQUESS

1935. The birds of the Philippine Islands;pt. 4: 347.
HELLMAYR, C. E.

1914. Die Avifauna yon Timor, p. 38.
KURODA,MA•Qu•s N.

1935. Birds of Java, 1: 182.
MAT•rWS,

G. M.

1930. SystemaAvium Austr•asianarum, pt. 2: 530.
MAYR, •.

1931. Notes on Hal•on chlorisand someof its subspecies.Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 469: 2.
NEUMANN, O.

1915. Neue tropischeVOgelformen. Ornith. Monatsber.,23: 181.
O•r•o•r•,

H. C.

1932. The birds of the Natuna Islands.
RAWN, H. C.
1935. Wallace'sLine

and the distribution

Bull. U.S.

Nat. Mus., no. 159: 102.

of Indo-Australianmammals.

Bull.

Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 68: 200.
RENSCH, B.

1936. Die GeschichtedesSundabogens,p. 127.
SALVA•RI, T.

1878. Descrizione
di trentunaspecienuovedi uccdliddla sotto-regione
papuana,e note intorno ad altre p•oconoscinte. Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat.

Genova, 12: 324.
S•PX,

R. B.

1879. Catalogueof the birds in the British Museum,4: 7.
S•EMANN,•.

1939. ZosteropssiamensisBlyth. Journ. f. Ornith., 87: 161.
1940. Die V•gel yon Celebes. Journ. f. Ornith., 88: 121.
STUARTBAKe, E. C.
1924. The fauna of British India.

Litchfield, Connecticut

Birds, 2: 346.