iynewe { teams eo yQrbuers wirla VpaNnet oa) pevee ay VEE tee erty 1} 1 Pye hep yp etpe ya AH rns Pe VOLO Pai Oe her errs Wii Pe ree ee LOE Occ Bc rk oe ares PY re Mee ah) ron fi sb ity VET we Rey ' ai Coe ere id rye Oe an “4 " A ry " ' vty ts Cem eae ne yad Ae is as} Pye ee eey ar el Cr a er dade Litas | bdded i 4 Pe ae eid ! PCL dae 2) VY em Wen ge ar py PH eee VE Ny ees Pub LW Vy paler way MPV pee Wee rvely a gs es RoE re ne oh bey us) Sy, : ' te ‘ ae ' een te A EARN tans cy Wt rine Vn te UNS ALR eee heehee ay ot Via yt ',! YET Te ey tet rob hoc? % i ‘ hte aa a AAT chee Lh WHY SPM OS Waele BP MUAY meh Mei my on ah she 2 4 ayy " hye PAH: eM bedi Raat that et We tee f et) yey} Dania) We tee y seen We Wy pitta wee 1a Pers eri VERO Dey Vary WE vey tegen nh! ey Pata Patna ek piety ya's yee yea A TE A Ay %' Saat Seis pon wel Shae t eyes Waa tVitede mI sore enh k hd tid 4 ' Mian dah 1 aaphd ’ wel Lee ga ‘ Vdd Cbg erg ah eran ret 4 af No de Ci SO ee eee Rea roe ce Pr bt Oe iow MA dda sd Pa hace ee ed Chad q ‘ 4 . ’ ee ba ea eae Oy ‘ Bee oil ea ead Gad ek ag ee OA ed ble Ae ‘ AMS | aba . ede at Ah, He be ade vids a eb: RR Rae Are pee ce | if ie Mt 1 x lain har aN RNG vrata: wn seh OTD sooo y 7 Ot ae en Aye CEN aa ts Ge) ; 4 tegen ei Weft He te TPE A Meine he Abrus ay says TCA nae uy ie cy ition a : ee rs Vata icenoenin fia’ A vie : - yh eae q ‘ah m4 co a3) ii HN te Be bite eV eat EUS 3% oy ee mais 7 H Te betas akin sheets erie wale? Bak erie Ve! Hm see HG sy 4 ay c * eed he ase gt 3 he eee oe Sy hy aah aa a eg Lee Sa) VD Re 4% - i? AUNY ri e- =< — was oo AD ETS EE ES pe — ) PS ea are Pr] Z | Sa Nes, ND EE(i e Geno = Ly) F2 ee No Re. [e}fle FA = i We a) Twi AW UNG a4 JOURNA .—~ ITS DEPENDENCIES << 90 >= EDITED BY ALLAN HUME me Seek es par > as oh oe : ; Ligh ns 4 ps + 3 pe ’ D aH Utes BE 753 7 R~/ {}- a ~ Pe Let bf } 4 z ; ; » o te see Tees ded. ii i 12 y ROLeT AVEER § > Ioo0 : ; C4 ; s) ~HSGmian OES CALCUTTA: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY A. ACTON, AT THE CALCUTTA CENTRAL PRESS, 5, COUNCIL HOUSE STREET. CONTENTS OF YOL. III. 1875. —_—— 0784 00 Nos. 1, 2 & 3.—January. Page. A First List oF tHE Brrps or Upper Peau (Pl. IZ) o 64 |... |...1420 1865 |...|...| ... | °3 | 7-175] 9:45 | 9'525| 5:475/10°0 | 5:3 |4°575)...151°8 1866|...|...) ... |... | 3°0 [13°525) 7-175 875 1100 | 6-25 7°55 |...155°575 1867 |...|...] ... | °25] 9°75 | 5°525| 75 | 835 | 9:325) 2°125 2-575] -1145°5 1868 |...|.../°975} -1 | 6 7°325| 9°175|} 11-425] 6°75 | 7:5 |2°5 |...|50°775 1869: 1..) 6. /22 | 422 67 | 585 | S85 | 26 | es | ..° |. Ja8'2 1870|.:.|°3] . 5 |123 | 636! 789 | 5:72| 618 | 26 | ... |...140°59 1871|...|...|°8 | 21] 846 | 7-7 | 9°61 |10°'71 /12°0 | 5:34 | -74 |...\5485 Tee et 7:23 )11'4 | 615 | 7-89 | 3°91 | 3°33 | ... |.../39°91 TEMPERATURE. 1871. 1872. MontTH. Maximum.) Minimum.| Mean. |Maximum.| Minimum.) Mean. January eae 90° 46° 701° 87°75° Bre 69°04° February mare 4 57 70°07 95 48 72°31 March sade} hts: 61 81:48 104°5 60 84°3 April soo |) Ao aes 69 90°52 106°25 70 89°98 May 400 teolO3*S val 84-98 105°5 71 86°67 June ae 94 74, 81:76 96°5 455 83°57 July a 90°75 74 81°69 96°5 75°5 82°72 August Arf 90°25 75°5 81°51 92°5 T4°5 82°87 September fe 90°75 745 82°51 94°25 74. 84°32 October 4 92°75 73 81°94 93°5 71 82°57 November +, 91°25 62°75 7817 91°5 61 79°74 December $e 86:0 48°5 71:06 93 51 73°41 8 A FIRST LIST OF THE “The above tables apply equally well to Tonghoo and Prome. In Thayetmyo the cold-weather is more bracing, and the heat is a trifle greater in April than elsewhere. “The rainfall in the Evergreen Forests must be considerably greater than in the plains, since in March and April heavy thunder- storms are frequent. From the Thayetmyo register they do not appear to have extended to the plains. Light summer showers also are common, occurring chiefly durmg the hottest months. This exerts, no doubt, a great influence on the vegetation. “ A short description of Thayetmyo and Tonghoo, two of our remotest cantonments in British India, may be acceptable. “Thayetmyo lies on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, and consists of a native town to the south and a cantonment to the north. The latter is about a mile square, regularly laid out with roads crossing each other at right angles and surrounded by a circular road. The barracks are of Teak throughout, with the floor raised on posts ten feet from the ground, which is paved. This ground-floor is perfectly open on all sides, and forms a mess and recreation-room, which for coolness is not to be surpassed by any building I am acquainted with. Little, however, can be said for the private residences in the station. They are tumble- down, wretched sheds, leaky, ant-eaten, and only kept upright by renewing a portion every few months. There are a few good houses of course, but they only serve to make the bad ones more wretched by contrast. The roads and compounds are thickly planted with trees; the ground is undulating, and on three sides the cantonment is surrounded by hills, some of them high, so that, taken altogether, Thayetmyo can boast of being a very pretty station. Viewed as a military station, there is absolutely nothing wanting. Even racket-courts and a swimming-bath have been built for the comfort of the troops. The garrison con- sists of one wing of European infantry, one field battery of artillery, and a regiment of sepoys. “The Irrawaddy, at the frontier, is little short of a mile in breadth. Opposite Thayetmyo a large sandbank has formed of late years, detracting much from the appearance of the place. In the rains, however, the river becomes a mighty stream, obliterating all sandbanks. Steamers of five-feet draught can proceed at all seasons of the year up to Bhamo, 600 miles from the sea. “Tonghoo is situated in a plain on the west bank of the Sittang. Like Thayetmyo, it consists of a large native town and a cantonment, but both are much inferior in importance. The former was, in olden times, the capital of one of the petty kingdoms into which Burmah was divided. The fort, about a mile anda half square, still exists in tolerably good order, with high earthen walls and a deep moat exteriorly. In the centre BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 9 still stands a huge pagoda, which, like those of Rangoon and Prome, attract many people at certain festivals and are held in much veneration. “The cantonment is of an irregular shape, well-wooded and traversed by many roads ; but the general appearance of the station is not so neat as that of Thayetmyo. Officers’ houses and military buildings are, however, very similar. The garrison consists of a wing of European infantry, a small battery of artillery (with the guns drawn by Burman ponies), and a regiment of sepoys. “The Sittang is a shallow river, unnavigable by any thing larger than a Burmese boat. The trip from Rangoon to Tonghoo occupies eighteen or twenty days wader favorable circumstances |” Of the country west of the Irrawaddy, in the immediate neigh- bourhood of Thayetmyo, Captain Feilden says :— “ You ask for a description of Thayetmyo. The country is one difficult to describe; its general appearance is not unlike that of the lower ranges of the Western Ghats, where they are crossed by the Bombay and Poona Railway; but the hills, instead of being masses of rock, are a mixture of mud and gravel. “The country rises from the bed of the Irrawaddy (which is composed of whitish sand mixed with mud) in a mass of un- dulating ground intersected in every direction by deep ravines, which never appear to run for two yards in the same direction, but all eventually work their way into three tolerably large streams which empty themselves into the Irrawaddy, one south, one just to the north, and the third about two miles north of Thayetmyo. Two of these streams appear to take their rise in table-land, perhaps fifteen miles west of Thayetmyo, without any reference to the hill ranges through which one of them cuts its way, forming a rocky torrent, in which the Fork-tail (#: zemmaculatus) is found. The other rises far inland, running south of a long range of hills said to be a spur of the Arracan Moun- tains. A very peculiar hill, cut into two parts by the stream already mentioned, rises perhaps seven miles west of Thayetmyo. It appears to break through the undulating mass of twisting ravines, without affecting them in the least; they run steadily up to its eastern slope, and continue their rise from the western slope far away into the interior. Another line of hills, running south-east from the southern slope of this hill, reaches the Irrawaddy perhaps eight miles south of Thayetmyo. “These hills occupy rather more than a quarter of the horizon, and the spur of the Arracan Mountains occupies a considerable space to the north, so that Thayetmyo is almost surrounded by hills on the land side. “The ravines in the hill ranges are rocky, and rock breaks through the crest of the hills in one or two places ; but the whole of the rest of the country consists of black soil, like cotton soil, B 10 A FIRST LIST OF THE blue and yellow clays, gravel or whitish sand, and is clothed with tree jungle, more or less thick, according to the nature of the soil. There is everywhere an undergrowth of grass, or bulbous plants ; the grass in favorable localities often eight or ten feet in height. “The size of the trees varies much with locality and the dis- tance from Thayetmyo, as the Burmese are always cutting and burning, and seldom let trees grow to any size. There are a great many patches of jungle partially cultivated with the bare trunks of the old forest trees still standing ; the trees are chiefly Teak, and “ng, with an immense quantity of small-sized bamboo.” III. And now to return to our birds. Altogether, including all the species obtained or observed by Captain Feilden, Mr. Oates, and Mr. Blandford, I can as yet only enumerate 317 species. This must appear a very small number, but it must always be borne in mind, that this list refers strictly to the limited area already defined. Directly you cross the Sittang and proceed eastwards, directly you cross our southern line and leave dry Upper for moist Lower Pegu, or again directly you wander any distance westwards from the Irrawaddy, you at once meet with numerous species not included in our list. Still, even making all these allowances, I do not doubt that, including stragglers, this little block of dry, hilly country (say 100 miles square, or 10,000 square miles in extent) will, when thoroughly explored, yield at least 500 species. As it is, it yields quite as many, looking to its extent, as any other division of British Burmah, so far as I am yet acquainted with them. In Tenasserim I can only count 435 ; in Lower Pegu, 298; in Arracan, 270 species. Out of these, Tenasserim has 190 species not included in this list; Lower Pegu, 30 not included in either; and Arracan, 58 not as yet included in any of my lists. Many of these will doubtless be found to extend beyond the limits that my imperfect information at present enables me to assign to them; but at any rate, so far as I have yet investigated the question, I can only count altogether 595 species, or say 600, which I actually 4now to occur in British Burmah. To these I might add about 100, which, I am sure, will prove to occur there, and which may have been sent thence, though I have no record of the fact. But what are 700 species for a country stretching over ten degrees of latitude, with a myriad-isled archipelago, vast rivers and swamps, and the most wonderful diversity of soil, geological formation, physical configuration and level, vegetation and climate ? We may safely estimate the Orns of this rich, but too little- utilized and only half-explored, country at one thousand species ; and I entertain no doubt that twenty-five years hence some future BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 11 Editor of Srray Fraturrs will condemn even this estimate as far below the mark. Returning now to the 317 species which I am able to record as a definiteinstalment of the Orn7s of the particular tract with which we are dealing, it will be convenient to divide them into four classes :— 1.—Species (which for-the nonce I will call Zxdo-Burmese) I].—Species (which for brevity common to our tract and to one or more of the following sub-divisions : Bengal, east of the Ganges to Goalundo, and thence of the Brahmapootra, Assam, and Cachar: the Himalayas south of the first Snowy Range, and the Terais, Dooars, Dhoons, &c., which frmge their bases, as far west as the Jumna. the term is not accurate— I will call Zndian) common to our tract and to parts of the continent of India outside the limits above indicated. I1I.—Species (which I will eall Jndo-Malayan and Chinese) common to our tract and to one or more of the follow- ing: the Malay Peninsula, the islands of the Archi- pelago and China; but not, so far as I know, occurring within our limits, except in Burmah and, perhaps in a few cases, the Andamans. TV.—Species (which I will eall Burmese) which I do not know of as occurring beyond the limits of Burmah, British and Independent. Classing the birds thus, and arranging them for the con- venience of Indian ornithologists according to Dr. Jerdon’s classification, we obtain the following results :— WI.— G 1—Indo-| I1— |Malayan) IV.— | yp Tacs \Burmese., Indian. and Burmese.| ~074% orm : Chinese. RAPTORES.— Diurnal 2 22 3 2 29 Nocturnal 1 5 2 1 “3 38 INSESSORES.— Fissirostres a 18 3 2 28 Scansores 7} 283 3 6 39 Tenuirostres * 1 3 ic 3 a Dentirostres 14 61 2 18 95 Conirostres 5 12 3 8 28 197 GEMITORES 2 6 1 1 ane 10 RASORES 1 3 2 3 aBC 7 GRALLATORES il 46 1 itt aii 49 NATATORES 3 14 nde wie aus 14 jue eS ee CE Se TOTAL 39 213 20 45 “s 317 12 A FIRST LIST OF THE Everyone who has tried to arrange as regards distribution a large number of species like this into a few classes must be well aware of the difficulty one experiences in dealing with par- ticular species, which, happening to have a peculiar sphere or range of their own, do not very appropriately fall within any one of the classes chosen. Thus, amongst the large number of species that under our definition are classed as Indian, the following, for instance, might doubtless be more properly classed as Indo-Burmese : Chrysophlegma chlorolophus, Mucropternus pharoceps, Bringa tectirostris, Megaleama Hodgsoni, Diceum cruentatum, Erythro- sterna leucura, Pomatorhinus schisticeps. But of all these the area of distribution on the continent of India overpasses, in most cases considerably, the limits assigned for Class I, limits which, despite these exceptions, are natural, and do represent those of the large majority of true Indo-Burmese species. It is not necessary to give any separate list of the birds included in Class [1I—that includes all not contained in the three others ; but of those comprised in each of the latter an enumer- ation must be given in order to enable my readers to judge for themselves how far I have correctly assigned its place to each. Tf they differ on this pomt, they can then easily correct my figures for themselves. First, then, we have the so-called Indo-Burmese birds (as defined above), some of which however, extending as they do to Malasia, China, Central Asia, and Siberia, are only Indo- Burmese guoad our Indian Empire. 20.—Microhierax czrulescens, Zin. 45 dis—Buteo japonicus, Sch, 62.—Phodilus nepalensis, Gray.* 82 vis—Hirundo Tytleri, Jerd. 102 dis —Cypselus infumatus, Sciater. 116.—Harpactes Hodgsoni, Gowld. 124.—Coracias affinis, Wc Clel/. 138.—Psarisomus Dalhousiz, Jameson. 149 vis—Paleornis bengalensis, Gm. 152.—Palzornis fasciatus, Wiil. 168.—Mulleripicus gutturalis, Valence. 173.—Chrysophlegma flavinucha, Goud. * Tt is, however, still uncertain whether the Pegu bird is identical with the Nepalese or Malayan race or species. “rR ore ery 4 DeLee CAN SKETCH MAP On the Seale of 128 Miles = 1 Inch. Showing the General Position of the Tract referred to, which is colored red SKETCH MAP of a portion of NORTH PEGU Scale 12 Miles = 1 Inch. 2 6 3 ° at Miles SS —= Parts colored red, shew where Mr. Oates collections were chiefly made ( | THAYET MYO | y SSS Wis ; RS ey inl gales CAZ d Ws rT § \ Palow 2% RUIN, a 2 Ss GZ bg SF TNE PGi! a RA Se a SS Sn NS. " ra » st ay,\. Ss Ne BS ‘ y QY“r aS ae AC = Pn aw. S A; SS AN _ 3 Ah 7H Aa z ; ss 7 Swe ~S 2 ris il ESS FF. ey ili, Se, vvit ey FZ Sp MGW VAN cS IZ A SOE Se % =) vis \ Ss heaG \ 3S iis 3 6 ee SS WP wess RTT BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 18 187.—Sasia ochracea, Hodgs. 198 quat—Xantholema cyanotis, Biyth. 214 dis—Kudynamis malayana, Cab. 233 bis—Chalcoparia cingalensis, Gm. 263.—Tephrodornis pelvica, Hodgs. 271 ter.—Pericrocotus elegans, Wc Cleil. 346.—Brachyurus cucullatus, Harti. 391 bis—Cyanocincla solitaria, Iiii/. 391.—Stachyris nigriceps, Hodgs. 412.—Garrulax pectoralis, Gould. 413.—Garrulax moniliger, Hodygs. 500.—Ruticilla aurorea, Pai, 538 dis.—Prinia Beavani, Vaid. 552.—Neornis flavolivacea, Hodgs. 574, Abrornis superciliaris, Zick. 585.—Enicurus immaculatus, Hodgs. 630.—Erpornis xanthochlora, Hodys. 650.—Melanochlora sultanea, Hodygs. 6'73.—Cissa speciosa, Shaw. 702.—Lonchura acuticauda, Hodgs. 710.—Passer montanus, Lin. 719 dis—Citrinella rutila, Pall. '723.—Euspiza aureola, Pall. 7'71.—Treron nepalensis, Hodygs. 7'76.—Osmotreron Phayrei, Biyth. 803 dis—Pavo muticus, Lin. 903 dis.—Podica personata, Gray. Next we have Class III, the species which are common to our tract and more or less of the countries south and east; but which do not occur, except in Burmah, within the limits of our Empire, save in the case of a very few, which have been found in the Andamans and Nicobars. 23 ‘er—Mlicronisus poliopsis, Hume. 39 ¢er.—Spilornis Rutherfordi, Swinh. 14 A FIRST LIST OF THE 48 ter.—Poliornis liventer, Zem. 65 dis--Syrnium seloputo, Horsf. 75 quint.—Scops Lempiji, Horsf: 101 dis.—Cypselus pacificus, Lath. 116 ¢er—Harpactes oreskios, Zem. 127 vis —Pelargopsis burmanicus, Sharp. 157 ter._-Picus analis, Horsy. 1'71 dis.—Gecinus vittatus, Vieil. 211 bis—Chalcococcyx xanthorhynchus, Zors/. 280 dis—Dicrurus leucopheus, Vieil. 345 sis—Brachyurus moluccensis, Jii//. 671 bis —Urocissa magnirostris, Bly/h. 678 vis._Crypsirina varians, Lath. 696 bis —Ploceus hypoxanthus, Daud. 795 bis—Turtur tigrina, Tem. 819 ter.—Francolinus chinensis, Osd. 834 jis.—Turnix maculosus, em. 2927 pis—Herodias melanopus, agler. Lastly, we have those species which, though many doubtless de so occur, are not as yet known to me from any localities beyond the limits of British and Independent Burmah, unless indeed one of them should be considered identical with an Andamanese species. These are— 15 bis—Polihierax Feildeni, Hume. 517 pis.—Pernis brachypterus, Biyth. "6 bis—Athene pulchra, Hume. 132 quat_—Carcineutes amahbilis, Hume. 139 dis.—Serilophus lunatus, Gould. 147 bis—Palxornis magnirostris, Ball ? 163 dis.—Yungipicus canicapillus, Blyth. 165 dis—Hemicircus canentes, Less. 165 quat.—Meiglyptes jugularis, Blyth. 169 ¢er.—Thriponax Crawfurdi, Gray. 177 bis —Gecinulus viridis, Biyth. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 15 223 ter.—Arachnothera aurata, Blyth. 250 bis.—Sitta neglecta, Wald. 254 bis.—Upupa !ongirostris, Jeri. 260 vis —Lanius hypoleucus, Blyth. 268 vis —Volvocivora avensis, Bly/h. 2°77 vis.—Pericrocotus albifrons, Jerd. 343 bis—Myiophoneus Eugenei, Hume. 344 vis—Hydrornis Oatesi, Hume. 345 quat.—Brachyurus cyaneus, Bly th.* 346 ter.—Anthocincla Phayrei, Bly 7h. 389 vis.—Alcippe Phayrei, Blyth. 393 vis—Stachyris rufifrons, Hume.t+ 399 ter.—Pellorneum Tickellii, 2/ycn. 399 sex.—Pellorneum minor, Huine, 407 bis—Garrulax Belangeri, Zess. 439 dis —Chatarrhea gularis, Blyth. 451 dis —Criniger griseiceps, Hume. 452 quat.—Microtarsus Blanfordi, Jerd. 463 ter.— Phyllornis chlorocephalus, Waid. 4'71 ter.—Oriolns tenuirostris, Bly/i. 569 cis —Culicipeta tephrocephalus, And. 663 dis Corvus? insolens, Hume. 678 ter.—Crypsirina cucullata, Jerd. 683 sis—Sturnopastor superciliaris, Biyth. 688 ois —Temenuchus burmanicus, Jerd. 689 quat.—Temenuchus nemoricolus, Jerd. 708 bis.—Passer flaveolus, Blyth. 708 ter.—Passer assimilis, uid. 755 bis—Mirafra microptera, ume. 773 bis—Crocopus viridifrons, Blyth. * How does Mr. Gray give this from the Himalayas ? + But if this prove identical with S precognitus, Swinh,, it will have to be transferred to Class III. 16 A FIRST LIST OF THE 811 ¢ev.—Euplocamus lineatus, Lath. 824 quat.—Arborophila brunneopectus, Tick: 824 quint.—Peloperdix chloropus, Zick. 855 Jis.—Lobivanellus atronuchalis, Blyth. Although some differences of opinion may exist as to my assignments, and some of my readers may probably consider that a few of the birds should be otherwise placed, still I do not think that these minor changes will in any way affect the main conclusions to which the figures above given point. In this dry Upper Burmah the great bulk, or at any rate more than two-thirds of the Ornis is Indian; of the remaining third, nearly one-half are peculiar to Burmah. Indo-Burmese forms, as already defined, come next in importance ; while the Malayan and Chinese forms, that extend thus far and no further, are com- paratively few in number. Now, in the proportions that these elements of the Avi-fauna bear to each other, the tract we are considering stands out very distinctly from the adjoining regions. Whether you go east, south, or west, you find a diminution relatively in the numbers of the purely Indian and purely Burmese forms, and anincrease in the Indo-Burmese and, exceptin Arrakan, in the Indo-Malayan and Chinese forms, the increase of the latter east of the Salween being most marked. Imperfectly as these various Burmese sub-regions, and more especially Independent Burmah northwards of the tract we are considering, have as yet been worked, it would be premature to generalize too far; but ever since I commenced the investigation of this question, it has always seemed to me that this particular sub-region with which we are dealing possesses a special interest, as being probably, as it were, an outlying island, where the original Indian Orns has to a great extent maintained its position, while the invading waves of the Indo-Burmese Avifauna passed round it east and west, and meeting beyond it surged onwards to the Himalayas, swept up their flanks, and rolled away west- wards, flooding their lower valleys and the dhoons and terais that skirt their bases, and eastwards up the valley of the Brahma- pootra. No doubt some of the species, which have now so widely established themselves throughout the country as to be accepted as unquestionably Indian, did not pertain to what I may call the aboriginal fauna, but belonged originally to the invading Orzis ; but making every possible deduction on this account, the pre- ponderance of essentially Indian and western species in this small sub-province, as compared with what is observable in Northern Tenasserim, Southern Pegu, Arrakan, Tipperah, Cachar, Sylhet, and Assam, so far as I have yet succeeded in registering the birds of these, is very striking. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. nz I have not said anything about genera; I find an insuperable difficulty here in dealing with these. I constantly see genera unhesitatingly set down as Indian, Indo-Malayan, Indo-Chinese, and the like, which do not appear to me to be rightly described by these titles, or indeed by any titles that I have yet seen applied to them. Nor do I find any general consensus as what should be considered Indian, &c. Nor again do I find, after analyzing all the genera occurring within our Indian Empire, so far as I know them, any method of so classing them that each class shall represent approximately the same area of distribution without creating an utterly unmanageable number of classes. No doubt it is possible to neglect distribution, and assign the genus to the territorial division where, owing to its bemg represented by most species and individuals, it may be inferred to have originated ; but this is altogether empirical, and no two ornithologists would probably locate any hundred genera in the same way. ‘To take now the genera included in our present list there are only the following, using the names in their most restricted sense, that I should call Indian, as having presumably their centre of distribution within that region, vzz. :— Athene, Paleornis, Hierococcyx, Xantholema, Hydrocisssa, Chrysophlegma, Arachnechthra, Tephrodornis, Hemipus, V olvocivora, Pericrocotus, Chibia, Cyornis, Culicicapa, Oreocincla, Pyctorhis, Aleippe, Chatarrhea, Molpastes, Suya, Limonidromus, Erpornis, Sturnopastor, Aeridotheres, Ploceus, Munia, Mirafra, Alaudula, Crocopus, Osmotreron, Pavo, Gallus, and Francolinus. While many of these extend far beyond the limits the title would imply, many will doubtless by others be denied their right to this title. But genera like these are easy. What is one to call one like ‘Elanus, or even one like Coccystes ? ~ In fact, even setting aside the Waders and Swimmers so generally cosmopolitan, not one half of the genera are so capable of local assignment as to throw any real light on the affinities of the fauna of a limited region like that with which we are dealing; and if those only are selected which can be more or less localized, the result tends rather to mislead than enlighten one. Thus, I have above enumerated all the genera, thirty-five in number, amongst those known to be represented in this region, which, according to my views, can properly be designated Indian. But if we take those whose head-quarters may be considered to be in Malayana, South-East Asia, and the Archipelago, we find no less than forty-four, vzz. :-— Microhierax, Lophospiza, Spizaetus, Spilornis, Polroaetus, Poliornis, Haliastur, Phodilus, Ninox, Dendrochelidon, Harpactes, Pelargopsis, Carcineutes, Ceyx, Dichoceros, Loriculus, Yungipreus, Cc 18 A FIRST LIST OF THE Hemicireus, Meiglyptes, Milleripicus, Micropternus, Tiga, Mega- laima, Ololygon, Zanclostomus, Centrococcyx, Diceum, Arach- nothera, Graucalus, Artamus, Myiagra, Tehitrea (?), Brachy- urus, Mixornis, Timalia, Criniger, Microtarsus, Orthotomus, Zosterops, Crypsirina, Treron, Carpophaga, Chalcophaps. So if we were to judge by genera, we should assign a distinctly preponderating Malayan character to the Avifauna, instead of which a study of the species shows that it is essentially Indian, the fact bemg that numbers of genera whose head- quarters are further east have outlying species that, in the present day at any rate, are essentially Indian in every sense of the word. Again, we found, looking to species, that Indo-Burmese forms greatly outnumbered those from Malayana and the East, but only the following genera, eight in number, (and the first of these doubtfully so,) can be characterized as Indo-Burmese, v2z.:— Ketupa, Psarisomus, Serilophus, Gecinulus, Chalcoparia, Cult- eipita, Arboricola, and Podica. Lastly, we found that pure Burmese forms exceed both these latter classes ; and yet we have only one single Burmese genus, Anthocincla, to record, and that one pertaiming properly to the trans-Salween country, and only occurring, I believe, as a rare straggler within our limits. There are doubtless Avifaunas in regard to which the study and classification of the genera they comprise is most instructive, but in the present case it would not seem to help us much. As to the orders and tribes, it will be seen that the Raptores, Fissirostres, and Scansores, especially the latter, are in great force, being 12, 9, and 12 per cent respectively of the whole, as against 8, 6°5, and 7:6 of the Indian fauna proper, as given by Dr. Jerdon. On the other hand, the Dentirostres are only 30, against 40 per cent. in India, the Conirostres only 9 against 11:4, &. But in the imperfect state of our knowledge as to the real extent of the Ornzs of the tract under consideration, no safe conclusions can as yet be deduced from these differences. IV. The following is our list :— 2.—Otogyps calvus, Scop. %3 bis—Gyps fulvescens, Hume. 4.—Gyps indicus, Scop. Captain Feilden says: “ Besides the birds that I sent you, I observed three species of Vulture—the Black Vulture, the Tawny Vulture, and the Common Brown one.” Probably the three species he refers to, are those given above; both the first and the last I have seen from Upper Pegu. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 19 Mr. Oates remarks: “ G. indicus, though nowhere in great numbers, is not uncommon in small parties near villages. It is seldom, however, that more than twenty are ever seen in one place, or about one carcase. Amongst these, two or three O. calvus are generally to be seen appropriating all the tit-bits, and if the meal seems likely to run short, driving away the others. These are the only two species that I have noticed. I may add that vultures here have never anything larger than a dog to feed on. A dead horse or cow is a thing never seen* in Upper Pegu.” 5.—Gyps bengalensis, Zach. I have received a specimen from near Thayetmyo ; it occurs we know as far south at any rate as Tavoy. 8.—Falco peregrinus, Zin. Captain Feilden says: “Though I sent you no specimen, I have shot the Peregrine near Thayetmyo.” Mr. Oates, too, has sent me a specimen, a nearly two-year old bird, shot at Prome on the 23rd of November, but | think we may conclude that it occurs in Upper Pegu as a straggler only. 15 dis.—Polihierax Feildeni, Hume. P. insignis, Walden. I retain my own name for this remarkable and beautiful species, since, so faras I can learn, (though in this I may be in error,) mine was the first published description. Prior to its publication a specimen had been exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society, with an intimation that Lord Walden intended to publish it under the name of zuszgnis ; but such an exhibition does not constitute publication any more than showing a bird to a party of friends and telling them you intend to name it so and so. Of course it does not in the least signify which of the two names stands, but mine under strict rule has, I believe, priority. It is curious that a species so very remarkable in its appear- ance, and so common in the neighbourhood of what has for so many years been a British cantonment, should have entirely escaped observation until the close of 1871, when specimens were received both by Lord Walden and myself. I considered it nearly allied to the Merlins—in fact, a link between the Merlins and the Chiqueras—and this is the situation which I should still assign to it. Lord Walden, however, has pointed out that it will properly fall under the African genus Polihierar, and I have adopted his correction. Captain Feilden says that “itis pretty common about Thayet- myo.” Mr. Oates, writing from this latter locality, remarks: *“ Not uncommon here; keeps entirely to the dry forests of * Because the people eat them themselves.—aA. 0. H. 20 A FIRST LIST OF THE Dipterocarpus grandiflora, which cover nearly half the Thayetmyo District, from the Irrawaddy to the summit of the Pegu Hills. I did not observe it on the eastern slopes of these hills; I procured a specimen lately from the Arracan Hills however.” The following are the dimensions of this species recorded in the flesh by Mr. Oates :— Males: length, 10°5; expanse, 17; tail, from vent, 5°5; wing, 55; bill, straight from gape to point, 0°75; tarsus, 1°55; length of cere, 0°18. Females: length, 10°7 to 10°9; expanse, 18 to 19; tail, from vent, 5°8; wing, 5°9 to 6; bill, straight from gape to point, 0°75 to 0°77; tarsus, 15 to 1:6; length of cere, 0°18 to 0:2. The cere, gape, and both mandibles as far as the nostrils, orange yellow; anterior portion of bill, bluish-black; eyelids and orbital region, orange ; iris, hazel ; legs, orange ; claws, black. In doth sexes, the mantle is dark bluish-ashy (darkest in the female), and the rump and upper tail coverts pure white. Central tail feathers black, with a few white spots, the remains of three narrow transverse bars, which in younger birds are more or less perfect ; laterals, white, broadly barred with black. Quills, blackish brown, or black (the later secondaries and tertiaries more or less tinged slaty), with a few small white spots, most conspicuous on the primaries on the outer webs of all but the first primary, and numerous broad white bars on the mner webs. The chin, throat, and whole lower surface, includ- ing wing lining, white; some of the feathers of the throat with narrow central brown shaft stripes, and those of the sides and upper abdomen with broad grey brown dashes. Forehead, lores, and feathers round the eye, greyish white, with dark shafts; rest of the top, back, and sides of the head, and upper back zu the male, pale slaty grey (each feather with a linear dark shaft- stripe), with traces of an albescent nuchal half collar; 7 the female, rich chestnut, extending in some specimens on to the shoulder of the wing. In some females the middle back and scapulars are strongly tinged with chestnut; and im some young females, and even in young males occasionally, the feathers of the breast are tinged chestnut along the dark shaft stripes. Captain Feilden says (vzde infra) that the female does not assume the chestnut head till at least the second year; but one young male that he has sent me, everywhere browner and duller-colored than the adult has the whole nape and sides of the neck strongly tinged with rusty ferruginous, and the top of the head brown, with here and there a rusty tinge. This looks very much as if the young male assumed the female plumage before passing to that of the old male. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. ot Captain Feilden remarks: “ The female, as far as I know, does not assume the red head till she is at least two years old. The red begins on the shoulders and extends gradually to the forehead. I have a specimen wholly red, except a small patch on the fore- head and another only just tinted with red on the shoulders, but I cannot say how long the head is in becoming entirely red. I fancy that the head of the male also becomes red at a still more advanced age, but I am not certain of this. I have a male with a few red feathers on the shoulders, and I saw both a red and a grey-headed bird following a female during the breeding season. I shot the grey-headed male and the female, but lost the other red-headed bird, which I conclude was a male. I cannot say whether the male or the female is the larger, as their tails are almost always much broken; but in one pair that I obtained with unbroken tails, the male was slightly larger. “The food consists of insects, with an occasional mouse, snake, or lizzard. The ordinary note of this bird is like that of the White-eyed Buzzard, but of course not so loud. During the pairing season, its call-note is a kind of whistling hoot, which appeared to me to resemble ‘tooey,’ the ‘too, very much prolonged. I once saw a pair meet, when they uttered a succes- sion of loud harsh screams, which resembled the cries of a flock of Red-wattled Plovers when disturbed, but before they rise. They pair about the last week in January. I found an unshelled egg in March (on dissection). I think I found an old nest in the fork of a tree as I shot a young bird a short distance off, but I only mention this as a help to others in looking for the nest. It resembled a small Hawk LEagle’s nest both in make and position. “The habits of these birds are very peculiar, in some things resembling those of the Magpie. They perch exactly like a Falcon ; but if they wish to move along a branch, they hop sideways, or, if the branch is pretty upright, walk up it, foot over foot, if I may use the expression, in the same manner as a Magpie. When at all alarmed they jerk their tail, and when much excited by the approach of any one, lower their heads exactly in the same way as some of the Owlets. Altogether, when moving about the branches of a tree, they might at a short distance be mistaken for a Magpie, except for the shape of the head. The flight is also peculiar, a few tolerably rapid strokes ending, if I remember rightly, in a slightly upwards jerk, then a short sail through the air, and then a few more strokes, and so on. “T have invariably found them on cleared ground in the mid- dle of jungles seated on trees, and once on a fallen hut. The only exception to this bemg when I have found them at a spot where several jungle roads meet and form an open space, or on low gravelly hills thinly covered with bushes, and an occasional pt A FIRST LIST OF THE tree ; their most favorite seat seems to be a dead tree barked by the Burmese in the middle of one of their half-cleared cotton fields. I once saw a pair on a tree in a dry rice field, but on every other occasion the ground was covered partially with bushes, cotton plants, &. I have found them from the level of the Irrawaddy to the highest cultivated patches in the hills about Thayetmyo. I have never seen one in a large open space or in thick jungle.” 17.—Tinnunculus alaudarius, Gm. This is another species which Captain Feilden informs me that he has obtained at Thayetmyo, although he did not send specimens. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ I saw a number of these birds for the first time last November; they were flying round the large pagoda at Shwaybongah opposite Prome, and occasionally perching on the summit, far out of shot. « The Kestril isa common bird, I find, in the Pegu plains ; T have seen a dozen together.” 19.—Erythropus vespertinus, Zin.? E, amurensis, Radde. The only specimen I have seen from Thayetmyo was sent by Captain Feilden. It is quite a young bird; sex, not ascertained ; length, 11 inches; and wing, exactly 9 inches ; the whole of the under-wing coverts, white, barred with brown. In this stage it is impossible, I think, to distinguish the eastern and western forms of the Orange-legged Hobby. (Vide Stray FEATHERS, Vol. II, p. 527.) Captain Feilden says: “I saw four of these birds hawking over a dry field in January, and a fifth early in February, seated on the top of a tall tree; they appeared to be migrating. Food, cockroaches.” 90.—Microhierax cerulescens, Zin. 7 M. eutolmos, Hodgs. Captain Feilden says: “ The Red-legged Falconet occurs in Burmah, at any rate as far down as Rangoon. It appears to re- main throughout the year, as I have shot it in August, October, November, and February.” Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘ Not uncommon in Upper Pegu; I have procured it in January, February, August, October and November, but cannot say if it is migratory. Feeds* entirely on large * This is certainly the general rule, but we have on several occasions found the flesh, and even some of the feathers, of small birds in their stomachs. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 93 insects, which it catches on the wing, very much as a Bee- eater would. It generally returns to the same perch several times. The following are dimensions and colors of the soft parts :— “ Males: length, 6:3; expanse, 12 to 12°3; tail, from vent, 2°5 to 2°6; wing, 3°8; bill, from gape to point, 0°43; tarsus, 0:92. Females: length, 7:2 to 7-3. The billis slaty blue, nearly black at tip; cere, dark brown ; iris, pale reddish brown; inside of mouth, bluish fleshy ; eyelids, bluish grey ; feet, bluish brown, darker on toes and yellowish on soles; claws, black.” Wings of females appear to vary from 4-1 to 4°3; wings of males, from 3°77 to 3°97. Adults appear to have a broad frontal and superciliary band continued round the nape, and a stripe under the eye, pure white ; chin, bright rufous; and whole lower parts, more or less tinged rufous. Immature birds have the frontal and superciliary band much narrower ; and this, with the strip under the eye, is Jdright rufous; the collar is rufous white, while the chin and whole lower parts (except lower abdo- men, vent, and tibial plumes, which are rufous) are pure white. In one specimen, for instance, which I take to be an old bird, there is a huge broad white frontal band, nearly 0-4 in breadth ; from this extend broad supercilia of the same color, fully 0-15 in width above the eyes, running down unbroken, over the ear coverts, widening as they go, and joining on the one hand the white of the sides of neck, and on the other hand a broad, 0-4 wide, half-collar of the same color. The cheeks are the same color, but the chin and the upper part of the throat are bright chestnut. In another bird, a young bird as I believe, the frontal band is not above 0-1 in width, and is pale chestnut. It does not join the supercilia, which again above the eye are only 0:05 in width and scarcely wider elsewhere, and are also pale chestnut, and which running down mere narrow lines, still of this pale chestnut hue, join into a very narrow (0°15 broad) rufous-white half-collar. Immediately under the eye there is a tiny pale chestnut patch, but the whole of the chin, throat, and breast, are pure silky white. Many birds, killed in the autumn as a rule, I think, are inter- mediate between these two well-marked stages, a little tinge of rufous only may remain on the brow, and the chin may still be quite white, or again the eyebrow may be quite white, and there may as yet be only a faint rufescent tinge on the chin, or sometimes, but this, I think, is very rare; both chin and eyebrow may entirely want the rufous tinge. I have only to add that birds from Pegu appear to be precisely identical with those from Kumaon, Nepal, and Sikhim. 24 A FIRST LIST OF THE 22.—Lophospiza indica, Hodgs. One immature specimen of this species was procured by Mr. Oates on the eastern slopes of the Pegu Hills; latitude, 19° north. It is apparently identical with birds from various parts of India. Mr. Oates says: “I only procured one specimen, and this on the Pegu Hills, where it appears to be rare. It measured: Length, 16-1; expanse, 29°5 ; tail, from vent, 8:0; wing, 8°6; bill, straight from gape to tip, 1:1; tarsus, 2°7. ‘Upper mandible and tip of lower, dark brown or black; remain- der of lower mandible, plumbeous ; cere and gape, lemon yellow ; eyelids, naked skin of face, and base of bill in advance of gape, dusky green; edges of eyelids, yellow; iris, bright yellow; inside of mouth, deep blue; legs, yellow; claws, black.’ I follow Mr. Gray in separating the Indian form from ¢7- virgatus ; I have not myself compared specimens, but judging from the dimensions given by Schlegel and others, our Indian birds must be considerably more robust. 23 ter—Mlicronisus poliopsis, Hume. I described this species, Stray Featruers, Vol. II, p. 235. Itis a perfectly separable race, but whether it should or should not be specifically separated must, of course, remain a matter of opinion. I have seen specimens from Thayetmyo, Rangoon, and Trenasserim, and Mr. Sharpe, who had independently recog- nized the distinctness of this race, informs me that he has seen it from Siam and Cambodia also. Mr. Oates remarks that “the Burmese Shikra is extremely common from the Bay of Bengal to Tonghoo. Of ten specimens noted, eight had the irides yellow, and two red; these latter are apparently old.” He adds later: “ I found a family of five together on the 16th June, and shot two. These were young. They were fully fledged and were able to fly as fast as the old birds. The nest appeared to have been on a high branch of a huge Peepul tree. A few fragments could be seen from below. 24.—Accipiter nisus, Lin. Captain Feilden says: ‘ I shot an European Sparrow-hawk at Thayetmyo.” Mr. Oates, however, never seems to have met with this species, though he has collected in the neighbourhood of Thayetmyo for more than two years, and perhaps the identifica- tion may be doubtful. 25.—Accipiter virgatus, Tem. Captain Feilden says: “TI obtained one specimen of the Besra Sparrow-hawk at Thayetmyo.” J have seen no specimen, and Mr. Oates appears to have procured none. . BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 25 27 bis—Aquila mogilnik, Gm. A. bifasciata, Gray. A single unsexed specimen of the Plain-brown Imperial Eagle> with the buffy occipital patch just beginning to show, has been sent me by Mr. Oates; wing, about 22°5. In regard to this Mr. Oates remarks: “I have seen no other specimen; this was given me by Feilden in the flesh.” Captain Feilden remarks: “ The Imperial Eagle in Burmah appears to me to differ from the Indian variety, in wanting the orange buff head described by Dr. Jerdon. I have seen eight or ten of these birds in a day, at perhaps a hundred yards’ distance, on an average,and never saw any trace of paling on the neck or head ; feet, cere, and gape, wax yellow; eyes, bright, sparkling brown. The feet appear to me smaller than in the Indian bird, and the bird throughout less strongly built. I have found these birds singly, or in twos and threes, seated on large trees growing in the long but broken expanse of rice fields extending from Thayetmyo to Mingdoon, enclosed by spurs of the Arracan Mountains. It is almost impossible to get these birds, as the trees they occupy are generally single, with no cover near them.” I suspect that Aquila amurensis, Swinhoe, (PRocEEDINGS, Zoo- LOGICAL Society, 1871, p. 838,) is nothing more nor less than this bird.* 28.—Aquila clanga,t Pail. No specimens of this species have been sent me, and Mr. Oates obtained none ; but Captain Feilden’s remarks leave no possible doubt as to the species he refers to. Captain Feilden says: “The few of these birds that I have obtained have been all in the nearly black unspotted stage, with tarsi more or less white. Food, always fish or frogs, except that the stomach of a one-legged bird in very bad condition contained a bandicoot, which he had probably picked up dead.” 31.— Nisaetus pennatus, Gm. This species must be comparatively rare in Upper Pegu. Mr. Oates appears never to have procured it. A single specimen sent by Captain Feilden is precisely similar to Indian birds. Dimen- sions given by Captain Feilden of males, though somewhat smaller than what Jerdon gives, correspond exactly with my own dimen- sions of males. The bird sent is the mature bird in the brown plumage. Captain Feilden says: “TI have found these birds in the same line of rice fields as the Imperial Eagle, but have only obtained * Mr. Sharpe has since confirmed this supposition. + By clanga, I mean the bird which we have most of us heretofore callpe nevia, Briss. I agree with Mr Brooks that the true nevia is either identical with or very closcly alied to hastata, D 26 A FIRST LIST OF THE them on the general parade ground at Thayetmyo. I have never obtained a female, but once or twice saw a much paler bird that must have been either the female or young. I have always found them, when perched, seated in the centre of mode- rate-sized trees in full fohage. The stroke of the wing of this bird is much more rapid than is the case in the flight of the other eagles. This bird appears to hunt its own game down, and never touch carrion. The two that I shot contained a White-headed Myna and a field rat; another that I hit and lost, was eating some other bird. These birds are tame, and can be shot by walk- ing past them in a careless manner ; but they are not so stupidly tame as the Indian variety often is. I never saw any trace of the Pale-head. The pale birds that I saw appeared to resemble the adult Tawny Eagle in color. I never heard it utter any note.” 34,—Spizaetus caligatus, Raffles. Specimens sent by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are identical with others from Kumaon and other localities in the Himalayas, Dacca, and other parts of Eastern Bengal. Mr. Oates gives the following dimensions and particulars of three males :— I.—(I should say about three years old.) Length, 25:7; ex- panse, 53; tail, from vent, 12; wing, 15°8;° bill, straight from gape to point, 1°76. Iris, orange yellow; eyelids, dark grey; inside of mouth, fleshy ; bill, black ; cere, blackish brown ; feet, greyish white. II.—(A bird of the year.) Length, 26°35; tail from vent, 12; wing, 16:1; bill, from gape to point, 1:7; tarsus, 4°4. Iris, yellowish brown ; eyelids, plumbeous ; inside of mouth, bluish fleshy ; cere and bill, black ; gape as far as nostrils, bluish black ; toes, pale yellowish green ; claws, black. I1I.—(A male, apparently young, shot in my compound in Prome.) Length, 26°5; expanse, 54; tail, from vent, 12; wing, 16:1; bill, from gape to tip, straight, 1:69; tarsus, 4°2; cere, 35. Iris, brown ; bill and cere, dark brownish black, turning to plumbeous at the gape; shelf, plumbeous; claws black ; legs and toes, pale yellow. He remarks: “Having now secured three specimens, I am begin- ning to think that the bird is commoner than I once considered it.” Captain Feilden says: “This seems to be a very common bird about Thayetmyo; every ravine in the spurs of the Arracan Mountains seems to contain one or more pairs, as well as every wooded stream in the lower ground. Their wild screaming (whistle) is almost always to be heard long before the bird is seen, as it sits on some large tree rising above the rest of the jungle or wheels in circles far overhead ; it is one of the BIRDS OF UPPER PEQU. 27 wildest and wariest of birds. One that I took from the nest nearly two years ago is still as wild as ever, and constantly ruffles up the feathers of its head till they look almost like the crest of a blood- sucker, leaving the rest of the top of the head almost bare. It has also a habit of throwing back the head, apparently looking for a hole in the top of its cage, and bending backwards till it frequently falls over. It appears to have a great desire to wash. When first caught, I gave it water in a sardine tin, when it stood over it and went through the motions of washing, although it was hardly fledged, and could not of course get into the water. This bird shows no change either in plumage, length of crest, the dark color of the eye, or the black cere, since I have had it, except that it has lost the pale tips on the back and wings. “These birds, as far as I know, feed on Mynas, rats, and frogs. I have taken a young bird from the nest in the middle of May, and seen several young birds about the end of that month. These birds build the usual Hawk Eagle’s nest in the fork of the largest and most inaccessible tree that they can find, invari- ably, as far as I know, overhanging’ the bed of a stream. Either numbers of these birds build and do not lay, or else they desert their nests on the slightest suspicion of their having been discovered. Of half a dozen nests that I saw building in March, on one of which I saw an old female engaged in arranging the sticks, not one ever contained either egg or young bird ; though I found a large egg dropped at a short distance from one of the nests, as if the bird had deserted the nest and not built another. Several pairs of birds belonging to nests in more remote parts of the jungle seemed all to have succeeded in rearing one young bird each. The Burmese state that the birds only lay one egg, which is pure white. Fragments of two eggs, one on the ground and another in the nest from which I got the bird, were white. While the trees are in full leaf, these birds shelter them- selves in the middle of some thick tree during the heat of the day.” In the quite young bird of this species, just before the first moult, almost the whole of the head and lower parts are white ; a few of the feathers of the forehead and the centre of the crown and occiput are brown-shafted, or have very narrow shaft stripes. Two or three feathers on the breast have very narrow, brown, shaft stripes towards the tips; on the sides of the body there are some brown dashes, and the tibial plumes are very faintly barred transversely with pale rufescent brown. The upper surface of the body, tail, and wings are much as in the adult, except that the sub-terminal tail band is narrower and _ less conspicuous, and the white margins of the feathers have almost disappeared. 28 A FIRST LIST OF THE 39.—Spilornis cheela, Lath. Birds from Thayetmyo are the true cheela, a little smaller no doubt than Himalayan specimens, but with wings varying from 18 to 19 inches in females and of the true cheela type. Further south this species appears to be entirely replaced by the next. Mr. Oates gives the following particulars of a female of the present species measured in the flesh :— “ Length, 28-2; expanse, 61; tail, from vent, 12°8; wing, 18 ; bill, from gape, 2°02; tarsus, 4°05; legs, pale dirty yellow; claws, black ; iris, bright yellow; eyelids, well clothed; naked skin in front of eye and shelf, pale greenish yellow; cere, a shade greener; bill, plumbeous, dusky at tip; inside of mouth, bluish. “The commonest of the large Raptors ; extends to my know- ledge from the Bay of Bengal to Tonghoo. One was shot in Thayetmyo in trying to carry off a chicken.” Captain Feilden says: “I shot four birds answering to Dr. Jerdon’s Crested Serpent Eagle ; but as I never shot that bird, I cannot state that they are identical with the Indian bird.” 39 ter—Spilornis Rutherfordi, Swinh. It is only, I believe, as a mere chance straggler that, this species or race occurs within our limits; its natural home is further east and south. No separate description seems necessary. I have compared a large series from China, Siam, and Tenasserim with a still larger series of chee/a from Northern and Continental India, and IT have been unable to detect any constant difference in the plumage, though that of the Indian bird is commonly somewhat more richly colored. In Rutherfordi the sexes differ little in size, and the following dimensions recorded in the flesh of four adults, two of each sex, will show how greatly in this respect these birds differ from cheela :— Length, 24:0 to 24°75; expanse, 50°5 to 56°37; tail, from vent, 10:5 to 11-5; wing, 16:3 to 17-25; tarsus, 3°5; bill, from gape, 1:75 to 2:0; weight, 2Ibs. to 2°5Ibs. The legs and feet are yellowish white; the bill, dark plumbeous ; the facial skin, cere and irides, bright yellow. I have only seen a single specimen of this species obtained within our limits. This was shot on the right bank of the Sittang, about eight miles below Tonghoo, in July. 41.—Polioaetus ichthyaetus, Horsf. A single specimen of this species is sent by Mr. Oates from Thayetmyo with the following remarks and particulars : “T shot this specimen in my compound in an apparently ex- hausted state. It is obviously quite a young bird, and so young BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 29 that I could not ascertain the sex. It measured: Length, 29; expanse, 62; tail, from vent, 12°25; wing, 19; bill, from gape, 2°05; tarsus, 3°7; the cere was grey; bill, greyish-blue at base, changing to dark brown at tip; iris, hazel ; legs and feet, very pale greyish white.” This is a very interesting specimen of the true zch thyaetus, Horsf., which, as I have pointed out in my Eaes anp Nests or Inpran Birps, is equally distinct from plumbeus, Hodgson, and humilis, Tem. It is in that particular stage of plumage which Gray and Hardwick figure as Haliaetus lineatus, a stage of plumage which, as far as my present experience goes, is not assumed by plumbeus. The whole of the head, neck, interscapulary region and coverts, except the greater primary ones, are a light wood brown, each feather tipped with pale fulvous white, and with this color running more or less up the shaft of the feathers, especially on the head. The primaries, their greater coverts, and the winglet, dark brown, blackish towards the tips of the primaries. The greater coverts tipped with fulvous white, and the primaries palmg to brownish white at the extreme tips; secondaries, a rather darker brown than the back, obsoletely barred darker, and narrowly margined at the tips with brownish white. Back scapulars, rump, and upper tail coverts much the same color as the secondaries. Tail, pale dirty brown, with a broad, irregular, blackish band close to the tips, and another somewhat narrower band higher up; the imterspace is very ill-defined, and the basal half of the feathers densely mottled and blotched with dark brown. Chin, throat, ear coverts, and sides of the neck yellow- ish white, each feather narrowly margined with pale rufescent brown. Lower tail coverts, white or nearly so; rest of the lower parts, pale rufescent brown, each feather with a narrow, central, yellowish white shaft stripe, least narrow on the breast. Axil- laries and lesser lower coverts along the ulna, mingled rufous white and rufous brown, the rest of the wing lining, (except the primary lower coverts,) and the basal portion of the quills, white. The median lower primary coverts, tinged with pale rufous; the greater primary lower coverts also rufescent towards their tips, and with one or two imperfect transverse dark brown bands. On the lower surface of the quills, between the white basal portion and the brown or grey brown tips, the inner webs are greyish white, with four or five strongly marked transverse dark brown bars. The lower surface of the tail is white, becoming tinged with brown towards the tip. There is a broad, irregular, subterminal blackish brown band, and the rest of the feather above this is freckled, mottled, and blotched with dark brown. The nostrils are excessively small in this species ; in this speci- men they have not been plugged out with cotton, and they measure exactly 0°13 inch long by 0°09 wide. 30 A FIRST LIST OF THE Since the above was in type, Mr. Oates has sent me the following additional note :— «A male in somewhat similar plumage to the one you have already described, but more robust, measured— “ Length, 29°4; expanse, 65 ; tail, from vent, 11:5; wing, 18-5; bill, 2°05; tarsus, 3°8; cere, 0°5; middle claw, straight, 1:3; hind claw, 1°5; bill, dark brown; the basal two-thirds of lower mandible, light plumbeous ; cere, a lighter brown than the bill ; iris, light brown, mottled and speckled; feet and legs, china- white ; claws, black; loral region, dusky greenish; eyelid and shelf, plumbeous. “This bird is very sluggish and flies heavily.” 45 bis—Buteo japonicus, Schlegel. A Buzzard from Thayetmyo would certainly be ranked as Buteo vulgaris but for its much smaller size and slightly more feathered tarsi. The tarsi are not feathered quite so far down, nor are the toes quite so short, as in another specimen of japonicus that I possess from Kotegurh, Himalayas; but still they differ sufficiently from vulgaris of Europe, of which I have six good specimens before me to compel me, to assign the bird to japonicus. It is a female, and measured in the flesh 19°5 in length; the wing, 143; the tarsus, 2°8 feathered for 1:45; the cere was greenish yellow; the irides, very pale brown; the legs and feet, yellowish. It is certainly not ferox in any stage, neither is it, I think, desertorum ; and if not japonicus, (it is far too small for vu/garis,) it must be a new species, and if so, might well stand as burmanicus. J myself am inclined to believe that it is yaponieus. It is useless attempting an elaborate description of the plumage ; so far as plumage goes, it exactly resembles some stages of vulgaris, but it has the outer webs of the earlier primaries, especially just above the emarginations, most conspicuously sil- vered to an extent that I have never seen in any specimen of Buteo vulgaris. I may add that the central tail feathers (and indeed all the tail feathers) are very narrow, not above 1°6 width at the widest, and exhibit beyond the tips of the upper tail coverts no less than ten well-marked, dark brown, trans- verse bands on a mingled grey and rufous ground, the rufous predominating towards the tips, the grey towards the bases of the feathers. Captain Feilden says (for Mr. Oates never appears to have met with the species): ‘I found this bird at the edge of the parade ground in tolerably thick-tree jungle with partially cleared underwood. I believe I caught a glimpse of the same bird eighteen months before in very thick fruit-tree jungle with an undergrowth of Pine-apple. The specimen killed had eaten insects. As far as I know, I have never seen any other specimens.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. ol Mr. Sharpe in the Acezpitres unites this species with plumipes, Hodgson. He is most likely right, but at the same time it seems to me to differ in its shorter wing, somewhat slenderer and slightly less-plumed tarsi, and its more characteristically Buzzard head. However, although we have more specimens than the British Museum, neither museum has anything like a sufficient series to enable any certain conclusion to be arrived at. 48.—Poliornis teesa, Frank. . Numerous specimens sent by both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are identical with Indian birds. Mr. Oates remarks that this species is “ not uncommon in the Thayetmyo District. The food appears to be small crabs. A male measured: Length, 15°75 ; expanse, 34; tail from vent, 6-4; wing, 11; tarsus, 2-4; bill at front, 1:2. A female: Length, 16°5; expanse, 36-5; tail, from vent, 7°3; wing, 11:5; tarsus, 2°56; bill, from gape, 1:3.” A female measured— Length, 16°5 ; expanse, 36:5 ; tail, from vent, 7°3 ; wing, 11°5; bill, 1:3 ; tarsus, 2°56; cere, 4. This birdis fond of flooded paddy land, which it beats over, as a harrier does ; but, unlike the latter, it is fond of perching on trees. 48 ter—Poliornis liventer, Zem,—FPl. Col. 438. P, pallidus, Zess. The occurrence of this species at Thayetmyo is somewhat unexpected. Temmuinck, however, in his original description, gave it from Celebes, Sumatra, Java, and the continent of India. It does not occur certainly on the continent of India, but it occurs, as we now see, on the mainland of Asia, on the very northern frontier of the province of Pegu. It is noteworthy that from the Tenasserim Provinces in 1845, Dr. Helfer sent a young speci- men of Polzornis barbatus, Eyton ; while now Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates send not only Ziventer, but also ¢eesa, from Thayetmyo. The occurrence of three such species within one comparatively limited province is certainly curious. Mr. Gray (and I follow him) separates darbatus, Eyton, from poliogenys, and identifies Blyth’s pygmaeus, founded on Dr. Helfer’s specimen (vide my Roveu Norss, No. 2, page 291) with the former, and doubtfully with ¢rivirgatus, Moore. Whether this separation be correct or not, we still have three distinct, though nearly allied species from British Burmah. The specimen sent me by Captain Feilden, an adult male, measured in the flesh; length, 14-5; wing, 10°8; tarsus, 2°6; tail, 6; bill, from gape, 1:3. The bill was pale orange, tipped horny black ; orbital skin, cere, and legs, bright orange; irides, golden 82 A FIRST LIST OF THE yellow. This bird was killed at the end of the breeding season. Tn the cold-weather, the legs, orbital skin, and cere, are paler. The specimen sent by Mr. Oates was also a male; and in re- gard to this he has recorded the following particulars: “ Length, 15:5, expanse, 36; tail, from vent, 6:3; wing, 11:1; bill, from gape, 1:3; mid-toe and claw, 2:1; clawonly, 0°73; cere, 0°45; pill, along culmen, 0°9. Fourth quill the longest, third, 0-2 ; second, 0°7; first 3°3; and fifth 0°45 shorter than fourth. Eyelids, well-clothed with white down. This and the upper-shelf yellow, with an orange tinge; iris, yellow, rather pale; bill and cere, waxen orange; the tips of both mandibles, dark-brown, almost, black ; legs and feet, yellow ; claws, dark-brown. I only procured one specimen, and that at Thayetmyo. It appears to be rare.” Captain Feilden says: “This bird I only found in a long line of paddy fields, extending many miles inland from Thayet- myo, but much broken by patches of jungle, and dotted with large trees standing singly, or two or three together, m the middle of fields. It is an extremely wary bird; I only obtained two quite accidentally. They are not very wild at first, but rf they have once been shot at, it appears hopeless ever to get near them again.” Captain Feilden says that this species breeds in March.” For further particulars, see my “ Nests anp Eaas or Inp1an Brrps.” The following is a description of this species, founded on these two specimens: The whole head and neck all round are a pale earthy or grey brown ; the feathers darker shafted ; the lores are whitish, and the chin and throat more or less faintly streaked with white; the breast is nearly uniform in color with the neck, but here and there with faint traces of obscure rufescent bars; all the feathers darker shafted; the sides and abdomen are some- what more rufous, with white spots or obscure bars, and all the feathers darker shafted ; the tibial plumes, vent and lower tail coverts, and the whole under-surface ‘of the wings (except the primaries beyond the notches on the inner webs), pure white ; axillaries white, with numerous closely-set transverse bars of mingled brown, and rufous. The quills, and primary greater coverts, and winglet, a rich chestnut red, tipped, more or less broadly, with brown, darkest on the primaries, with the outer webs of the second to the fifth primary from about the emarginations more or less silvered or frosted brown; the greater portion of the inner webs above the emarginations, pure white ; the red portions of the inner webs with a few widely-distant, narrow, dark brown transverse bars ; the outer webs with traces of similar bars. The first four primaries conspicuously notched on the inner webs, and the third, fourth, and fifth, somewhat emarginate on the outer webs. Rump and upper tail coverts, a rich, more or less brownish rufous; each feather, darker shafted ; tail, bright chestnut, BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 3) tipped white or rufous white, and with a moderately broad trans- verse sub-terminal black band on both webs; the central and other feathers exhibit two or three narrow, transverse, dark-brown bars, and a few black spots, traces apparently of these, the one about an inch, the other about two inches above the band just described, and the third just below the tips of the coverts. The whole of the mantle is a more or less rufous brown; some of the coverts, faintly margined paler, and with a somewhat pale bar- ring on the inner webs, and all the feathers with conspicuously dark shafts. The lesser and median coverts are much browner and less rufous, and very much as in Poliornis teesa, and are more or less fringed with albescent. The longest scapulars are brownish at the tips, bright chestnut above, and with traces of grey brown bars: on the lower surface of the wing the tips of the earlier primaries beyond the emarginations are grey, more or less tinged with rufous, and exhibit on the inner webs only, four or five more or less perfect transverse brown bars. The primaries and secondaries are narrowly margined towards the tips with dull white. The entire edge of the wing is white. The lower surface of the tail is white, tinged pinkish, and with the bars already described as present on the upper surface, showing: through, more or less distinctly. 53.—Circus melanoleucus, Gm. Mr. Oates and Captain Feilden both sent specimens of males and females of this species. Captain Feilden, who was aware that both belonged to the same species, says: “Sexes appear nearly the same size; in fact, one male I got was larger than a female ; the females are extremely common about Rangoon, more so than at Thayetmyo, where this species is not very common.” Mr. Oates says: ‘Not uncommon at the end of the rains, and during the cold-weather ; frequents inundated land in preference to any other. Near Poungday it is often found in the large plains of mixed jungle and paddy land. I have never met with a female amongst all those I have shot.” This bird is commoner in the Pegu plains than in any part of Burmah I have yet traversed. This latter is natural enough, seeing that the female never, I believe, assumes the black and white plumage. Mr. F. R. Blewitt has dissected more than twenty black and white birds for me, and found them all, without exception, males. Mr. Oates, however, has sent me females of this species, sexed as such, but he did not realize that they were the females of melanoleucus and kept them separate as females of a species with whick he was not acquainted. The following are his dimensions and remarks as to a male :— : “ Length: 17°8; expanse, 43; tail, from vent, 8°8; wing, 14; bill, from gape, 1:1; tarsus, 3; cere, 0°37. E 34 A FIRST LIST OF THE “The basal half of the bill, as far back as the cere, bluish ; anterior half, black; eyelids, well clothed ; iris, bright yellow ; legs, orange yellow ; claws, horny.” From a large series of some thirty adult males from Raipoor, Sumbulpore, Sonepore, Madras, Dacca, Tipperah, Purneah, and Sikhim, I find that in this species the wing in this sex varies from 13°5 to 14°5,.and the tarsus from 2°9 to 3:1. In the young males they are smaller. The only really adult female that I possess (and this is in the spz/onotus plumage) has the wing 15:1; the tarsus 3°35. In regard to the females, young birds approaching the spz/o- notus plumage, Mr. Oates gives the total length as 18:5, and 18:75; and I find that the wings measure 14:5, and the tarsi 3:15, and comparing this with the adult, 1t would seem that this species varies a good deal in size according to age. Looking, however, to the very large series I now possess of this bird, I am prepared to admit that sp7/onotus (with the following dimensions, length, 22 to 23°75; wing, 17°25 to 17°75; tarsus, 3°37; mid toe and claw, 2°75) must be a distinct bird; but what I am in- clined to believe is, that the adult male has not yet been obtained, and that it will prove to be a large black and white bird much like melanoleucus. Anyhow, the young and the females, as figured, are precisely identical, so far as plumage goes, with those of melanoleucus. Jerdon mentions (Ipts,1871,p.342) that Gould “has a specimen of a very large supposed male C. melanoleucus from Assam, wing 15:5, tarsus, 3°5. ‘The pale grey color extends more over the carpal joint than in ordinary specimens, so that the whole shoulder appears white. It corresponds nearly in size with true spzlonotus ; but has the tarsus somewhat more slender, and the foot smaller than in specimens of that bird, otherwise it might have been considered the fully adult state.” The slenderness of the tarsi and the smallness of the foot are, I apprehend, characteristics of the male. The same difference is observable between the adult males and females of melanoleucus. My only difficulty is, that the tarsus seems toolong ; in melanoleucus the adult females, as already mentioned, have considerably longer tarsi than the males. It must not be, however, supposed that the peculiar coloration about the shoulder of the wing is anything more than an individual peculiarity. One of the males sent by Captain Feilden has the wing 14 and the tarsus 3:1. It is only remarkable in having the whole shoulder of the wing white. In most specimens a broad black band runs from the shoulder of the wing down to the black median coverts, dividing the broad white band consisting of all the lesser coverts along the ulna, from the white feathers beyond the carpal joint; in this bird the whole BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 35 of the lesser coverts are white, only one or two black ones are intermingled just at the joint, the whole shoulder being white, and I have other specimens from other localities precisely similar, and thus agreeing in this respect with Mr. Gould’s bird, which, whether it be the adult male of spz/onotus or not, cannot possibly, with a wing 15°5, be an adult male of our Indian melanoleucus. 54,—Circus eruginosus, Lin. Several specimens of this well-known bird are sent by Mr. Oates. He remarks that it is “common on the Engmah Swamp, and in most of the inundated parts of the country. It often attemps to carry off wounded game.” Of a nearly adult male, he gives the following particulars :— “ Length, 19°8; expanse, 47:5; tail, from vent, 9°5; wing, 15; bill, from gape to tip, 1-4; tarsus, 3°3.” One of the birds sent is fully’ adult with the silvery tail and wings. 55.—Haliastur indus, Bodd. Mr. Oates says that “ this species is common about Thayetmyo, and occurs in immense numbers in all the tidal creeks of the Pegu plains.” 56 ¢er.—Milvus affinis, Gould. All the specimens sent by both Mr. Oates and Captain Feilden belong to the smaller and darker race affinis, which occurs equally in Australia, Timor, Macassar, Chusan, and Saigon, and which I have from Madras, the Nilghiris, Raipoor, Dacca, Agra, Dehra, Ajmeer, and Erimpura, and which Mr. Gurney informs me he has seen from Nepal, Calcutta, Poonah and the Deccan. The following are approximately the variations in the sizes of wing of the three races which we have in India :— Affinis, wings, male, 16°75 to 17°25; female 17 to 17°75 Govinda, 5, spe HLS) dlls op TSE WIG Major, a» LOOM Fs, 205); f 19°255 55 e2iichs Major is further distinguished by the large patch of white on the under surface of the wing on the basal portion of the primaries. Immature birds, of all the species, are smaller, and the two for- mer, afinis and govinda, inosculate, so that while some Indian specimens are absolutely identical with the Australan affinzs, others may be met with, which it is difficult to decide whether to assign to govinda or affinis. In regard to these three species, see further Stray FEATHERS, 1873, p. 160. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘This Kite is excessively common in all large towns and villages, and is to be met with occasionally in . 36 A FIRST LIST OF THE thick jungle, far away from houses. At Thayetmyo it goes away for about three months, leaving (in 1872) about the 20th June, and returning about the 15th September; during this interval not one was to be seen. Wings of males, 16°4, 16°8; wing of a female, 17:3. “ An old monk accounted for the disappearance of the Kites from Thayetmyo in the rains, by saying that they went to the hills to worship Gaudama. “The Kites begin building as early as the end of November. A female was found sitting on her eggs on the 23rd March. The top of a Toddy Palm is a favorite site for the nest.” According to Captain Feilden, there are two species in Thayet- myo, the common govinda, and this, the Malayan Kite; but I have as yet seen no specimens of govinda from this locality. 57 bis.—Pernis brachypterus, Blyth. Mr. Blyth at one time described a specimen of a Crested Honey Buzzard from Mergui, under the name of Pernis brachy- pterus i the following terms: “ Color, dark hair-brown above ; crest, simple, broad, 24 inches long; the feathers composing it, white-tipped, as are also those adjacent. Lower parts, white, with dark central streaks or tears on the breast and flanks.” Now, although the Honey Buzzards sent by Captain Feilden from Thayetmyo have as yet no marked crests, neither of them being old birds, I am pretty certain that they belong to this species. One female measured in the flesh: Length, 23°25; the other was smaller, but the measurement was not recorded; the wings measure 15°6 and 14°8. Now in eristatus, the females vary in length from 26 to 28; the smallest wing of any female Ihave met with was 15°75, and I have one before me now with the wing full 18; both specimens have a very marked black streak running down from below the gape, and encircling irregularly the chin and throat. The plumage is precisely similar to that of cristatus, of which they appear to be only ‘a somewhat smaller race with, when fully adult, a more defined crest. a, A third specimen sent by Mr. Oates, also a female, and quite an adult, answers precisely to Blyth’s description, except that the crest is only 1:5 inch long; of this, Mr. Oates gives the following dimensions and particulars: “ Length, 23°7; expanse, 50°5; wing, 16:0; tail, from vent, 11:3; bill, from gape, 1:5; tarsus, 2°1; cere, 0°5. “Upper, and tip of lower, mandible and cere, black ; base of lower mandible, gape, and region of nostrils, bluish. Inside of mouth, dusky blue ; iris, bright yellow ; eyelids, grey ; feet, dirty yellow ; claws, dark horny. This species seems tobe very rare.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. Sik Taking the dimensions of these three females, there can, I think, be no doubt that the Thayetmyo race is considerably smaller than the Indian ; but I cannot say that it seems to me to be entitled to specific separation. The dimensions of the smallest P. cristata, Cuv., from India that I have ever measured, were: Length, 26; expanse, 55; wing, 15°75; tail, from vent, 11°5; tarsus, 2°19; bill, from gape, 1°63 ; and this was quite an abnor- mally small bird. 59.—Hlanus melanopterus, Daud. Captain Feilden notes the occurrence of this species at Thayetmyo, Mr. Oates, however, appears only to have procured it from the Arracan Hills. 60.—Strix indica, Blyth. Specimens from Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are precisely identical with Indian specimens. Mr. Oates says: ‘ Very com- mon in the Thayetmyo Cantonment, occupying the space between the ceiling and the roof of the wooden barracks. It is not found, I think, in thick jungles, nor, as far as I know, far away from the larger villages. “ A female measured: Length, 14°75 ; expanse, 38 ; tail, from vent, 4°8; wing, 11:3; bill, from gape, 1°7; tarsus, 2-7; cere, 0°6.” 62.—Phodilus? nipalensis, Gray, ? P.badius, Horsf. Mr. Oates does not appear to have met with this species. Captain Feilden says: “I saw a specimen of this bird killed by a gunner with a stone, but could not obtain it; it was in the pos- session of Captain Penny, Rr. a. It differed in size from Jerdon’s description, measuring: Length, 12°5 ; tail, 4; tarsus, 3. The bay on the head was mixed with a few buff feathers, which made me suppose that the whole head of the immature bird might be buff.” Jerdon’s description was, I think, taken from Malayan specimens, which seem to be similar to the Ceylon bird, and which are doubtless the true dadius. It is im- possible for the present to be certain whether this Thayetmyo bird was badius, or nipalensis. 65 vis.—Syrnium seloputo, Horsf. 8. pagodarum, Tem. Captain Feilden says: “I shot a pair of Mottled Wood Owls differmg from the Indian ones, but have unfortunately sent them home.” It may be considered rash to assume that these Owls belong to this species ; but Mr. Strettell has sent me a specimen of this species, corresponding accurately with Temminck’s figure, 38 A FIRST LIST OF THE Pl. Col. 525, from near Rangoon, and it is therefore not unreason- able to conclude that the birds from the same geographical region only a little further north are the same. /2.—Ketupa ceylonensis, Gm. Thayetmyo specimens are quite similar to Northern Indian ones, but have perhaps even more white about the throat than these ; Ceylonese and Southern Indian birds differ somewhat, as noticed in Stray Fearuers, 1873, p.431. Captain Feilden says: ‘I never took the trouble to shoot the Brown Fish Owl at Thayetmyo, where it is common enough, and so cannot state positively that it is identical with that which I obtained at Rangoon.” Mr. Oates says: “Common from Thayetmyo to Tonghoo; it keeps near large nullahs. The specimens I shot were not found in rocky ravines or broken ground, but in places where nullahs passed through gently undulating and well-wooded tracts.” 74.—Scops pennatus, Hodgs. Mr. Oates does not appear to have met with this species. One sent by Captain Feilden is in the grey stage, only slightly tinted here and there with rufous; it is exactly similar to Indian speci- mens. Captain Feilden says: ‘The only specimen of this curious Owlet that I saw was seated on alow umbrella-shaped bush growing on the undulating table-land of low gravel hills, in which the two streams bounding Thayetmyo take their rise, and which are almost ‘entirely covered with Eng trees. It was very tame. On shooting it, and holding it against the stem of the Eng tree, I was astonished at the exact similarity of the breast of the bird to one of the irregular oblong scales of the Eng bark—the same grey ground with minute pencillings and dashes—the same irregular oblong black lines on the breast that are formed by the cracks round the scale of the bark; in fact, if the breast of the bird had been skinned and flattened on the stem of the tree, I do not think that I could have distinguished it from a flake of the bark itself. This bird was a female, and measured 7°25 inches in length. Bill, black at the tip, dark blackish brown at base ; lower mandible, horny, except the gonys which is yellowish ; iris, pale yellow, of the shade of a young Shikera’s.” 15 quint—Scops lempiji, Hors/. Mr. Oates does not appear to have met with this species. Cap- tain Feilden, however, sent me two specimens. These are the true lempigi, the Malayan Scops Owl—the Strix noctula of Remwardt figured Pl. Col. 99. I have never seen this species yet from India, but have it from Malacca. All our Indian specimens are referable, as far as I have yet seen, to eight species, v2z., swnia, pennatus, BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 39 spilocephalus (gymnopodus), Brucei, lettia, plumipes, bakhamuna (griseus, Jerd.), and malabaricus, which latter is nearest to the true dempigi, besides which we have Balli and modestus, Wald., from the Andamans. Captain Feilden gives adults: Females, length, 8°75; wing, 6°6 ; Males, length 8°5; wing, 64; bill, yellowish at tips, turn- ing into plumbeous and horny at base; iris, brown, tinted olive; scales of feet, grey brown; feet and eyelids, purplish brown ; in the young bird the nostrils are said to be fleshy; the iris, pale brown ; and the feet, paler than in the adult. Captaim Feilden says: ‘This Owl appears able to lower its ear-tufts; but when alarmed, I have always seen them erected, standing out much like acat’s ears. They appear to live in holes of trees during the hot-weather, but during the rains they may be found seated on the shady sides of bamboo clumps, or on fallen bamboos partly buried in long grass. They are very tame, and on being disturbed do not fly out of shot, but perch on the sloping stem of some tree at a few yards’ distance. If I am not mistaken, this Owl has perched within two or three yards of me at night, lowering and raising its head in a menacing manner, and uttering a short double hoot, resembling: “ too-hoo.” “T have only found this Owl in or near the peculiar water- courses of Thayetmyo; these water-courses resemble in shape a large rabbit’s nest, of which the top has been broken in throughout its whole length. The upper crust of the soil appears to be harder than the lower, and as soon as the water has broken through it, it hollows out a large cave at the point it breaks in through this upper crust, and for some distance the banks of the stream are much undermined. The Owls appear to live in these caves, or in holes of trees, during the hot-weather, taking as above mentioned, to bamboo clumps on the edge of streams during the rains.” 76 dis—Athene pulchra, Hume. I have already characterized this species, (Stray FratHErs, 1873, p- 469,) and have nothing further here to add in regard to it. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ Possibly the noisiest of all the small Sereech Owls. They are continually quarrelling with each other at night, and even in the day-time, a pair will commonly come out of some hole in a tree and screech away fora quarter of an hour. 79.—Athene cuculoides, Vigors. Numerous specimens received from Thayetmyo from Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are in no way separable from Himalayan ones. Mr. Blyth thought that the Burmese bird, which extends down to the level of the sea-shore, might be different and identical with the Japanese race which he named Wizteley:. Certainly the Burmese birds are precisely identical with Himalayan ones. 4.0 A FIRST LIST OF THE As for Whiteleyi, I can scarcely believe that it deserves specific separation ; except for the comparative fewness of the markings upon the feathers of the wing and tail, it is said to be precisely similar to cuculordes. The main distinetion, we are told, is that “the tail has only six narrow white bars, one terminal, and the other at the extreme base of the feathers, so that only four remain to con- stitute the conspicuous barring of the rectrices.”” Doubtless, this is the case with most of the Burmese birds ; but so also is it in the case of a great number of the Himalayan specimens: and as regards the paucity or otherwise of the markings on the flight feathers, this is a thing that varies more or less in every specimen. Captain Feilden says: “I have always found this Owl in the same kind of watercourses as the Scop’s Owls during the hot- weather, but during and after the rains they perch on tall, thick, creeper-covered trees. I found a young bird in what I believe to have been an old hole of the great Black Woodpecker, about half- way up a moderately-sized tree.” Mr. Oates says this species is ‘‘ common away from the Irra- waddy. I did not find it in the Evergreen Forests of the Pegu Hills, but it may occur there. “Tt comes out invariably at sunset, and sits on a tree till it is dark enough. for its taste. It is not nearly so vivacious as pulchra. Ovaria of females at the end of February extremely large. A male measured: Length, 8°65; expanse, 20; tail, from vent, 3:15; wing, 5°8; bill, from gape, 0°9. A female: Length, 9°3; expanse, 20; tail, 3°05; wing, 5°8; bill, from gape, 0°84; tarsus, 1-1; cere, 0°22; iris, bright yellow; eyelids, yellowish white; cere, brown; bill, pale dirty green; the tip of upper mandible, yellow ; legs and feet, dusky greenish yellow ; claws, brown. In another bird the bill was uniform, dull, dirty green, wanting the pale tip, and the -eyelids were plumbeous.” 81.—Ninox hirsutus, Cuv. e¢ Tem. Several specimens quite identical with Indian birds have been sent by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates. Captain Feilden says: “The Hawk-Owl is not common at Thayetmyo. The note is like the mew of a small. kitten ; it was only uttered a few times just: before the night became quite dark. I noticed the pupil of this bird expanding and contracting many hours after death. A female measured : Length, 12°25; feet, yellowish ; cere, greenish plum- beous; ridge of culmen, pale plumbeous; bill, greenish grey ; eyelid, purplish-black ; ins, bright yellow.” Mr. Oates says: ‘Not uncommon here. I never heard the doleful cries described by Jerdon and others. A male measured : Length, 12:2; expanse, 28°5; tail, from vent, 5°5; wing, 8°4; bill, from gape, 0°91; tarsus, 1:15; the iris, bright yellow ; BIRDS OF UPPER PEQU. 41 eyelids, plumbeous ; the edges, yellowish brown ; cere, dull green ; bill, bluish black; the-culmen and tip of lower mandible, yellowish green ; feet, pale yellow; claws, dark horny. ___©T shot a young one, nearly fully fledged, on the 21st May. These birds do not appear to come out till it is too dark to shoot them.” Besides these several Owls, Captain Feilden says that he shot an Owl resembling the Short-eared Owl, but only about two-thirds of the size of that bird. I cannot conceive what this can have been, but ornithologists in Pegu should be on the look-out for it. 82.—Hirundo rustica, Lin. The specimens sent by Mr. Oates are so excessively bad that it is impossible to speak positively in regard to them; but they appear to belong to the somewhat smaller race commonly known as gutturalis, Scop. This is said to be distinguished by its much smaller size and broader bill. The smaller size may be admitted, but as to breadth of bill I am unable to see it. Ihave carefully compared two adults from Amoy, China, with a large series from various parts of India, Yarkand, and England, and I can perceive no marked difference in the breadth of the bill. The Chinese birds are doubtless smaller, and from what I can make out of the Thayetmyo specimens they belong to the smaller race, which, so far as I am in a position to judge, does not appear to be entitled - to specific separation. 82 dis—Hirundo Tytleri, Jerd. The only adult sent—a female with both wings imperfect— has the entire lower parts, including wing lining and lower tail coverts, more rufous than they ever are in the females of rustica, while the chestnut of the throat descends down on to the breast, obliterating the central portion of the pectoral band. In the adult males of 7t/eri the lower surface is a rich chestnut bay ; in fact, it is concolorous with the chin and throat, or nearly so ; but in the females the lower parts, though much more rufous than in the corresponding sex of rustica, are paler than in the male. At present, it is rather a mystery where 7y¢/erz, which is only seen at Dacca for a month or two ata time, and that often after the mterval of some years, comes from. Mr. F.B.Simson, the late Commissioner of Dacca, who first pointed out the species to Dr. Jerdon, watched vainly for them for three successive years ; then they came in great numbers, and he sent me a very large series. A couple of months later they had entirely disappeared. This was in the early part of the rains. It was in June also that he first drew Dr. Jerdon’s attention to them. Now, Mr. Oates, who did not, owing to the badness of his specimens, distinguish the two species, remarks in regard to the Thayetmyo F 42 A FIRST LIST OF THE Swallows generally: ‘ These birds are very common ; they come in sparingly in July, but by the Ist August they are to be seen in immense quantities. They stay, some of them, till well into May. Ihave never seen any indication of their nests in Pegu; but as they leave us for only two months, where can they breed? With regard to Tonghoo, the Rev. Dr. Mason writes meas follows: ‘ Near the close of the rains in October last (1871) they were seen about for a few days, but from that time to the 4th April none were seen; on that day we had a squall and a shower of rain, and they seemed to come in on the wings of the wind; for the squall was in the afternoon, and the Swallows filled my compound in the evening. From that time till the lst May they were constantly about my compound, might and morning. On 1st May we had a heavy shower and squall, as if the rains were about to commence, and not a Swallow has been seen here since. They went as they came on the wings of the wind.’” Now, Zytlert when it comes does, I understand, breed in Dacca, so that I should not be surprised if these Thayetmyo birds went to Dacca amongst other places to breed. The bird is a very erratic one. This year at Tavoy itappeared in vast numbers on the 25th April, but had disappeared by the 7th May. 85 dis—Cecropis nipalensis, Hodgs. Only one specimen, and that not an adult, is sent; it is therefore impossible to be certain what species this belongs to. I am rather inclined to believe that it will prove to be striolata of Temminck. The rump band is about an inch broad, darker-colored than in xipalensis. The feathers rather con- spicuously dark-shafted, much more so than in x7palensis. There is no trace of a rufous collar; but then the bird is a young one, and the striations of the lower surface are better-marked than in nipalensis ; on the other hand, strzvdata belongs to the Archipelago, and one hardly expects to meet it in Thayetmyo. Besides the points above mentioned I should notice that the lower tail coverts are blackish, albescent towards their bases, and that the exterior tail feathers have no traces of spots on either web. Mr. Oates merely remarks: ‘I shot one on a tree in company with rustica. I have not been able to identify it.” 89.—Cotile sinensis, Gray. One specimen only, supposed to belong to this species, has reached me from Mr. Oates. Two others were sent, but they were entirely destroyed by insects. With only one indifferent specimen, unsexed, and with no measurements recorded in the flesh, it is impossible to arrive at any certain conclusion, but my impression is that the Thayetmyo birds will have to be specifically separated. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 43 The bird appears to be smaller, the head and nape much darker, and the feathers of the back, rump, upper tail coverts, and the tertiaries more distinctly fringed at the tips with albescent than in sénensis. I have a very large series of this latter species from all parts of India, and can find nothing like the Thayetmyo bird ; if distinct, it should stand as C. obscurior, nobis. I at first thought that this might be the true sudsoccata of Hodgson, but the breast-band is perhaps less strongly marked than in simensis, and the rump is decidedly paler than in that species, so that our bird cannot be identified with Hodg’son’s. Mr. Oates says that ‘this bird is very common on the banks of the Irrawaddy and some of the larger nullahs. It begins to dig its nest-hole very early in the season, soon after the Ist November.” 101 dis.—Cypselus pacificus, Zath. This species, which occurs also in the autumn in Tipperah, Cachar, and Assam, appears to be an occasional visitant to Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates says: “This is not a common Swift. I observed a large flock one evening, and managed to shoot three. I have seen it subsequently on a few occasions, but owing to the suddenness of its appearance and its extremely swift flight, it is almost im- possible to procure specimens. ‘Two birds, one a female, the other not sexed, shot at Inlay on the 25th February, measured— “ Length, 7°25; expanse, 17; tail, from vent, 3°25 and 3:3; wings, 7-2 and 7:3; bill, from gape, 0°82 ; width of gape, 0°8 ; tarsi, 0°42 and 0°48. “The irides were brown; eyelids, pinkish grey; bill, black ; inside of mouth, fleshy; feet, pinkish; claws, dark horny.” He adds: “Since shooting the specimens above referred to, I have seen this Swift several times. It may be known by its enormous expanse and very short tail. It is very seldom that it flies sufficiently near the ground to be shot. I have not heard it utter any cry.” The Thayetmyo birds correspond well with specimens from Tenasserim and from Takow and Amoy, China. The birds vary a good deal in size: Length, from 6°75 to 75; wings, 7 to 7:5; tail, 3 to nearly 3:4. ‘The head and nape are a more or less dark sepia brown ; there is a black triangular spot in front of the eye, and a narrow albescent line above this extending to the middle of the upper margin of the eye, scarcely visible, except in the fresh bird or in very good specimens. A white band, about 0:4 inch in width, traverses the rump, the feathers having brown shafts. The rest of the back wings, tail, and upper tail coverts, black or blackish brown. The feathers of the back with exces- sively narrow, pale, margins, or faint traces of these. Traces of 44. A FIRST LIST OF THE the same are generally, but not always, noticeable on the whole of the feathers of the head and the nape. The inner webs of the quills are hair brown, and the inner halves of these are notice- ably paler than the halves next the shafts. The exterior tail feathers are the longest, and exceed the central ones by a full inch. ‘The sides of the head and neck are of much the same color as the nape, which is generally slightly paler than the crown, and more or less conspicuously, though still very narrowly, fringed paler at the tips. The chin and the centre of the throat is pure white or brownish white; the feathers faintly brown-shafted. The extent of the white on the throat varies considerably in different specimens ; the chin in some birds is quite brown. The whole of the breast, abdomen, lower tail coverts and lower wing coverts, except the greater ones, are in some blackish brown, in others a hair, umber, or even sepia brown, each feather fringed at the tip with white. The greater lower coverts, which also show traces of similar tipping and the under surface of the quills and rectrices, are a more or less glossy grey brown. In good specimens of adults the back, tail, and shoulder of the wing are almost quite black, and exhibit a decided greenish gloss. T here note that /euconyx of Blyth is a very different bird indeed. It is not, I think, as Dr. Sclater remarks, that the white bar on the rump is narrower, and that there is much less white on the throat, because these are points that vary in individuals of both species; but Jewconyx is altogether a much smaller bird: Length, 5°8 to 6 as a maximum; wing, 5°9 to 6:2 also as a maximum; the under surface with much narrower and _less- marked white fringes than in pacificus; and lastly, the whole of the feet (not the claws, as has been erroneously stated) very pale-colored, almost albescent in some specimens. This is a thoroughly good species, and no one, I venture to say, who has examined good specimens, would ever doubt it. For further remarks in regard to other Swifts of this sub- group, vz., apus and acuticauda, vide Vol. II, p. 156, 102 vis.—Cypselus infumatus, Sclater. Mr. Oates says: “This species is very common near all villages, and in fact wherever the Borassus (palm) is found. I fancy it breeds about the middle of May. A male measured— “Length, 5°15; expanse, 11:1; tail, from vent, 2°45; wing, 4°6; bill, from gape, 0°54; tarsus, 0-33. “The bill and feet are “black; ‘the claws, dark leaoraial The eyelids, plumbeous ;_ irides, brown.” This is the species which Dr. Jerdon described as Cypselus tectorwm from specimens obtained by Major Godwin-Austen on BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 45 the Garrow and Naga Hills. It was originally obtained in Borneo, and now we find it common here about Thayetmyo and equally so further south in Tenasserim. This species is very similar to C. palmarum, Gray, so common throughout India; but itis everywhere much darker-colored, has a considerably shorter tail (that of palmarum being about 2°7), arid is consequently shorter altogether, has a less-forked tail, the external rectrices projecting only about 1-1 beyond the central ones, instead of 1:3 to 1:4 as in palmarum, and has generally a slightly shorter wing. In fine specimens the wings, head, and tail are nearly black; the back, deep blackish hair-brown ; the whole upper surface with a faint greenish gloss ; the entire lower surface, a moderately dark sepia brown, slightly albescent on the chin and throat. 104.—Dendrochelidon coronatus, Tick. Mr. Oates remarks: “Common everywhere throughout the year ; it is particularly fond of clearings in thick forests where a lot of big trees have been killed by fire. At Palow bungalow it is to be seen at all hours of the day flying over the house and dipping with incredible velocity to the surface of the Irrawaddy, which flows about eighty feet below the steep bank on which the bungalow is built. A female measured— “Length, 9°05; expanse, 15°3; tail, from vent, 5:2; wing, 63; bill, from gape, 0°78; tarsus, 0°28. “The bill was black ; eyelids, dusky plumbeous, blackish at the edges; iris, dark brown; legs, pmkish brown ; claws, black.’ 109.—Caprimulgus albonotatus, Tick. A male and female belonging rather to this species than the next, with the wing of the male measuring 83, and agreeing precisely in tint with birds from Central and Northern India, have been sent by Mr. Oates, who says that this and the next species which he did not discriminate are common on the Pegu Hills, where it entirely replaces aséaticus. He gives the dimen- sions of a male— ; “ Length, 12:7; expanse, 24; tail, from vent, 6:7; wing, 8°4; bill, from gape, 1:4 ; tarsus, 0°8. : “Of this specimen the bill was black ; the whole gape, vinaceous ; eyelids, dark plumbeous brown ; the edges, reddish ; legs and feet, vinaceous brown ; claws, dark horny.” I think that it is at any rate questionable how far it may ultimately prove desirable to separate the present and the sue- ceeding species. No doubt typical macrurus, with its very dark tint, and wing in the adult male not exceeding 7°75, does appear a very different bird to the huge pale addonotatus, with its 88 46 A FIRST LIST OF THE wing; but then pretty well every intermediate shade of coloring and size of wing may be met with in Eastern India; and here, in the Thayetmyo District, side by side on the Western Pegu Hills, we find typical adbonotatus, at least so far as coloration goes, with a wing 8-4, and the little dark-colored macrurus with a wing only 7°7 inches, both being adult males ; and we have other birds, as from Tipperah and even from Thayetmyo, which might be assigned to either race. Certainly Dr. Jerdon’s di- agnosis of there being no mottlings on the tips of the primaries will not assist us, since I find these on a typical macrurus from Malacca. 110.—Caprimulgus macrurus, Zors/. Captain Feilden sent two specimens, typical as to color, but rather larger than the Malayan macrurus. The males with wings 8 inches; females with wings 7°75. Hesays: ‘“Ionly found this in dense Bamboo jungles in the valleys.” Mr. Oates sends a thoroughly typical macrurus from the Western Pegu Hills, of which he gives the following dimensions :— Male: Gength, 11:9; expanse, 23:6; tail, from vent, 6; wing, 7°75. Captain Feilden further remarks: ‘This bird closes its eyes whilst seated on its eggs; this must be a great protection from Hawks, as its great eyes are the most conspicuous things about it. The first time I saw this I thought the bird was dead, and stooped to pick it up, nearly touching it before it rose.” 112.—-Caprimulgus asiaticus, Lath. Mr. Oates says that this species “ is common in the plains, but is not found on the hills. A male measured— “Length, 9:1; expanse, 18; tail, from vent, 4:4; wing, 6:1 ; bill, from gape, 1°12 ; tarsus, 0°72. «The edges of the eyelids were pale buff; the irides, brown ; the bill, flesh colored at the base, with a reddish tinge on the upper mandible; the tip, dark brown; feet, pinkish brown ; claws, horny.” Only one specimen was sent, and that is a good deal darker in tint than is usual in Continental Indian specimens ; but I do not think it is separable. 114.—Caprimulgus monticolus, Frank. Captain Feilden sent me one specimen of this species, which he said was the only one he had seen, and which he had obtained on the top of one of the highest spurs of the Eastern Pegu Hills. This species occurs also much further south, at Amherst for instance. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 47 116.—Harpactes Hodgsoni, Gould. After comparing seven specimens from Thayetmyo, the East- ern and Western Pegu Hills, andthe Arracan Hills, with a much larger series from Tipperah and Sikhim, I entertain no doubt that the Pegu bird at any rate is identical with that from Sikhim. One specimen sent me by Captain Feilden is no doubt a good deal smaller than the others, with a wing of only 5°6 against 5°8 to 6-1, the limits within which the wings of the males of fTodgsoni generally seem to vary; but, comparing this with numerous other specimens both from Pegu and elsewhere, as above noticed, I find it is quite impossible to separate this small bird, either by reason of size or difference of color, which latter is really so variable that one requires a series of twenty or so to understand the limits within which it does vary. Captain Feilden says: ‘This Trogon is found in the densest jungle, always, I think, on the banks of streams ; it does not ap- pear to signify what the height of the jungle is, so long as it is thick ; or whether the stream 1s running through hills or plains.” Mr. Oates says: “Common throughout both the Pegu and Arracan Hills; it is less common in the plains near the Irrawaddy and Sittang. I have generally seen it solitary or in couples, occasionally in a party of five or six, but all acting independent- ly of each other; it is somewhat tame and allows a rather near approach. After catching an insect on the wing, it generally makes for a new perch. It is very silent. The following are the dimensions of several birds measured :— “ Males: Length, 13°1 to 13:6; expanse, 17 to 17:5; tail, from vent, 76 to 815; wing, 5:7 to 5-9; bill, from gape, 1-05 to 1:11; tarsus, 0°6. “© Females: Length, 12:7 to 12°8; expanse, 17; tail, from vent, ¢ to 7-3;' wing,’ 5°7; bill, from. gape; 1°18 to’ 1-2; tarsus, 0°65 to 0°7. «The irides are red. Jerdon says chestnut brown, but our bird has it distinctly red. Bill, deep smalt blue; the culmen, the tip of both mandibles, and anterior half of margin of upper man- dible, black. The smalt blue changes to brilliant purple blue at the gape. LHyelids and orbital skin, lavender blue; inside of mouth and centre of lower eyelid, flesh color. Legs, pale pink ; claws, dusky at base, fleshy at tip.” 116 ter.—Harpactes oreskios, Tem. No specimens received from either Captain Feilden or Mr. Oates. Mr. Oates remarks: “I saw this bird once only in the Evergreen Forests. It was in company with Hodgsoni, and its bright yellow belly rendered it easily recognizable. They were all in a nullah, about twenty feet broad, overgrown with Ferns and Palms, the trees 48 A FIRST LIST OF THE on either side meeting overhead and rendering the place very gloomy. Trogons are always to be found in such localities, more especially if there should be just a gleam of sunshine through a small gap in the trees. Both these species of Trogons catch their food entirely on the wing, never, as far as I have observed, returning to the same perch. I saw oveshkios only once, and then my cartridge missed fire.” This species certainly does occur in the Pegu Yoma Hills with- in our limits, but it is much more common across the Sittang and throughout Tenasserim, at any rate as far south as Mergui. The following are dimensions, colors of the soft parts, &c., recorded in the flesh from a very large series of both sexes :— Mates : Length, 11°75 to 12°25; expanse, 14°25 to 15:4; tail, from vent, 6°75 to 7°82 ; wing, 4°82 to 5:12; tarsus, 0°5 to 0°6; bill, from gape, 0°85 to 0:95; weight, 1°75 to 2 oz. Females: Length, 11:25 to 11:8; expanse, 15-0 to 15:5; tail, from vent, 6°82 to 7:5; wing, 4°8 to 5:2; tarsus, 0°5 to 0°57; bill, from gape, 0°9; weight, 1°75 to 2 oz. The legs and feet are dull smalt blue, occasionally with a faint pinkish tinge; the claws are bluish horny or bluish white ; the irides are deep brown ; the orbital skin and eyelids, smalt blue, sometimes very bright; the greater part of the bill is bright smalt blue; a stripe along the ridge of the culmen; the edge of the upper mandible to the nostril and the tip of lower mandible, black or blackish brown. The colors of the soft parts are alike in both sexes. In the male the lores, forehead, crown, occiput, nape, ear-coverts and sides of the neck immediately behind the ear-coverts, bright olive green ; the chin, throat, and breast are of a somewhat similar color, but brighter and with much more of a golden tinge ; the entire back, scapulars, rump, upper tail-coverts and central tail feathers, bright chestnut ; the latter, tipped black. The wings, (except the lesser coverts, at the carpal joint and along the ulna,) black, paling to dark hair brown on the inner webs of the quills; the winglet and all the greater and median coverts (except the primary greater coverts), the tertiaries and the outer webs of the secondaries, narrowly and somewhat closely barred with white. The second to the seventh or eighth primary narrowly margined on their outer webs with white; a white patch at the base of all the quills, but the first primary, usually only visible beyond the coverts on the outer web, in the sixth to the eighth or ninth primaries. The central tail feathers have been already described ; they are very generally about 0°25 of an inch shorter than the next feathers on each side, which are longest and entirely black. The next pair again are also entirely black. They are about 0°25 inch shorter than the longest ; the next pair are about 0:4, the next 2°0, and the exterior of all 3:5 shorter than the longest. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 4.9 The exterior tail feather has the entire outer web white, and rather more than the terminal half of the interior web white, the remainder black, the white and black meeting in a slanting line, so placed that there is most white towards the shaft, and most black towards the margins. The next two feathers are very similar, but have a portion of the outer webs also black. The abdomen is a fiery orange yellow, paling towards the vent, which, with the lower tail coverts, are rather pale orange yellow. The fourth and fifth quills are equal and longest ; the third, 0°15 ; the second about 0°6; and the first about 2°3 shorter. The sides are something like the breast—the feathers, grey at their bases ; the visible portions, more or less bright, golden olive green. The female differs in having the head olive brown, with only a shght greenish tinge; the interscapulary region, back and rump, rufescent brown; the chin, throat, and breast, a grey brown, with only a faint tinge on the two former of greenish olive. The abdomen and the rest of the lower parts more of a gamboge yellow, with only a faint orange tinge on the upper abdomen. The barrings on the coverts, tertiaries, &c., broader than in the male, and buffy instead of white. 11'7.—Merops viridis, Zin. Thayetmyo specimens do not appear to me to differ sufficient- ly to warrant their separation from v7ridis ; typical viridis has only a moderate tinge of golden rusty on the head and nape. In the far west, in Sindh, this tinge is almost entirely wanting ; in the east, in Burmah, it is very strongly developed, and it is to the eastern race Hodgson gave the name /errugiceps. I could easily break viridis into three races—a western, southern, and eastern ; but they appear to me to be clearly all one bird, and [ have no doubt whatsoever that Linneus’s name ought to be retained for them all. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ Extremely common everywhere in the plains, except in thick forests ; not found in the Pegu Hills. The young are hatched in the first week in May. The following is a résumé of the measurements of eight birds :— “Length, 8:95 to 9°35; expanse, 115 to 12; tail, from vent, 4-4 to5; wing, 3°6 to 3°81; tarsus, 0°39 to 0°43; bill, from gape, 1°3 to 1°49. , “The irides, bright red; bill, black, becoming brown at the gape; eyelids, smoky brown; legs and feet, fleshy grey ; claws, horny.” 118.—Merops Daudini, Ow. Specimens from Thayetmyo differ in no respect from those rom other parts of India. Mr. Oates remarks: “Occurs in large 7 q 50 A FIRST LIST OF THE flocks all over the district, and is a constant resident. It is, how- ever, very uncertain in its movements, and appears to be locally migratory. In the rains there are comparatively few, and these are seen singly in the paddy fields perching on bushes. It breeds in all large nullahs with steep banks, and I lately came across a colony in the Irrawaddy; but I have hitherto failed to meet with the large colonies mentioned by Jerdon. It occurs nearly to the summit of the Pegu Hills, but I did not find it on the eastern slopes. It occurs again in the plains near Tonghoo.” Captain Feilden says: ‘ Breeds in vast numbers on the banks of the Irrawaddy. 'The young leave the nest at the beginning of the rains.” 119.—Merops Swinhoei, Hume. Mr. Oates does not appear to have met with this species. Captain Feilden says: ‘The Chestnut-capped Bee-eater is rather a rare bird about Thayetmyo. I have only found them during the rains on the banks of streams, bordered by sandy cliffs, capped with high trees.” 124,—Coracias affinis, 7c Clell. Mr. Oates says that this species is “extremely common over the whole of our limits, scarce only in the Evergreen Forest. “ T found the nest, in a hole in a tree, with the young nearly ready to quit the nest on the 21st May. This bird has a curious habit of lying im the hottest part of the day on thatched roofs with its wings spread out to their fullest extent.” Unfortunately only a single specimen is sent, and that is remark- able for an abnormally slender bill very much hooked at the point, quite unlike the bill of any afinzs I have from Tenasserim, Rangoon, Tipperah, and the Bhootan Dooars. I can only suppose that this 1s a deformity, for this remarkable shape of bill, if constant, would almost warrant specific separation. 127 bis—Pelargopsis burmanica, Sharpe. For full description of this species, vide Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 165. Birds from Thayetmyo differ in no way from others from the Arracan Hills, Rangoon, and the Andamans. Mr. Oates says: “ Common everywhere, both in the plains and hills in large nullahs.” This Kingfisher hovers in the air like a Kestril. In fact, all the Kingfishers I know do it, but not so habitually as Ceryle rudis.’ He gives the following dimen- sions of males:— “Length, 143 to 15; expanse, 20:5; tail, from vent, 4°6; wing, 5°7; bill, from gape, 3°55. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 5k “Of a large female the length was 15°65; the wing, 6:15; the bill, from gape, 3°95; and at front, 3°35.” “ Bill, dark red, brown at tip; inside of mouth, dark salmon red ; iris, dark brown ; eyelids, pinkish ; their edges, red ; feet, red, paler than the bill; claws, horny.” 129.—Halcyon smyrnensis, Zin. Mr. Oates says: ‘‘ This is very common, but I did not observe it on the Pegu Hills.” I have received no specimens from Thayetmyo. 130.—Halcyon pileata, Bodd. This species appears to be rare about Thayetmyo; Captain Feilden apparently never met with it. Mr. Oates says: “ I shot only one specimen, and that at Palow, fifteen miles south of Thayetmyo. It is extremely rare. The stomach contained small crabs. The male I shot measured— “ Length, 12°1; expanse, 18°5; tail, from vent, 3°6; wing, 5:1; bill, from gape, 2°9; tarsus, 0°73. “‘ The bill was deep, the inside of the mouth pale, red ; the iris, dark olive brown; the eyelids, pinkish grey, thickly covered on the lower lid with white feathers, except at the edge where the feathers are black ; the legs, dull red ; brownish red on the front of tarsus and upper side of toes ; claws, dark horny.” The specimen sent agrees well with others from the Sunder- bunds and other Eastern Bengal localities, the Andamans and Tenasserim. 132 quat.—Carcineutes amabilis, Hume. I have already (Stray Fuatuers, 1873, p. 474) described this species, and explained my reasons for separating it from pulchellus. T am still inclined to consider it distinct ; but see also Mr. Sharpe’s remarks, Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 484. 133.—Ceyx tridactyla, Zin. Mr. Oates sends a specimen from the Eastern Pegu Hills, in every way identical with others from the Sikhim Terai and other Indian localities. He remarks that this species is “ not uncom- mon in the deep well-wooded nullahs of the Evergreen Forest. It is difficult to secure it, as it waits till you get near and then darts away like an arrow round acorner. A specimen measured— «Length, 53; expanse, 8; tail, from vent, 1-1; wing, 2°2; bill, from gape, 1°55; tarsus, 0°4. “The bill was bright red; inside of mouth, paler red ; eyelids, well-clothed, apparently plumbeous ; irides, dark brown ; feet and claws, bright red. 52 A FIRST LIST OF THE 134.—Alcedo bengalensis, Gm. Mr. Oates says that this species “is common in all small nullahs and roadside drains, but I did not observe it on the Pegu Hills.” The Thayetmyo birds, of which Captain Feilden sent numer- ous specimens, appear tobe a rather short-billed race, like others that I have from the Andamans, in which the bill at front does not usually exceed 1°4. 136.—Ceryle rudis, Zin. Birds from Thayetmyo differ in no way that I can discover from specimens from various other localities in India and Asia. There is no possible doubt that the adult female in this species has a single, imperfect, very broad band, which does not quite meet on the middle of the breast ; while the adult males have two perfect bands. If, as alleged, the museums of Europe contain “ carefully ” sexed specimens leading to a different conclusion, all T can say is, that they were wot carefully sexed. Both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates say that this species is very common about . Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates adds: “More especially in the rains, when it loves to perch on the telegraph wires over flooded paddy land.” 138.—Psarisomus Dalhousiz, Jameson. Mr. Oates says: “I obtained specimens both on the Eastern and Western Pegu Hills. It occurs all over the hills, but is not by any means common; nor do I think it is found in the plains. A male measured— A “ Length, 10:5; expanse, 13; tail, from vent, 5; wing, 4°05; bill, from gape, 1°27; tarsus, 1:05. “ Female: Length, 10°5 ; expanse, 12°75: tail, from vent, 4°9 ; wing, 3°93; bill, from gape, 1°26; tarsus, 1-1. “The general color of the bill is green, the anterior half of the culmen bluish, the middle portion of the lower mandible dusky orange, and wath a dusky patch on the edge of the upper man- dible, about one-third of the length of the beak from the gape. Inside of mouth, fleshy ; iris, brown ; eyelids, greenish ; legs, dull greenish ; claws, bluish horny.” I have an enormous series of this bird from the Himalayas, from the Dhoon eastward to the Eastern Bhootan Dhooars, but they all differ from the two specimens sent from Thayetmyo. In all Himalayan specimens, the patch behind the eye 1s a decided yellow—at times, it 1s true, faintly tinged with blue or green, but still always yellow and typically bright pure yellow. In the Thayetmyo birds this patch is a kind of bluish greenish-white. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 53 Again, in the Himalayan birds there is no white margin to the yellow patch at the centre of the base of the throat. Laterally, this exists in all specimens; but not at the centre of the throat. In the Thayetmyo specimens it is very conspicuous on the centre of the throat. Then, again, in the Himalayan birds, on the sides of the head behind the black ear-coverts there is always a broad yellow band, often tipped with satiny white; in the Thayetmyo birds this is very inconspicuous. There is a very decided blue tinge in the back of the Thayetmyo male, not to be found in any of our sub-Himalayan birds. I do not know whether these differences are constant, but I think it well to call attention to them. If distinct, I would call it P. assimilis. 139 dis.—Serilophus lunatus, Gould. This species may be at once distinguished from S. rubropygius, Horsf., by its much blacker and more strongly-marked supercilium extending to the nape, by the whole front, top and back of the nape, being a very pale grey, tinged with dull yellowish brown, instead of the dark, almost iron grey of rudropygius. Mr. Gould remarks of this species: ‘ In some specimens I find no trace of the beautiful lunate mark on the sides of the neck. These I had regarded as females; but as Mr. Blyth states that he believes the mark to be common to both sexes, I presume those without it must be immature birds.” Both these surmises are incorrect ; the adult male entirely wants the silvery lunate mark on the sides of the neck, as also the continuation of this across the base of the throat, which lunate mark, together with their continuation on the base of the throat, are the characteris- tics of the adult female. I must add here that, judging from a large series that I have examined, Mr. Gould’s figure (Birps or Asta, Pt. V) of this species is altogether too brightly colored, especially where the head, nape, rump, and tertiaries are concerned. Mr. Oates says: “ This is a very common bird on the Pegu Hills, but does not occur in the plains. Judging from dissection of speci- mens obtained in the middle of April, the birds must lay towards the end of this month, or early in May. They are very tame, and perch quite close to one’scamp. When I first saw them, I shot six in a very short time at single shots ; the survivors either flew away on to another tree quite close by, or after a short flight returned to the same tree. I can quite believe Dr. Helfer’s state- ment as to their extreme fearlessness. The contents of their stomachs were principally grasshoppers ; they pick up their food, and I never saw them chasing insects on the wing. They are very silent birds. Of the birds I examined, only two had the shining white collar, and they were both females. The females 54 A FIRST LIST OF THE are, perhaps, slightly larger. The following is a résumé of the dimensions of four birds of both sexes :— “ Length, 6°95 to 7-25 ; expanse, 10°8; tail, from vent, 2°7 to 2-9; wing, 3°4; bill, from gape, 0°9 to 0°94; tarsus, 0°79 to 0°83. “The bill is a light, clear blue, paler on the culmen and waxen orange at the gape, the base of lower mandible, the nostrils, and the junction of the upper mandible with the forehead. The inside of the mouth is arich orange ; eyelids, greenish yellow, purer yellow at the angle; irides, dark brown; legs, greenish orange; claws, hght blue.” The sexes, as already noticed, only differ in that the females have a narrow white satin band running across the side of the neck from behind the ear coverts and meeting in front, at the base of the throat, where the band in fine specimens has two or three reduplications. The adult males want these white satim marks altogether. The lores and the feathers at the gape are pale brownish rufous; from above the lores, almost, but not quite, from the nostrils, a strongly marked black stripe proceeds backwards over the eyes and ear coverts to the nape, broadening posteriorly, especially over the ear coverts. The forehead, and the whole space enelosed between these black stripes, is a sort of dove grey, everywhere tinged, except quite on the forehead, with pale, slightly rusty, brown; this tinge is much fainter in some specimens than in others, and is always strongest posteriorly. The scapulars and interscapulary region, a grey brown, more or less tinged with the same color as the nape; where the head and nape are faintly tinged, there the scapulars and interscapulary region are scarcely tinged at all; and in fact they are always less strongly tinged than the nape and occiput. The rump, upper tail coverts, ter- tiaries, and a spot at the tips of the inner webs of the secondaries and later primaries, pale ferruginous, palest on the tertials, but brightening considerably on the longer upper tail coverts. The tail is black ; the three lateral tail feathers on either side broadly tipped with white. The wing coverts and the first primary, black ; the edge of the wing, greyish white, and a large white spot on the inner web of first primary near the base. The rest of the pri- maries and secondaries have a broad, dull, pale blue band, on the outer webs, broader on the fifth primary, and rising under the greater coverts. The rest of the outer webs are black, except for a pretty broad white tipping on the third and fourth primaries, and a very narrow pale blue or bluish white tipping to the other feathers. On the inner webs, as already mentioned, the sixth and succeeding primaries and the secondaries are tipped with pale ferruginous ; above this they are blackish brown, with a huge white band towards their bases. The second primary is very BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 55 narrowly tipped white, and there is a trace of this on the first ; and the fifth primary is bluish on the inner web. The ear coverts, of which the webs are much disintegrated, are inter- mediate in color between the lores and the crown. The entire lower surface is a delicate French grey, almost white upon the lower abdomen and lower tail coverts, and generally tinged shghtly brownish about the chin. The tibial and tarsal plumes (for the upper half of the tarsus is feathered) are deep chocolate brown, with sometimes a white spot inside, immediately above the articulation. 140.—Dichoceros homrai, Hodgs. Only one specimen has been sent, and this is identical with specimens from Sikhim, Nipal, the Dhoon, and elsewhere. Mr. Gray separates the birds from Tenasserim, Malacca, and Sumatra, as brcornis, Lin, but the latter also occurs nearly as high up as Tonghoo, and the present species as far south at any rate as Amherst. Mr. Oates says: “This is acommon bird in the Evergreen Forests going about in flocks of five or six ; on the western slopes of the Pegu Hills, and in the plains it must be rare. I am told that it is common in the Arracan Hills. . “Tt is extremely wary and difficult to approach, keeping to the tops of the highest fruit-bearing trees. The Hill Karens state that the nest is made in hollow trees, the female being plastered up during incubation. The sound it makes with its wings when flymg is very loud, and can be heard a long way, perhaps half a mile off. “JT do not think the yellow on the head and neck is entirely due to the secretion of the uropygial gland. It does not come off in any quantity when the bird is killed. “ A male measured— “Length, 51°5; expanse, 66; tail, 18-5; casque, along curve, 7°75; bill, beyond casque, along curve to point, 8°75.” 142.—Hydrocissa albirostris, Sia. Mr. Oates says: ‘Common throughout the country, both in the plains and the hills.” 147 dis—Palezornis magnirostris, Ball. T have already fully discussed this genus, and have only to add that birds from Thayetmyo are very similar to those from the Andamans, and may for the present stand under the same name. Mr. Oates says that this species is very common about Thayetmyo, and he gives the dimensions of a male as follows:— “ Length, 20°5; expanse, 24-25; tail, from vent, 12; wing, 8°5. The iris, bright yellow; cere, yellow ; bill, bright vermillion, 56 A FIRST LIST OF THE with the terminal one-fourth of both mandibles mellow yellow eyelids, pale pink, with the edges orange ; legs, orange.” Captain Feilden says: “ These birds disappear during the hot- weather ; towards the end of the rains they fly in great numbers from the direction of the Arracan Hills, and across the Irrawaddy. Later in the autumn, they are to be found in small flocks in the Teak trees, and feeding on chillies, &c., all round Thayetmyo. They are a very common bird, but owing to their roving habits, and the height at which they fly when going to their feeding grounds, it is not always easy to procure specimens. Their flight is very slow, compared with that of other Parroquets. 148.—Palezornis torquatus, Bodd. Specimens sent by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates appear identical with specimens from various localities in India. Both gentlemen say that this species is very common in the neigh- bourhood of Thayetmyo. 149 tis —Palxornis bengalensis, Gin. This is the smaller, Peachbloom-headed Parroquet, with the lower wing coverts unicolorous, or nearly so, with the breast (which we get from Sikhim, Assam, and Eastern Bengal) instead of pale greenish blue, as in purpureus, Mill. (rosa, Bodd). Both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates remark that this species is common about Thayetmyo alike in the plains and hills. 2150.—Paleornis schisticeps, Hodgs. One imperfect specimen of this species, or it may have been Finschii, was obtained by Mr. Oates on the Pegu Hills on the 27th April. He says that the soft parts were as follows :— “Cere, ashy brown; upper mandible, reddish yellow; the middle, ‘one-third coral red; the lower mandible, yellow; the edges, dusky.” Mr. Oates did not discriminate this bird from the females of the next species, and so gives no further particulars about it; but presumably it does not descend to the plains, but is a resident of the hills of Pegu. 152.—Paleornis fasciatus, Miil.7 P. melano- rhynchus, Wagier. Thayetmyo specimens differ in no way that I can discover from others, from Kumaon, Sikhim, Tipperah, Tenasserim and the Andamans. _ Mr. Oates says: “ This bird is very common here, but less so perhaps than the other species. I have shot them with red breasts in April and also in December.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 57 Captain Feilden says: ‘‘ These birds disappear entirely from Thayetmyo during the hot-weather. The last I saw was in March. At the beginning of the rains, a few scattered flocks, con- taining birds that have lately left the nest, may be noticed apparently migrating, and from this time a few pairs, apparently breeding, are to be found about the largest trees in valleys high up in the hills. As soon as the rice is cut, they appear in immense flocks and settle on the rice-fields, walking about with great activity, and gleaning carefully the fallen gram. In captivity they will feed at night as well as durmg the day, and if they escape from their cage, run with great rapidity. I once took one for a rat by candle-light, as it ran from behind a box into a corner of the room.” Captain Feilden gives the length: Males, adults, 14 to 14°12 ; young, 12°25; Females, adults, 11°12; young, 10°25. Indes, pale yellow ; in young, greyish white ; legs, olive green. 153.—Loriculus vernalis, Sparrm. Birds from Thayetmyo do not appear to differ from those from various parts of Continental India north and south, and the Andamans. Mr. Oates says: “ Tolerably common in the plains, more so on the hills. A fine male, which I shot on the Pegu Hills, measured— “Length, 5°65; expanse, 10°75; tail, from vent, 1:9; wing, 3°45; bill, from gape, 0°45; tarsus, 0°47.” 157 ter—Picus analis, Horsf—Picus pectoralis, Blyth.—(JOURNAL, Astaric Soctety, 1846, p. 15.) _Mr. Blyth when he described this species, which Dr. Jerdon says is identical with analis of Horsfield, was not aware of the locality from which his specimen came. This species appears to be one of the commonest about Thayetmyo. Captain Feilden considers that there are two recognizable varieties, one slightly larger than the other; in the former, the forehead and nareal tuft$ are nearly black ; in the latter, these are nearly white. I do not myself think it possible to draw any distinction between the numerous specimens sent me ; they differ, no doubt, shghtly iter se in many little particulars, but there is no constancy in these differences. The males vary from 6°25 to 6°94 in length ; the females are a trifle smaller. The wings vary from 3°55 in the smallest female to 3-9 in the largest male. Bill, at front, 0°75 to 0°85; tail, from vent, about 2°0 to 2°2. In the male the forehead and crown are crimson; in the female black. The feathers immediately impending the base of the upper mandible, in some whitish, in some dusky, and in some H 58 A FIRST LIST OF THE brown ; the nape and the back of the neck, black. The whole upper surface, including wings and tail, dull black, with numerous broad, close, transverse, white bars becoming spots on the outer webs of the primaries, and the tips of some of the coverts. The bird is somewhat lke Macez, but is much smaller, and may be distinguished at once by having the upper tail coverts and all the tail feathers conspicuously barred with white; whereas in Macez, the upper tail coverts, and at least the four central tail feathers, are unbroken black. The cheeks, ear coverts, a stripe extending over the posterior half of the eye and sides of the head and the — ehin, are white or nearly so, the ear coverts exhibiting a little dusky striation, due to the bases of the feathers showing through. From the gape on either side extends a gradually broadening stripe of black, which ultimately merges in the black of the basal portion of the sides of the neck, the upper portion of the sides of the neck bemg like the cheeks. The rest of the lower parts a dull, fulvous, or yellowish white, each of the feathers of the breast with a con- spicuous (when the feathers are lifted) dark brown, central, linear, lanceolate stripe. The lower tail coverts are delicately tinged with a ruddy pink,and have each a more or less conspicuous brown, triangular, subterminal spot. The abdomen and flanks are very faintly, transversely barred, or in some specimens streaked with pale brown. In some specimens the red feathers of the forepart of the head, each bear a tiny whitish spot near the tip. Mr. Oates says: ‘ This species does not appear to me to be very common. A female that I shot in some brushwood, measured— “Length, 6°7; expanse, 12:1; tail, from vent, 2:2; wing, 3°9; bill, from gape, 0°97 ; tarsus, 0°72; the bill, bluish black, paler at the base ; irides, brown ; eyelids, purplish brown; legs, plumbeous ; claws, bluish horny.” As I have never been able to examine spectmens from Java and Sumatra, I cannot say whether these birds from Thayetmyo are really the same as Horsfield’s. I merely follow Gray, Jerdon, and others, in uniting them. How they differ from their nearest ally, Picus andamanensis, Blyth, I have already pointed out in Stray Fratuers, 1874, p.187. Further south m Tenasserim the present species is replaced by atratus, Blyth. 160.—Picus mahrattensis, Zath. Picus Blanfordi Blyth.—(Journau, Astaric Socrery 1868, p. 75.) Mr. Blyth, when characterizing this species, remarked : “Very like Picus mahrattensis of India; but the white markings generally more developed, especially as shown on the wings and tail ; it is just barely separable as a race.” I myself quite concur that it does not merit specific separation. I also doubt whether it does show more white on the wings and tail than some Indian specimens ; these vary inter se very much. A specimen BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 59 from the Wynaad is very dark; one from Kutch, again, is very similar to Blanford: ; and one from Sambhur is undistinguishable from Thayetmyo birds ; in the wings, there seems to be no appre- ciable difference. A male from Thayetmyo has the wing 41; so has one from Raipoor, and another from the Wynaad. A Kutch male has the wing only 3°8, and another obtained below Simla has it 4. There is no real distinction in the length of the bill. A Thayetmyo male has the bill 0°8, two others, 0:98. The Simla bird, 1:05; the Raipoor bird, 0°93 ; the Wynaad bird, 1; the Kutch bird, 0°85, (but the tip of the latter is slightly broken). Captain Feilden says of this species: “ Ma/e, length, Lhe to 7:5; female, 6-25; iris, red; bill, bluish white, tipped orny.” He adds: “ This bird descends a tree, tail foremost, with very great ease. It is found everywhere, from the compounds of Thayetmyo to the tops of the highest hills.” Mr. Oates says: ‘Common near the banks of the Irrawaddy, but I have not observed it far inland. It affects thick forests generally, but sometimes comes near houses. The stomach of one contained small beetles. I measured two specimens. “The one, a male; of the other the sex was not discernable. “The dimensions were: Length, 7°5 to 7°6; expanse, 12°7 to 13; tail, from vent, 2°6 to 2°8; wing, 4; bill from gape, 11 to 1:18; tarsus, 0°72. “ Bill, a clear bluish plumbeous, dark on the culmen and tip of both mandibles; inside of mouth, bluish fleshy; eyelids, dark brown ; irides, deep red ; legs and feet, bright plumbeous ; claws, horny blue. ” 163 dis.—Yungipicus canicapillus, Blyth. Mr. Oates says: “ This species is universally distributed between Thayetmyo and Tonghoo, but still it is not very common; it creeps about the smaller branches of trees. «The following are dimensions of males measured: Length, 5-3 to 5°8; expanse, 10 to 10:8; tail, from vent, 1°8 to 1°85; wing, 3°18 to 3°35; bill, from gape, 0°7 to 0°72; tarsus, 0°55 to 0°58. “Bill, dark plumbeous, paler at gape and on the greater portion of lower mandible; iris, reddish-hazel; eyelids, purplish blue ; feet, dusky green; claws, horn color.” Of this species Captain Feilden, who considers them common about Thayetmyo, remarks that the birds living in dense jungle, and those in the outskirts of cultivation, appear to differ in size, and in the centre secondaries of the jungle or smaller bird being larger than the outer; whereas in the large or cultivation- haunting bird they are of the same length. He gives the length of birds shot at the edge of clearings; males, 5°37 to 5°62, and 60 A FIRST LIST OF THE females, 5; and he says the iris in this race is greyish, reddish brown on the outside; the bill, blackish; legs, olive. Of the jungle bird he gives the length of adult males as from 4°8 to 4°83; young males, 4°62 ; and females, 4°83. Perhaps he has only sent me specimens of one race. I cannot divide those which he has sent me; they are all undoubtedly canzcapillus. We have at least five species of this genus in India which belong to two sections: (Ist), those with the four central tail- feathers unspotted black; (2ad@), in which these feathers are black, more or less spotted with white. To the first section belong pygmeus, Vigors; and rubricatus, Blyth. To the second, nanus, Vigors, gymnopthalmos, Blyth, and eanicapillus, Blyth. The males of rubricatus and pygmaeus may be distinguished at a glance. Rubricatus has a broad, nuchal, orange crimson crescent; pygm@us has only two small sincipital tufts, one on either side, of much the same color. The females are barely separable; but those of pygmaeus run slightly larger, and have generally the forehead and crown browner, while in rubricatus these parts are paler. Of rubricatus I have seen no specimens, except from Sikhim. Pygmeus 1 have from Kumaon, Gurhwal, the Dhoon, and the Mussoorie Hills. In the next section, zanus is distinguished by its yellowish brown cap ; canecapillus, on the other hand, has a grey head more or less tinged with brown, as in pygmaeus. 'These two species can never be confounded, because the yellowish brown head of nanus has no nuchal black crescent bounding it posteriorly ; whereas the grey or brownish grey head of canzcapillus has this, just as also have the heads of rudricatus and pygmaeus. Gym- nopthalmos is close to nanus, but 1t averages smaller, and has the head a darker, purer brown, and the first five or six -primaries either absolutely unspotted on the outer webs, or else with the merest trace of such spots; whereas these latter in nanus are numerous and conspicuous; lastly, the under surface of gym- nopthalmos is unstreaked, white or yellowish-white. In all the other species the lower surface is distinctly striated with dark brown, all the feathers of the breast and upper abdomen having more or less conspicuous dark brown central stripes. Gym- nopthalmos I have only seen from the Malabar Coast and Ceylon ; nanus I have from numerous localities in the North-Western and Central Provinces ; canicapillus I have as yet only seen from Tipperah, Arracan, Tenasserim, and Upper Pegu. The present species, canicapillus, is much more nearly con- nected with pygmeus than the above remarks might possibly lead one to conclude. The latter is perhaps rather larger, and the supposed characteristic difference between the two races is that in pygma@us the central tail feathers and upper tail coverts are entirely black, while in canicapillus, the former are white BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 61 spotted, and the latter broadly margined with white. But although this distinction holds good as a rule, I have two specimens of pygm@us—one from Kalsiin the Dhoon, and the other from Barsota in Gurhwal—in which the upper tail coverts are conspicuously margined with white; and I have another of canicapillus from Tipperah with only two tiny white spots on the inner webs of the two central feathers, and no spottings at all on the next feathers on either side; and another from Thayetmyo, with the central tail feathers absolutely unspotted ; and those next to them, with only two small spots on the outer webs of each, while I have plenty of typical birds from both localities. As regards size and shape of bill and color of under parts these afford no criterion, so that, on the whole, all one can say is that, though nine-tenths of the birds can be separated at once by the character of the tails and upper tail coverts, here and there a bird is met with which, unless informed of the locality whence it was obtained, might be almost indifferently assigned to either species. I should add that the synonomy of this little group much requires investigation. The bird I have identified as nanus, Vigors, is the one described as Hardwickit by Jerdon. My rubricatus is the one of which the male is distinguished by the broad crimson occipital crescent, but whether this should stand under Blyth’s name of rudricatus or Mitchelli, Malh., or semi- coronatus, Malh., I am not in a position to decide ; all I ean say is that, though Mr. Gray makes out seven species within our limits, I know of only five, and I scarcely believe that more exist. 165 dis —Hemicircus canente, Less. Though neither Captain Feilden nor Mr. Oates have obtained it within our limits, it has been sent thence in several collections. I may add that Mr. Oates procured a smgle specimen, a male, in the Arracan Hills in January, of which he notes the following dimensions :— Length, 6:5; wing, 3°95; tail, from vent, 1°7; bill, at front, 0-98; tarsus, 0°7. Our Indian cordatus, Jerdon, is apparently little else than a diminutive race of this species, with less white upon the wing, and more marked white spotting on the forehead and crown of the male. In our Indian bird a fine male has the wing 3°75; bill, at front, 0°75 ; tarsus, about 0°6. A similar canente has the wing, 3°9; bill at front, 0-9; tarsus, 0:75. And here it may be as well to draw attention to the fact that in the Indian bird Dr. Jerdon says that the male has the fore- head and top of the head hght whitish yellow, and the female differs from the male in having the forehead and head black with minute whitish spots. Now, I cannot speak with certainty 62 A FIRST LIST OF THE as to the Indian birds, because, though I havea large series, chiefly. from the Malabar Coast, the majority are not from reliable collectors; but in regard to the present species, canente, Mr. Davi- son has recently carefully sexed some twenty specimens, in all of which the adult males had the head black with mmute white specks, while the female had the cap yellowish white, thus exact- ly reversing what Jerdon records of the Indian birds. Jerdon certainly knew the birds thoroughly, and must have shot scores, and it is just possible that this very curious difference between these two nearly allied races may exist; but I think that proba- bly this has been a mere slip of the pen. As to canente there is no possible doubt. Besides these adults we procured several young males, some quite similar to the females, and others showing the black feathers superceding the yellow in the crown. I may notice here that in the young bird not only are the bills very much smaller, but the entire lower parts want the greenish tinge conspicuous in the adult. Of course in the adults the bills of the males are markedly longer than those of the females. The following are the dimensions, colors of the soft parts, &c., recorded in the flesh from a large series. Males: Length, 6°35 to 6:5; expanse, 12°82 to 13; tail, from vent, 1°82 to 2°12; wing, 3°8 to 3:9; tarsus, 0°75; bill, from gape, 1 to 1:12; weight, 1°75 oz. Females: Length, 5°62 to 6:0; expanse, 11°45 to 12°55; tail, from vent, 1°5 to 1:65; wing, 3°45 to 3°75; tarsus, 0°62 to 0°7; bill, from gape, 0°82 to 0°92, weight, 1°25 to 1°5 oz. The legs and feet are dark greenish horny, dark greenish plumbeous, or very dark sap green, often appearing all but black ; the claws are blackish plumbeous or black; the bill is- black ; the irides are dark brown or dark reddish brown. In the present species the male has the whole of the lores, forehead, cheeks, occiput, and nape, velvet black; the feathers of the forehead and in old birds those of the crown also, with very minute white specks at the tips; the occipital feathers pro- longed into a short, full crest; the chin and throat, fulvous white ; the front and sides of the neck, breast, and abdomen, olive brown, strongly tinged greenish in old birds; flanks, vent, and lower tail coverts, blackish brown or almost black; the breast and abdomen are much browner, and less green in young birds than in old ones; the sides and back of the base of the neck, all the coverts along the ulna, the tertials, the edge of the wing from the carpal joint, and the wing lining and the ramp, white, with a fulvous tinge, brighter and yellower in old birds; each of the tertials, and some of their longer coverts, with a broad black, more or less heart-shaped, spot near the tip; interscapulary region, BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 63 scapulars, middle of the back, upper tail coverts, velvet black, a few of the feathers of the interseapulary region in younger birds only, and the longest scapulars, with an excessively narrow fulvous margin at the tips; median coverts, similar and similarly tipped ; primaries, secondaries, and their greater coverts, dark hair-brown, almost black ; those of the secondaries margined towards the tips with fulvous white ; tail feathers, black. The white markings in the young have a browner and more fulvous tinge ; in the old a brighter and a yellower tinge. The female differs, as already mentioned, in the smaller size and in the conspicuously smaller bill, and also in haying the forehead and the entire crown fulvous or buffy white. 165 quat.—Meiglyptes jugularis, Blyth. The plumage of this species recalls that of Hemicireus ; but the peculiar spotting and barring of the throat and cheeks, and the red moustachial streak in the male, together with the short, broad, thick bill, and bowed culmen, leave me no doubt that it should be classed as a Mezglyptes, and I am surprised at Mr. Gray’s assigning it to Hemicireus. Mr. Oates says: “I know nothing whatever of this bird, which is decidedly rare ; but occurring, as it does, both on the Arracan and Pegu Hills, it probably may also be met with on the intervening plains. ‘The following are the dimensions of males :— “ Length, 7:5 to 7-9; expanse, 13; tail, from vent, 2°3; wing, 4; bill, from gape, 0°98; tarsus, 0°78. “The bill is black; the inside of the mouth, dusky; the iris, dark brown ; the eyelids, dark plumbeous ; the legs, dull bluish ; the claws, horny brown.” The forehead, chin, lores, and cheeks, are black, banded, or spot- ted with buffy yellow—and in the male there is a short, dull-red moustachial stripe from the base of the lower mandible. The _ crown and occiput, which latter is garnished with a full broad erest, the upper and middle back, the upper tail coverts, the tail feathers, the breast, abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts, and the wings, except certain buff markings, to be described further on, are a deep chocolate brown, almost black in freshly moulted specimens: the wing lining, the sides and back of the neck, and more or less of the sides of the body, the rump, the edge of the wing at the carpal joint, the lesser and median coverts along the ulna, one or two broad bands on the tertiaries, and numerous spots on the outer webs of all the secondaries and primaries, (except in some specimens, the first two primaries), buffy yellow. All the quills exhibit large round spots or imperfect bars, white, or yellowish white on the inner webs, which vary much in number and in size, and many of which, especially on the later secondaries, become confluent. In 64 A FIRST LIST OF THE this species, the fourth and fifth primaries are equal and long- est, the third a trifle only shorter, second about 0:5, and first about 2 inches shorter, in these respects agreeing fairly well both with Hemicireus and Meiglyptes. The central portion of the lower half of the throat is generally of the same color as the breast, but sometimes it also is spotted like, though less closely than, the upper portion of the throat. The crown and ear coverts are generally concolorous with the occiput and crest, but some- times some of the feathers of these parts exhibit very narrow, buff-colored bars, or tiny specks of the same color. I may add that the sexes differ but little in size. 166.—Chrysocolaptes sultaneus, Hodygs. A large series of this species was sent by Captain Feilden from Thayetmyo, and three specimens were sent by Mr. Oates from the Thayetmyo District and the Arracan Hills. Captain Feilden makes three varieties out of these specimens. «The common one,” he says, “has the males, 12 to 12°5 in length; the legs, nearly plumbeous ; irides, pale yellow, edged pale vermilion. In the second variety the males are 12°87 to 13°25 in length; the females, 12°5 (a youngfemale, 12) ; legs, olive green ; iris, pale yellow, edged faintly with dark brownish purple ; the crimson on the nape of the male in this race descending lower and forming a faint demi-collar across the black and white ; the black of the female, the same. In the third variety the length is 12-5, and the back is tinted red, and the gular stripe is broader.” I have carefully examined all these specimens, and I am perfectly certain that they are referable to one and the same species. As to dividing the Thayetmyo birds into more than one species, this seems to me absolutely impossible, nay more, I have very grave doubts as to how far it will be possible hereafter to retain the southern De/essertc distinct from the northern sz/ta- neus. ‘There is no doubt that the only difference between these races consists in size, and that this difference is very considerable when typical examples of both are selected. The following table of nine specimens of each race taken at random will exhibit clearly this difference :-— C. Sultaneus. Sex. Bill at front. Wing. Locality. a 21 67 Darjeeling. a 2°4 7°35 Kalsi; Dhoon. a 2°35 7°35 Fyzabad. 2°3 7-4. Markham Gran cs 21 6:7 Darjeeling. 3 21 7-2 Kumaon. 2 2:0 73 Kalsi ; Dhoon. a (Juv.) 1°8 wal) Fyzabad. 5 2715 7-45 Gurhwal. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 65 C. Delesserti. Sex. Bill at front. Wing. Locality. rol 1:85 6:3 Tipperah. ” ie7/ 61 Mysore. BS 1-9 615 Nilghiris. » 9 59 Malabar Coast. » 18 6:0 Mysore. » 1:8 5°95 Ootacamund. g 17 6-0 ” on 17 5°85 » ” 1:7 58 Contrast with these the following dimensions of Thayetmyo birds :—Males : (1) 1:°85—6°6, (ii) 1:95—6°3, (i11) 2°15—6°4, (iv) 1:92—6°3, (v) 1:85—6°3, (vi) 2°05—6°35, all these from Thayet- myo, and (vii) 1°9—6°4 from the Arracan Hills. Females: (1) 1:85—6°7, (ii) 1°8—6°3, (a) 1:95-6:45, (iv) 1:8—6-08, (v) 1:8—6:5. Neglecting therefore the young female from Fyzabad, the dimensions of the two races may be thus stated :— C. sultaneus ... Bill 2:0 to 2°4; Wing 6°7 to 7°45 C. Delesserti Soot ney WdlSe/inay AES » 9°85 to 6:3, The Thayetmyo birds give ,, 1°8to215; ,, 608 to 6°7. So far therefore, as dimensions go, the Thayetmyo birds are intermediate between the two supposed species, and I prefer to retain them as su/taneus. Captain Feilden says: ‘ This species is found wherever there are a number of moderate-sized trees either in clumps or in lines along the borders of streams. They are found at all ele- vations from the banks of the Irrawaddy to the highest points of the hills about Thayetmyo. I do not think that it feeds upon the ground, although I once shot one apparently on the ground, but I cannot be certain that it was not clinging to some root running above the surface, as the jungle was very thick. Like all Woodpeckers with chisel-pointed bills they make a loud whiuring noise by striking a decayed part of a tree with rapidly repeated strokes of the bill; no doubt the rapid vibrations have the effect of driving out insects concealed there. I have seen a pair of these Woodpeckers hawking for white-ants along with Drongos ; they flew a short distance, hovered in the same manner as a Pied Kingfisher over a fish, but more heavily and clumsily made half a dozen darts with their bills in different directions, and then returned to the tree. This continued for some time till I shot one of them. “TJ have also seen these Woodpeckers amusing themselves by throwing themselves round in the air, from the branch they are clinging to, to another nearly parallel to it, with a loud whirr of the wings ; this was repeated many times evidently for amuse- ment,” I 66 A FIRST LIST OF THE Mr. Oates remarks: “This species is generally distributed, although not very abundant numerically. I have met with it, both on the plains and on the Peguand Arracan Hills. I note that the iris is pinkish yellow ; the eyelids, slaty brown ; bill, the same ; legs and feet, dusky green, yellowish on the soles ; claws, brown.” 168.—Mulleripicus gutturalis, Valenc. Mr. Oates remarks: “This species is not uncommon in thick forests. It is extremely shy and difficult to approach. It appears to be evenly distributed from Tonghoo to the Bay of Bengal, occurring in parties of three to seven. It has a loud, but rather musical, call when flying. A female shot in the Arracan Hills measured 18 inches in length. A male shot in the Pegu Hills measured: Length, 20°5; expanse, 29; tail, from vent, 7-6; wing, 9°5; bill, from gape, 3:08; at front, 2-7; tarsus, 1°6. “The bill was bluish white, blackish along culmen and at the tips of both mandibles; the inside of the mouth, bluish black ; eyelids, dusky plumbeous; iris, very dark hazel brown; legs, a deep dull blue; claws, bluish horny. The stomach contained only black ants.” The birds sent by Mr. Oates are identical with specimens from the Oudh and Nepal Terai, and agam with others from Northern Tenasserim, and seem to call for no further remarks. Captain Feilden says: “ This bird is unknown at Thayetmyo, even to Burmese sportsmen, who are generally very intelligent about birds. I once saw a pair that appeared to be migrating. I followed them for several miles, but could not get a shot. Their note is very peculiar. Until I caught sight of the bird, I thought it was that of some new kind of Bee-eater.” 169 ¢er.—Thriponax Crawfurdi, Gray. Several specimens of this handsome species have been sent by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates. Mr. Oates remarks: “ This is common in all the forests of the Thayetmyo District, from the Trrawaddy to the summit of the Pegu Hills. It becomes rare in the eastern slopes, and I do not know if it is ever met with in Arracan. A female I measured was: Length, 15; expanse, 25; tail, from vent, 5°9; wing, 8; bill, from gape, 2; tarsus, 1°4.” Captain Feilden informs me that it is very common in the neighbourhood of Thayetmyo. The dimensions are as follows: Males: Length, 16 to 16°25; wing, 8°1 to 8:5; tail, from vent, 6:0 to 6°5; bill, at front, 1°85 to 1:93; tarsus, 1°25. Females: Length, 15 to 15°75; wing, 8°1 to 8:4; tail, 5°5 to 6°5; bill, at front, 1:75 to 1-9; tarsus, 1°25. In the male, the whole forehead, crown, occiput, and nape, crimson; feathers of the nape and occiput forming a stiff BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 67 wedge-shaped crest. A patch on each side at the base of the lower mandible, crimson; lores, cheeks, sides of the head, throat, breast, back of the neck, upper back, scapulars, wings, upper tail coverts, lower tail coverts, and tail, black; the throat and sides of the head with numerous white speckles; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries, narrowly tipped pure white. The chin, greyish brown in some, blackish brown in others. The middle and lower back, the whole of the abdomen and sides, the greater portion of the wing lining, a greater or lesser portion of the inner webs of the quills towards their bases, white, in some with a delicate yellowish tinge ; flank feathers springing from the base of the tibia and the lowest of the white feathers of the rump, white, with a more or less cuneiform, subterminal, blackish brown spot. A few of the lower tail coverts immediately below the vent, edged white. The plumage of the females is precisely similar, except that there is no crimson patch at the base of the lower mandible; the whole forehead and crown is black, and the crest is smaller; the coverts along the edge of the wing are black. This species is considerably smaller than 7. Hodgson? of Southern India, which is from 17°5 to 19 long, according to sex; has a wing of from 8 to 9, and a bill of from 2°25 to nearly 2°5; the great difference in the size of the bill is very con- spicuous ; the feet and claws are also much larger. Both on the abdomen and back there is much less breadth of white ; none of the primaries are tipped white, and there is no white on their inner webs. In Malacca, Java, and Sumatra, another nearly allied species, or rather a series of races of one species, occur, viz., 7. leucogaster, Remw., Pl. Col. 501, yavenszs, Horsf., which is about 17 inches long, has a wing 9 inches, and a bill from 2°1 to 2-2 in length: This species has the whole of the back and rump black. In the large size of its bill, and in the almost entire absence of white on the inner webs of the primaries javensis comes nearest to Hodgsoni. Lastly, we have 7. Hodge: from the Andamans, which has been fully described (vide vol. II., p. 189). Though considerably smaller, the uniform black plumage of this latter species recalls martivs of Europe, though that belongs to aseparate sub-genus Dryocopus, and wants altogether the red moustachial stripe. Malherbe doubted the occurrence of javensis in the Tenasserim provinces, and possibly correctly so. In the Salween District at any rate of these provinces, it is Crawfurdi that occurs. Captain Feilden notes, that “the favorite haunt of this bird appears to be some deep valley, at the bottom of which a quantity of alluvial soil has been washed down, out of which a number of young trees, three or four inches in diameter, are growing. The 68 A FIRST LIST OF THE ground must be clear of the long grass so common in Burmese jungles, as this would of course prevent the bird from flying from stem to stem. They do not absolutely confine themselves to these spots; indeed they may often be seen in large tree jungle, but always adjoining valleys, such as I have described. I have seen one crossing the brigade ground at Thayetmyo. The strokes of the bill of this bird are very slow and loud, almost resembling the blows of the dad (Burmese knife). They appear to cling with the feet, and swing the whole body to give force to their blow. The flesh of this bird is very soft in comparison with that of other Wood- peckers. It is very easy to approach this bird before it is alarmed, but when once disturbed it is extremely wary. It is a toler- ably common bird ten or fifteen miles west of Thayetmyo, and about the same distance north, but from its secluded habits is little known. Iwas myself about eight months in Thayetmyo before I obtained one; but having once found out their haunts, I ‘hardly ever went out ten or fifteen miles without seeing or hear- ing them. They have two notes, one resembling that of the Jackdaw, but not so loud, and, if I may use the expression, with a nasal twang in it; the other like that of Brachypternus chryso- notus, Lesson’s Woodpecker, but of course much louder. ‘This is very seldom used, only when the bird is wounded or very much startled ; the former note is more frequently heard. But,as a whole, it is a silent bird. The flight is different from that of other Woodpeckers; it rather resembles that of the Roller, and is, I believe, perfectly noiseless. I have seen them drop from a high tree nearly to the ground, and then glide off just above the ground in the same manner as a Sparrow Hawk. As a rule, they are found in pairs. I never saw more than two together,” 171.—Gecinus striolatus, Biyth. Specimens sent by both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are identical with Indian birds from both Southern and Northern India. Mr. Oates says: “ This is perhaps the commonest Woodpecker we have. I have shot it also below Prome. Specimens that I measured varied in length from 11:5 to 11°6; expanse, 16°75 to 17:8; tail, from vent, 3°9 to 42; wing, 5°35 to 5°55; bill, from gape, 1'4 to 1:42; tarsus, 0°9 to 0:95. The iris is pink, with an outer ring of white; the eyelids, bluish grey; the upper mandible, blackish ; the lower, yellow, blackish at tip and dusky at gape ; legs, dull green ; claws, bluish horny.” 171 tis.—Gecinus vittatus, Vieil. Mr. Oates remarks that this species is “tolerably common in all thick forests from Tonghoo to the Bay of Bengal. A BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 69 female measured ; Length, 13-1; expanse 18; tail, from vent, 5; wing, 5°45; bill, from gape, 1:6; tarsus, 1:12. The whole upper mandible and gonys of lower mandible, blackish horny ; rest of lower mandible, pale yellow, except the tip which is horn black ; eyelids, slate color; inides, dark red ; feet, dusky green ; claws, horny brown.” This species is very close to striolatus, but may be distin- guished at once by its much larger bill, measuring 1:3 to nearly 1:5 at front; by its larger size, it averaging, I should say, fully two inches longer than st¢riolatus, and by the conspicuous man- dibular stripe, beginning at the base of the lower mandible, composed of pale grey or greyish brown feathers, with black central stripes, and running down on either side of the throat for nearly an inch, and by the unstriated chin and throat. The rump also, I think, is never quite so bright as in striolatus. The following are the dimensions, colors of soft parts, &c., recorded from a large series of fresh specimens of both sexes :— Males: Length, 12°3 to 12°75; expanse, 17:25 to 18°25; tail, from vent, 4°5 to 5:0; wing, 5°4 to 5°82; tarsus, 1:12 to 12; bill, from gape, 1°55 to 1:62; weight, 5 to 5°75 oz. Females: Length, 11:9 to 13; expanse, 17°5 to 18:4; tail, from vent, 4°12 to 5; wing, 5°3 to 5°55; tarsus, 1:1 to 1:25; bill, from gape, 1°5 to 1°65; weight, 4°75 to 5 ozs. The legs and feet are dull green, or dull brownish green; the claws, greenish horny, or plumbeous ; the irides, brown, or reddish brown ; eyelids, plumbeous, or dark grey ; lower mandible, green- ish, or in some chrome yellow, except a brown, or greenish brown, streak from the angle of the gonys to the tip, and the tip; the upper mandible, blackish. The lower portion of the lores, brown; the space under the eye between it and the mandibular streak already mentioned, and the ear coverts and feathers immediately round the posterior half of the eye, pale grey brown, faintly striated darker. The whole of the forehead, the upper part of the lores, and the whole top and back of the head, including a short but full occipital crest, velvet black in the female, crimson in the male; the basal portion of the feathers being grey, but these not showing through nearly as much as they do in sé¢riolatus. The whole of the chin and throat between the mandibular stripes pale fulvous brown, much the same color as the lores, (at times slightly browner or green- er,) unstriated. The neck all round a sort of olive yellow tinged with brown, unstriated. The breast, abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts, white; each feather mostly with a nar- row central stripe, and two broader parallel stripes, one on each web at or near the margin, which would seem to be originally brown, but which, with the whole of the feathers on 70 A FIRST LIST OF THE the breast and upper abdomen, and in some specimens on the entire lower surface, are strongly tinged or suffused with olive yellow, olive green, or greenish fulvous, as the case may be. The tint and the extent of its distribution vary in every specimen. On the lower tail coverts the brown increases very much in extent, so that the feathers might more properly be called brown with cuneiform white bars. The lower surface of the tail is generally dull black, browner on the exterior tail feathers, with very little traces of spottings or barrings. The lower surfaces of the quills are grey brown ; all the feathers with con- spicuous oval white spots or imperfect bars on the inner webs—one such at the base of the first primary, two or three at the base of the second, four on the third, and so on, till on the secondaries they extend almost to the tips. Wing lining mottled or irregu- larly barred white and hair brown; all but the greater coverts commonly more or less suffused with green or olive yellow, as the case may be. The entire back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail coverts, wing coverts, except the primary greater ones, tertiaries, and outer webs of secondaries, and tips also of the later of these, a deep olive green, with a golden tinge very strong upon the secondaries and tertiaries, and brightening to a clear yellow on the middle of the rump. The winglet, primaries, and their greater coverts, blackish brown, each feather with numerous moderate-sized white spots or imperfect bars on the outer webs. Traces of the same on the outer webs of the secondaries very apparent on the first three or four, less so on the later ones, in all veiled, and more or less obscured by the golden olive tint. Tail, blackish brown ; sometimes almost spotless, sometimes with numerous brownish white spots or imperfect bars on the basal one-third or one-half, as the case may be. The basal portion of the tail feathers is often a dull umber brown. ‘Tibial plumes, a dull earthy brown. 172.—Gecinus occipitalis, Vigors. Specimens from Thayetmyo and its neighbourhood do not appear separable from others, from the Tipperah Hills and various parts of the Himalayas. Mr. Oates says: “ This species appears tobe common. I have observed it from Thayetmyo to Tonghoo ; it feeds frequently on the ground. I found both black and white ants in the stomach of one. The following is a résumé of the dimensions of four specimens, two of each sex, that I measured :— “ Length, 12°8 to 13:2 ; expanse, 18°5 to 19°4; tail, from vent, 4°3 to 5; wing, 5°7 to 6; bill, from gape, 1°7 to 1:8; tarsus, 0°95 to 12. “ Bill, blackish brown ; iris, dull red; eyelids, purplish brown ; legs, dull green ; claws, greenish horny.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 71 173.—Chrysophlegma flavinucha, Gowld. Specimens from Thayetmyo and its neighbourhood are iden- tical with others from various parts of the Himalayas. Mr. Cates remarks that this species is ‘‘ found commonly all over the Pegu Hills, but I have not met with it in the plains. Its ery is very like that of the English Jackdaw. It must begin to lay about the end of April. The following are dimensions taken from several specimens. The sexes do not appear to differ in size :— “Length, 12°7 to 13:3; expanse, 19°5 to 20°3; tail, from vent, 5°1 to 5:2; wing, 6:1 to 6-4; bill, from gape, 1°52 to 1°77; tarsus, 1°09 to 1°18. “ Bill, dusky bluish white ; iris, red; eyelids, gape, and naked skin at gape, greenish blue; legs, dusky blue; claws, horny.” 174.—Chrysophlegma chlorolophus, Veit. Specimens from Upper Pegu differ in no respect from those from various parts of the Himalayas. Mr. Oates says: “ Occurs from Thayetmyo to Tonghoo, but is not very common anywhere. No signs of breeding on the 25th April. The following are dimensions taken from several speci- mens, the sexes not differing appreciably in size :— “ Length, 10:2 to 10°7; expanse, 16°5 to 17; tail, 3°8 to 4°5 ; wing, 5°3 to 5°5; bill, from gape, 1:1 to 1:27; tarsus, 0°85 to 0-9. “Tris, bright red; eyelids, lavender; upper mandible, black, except a small portion of the edges near the gape, which is lemon yellow ; lower mandible, lemon yellow, except the tip and margins: of the anterior half, which are horny black ; inside of mouth, dusky flesh color ; legs, dull greenish ; claws, bluish horny.” 177 bis—Gecinulus viridis, Blyth. In some respects this species is very similar to Gecinulus grantia, but in the males the red of the crown extends in the present species on to the occiput and nape, and in both sexes the whole of the deep, dull red of the rest of the upper surface, which characterizes grantia, is replaced in the present species by dull olive green. Mr. Oates remarks: “I have feund this species both on the eastern and western slopes of the Pegu Hills, but never in the plains, where, however, it may possibly occur. It is very partial to climbing about the large bamboos which grow on these hills. It appears to be a silent bird, and breeds, I apprehend, about the close of April. The sexes do not differ perceptibly in size. The following are the dimensions of two males and a female :— Length, 10°25 to 11:2; expanse, 15°5 to 17; tail, from vent, 4to 425; wing, 51 to 5:2; bill, from gape, L18to 1:22; 72 A FIRST LIST OF THE tarsus, 0°98 to 1:07. The bill is pale milk-blue, the iris, dull red; the eyelids, plumbeous; the feet, green; the claws, horn color.” In both sexes the forehead is brown, with more or less of a green- ish or yellowish tinge at the tips of some of the feathers. In the male, the whole of the rest of the top of the head, occiput, and nape, together with the short full occipital crest, are bright red. In the female, these parts are olive yellow, becoming brighter and yellower on the crest. The lores, chin, throat, cheeks, ear coverts are pale brown, with more or less of an olive yellow tinge, according to the specimen, always most conspicuous on the ear coverts, and brightening to their tips, which, with the feathers immediately behind them, and in the male the feathers of the lower part of the nape (mostly hidden by the red crest), are a golden olive. The scapulars, interscapulary region, coverts, except the greater primary coverts, tertiaries, outer webs of secondaries, rump, and upper tail coverts and margins of the outer webs of the tail feathers towards their base, varying shades, according to the specimen, of golden olive, olive yellow or olive green, brightest and yellowest on the middle of the back; feathers of the rump and upper tail coverts generally tipped more or less with crimson, but at times only rufescent. ‘Tail feathers, dark hair-brown, spotless as viewed from above; winglet, primaries, and ‘their greater coverts, dark hair-brown ; all but the first two primaries olivaceous on their outer webs, much paler on the earlier ones towards the tips, and in the later ones becoming much the same dull olive yellow as the secondaries. All the quills with large oval spots or imperfect white bars on the inner webs, two at the base of the first primary, three on the second, four on the third and succeeding quills. Wing lining mingled brown and white; the edge of the wing, and more or less of the wing lining, tinged . with dull olive green ; breast, abdomen, flanks, lower tail coverts, dull brown; all but the latter, more or less tinged with dingy olive green ; traces of small, dull, white spots towards the inner margins of the inner webs of the lateral tail feathers towards their bases. 178.—Micropternus phaioceps, Blyth. M. burma- nicus, Hume. Although the Thayetmyo specimens differ in many respects slightly from the ordinary phazoceps from Lower Bengal, Tirhoot, Dacca, and Tipperah (in that they are larger; that the plumage is generally a lighter and brighter chestnut ; that the dark bars on the tertials are narrower and further apart; the head less brown, the chin and throat paler, and the. pale margins to the feathers more conspicuous), still with a large series before me I do not think that these distinctions invariably hold good; and I have one specimen, at any rate, from the Himalayas which is absolutely inseparable from my type specimen of this supposed species, and BIRDS OF UPPER PEGQU. 73 I therefore unhesitatingly suppress durmanicus. In most speci- mens the distinctions above pointed out hold good more or less ; but this is all that can be said, and this will not warrant a specific separation. The type of my supposed species was a male sent me by Captain Feilden, and measured in the flesh: Length, 10-7; wing, 5°25 ; bill, at front, 1:15. Mr. Oates, however, has sent smaller specimens. He remarks: *T have observed this bird only on the eastern slopes of the Pegu Hills, and I think it is confined to the Evergreen Forests. It is not uncommon, goes in pairs, is remarkably silent, and climbs small trees and bamboos. The head, tip of tail, and abdomen are much smeared with some gum, or rather, as I- fancy, with honey. The contents of the stomach of three specimens were black ants, and a small yellow bee-like insect; the latter in considerable quantities. It is possibly with the honey of these insects that the plumage gets smeared. In the mouth of one just shot I found a small leach. These specimens that I shot varied as follows :— “Length, 9°75 to 9:9; expanse, 15°25 to 16; tail, from vent, 3 to 3:15; wing, 4°8; bill, from gape, 1:2; tarsus, 0°88 to 0°95. “The irides were brown; eyelids, plumbeous ; bill, dark brown, nearly black, plumbeous at base of lower mandible; inside of mouth, rosy fleshy; legs and feet, greyish brown; claws, horn color.” Captain Feilden says: “The Chestnut Woodpecker does not appear to be confined to any particular locality. I have found them everywhere, from clumps of bamboos in the middle of cul- tivation to deep forests of the largest trees; but on the whole, I think, they prefer rather open bamboo jungle. The note is not unlike that of Geeznus striolatus. It is difficult to learn anything of their habits, as they glide about among the bamboos, and rarely show themselves. They are stupidly tame.” 183.—Tiga Shorii, Vigors, A large number of specimens, in my opinion all referable to this species, have been sent me by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates, who both want to make three species out of them, found- ing their distinctions partly on size; partly on the color of the crest and forehead in the male; partly on the comparative size, brightness or dullness of the black markings on the side of the head, chin, throat, and breast; partly on the presence or absence of the earthy brown tint in these latter parts; and partly on the size and character of the spottings or lineations on the black head of the females. After having very carefully examined all these birds, as also a very large series from other localities, 1 am bound to say that K 74 A FIRST LIST OF THE although, unquestionably, individuals differ zwter se to a remark- able extent, this appears to me to be characteristic of this species, and I can at present discover no certain diagnosis by which these various birds should be separated. First, as to size, I find that the wings in the male vary from 5°75 to 625,and the billsat front from 1°23 to 1:6; but there is no exact or invariable correspondence between length of bill and length of wing—e. g., one bird with a wing 5:9 has a bill of 1:6, another with the wing 6 has the bill 1:23; two birds with wings respectively 5°8 and 6:1 have both of them the bills 1:35, while another bird with the wing 5:78 has a bill 1°42. The females have the wings equally variable, but the bills seem only to vary from 1:2 to 1°35. Then, as to plumage, the differences above indicated un- doubtedly do oceur, but they occur im birds of different sizes ; in a word, all the differences appear to me to be individual, and I cannot in any way at present see my way to make more than one species out of them, though it is just possible that if we had a couple of hundred instead of fifty birds to deal with, some separation might be effected. This species, or group of sub-species, if Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are correct, appears to be very common in all the dry forests of the Thayetmyo District. I-may note that the specimens from the Arracan Hills are really different, and belong to Blyth’s species, intermedius, and have the wings 5°5 to 5°7, and the bills only 1:0 in front. Even these typical cntermedius seem to grade into Shoriz, so that it is not always easy to say where the one should begin and the other should end. Blyth’s diagnosis of intermedius was based upon diminutive size, absence of crimson tinge on the upper back, and the marking of the black head of the female with elongated white oval drops. Now in the most typical zxtermedius that I have seen, viz., a male from the Arracan Hills, the upper back is just as much tinged with crimson as in a huge male SZoriz, with a wing 6°25, which I shot years ago in Kumaon. As regards the females, I have a huge female, the mate of the one last referred to, which has just the same character of long oval white drops on the head that the typical female cutermedius from Arracan has. ~ If the two are in any way separable except by size, the difference, I think, consists in cntermedius having the mandibular band more strongly-marked, in having a single narrow stripe down the centre of the chin and throat, and in entirely wanting the earthy brown tinge on the throat, breast, and base of the lower mandible ; while in typical Shor7i the mandibular stripe is less strongly-marked ; there are ¢wo black lines down the chin and. throat, and the intermediate space, together with the breast, and the base of the lower mandible are strongly suffused with BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 76 earthy brown. But even this diagnosis will not, I can plainly see, hold good invariably. I have one female before me with a wing of 6 anda bill of 1:25 inch; the head with small oval brown streaks, which, so far as the characteristics I have pointed out go, should be intermedius ; and I think we shall have ultimately to admit that the two races grade insensibly one into the other, in which case their specific distinctness seems questionable. 187.—Sasia ochracea, Hodgs. The specimens from Pegu belong to this species, and not to the somewhat smaller adrornis, Temm., which entirely wants the pale stripe, over the posterior half of the eye and more or less of the ear coverts. Pegu, Tenasserim, and Arracan birds agree well on the whole with specimens from Hill Tipperah, Darjeeling, &e. Mr. Oates says: “I shot one while pecking very hard at a bamboo about twenty feet from the ground. It was making a very loud noise, tapping incessantly for some minutes. To judge from appearances presented on dissection, they must breed towards the end of April. I observed only one specimen on the Pegu Hills, and should judge it to be rare, but from its size it may escape notice. The bird I killed,—a male,—measured: Length, 3°2 ; expanse, 6°25; tail, from vent, 0°95; wing, 2; bill, from gape, 0°52; tarsus, 0°5. “ The bill was dark brown on the upper mandible, plumbeous on the lower ; the inside of the mouth, dusky ; the eyelids, naked and very conspicuous, dusky red ; the iris, crimson ; legs, yellow- ish red ; claws, yellowish.” 188.—Yunx torquilla, Lin. Captain Feilden remarks that the iris is brown marked with white, not blood-red as described by Jerdon. The Burmese birds appear to be a shade darker than Upper Indian ones, but the plumage of this bird is at all times very variable, so I do not attach any importance to this peculiarity. This species durmg part of the year appears to be very common about Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates says: “On the 18th September this bird came in in numbers. I had never observed it before. It was callmg all day long. This was at Boulay, a few miles south of Thayet- myo. 192.—Megalaima Hodgsoni, Bonap, I class the birds from Pegu as Hodgsoni, under the assump- tion that there really is a distinct species, /imeata, or rather that our Himalayan species is distinct from Vieillot’s /zneata. I have never yet seen any lineata that I could call really distinct; and 76 A FIRST LIST OF THE if, as I somewhat suspect, the Himalayan bird is not distinct, then of course all will’stand under Vieillot’s name, /ineata. For the present, I assume that /ineata is a distinct species, with a wing 4°5, and that it is distinguishable, as stated in the Mono- graph of the Capitonide by my friends, the Messrs. Marshall, from Hodgsoni, by its smaller size, by the brown edgings to the feathers of the head and neck being deeper in color and much broader than in the Himalayan birds, and by the forehead being almost entirely brown instead of whitish as in Hodgsonz; and I say that, though Blyth gives Pegu as a habitat for demeata, all the Pegu birds sent to me are Hodgsoni. If we take the true Hodysonz from various localities, we find the wing varies from 5°15 to 5°65 ; thus, taking a small selection of birds at random, the following are the dimensions of the wing's :— Simla, 5°25 ; Kumaon, 5°65, 5°35 ; Gurhwal, 5°5 ; Dehra, 5:3 ; Kaladoongee, 5°4; Dacca, 5°15. In the Thayetmyo birds the wings vary from 5:15 to 5:4.. None of these, I think it is clear, can belong to the small sup- posed lineata, with a wing 4°5. Then, as to the other points of difference, I find that some Himalayan Hodgsonz have the fore- head “almost entirely brown,” others again have it “ whitish.” The same precisely is the case with the Thayetmyo birds. The amount of brown edgings to the feathers and the depth of the color of these edgings varies very greatly alike in the Himalayan and the Thayetmyo birds, and they are certainly not broader or deeper in color in the Thayetmyo than in the Himalayan birds. In fact, there is one Thayetmyo bird in which they are paler and narrower than in any single one of my large series of. Himalayan Hodgsoni. Further, I may note that I have a large series of these Barbets from Tenasserim, from Pahpoon to Tavoy, the very smallest of which has the wing 4°75, while in the great majority this varies from 4°9 to 5-3. In these, too, some have the typical coloring of Hodgsoni, while in others this appears to be what is considered characteristic of dineata. On the whole, without disputing that there may be a distinguish- able smaller species, and that it may possibly also occur in Pegu, what I submit is that all the birds sent to me from Pegu are identical with the Himalayan bird, and must therefore, if these are distinct from J/ineata, stand as Hodgsont. Mr. Oates remarks that this species is ‘‘ common in the plains, and extremely common in the hills. Its ery is almost distressing, uttered as it is by dozens of them all day. Its call resembles ‘Ko-hpo’, ‘ Ko-hpo’, preceded, though not always, by a sort of screaming laugh. I do not know anything of its distribution west of Thayetmyo. My collectors have never brought it from the Arracan Hills. It is not found inthe cantonments, though common BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 77 a few miles out. A female measured: Length, 11; expanse, 18; tail, from vent, 3°6; wing, 5:3; bill, from gape, 1°85; tarsus, 1:21. The feet were yellow; claws, pale horny; eyelids and bare orbital skin, bright yellow ; bill, fleshy, somewhat dusky at the edges and paler at the gape.” 195.—Cyanops asiatica, Lath. Identical with specimens from the Himalayas, Lower Bengal and Arracan, but averaging perhaps a little smaller. Mr. Oates remarks: “ This species is very common on both the Arracan and Pegu Hills, but I have never shot it, nor even heard it in the forty miles of plains or undulating ground which stretch eastward from Thayetmyo to the foot of the Hills. It occurs in great numbers on the eastern slopes of the Pegu Hills nearly | up. to Tonghoo. ‘The bird breeds, I believe, im May. It is diffi- cult to say whether its call should be considered to consist of two or three notes. ‘Kotiir’, ‘Kotiir’, represents its call pretty well, but often there appears to be a third indistinct note. The call of the smaller Barbet (cyanotis, Blyth) is distinctly two notes only, and is feebler and more metallic. A specimen from the Arracan Hills measured 9:8 in length, but four specimens from the Pegu Hills varied as follows: Length, 8°7 to 9°3; ex- panse, 12°75 to 14; tail, from vent, 2°8 to 3°05; wing, 4 to 41; bill, from gape, 1°42 to 1°51; tarsus, 1°08 to 1:13. “« The iris was reddish hazel; the edges of eyelids, beaded dusky orange; eyelids, orange brown. ‘The inside of the mouth, dusky blue ; legs, pale green; claws, greenish horny ; upper mandible, dark brown; the base, greenish yellow; the lower mandible, yellow, dark brown at the edges on the terminal half.” 19'7,.—Xantholema hemacephala, Mii. Specimens from Thayetmyo differ in no appreciable degree from others from all parts of India, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra. Both Mr. Oates and Captain Feilden remark that this species 1s common throughout the country. 198 quat,—Xantholema cyanotis, Blyth. Mr. Oates tells us that this species is “ common in the Ever- green Forests of the Pegu Hills. Its note is very distinct from that of asiatica. The bird I shot was moving about the top branches of a tree much as hemacephala would. It breeds, I judge, earlyin May. A male measured: Length, 6-7 ; expanse, 11 ; tail, from vent, 2°15; wing, 3°2; bill, from gape, 1:03 ; tarsus,0°83. “The bill was black; the inside of the mouth, bluish black ; eyelids and naked skin of face, dusky plumbeous; iris, dark brown ; legs, dull greenish yellow; claws, black.” 78 A FIRST LIST OF THE The specimen from Pegu corresponds exactly with others from the Bhootan Dooars, Tipperah, and Dacca. ‘This species is really very distinct from Duvaucelit, of which I have numerous speci- mens from Singapore, Malacca, and that neighbourhood. In the first place, the red about the face is paler, and more rosy ; the ear coverts are more or less of a torquoise blue, instead of being dusky, or blackish green as in Duvaucelii. The bristles of the bill, long as they are, are not nearly so long as in Du- vaucelii, and none of my specimens exhibit the conspicuous black gular band which seems to characterize the adults of Duvau- celit. The adults of the present species have the lores and a narrow, more or less inconspicuous, line at the base of the forehead ; a narrow line over the eye not extending beyond it; a more or less broad band over the crown; the ear coverts and the entire chin and throat, a dull torquoise blue, more or less tinged greenish on the coronal band. The forehead, and a spot at the base of the lower mandible, black ; a broad line under the eye, rosy, or pale dull vermillion. A line under the ear coverts from behind the black mandibular spot, and a line over the ear coverts from behind the posterior angle of the eye, a dull rosy crimson ; some- times these lines widen out posteriorly and unite behind the ear coverts, sometimes they do not. The entire upper surface, a dark grass green. The first two primaries, and the inner webs of all the rest of the primaries and secondaries, deep hair-brown. The shoulder of the wing, tinged bluish, the lateral tail feathers, with a strong bluish tint. Breast, green, with more or less of a golden tinge ; in some specimens with more or less of a ruddy tint, just below the blue throat. The rest of the lower parts, dull pale green, with a yellowish tinge at times on the lower tail coverts. Wing lining and the inner margins of the basal portion of the quills, pale yellowish white. One specimen ex- hibits traces of an imperfect dark blue band near the base of the throat. In younger birds, the black frontal patch is only indicated ; the coronal band is not defined at all, and the whole crown and occiput are a dull dark bluish green, or greenish blue, shading off gradually into the green of the back. 199.—Cuculus canorus, Zin. I have as yet only seen one specimen of the European Cuckoo from Upper Pegu. This was shot in November by Mr. Raikes at Prome. It is a young bird; in the barred upper plumage, only the rump being pure ashy. It is rather small, the wing being only about 7°8; but this is not very exceptional for a male of the year, although they are generally, I think, fully 8 inches. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 79 203.—Cuculus micropterus, Gould. Specimens from Pegu are identical with the bird that we call micropterus, Gould ; a perfectly distinct species common through- out Lower and Eastern Bengal, and even up into the lower valleys of the Himalayas in Sikhim, Bhootan, and Assam, and distin- guished at once from satwratus of Hodgson, which I identify with striatus, Drapiez, by its huge bill, which is fully as large as that of Mierococcyx sparveroides. Mr. Oates says that this species is “ common everywhere, but less so in the plains than in the hills; its note is double and very melodious, and answers well to that described by Colonel Tytler in the Isis for 1868. It generally selects the topmost bough of a tree—a dead one by preference—and remains calling there for a quarter of an hour or more. A male I shot measured: Length, 13°3; expanse, 23°5; tail, from vent, 7; wing, 8°25; bill, from gape, 1°35; tarsus, 0°92. A female measured: Length, 12°4; expanse, 21; tail, from vent, 6-2; wing, 7:6; bill, from gape, 1°3 ; tarsus, 0°89. “The irides are rich brown; the eyelids, greenish plumbeous ; the edges, swollen and deep yellow ; the inside of the mouth, fleshy red; gape, yellow; a small portion of the upper mandible under the nostril, and the greater portion of the lower mandible, dull green; the remainder of the bill, blackish horny; legs, a soft, deep, yellow ; claws, dark horny.” It will be observed that the male is the species referred to by Jerdon, No. 204, Vol. I, p. 328, as Cuculus striatus, Drapiez, and which, if it were distinct, would stand as affinis, Hay ; while the female is the bird referred to by Jerdon as No. 203, Cuculus mi- cropterus. These two numbers, 203 and 204, are the two sexes of the same species. It will be observed that I consider that the smaller-billed bird which says “‘ Kyphul-pukha” (or “ the Kyphul fruit is ripe”’), which has been called saturatus by Hodgson, and himalayanus by Vigors and Blyth, and which we got at the Nicobars and heard at the Andamans, is the true striatus of Drapiez ; while the huge-billed bird which says ‘* Bho-hutha-kho”’ is, I assume, to stand as micropterus. The true synonomy of these species is, and may perhaps always remain, somewhat doubtful ; anyhow, it will be understood that the Pegu birds are the large-billed ones. _ I ought here to notice that Captain Feilden mentions having killed two specimens of a Bay-banded Cuckoo, answering fairly well to Jerdon’s description of Cuculus sonnerati, but measur- ing only 8 inches in length. This was at the beginning of the rains; later he procured two more in November, one of which contained a nearly perfect bluish grey egg. This may have been the hepatic stage of f¢enuirostris, but I hardly think so, as 80 ? A FIRST LIST OF THE Captain Fielden was well acquainted with that bird, and I therefore mention the fact to draw the attention of observers in Upper Pegu to the circumstance. 20'7.—Hierococcyx sparveroides, Vigors. In Part VIII of the Brrps or Asta, Mr. Gould figures a Cuculus strenuus, which he considers distinct from the present species. “ In outward appearance,” he says, ‘ this species so closely resembles Cuculus sparveroides, that one description would nearly serve for both ; but in size it so far exceeds that bird, as well as every other true Cuckoo that I have yet seen, that I have no doubt of its . being distinct.” Mr. Gould’s specimen was from Manilla, and he notes the dimensions at: Length, 15:5; bill, 1:25; wing, 9°37; tail 9. My museum had long been packed up, and when I obtained a specimen—length, 16°25 ; wing, over 9; and bill, 1°45 inches from gape—lI thought I had an undoubted specimen of Cuculus strenuus, and notified Thayetmyo as another locality for this species. Having now, however, examined my whole series, I find that even the Hima- layan birds vary from 14 to 15°25 im length; that the wings vary from 8°5 to 9°25, and the bills from 1:18 to 1°35; and that the Thayetmyo specimen, though somewhat longer, and with a stouter bill, has not so long a wing as some of the Darjeeling birds. One of the Darjeeling birds is quite as fine and large a specimen as the one Mr. Gould figures as strenuus, and indeed, except that his artist has puffed the throat out a little too much, might have been the specimen figured ; s¢enwus must therefore, I fear, now be relegated to the limbo of synonymes. | Mr. Oates says: “ This bird, if I have rightly identified it, is extremely common in the hills, but rarely found in the plains. It calls chiefly in the mornings and evenings, often long after dark ; towards sunset it utters two exquisitely melodious whistling notes, very different to anything contained in its usual song. A male measured: Length, 16°35; expanse, 26; tail, from vent, 8-4; wing, 91; bill, from gape, 1°45; tarsus, 1. The legs and feet were deep yellow ; gape, bright yellow ; upper mandible from the nostrils to the tip, deep brown, there being a narrow darker brown streak from the nostrils, in a line with the closed gape; lower mandible, horn color, darker on the edges and tip; iris, dull yellow ; eyelids, bright yellow ; claws, flesh color.” A specimen sent by Captain Feilden, also a male, is very simi- lar in size and in every other respect. 209.—Ololygon tenuirostris, Gray. Mr. Oates sent a specimen, unfortunately destroyed in transit, which I believe to have belonged to this species, which I know BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 81 occurs in Pegu. ‘The specimen was so entirely destroyed in transit that I cannot be absolutely certain of the species. Captain Feilden sent specimens of this species, which are precisely identi- eal with those Ihave from Dacca. He remarks: “I believe that this bird remains at Thayetmyo throughout the year, but I do not distinctly remember it in April and May. There are either two varieties of this bird, or its winter plumage is much duller than its summer garb. Those I send you were shot in January. I have frequently found what I suppose to be the ege of this bird, in the nest of a little Tailor Bird (not the common one), whose name isunknown to me.” Doubtless, the Tailor Bird referred to was one of the Prinias, as they are all Tailor Birds so far as the construction of the nest is concerned. 211 dis.—Chalcococscyx xanthorhynchus, Horsf. Mr. Oates sends me a single specimen of a young Cuckoo in the hepatic stage, which Tidentify as above. The bill corresponds precisely, though slightly smaller, as would be the case in quite a young specimen; the wings are only 3°75. The feet appear to have been pale fleshy, and the plumage is somewhat different to any stage of that species with which I am acquainted. The whole head and neck all round is pale, rusty rufous, with broad longitudinal blackish brown streaks ; the rest of the upper plumage is hair brown. ‘The primaries, unspotted ; the secondaries, tertiaries, and four central tail feathers, with a series of large triangular rufous spots on the marginal halves of the webs, imperfect bars, in fact not reaching to the shafts. The lateral tail feathers, coverts, scapulars, back and upper tail covers, broadly barred with the same dull rufous. Breast, abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts, dull white, here and there tinged fulvous, and regularly barred with not very well-defined dull greyish-brown bands. This is not a nestling bird, and is certainly not, I think, the young of any other known Indian Cuckoo ; and if it does not belong to this species, it must, I think, be new. It was obtained at Chinzouk, and measured 6°95 inches in length in the flesh. This species has been already described; vol. iy ey ee 8 Mr. Oates notes that this is the only specimen that he has met with. 212.—Oxylophus jacobinus, Bodd. This appears to be a common species about Thayetmyo, whence it has been sent by both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates. The latter remarks: “ A few may always be seen near the rifle range ; - to the eastward, it extends tothe foot of the hills, and south- wards I have observed it as far as eighteen miles below Prome. 1 82 A FIRST LIST OF THE It is generally met with in pairs, but five or six may some- times be seen together. It appears to feed by preference on the ground, or on very low bushes.” Captain Feilden says: “TI rather fancy this bird lays two eggs in the same nest, as I have seen a pair of nestlings seated on the same branch. I have often seen this bird hawking moths, just as a Drongo might have done.” 213.—Coccystes coromandus, Lin. The Pegu specimens are absolutely identical with those from different parts of India, from the extreme south to the Hima- layas. ie Oates says : “ This species, though widely distributed, is not common. A male I shot measured: Length, 15°6; expanse, 19; tail, from vent, 9°38; wing, 6°45; bill, from gape, 1°3; tarsus, 1:09. The bill was black, the imside of mouth, rufous fleshy ; The iris, hazel; the eyelids, dusky plumbeous ; feet, clear plum- beous ; claws, bluish horny.” Captain Feilden remarks: “This bird is the commonest Cuckoo at Thayetmyo ; in the thicker parts of the jungle every bamboo-filled valley contains one or more pairs. They arrive in the beginning of the rains, and the young birds do not. leave till October. They lay in the nest of the Quaker Thrushes I be- lieve, as I have frequently shot the young bird from the middle of a brood of young Quaker Thrushes, and as far as I could see from the thickness of the jungle, the old thrushes were feeding the young Cuckoo. An egg taken from the nest of a Quaker Thrush that I believe to have belonged to this bird, was very round and a pale blue. I believe that this bird keeps some kind of watch over its eggs, as a pair have sometimes seated themselves near me uttering a harsh, grating, whistling scream very unlike their usual Magpie-like chatter, and I afterwards found a young Cuckoo in company with a flock of Thrushes that were constantly to be found in that bamboo clump.” 214 dis—Eudynamis malayana, Cad. The Pegu bird is the larger, and much more powerful billed race which Lord Walden identifies with malayana of Cabanis. This is the same bird we met with throughout the Andamans and Nicobars ; and in treating of the Avi-fauna of these islands, I have sufficiently discussed this species; (v7de Stray FEatueErs, 1874, p. 192). Mr. Oates remarks: “The Malayan Coél is very common at certain seasons. Its cry is heard only from the beginning of March to the middle of May, and at this time it is extremely abundant ; but from June to February, I have never seen or shot BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. §3 asingle bird. I faney they come here only to breed. The oviduct of a female shot on the 12th April contained a fully formed egg. On the Pegu Hills I found it sparingly in April. The sexes appear to be much the same size. The follow- ing is a résumé of the measurements of four specimens of both sexes, by far the smallest, as well as the largest bird being males— “Length, 15°6 to 17; expanse, 23°7 to 24°5 ; tail, from vent, 4 to 815; wing, 7-8 to 8; bill, from gape, 1:52 to ore tarsus, 1°2 to 1:5. “The bill is dull green, dusky at gape, and black about the nostrils ; the irides, bright crimson ; the eyelids, pinkish brown ; legs and feet, plumbeous ; claws, dark horny.” 215.—Zanclostomus tristis, Less. Birds from Thayetmyo and Upper Pegu, like others from near Rangocn, Tenasserim, and Arracan, are undistinguishable from specimens procured in the Sub-Himalayan ranges from Dehra Dhoon eastwards. Mr. Oates remarks that “this species appears to be spread sparingly over the whole country, but is nowhere very common. The following are the colors of the soft parts of a male which I shot in September: bill, bight green, pinkish about the nostrils; bare skin round the eyes, and edges of eyelids, purplish red ; iris, hazel ; inside of mouth, dusky ; feet, greenish slaty ; claws, dark brown.” 217 quat.—Centrococcyx eurycercus, Hay. In my brief notes on afew birds from Acheen (Stray Fratuers, 1873, p. 453), I discussed this little sub-group of Coucals which have the whole of the interscapulary region rufous, and I men- tioned that there were three noticeable races, and that the Thayetmyo birds belonged to the race which, if held worthy of specific distinction, should stand as ¢ntermedius. I also noticed that, though retainmg Hay’s name for the present, I was inclined to believe that the Javan and Sumatran birds would prove identical, in which case ewrycercus must give place to dudutus, Horsf. I have not yeta sufficiently large series from a sufficient number of localities to decide whether the three races, C. eurycercus (vel bubutus?), C. maximus, and C. intermedius, do really deserve specific separation. -In regard to the Pegu birds, Mr. Oates remarks: “This bird is common ; I found it nearly up to the summits of the Pegu Hills, on the western, but not on the eastern, slopes. A female killed on the 11th of May, showed no signs of breeding. She measured: Length, 19°4; expanse, 23°5; tail, from vent, 10:0; $4 A FIRST LIST OF THE wing, 7°9; bill, from gape, 1°77; tarsus, 2°55. The irides were red; the eyelids, purplish brown; bill, black; as also the feet and claws.” 218.—Centrococcyx bengalensis, Gel. Mr. Oates says that ‘in Upper Pegu this species is, during’ nine months of the year, rather an uncommon bird ; it appears to like swampy ground ; grasshoppers appear to be its favorite food. “They appeared, however, at the end of July in large numbers round my house at Boulay. Some seven or eight would be call- ing at once from the tops of the highest trees. Their call is very peculiar, ‘hoop, hoop, hoop, kurrook, kurrook, kurrook.’ The first note is almost invariably repeated three times, the last up to six or seven. I shot a female in the act of calling, so I fancy both sexes call. About the 15th September a few only were calling, and the bird appeared to become altogether rarer. About the middle of October I left Boulay to come here (Prome), and then I lost sight of them. I did not’ succeed in finding their nests. Ovaria on the 7th September, very large.” He sends two specimens both in the striped plumage, and remarks : “JT do not understand the great difference of size, and in the color of the iris, &c., in these twospeamens. They were both females, and are very similar in plumage; the first was shot on the 24th November ; it measured: Length, 14°5 ; expanse, 18°8 ; tail, from vent, 8; wing, 6; bill, from gape, 1:2; tarsus, 1:68. This had the eyelids bluish grey; the iris, umber brown. The gape, base of lower mandible and region of nostrils, pinkish fleshy ; the remainder of bill, black ; legs, plumbeous brown; claws, dark horny. id The second was shot on the 13th March ; it measured : Length, 15:7 ; expanse, 20°6 ; tail, from vent, 8°45 ; wing, 6°7; bill from gape, 1°35; tarsus, 1°92. This had the iris sickly yellow; bill, coffee brown, paler near the margin, and fleshy on part of the lower mandible.” Now, I myself am disposed to believe that one of these was a male, but there are many points in regard to this species which require fuller investigation. I per sonally have had no opportunity of working out. the question, but my friend Mr. F. B. Simson, so long Commissioner of Dacca, where this species abounds, and who supplied me with an enormous series of them in every stage of plumage, assured me that the striped plumage was seasonal, and not dependent upon age, as is generally thought. That at one season every bird shot was in the striped plumage, at another all were in the black and rufous plumage. I can offer no opinion on the subject myself, but only desire to draw attention to the question, as one deserving full investi- gation. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 85 223 ter—Arachnothera aurata, Blyth. A good many species of this genus are found within our limits, and though several of these occur only towards the south of the Tenasserim Provinces, it may be convenient to state concisely how they may be most readily distinguished— 1. Stronglyand|Lower surface|Wing about] 4. magna, conspicuously | broadly striated.) 3°5 (i). Hodgs. on entire back. Faintly, al-/Lower surface|Wing about] 4. awurata, most orentire-| with narrower] 3°25 (m).| Blyth. ly obsolete on} striae. lower back. A. Upper sur- 9 face striated. ; 3. Throat and)... ...|Wing about] 4. modesta, breast faintly 31. Eyton. striated. 4, Throat and|Chin and _ throat|Wing about] 4. pusilla, breast unstri-| white, no bright} 275. Blyth. B. Upper sur- ated. abe about Seas eect Ditto ...|A conspicuous yel-|Wing about] 4. flavigas- ; low ring round| 3°75. ter, Eyton. the eye. 6. Ditto ...A conspicuous yel-|Wing about] 4. chrysoge- low eyebrow,| 3°3. nys, Tem. and mandibular stripe. Besides these, there is 4. Phayrii,. Blyth, whether distinct from auwrata or not, I cannot say ; non vidi.* In regard to the present species, Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ Very common on the Pegu Hills, and not uncommon in the plains; I lately saw a specimen on the banks of the Irrawaddy, near Thayetmyo. It is not met with in large quantities till the Evergreen Forests are reached : it has a curious habit of stretching out its neck when perching, to such an extent as to appear about to over-balance itself. A male that I shot measured: Length, 7:1; wing, 3°25; bill, from gape, 16; a female measured, length, 6°45; expanse, 9°5 ; tail, from vent, 1:7; wing, 2°95; bill, from gape, 1°48; tarsus, 0°8; bill, black; margin of lower mandible, yellow ; inside of mouth and claws, yellow ; iris, brown ; eyelids, plumbeous ; legs and feet, waxy orange.” This species is very close to A. magna, but differs apparently in its smaller size, sex for sex, in the greater narrowness of the ‘striations of the under-surface, and the almost entire absence of these on the back. The shoulder of the wing is also, Mr. Blyth originally pointed out, somewhat brighter-colored than in magna. ~ . * No specimen of this appears to be in the Calcutta Museum. Ni 86 A FIRST LIST OF THE In both magna and apparently aurata the females are con- siderably smaller than the males, and the female magna further differs in just the same particulars from its male, though perhaps not quite to a hke extent, that male aurata does. I am not prepared to say how this latter and female magna are to be sepa- rated, where the sexes have not been ascertained. In aurata the forehead, crown, occiput and nape, are bright, somewhat golden, olive green ; each feather with a somewhat tri- angular, black shaft stripe ; lores, cheeks, and ear coverts, browner and duller-colored. The rest of the upper parts, colored much like the head, but the feathers of the back and sides of the neck and upper back, with excessively narrow darkish brown shaft-stripes ; those of the middle and lower back, and upper tail coverts are almost or entirely streakless. Inner webs of coverts and quills and tailfeathers, hair brown. All the tail feathers, with a subter- minal dark band, beyond which all the lateral tail feathers have a pale patch on the inner web, more and more conspicuous as the feathers recede from the centre. Chin, throat, breast, abdomen and sides, dull white, more or less tinged with yellow or olive green, every feather with a narrow central shaft stripe, scarcely wider, as Mr. Blyth pointed out in the original descrip- tion than the shafts themselves. Lower tail coverts, pale yellow, with more or less of a brown shaft stripe, and a pale brownish patch a little inside the tip. Wing lining, white or yellowish white ; edge of the wing, rather bright yellow ; axillaries some- times the same, sometimes yellowish white. 233 bis—Chalcoparia cingalensis, Gm. Though not apparently obtained by Mr. Oates or Captain Feilden, this species was sent from Tonghoo by Sir Arthur Phayre, and I have received it from other localities within our limits. It is very common in the Tipperah District, from whence, as well as from Malacca, Tenasserim, Dacca, and Assam, I have received many specimens. The dimensions of this species taken, in the flesh, are as fol- lows :—Male : Length, 3°7 ; wing, 2°2 ; ; tail, from vent, 16; ; tarsus, 0-6; bill, at front, 0-5. Female: Length, 3: 8; expanse, 5: 3 ; tail, ie 3; wing, 2; bill, at front, 0°55 ; tarsus, 0: 58; weight, from 120 to 140 grains. Bill, black ; legs, feet, and claws, green, or dusky green. In the male, the whole of the top and back of the head, back scapulars, lesser and median wing’ coverts, and upper tail coverts, brilliant metallic green, more emerald in some, slightly more golden in others; the rump, moderately dark olive green; the ear coverts, a rich ruddy metallic purple, (whence Temminck’s name phent- cotis), below these a narrow stripe commencing in the middle of the lower margin of the eye, and broadening somewhat lower BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 87 down on the sides of the throat, bright metallic violet purple ; the chin and throat, dull pale ferruginous; the rest of the lower parts, bright yellow ; only the upper part of the breast, slightly tinged with this same dull ferruginous color. The quills and their greater coverts, hair brown ; the latter, at least those of the secondaries, margined on their exterior webs with dark metallic green; wing-lining, axillaries, and the inner margins of the inner webs of the quills towards their bases, silky white, with a faint yellowish tinge. ‘Tail, black or blackish brown; the feathers, margined on their outer webs with bright metallic emerald green. The female entirely wants the metallic colors of the male ; the lower parts are much as in the male, but slightly paler; the top and back of the head, cheeks, ear coverts, lesser and median coverts, back scapulars and upper tail coverts, dull green, brighten- ing somewhat on the upper tail coverts ; quills and their greater coverts and their rectrices, hair brown ; the feathers, margined on their outer webs, and in the case of the tertiaries and central tail feathers, more or less suffused everywhere with olive green. 234.—Arachnecthra asiatica, Lin. Specimens from Thayetmyo, at least those few that I have seen, have been remarkable by the entire absence of any greenish gloss in any light; whereas Indian aszatice are more or less glossed in certain lights with green. I do not know whether this peculiarity is accidental or constant. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ Very common about us. Birds in black plumage are the rule here, the so-called winter plumage being rarely seen. Several that I measured, varied as follows: Length, 4-3 to 4°6.; expanse, 6°6 to6-9; tail, from vent, 1°35 to 1:4; wing, 2°1 to 2°2; bill, from gape, 0°8 to 0°82 ; tarsus, 0°57 to 0°6. Legs and feet, black ; claws, dark horny ; irides, hazel; eyelids, grey.” 236.—Diceum cruentatum, Zin. Captain Feilden obtained this species at Thayetmyo. Captain Feilden also mentions: ‘ A common Honey-Sucker with a green head, purple tail coverts and yellow breast,” which must, I fancy, be (232) Leptocoma zeylonica, Lin. I may add that Mr. Blanford also got D. cruentatum at Thayetmyo. 250.—Sitta neglecta, Walden ? The Thayetmyo birds that I have seen, though nearer to castaneo- ventris than any other which I know, are not—at least the few that 88 A FIRST LIST OF THE I have seen—precisely identical with the specimens of this species that I have from various parts of India. They are rather larger than castaneoventris, but not so large as cimnamomeoventris ; and if the specimens which I have received are correctly sexed, the coloring is nearer that of the latter species than of the former: for instance, the male, instead of having the chin and upper throat pure white, and the rest of the lower parts deep chestnut, has the whole chin, throat, and upper breast, greyish white, and the rest of the lower parts dull pale ferruginous, deepening towards the vent. Moreover, the lower tail coverts are not slaty blue, broadly fringed with ferrugious or chestnut, but are pale brown, broadly edged with white or yellowish or rufous white. Although in some points our birds do not agree over-well with his description, ¢. g., in the color of the lower tail coverts, I think I can hardly be wrong in referring them to Lord Walden’s Nuthatch which he thus described in Ann. & Mac. or Naturan History, 1870, p. 218 :— “ Above, pale slate color; stripe from nostrils, through the eyes to nape, black; lores, supercilium, cheeks, chin, and base of primaries, white; throat, tawny white; breast, _ pale rufous, deepening into dark rusty on remainder of lower surface; under tail coverts, white, with narrow, rusty edgings ; middle rectrices, uniform slate color; wing, 3 inches; bill, # inch, * cc Three examples of this Nuthatch were obtained from the ~Karen Hills of the Tonghoo District, Burmah. It differs from its nearest ally, 8S. himalayensis, J. and 8., by its much stouter and longer bill, by the deep ferruginous tint of the under surface, and by the absence of a white spot on the basal half of the middle rectrices.” Mr. Oates remarks: “ This species is common in the plains, but on the Pegu Hills it is entirely replaced by D. frontalis. Two males measured: Length, 5°4 to 5°5; expanse, 9°1 to 9°8; tail, from vent, 1°55 to 1:7; wing, 3:1 to 3:25; bill, from gape, 0°88 to 0°9; tarsus, 0°75. “A female measured: Length, 5°15; expanse, 9°3; tail, from vent, 1°45 ; wing, 2°95; bill, from gape, 0°86; tarsus, 0-75. “ This latter was killed on the 16th March, and the ova were largely developed. “The colors of the soft parts vary somewhat. In one, the iris was pinkish hazel, and the eyelids bluish grey ; in another, hazel brown and brownish grey. In the first, the upper mandible was bluish black ; the basal one-fourth of culmen, bluish white ; lower mandible, pale blue. In others, the upper mandible from nostrils to tip, and tip and margins of lower mandible, dark brown ; the rest of the bill, pale bluish; legs, plumbeous in the one, BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 89 plumbeous brown in the others; claws, bluish in the former, brownish horny in the others.” 253.—Dendrophila corallina, Hodgs. Mr. Gray makes two species, D. frontalis, Horsf., from Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Burmah ; and cora//ina, Hodgson, from Nepal, Ceylon, and Pegu. The former is, I understand, a smaller bird, with a differently colored bill; but I do not exactly know how it is proposed to distinguish Pegu and Burmah. Used in a general sense, Burmah includes the Arracan, Pegu, and Tenas- serim Divisions ; used in amore restricted sense, it refers to Pegu and Independent Burmah north of Pegu. As a matter of fact, the Pegu birds, as well as those from Tenasserim, at least as far south as Tavoy, are, it appears to me, inseparable from others, which I have from Ceylon, the Nilghiris, the Central Provinces, and various localities in the Himalayas. Mr. Oates says: ‘ Appears to replace our common Nuthatch of the plains on the Pegu Hills. It is very common, going about in flocks of five or six. Four males that I measured varied as follows :— “Length, 4:9 to 5-0; expanse, 8°7 to 9; tail, from vent, 1:7 to 1:8; wing, 2°75 to 3; bill, from gape, 0:63 to 0°71; tarsus, 0:68 to 0°70. In two specimens the irides were yellow; eyelids, plumbeous ; bill, coral red ; inside of mouth, red; feet, pinkish brown; claws, pale horny. “In two other specimens shot in company with the former, the bill was black pinkish at the gape and nostrils, the irides dark brown, and the legs brownish grey; these latter were shot, I may mention, early in April, which seems early for young birds to be about, and on the other hand late for them not to have assumed full plumage; but I suppose they must be young.” I myself have no doubt that the black-billed birds are young ones, but then the question suggests itself is frontalis, really distinct? If so, can it have been young black-billed specimens of corallina which led to Burmah bemg assigned as a locality for frontalis ? It will be noticed that these Thayetmyo birds run slightly smaller than our Indian birds, males of which average about : Length, 5°3; expanse, 9°9; tail from vent, 1:9; wings, 3°15; while the females are perhaps a trifle smaller; but in no other respect that I can discover is there the smallest difference. 254 bis —Upupa longirostris, Jerdon. Whether this species is a good one may be doubtful; in size typical males equal or exceed Upupa epops, but are more rufous, M 90 A FIRST LIST OF THE absolutely want even a trace of white upon the crest, which nigripennis, Gould, our commonest Indian Hoopoe, often has, and have bills incomparably larger than this latter species. I have seen no specimen of evops with a bill more than 2°3 inches; the largest nzyripennis bill that I have yet noticed was 2:1 inches : the bill of one specimen of the present species sent by Captain Feilden measures 2°5 from forehead to point. ‘The bill of the male Hoopoes are always longer than those of the females; but, sex for sex, I believe that typical longirostrzs (a quite young bird, a female, sent by Mr. Oates, has the bill at front 2-2) will be found always to have a bill conspicuously longer than epops, from which, moreover, it is further separated by the entire absence of white on the crest, while from nigripennis its much greater size at once divides it. But then my experience is, that the majority of the birds are not typical, but intermediate forms, which it is very hard to separate from nigripennis. As for the absence or presence of the white spot upon the first primary on which Dr. Jerdon lays some stress, it is worthless as a diagnosis of all three species ; specimens of each are before me exhibiting the spot on both first primaries, on one of them only, and lastly on neither of them. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘This species is common in the plains throughout the year, but is, or seems to be, most numerous in February and March, when I presume it breeds, because it is then incessantly calling.” 260 dis—Lanius hypoleucos, Blyth—(Journat, As. Soc., Breneat, 1848, XVII, p, 249). This species appears to be common throughout the province of Peeu, and it has been sent from the northern portions of the Tenasserim provinces. Length, 7°5 to 8; wing, 2°3; tail, 3°5 to 3°75; bill, at front, 0:45; from gape, 0°8 ; tarsus, nearly 1. Bill, blackish brown, yellowish fleshy at gape and base of lower mandible. Forehead, orbital region, and ear coverts, black- ish ; crown, back, and sides of the head and neck, dark slaty grey to dull ashy; back, scapulars, ramp, and upper tail coverts, deep maroon; in faded specimens, ferruginous chestnut ; wing, blackish to pale dingy hair-brown. Primaries and secondaries narrowly margined on their outer webs with white, which becomes more and more rufescent as the feathers approach the tertials ; tertials broadly, and coverts less broadly, margined with ferruginous. A conspicuous white speculum at the base of the fifth to the tenth primaries, narrowest on the fifth, and increasing in breadth to the tenth. The two exterior tail feathers on each side, pure white ; snafts, darker ; the next on each side, with the tips and generally BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. . 9] more or less of the outer webs, white; the rest of the inner webs blackish, or in abraded specimens dull brown; the rest of the tail feathers, blackish, or, as above, dull brown, very narrowly tipped with white or rufous white ; entire lower parts, pure white, with only a faint, rosy, or rufescent tinge on the sides and flanks, scarcely visible except in good specimens. I do not think that this species has ever before been described, but Mr. Blyth (doc. cit.) pointed out that it differs from JL. vittatus, Dum=L. Hardwickii, Vigors—(1st) , in having the entire crown nigrescent, passing gradually from the black of the forehead to the dark ashy of the nape, the ear coverts being uniformly colored with the feathers superiorly adjacent ; (2vd), in having the rump and upper tail coverts of the same deep maroon color as the back and scapularies; (37d), mm the much greater develop- ment of the ferruginous margins of the great wing coverts and tertiaries ; and (4¢4), in having the under parts uniformly white, a little subdued, and tinged with a very faint bluish, but having no trace of rufous on the flanks and elsewhere. Mr. Oates says: ‘‘The White-bellied Shrike is common, except from the end of the cold-weather to the end of July, or there- abouts. It apparently goes away to breed. I did not find it in the Pegu Hills durmg this interval. A specimen shot on the 15th March was apparently about to breed. It has the usual habits of Shrikes, and is very fond of perching on telegraph posts and wires like so many other birds. It comes in abundantly about the 15th July; at least this was what I observed during two successive years. A male that I shot measured: Length, 8 ; expanse, 11] ; tail, from vent, 3°95; wing, 3°5; bill, from gape, 0-82 ; tarsus, 1°0. “The irides are pale reddish brown ; the eyelids, bluish grey ; bill, black ; gape and greater portion of lower mandible, fleshy grey; legs, plumbeous; claws, horny.” 261.—Lanius cristatus, Zin. Specimens from Thayetmyo are precisely similar to those from other parts of Eastern India and the Himalayas. Mr. Oates remarks: “This species is by no means common during the greater portion of the year, but about the middle of September it comes in in great numbers, and is then rather shy and very noisy. It spreads at this time over the whole district ; and even now in November, in the large town of Prome, one is generally to be seen in my compound. Later on in the year (and I am not sure that they do not entirely disappear during the hot- weather and rains) I have seen but few in the district ; Aypoleucos is the only common Shrike. A male I shot measured: Length, 75; expanse, 10°6; tail, from vent, 3°6; wing, 3°49 ; bill, from gape, 0°89; tarsus, 1. 92 A FIRST LIST OF THE “ Bill at gape and the greater portion of the lower mandible, pale plumbeous, with a pinkish tinge ; whole upper mandible and tip of lower, blackish horny ; irides, dark brown ; eyelids, greyish ; legs, dark brown; claws, horny.” 263.—Tephrodornis pelvica, Zodgs. Specimens from Thayetmyo are precisely identical with others from Nipal, Bhootan, Tipperah, &c. Dr. Jerdon does not notice that there is a considerable differ- ence in the sexes in this species. The males have the whole bill black; the females have the base and gape of both mandibles flesh-colored. 'The males have a band extending from the culmen on either side through the lores, eyes and ear coverts, jet black ; and the whole of the upper part of the head inside these stripes, ashy grey. The females want this black stripe entirely, and merely have the ear coverts a little darker than the brown of the head, and have the whole of the top of the head unicolorous with the back, only the shafts of the feathers being aslightly darker brown. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘The Nipal Wood-Shrike, as Jerdon calls it, is not uncommon in the plains, and is very common in the Evergreen Forests. It goes in flocks, and has a melodious eall. A male measured: Length, 8:1; expanse, 13:5; tail, from vent, 3°4; wing, 4°6; bill, from gape, 1:24; tarsus, 0°8. “The bill, black; eyelids, dark plumbeous; inides, a sickly yellow ; legs, plumbeous brown ; claws, dark horny. “ Three females varied: Length, 8°35 to 8:7; expanse, 14-2; tail, from vent, 3°5; wing, 4°5 to 4°65; bill, from gape, 1°15 to 1:18; tarsus, 0°83 to 0°86. “Soft parts, as in the males, but the bill is paler, and the gape and base of both mandibles flesh-colored.” 265.—Tephrodornis pondiceriana, Gm. The specimens from Thayetmyo, of which I have received several, seem to average slightly smaller than those from any other part of India, but they are not otherwise distinguishable ; and as I have already noticed (Stray Featuers, 1873, p. 443) this species is one that varies locally very widely, and of which the numerous races grade one into the other from Ceylon to Sindh, and Sindh to Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates remarks: “The Common Wood-Shrike is often seen, but generally singly ; occasionally it seats itself in the topmost bough of a tree, and sings a well-connected and rather pretty song. This I heard at the end of April. It is generally dis- tributed ; but I cannot remember if I met with it on the eastern slopes of the hills. The white eye streak is much more developed in our birds here than in a specimen I have from Kutch.” BIRDS. OF UPPER PEGU. 93 267.—Hemipus picatus, Syies. Specimens, male and female, (the latter being, as already noticed, Stray Fratusrs, 1873, p. 435, the supposed capztalis of McClelland,) sent from Thayetmyo, differ in no respect from others from various parts of India, from Ceylon to Nipal. Mr. Oates says: “I shot a pair about ten miles due east of Thayetmyo, and met with it again in the Evergreen Forest. It is not at all common: the sexes do not appear to differ in size. Speci- mens of both measured: Length, 5°35 to 5°45; expanse, 7:6; tail, from vent, 2°3 to 2°4; wing, 2°3 to 2:4; bill, from gape, 0°7. «© A male had the bill black; the inside of the mouth, bluish black; the irides, hazel; eyelids, grey ; legs, plumbeous brown ; claws, horny. The female was similar, except that the inside of the mouth was dusky fleshy.” 268 bis—Volvocivora avensis, Blyth. This species was originally described by Blyth (Journat, Astatrc Society, 1846, p. 307) under the designation of melanoptera, from specimens sent from Arracan by Captain Phayre. Russell, however, had pre-occupied this name for an Australian species, and Blyth changed it to the one above quoted. This has also been sent from Tenasserim by Dr. Helfer; and now we have it from Pegu, where Mr. Oates says that it is ‘a tolerably common bird. I have always found it solitary, searching for insects in densely foliaged trees. It extends over the Pegu Hills, and I procured an adult male in Pegu town on the 11th March. Speci- mens of both sexes measured by me varied as follows: Length, 8:55 to 9°3; expanse, 13 to 13:6; tail, from vent, 3°9 to 4°2; wing, 4°2 to 4°35; bill, from gape, 0°86 to 0:91; tarsus, 0°S to 0:9. The bill is black ; the inside of the mouth, fleshy yellow ; irides, dull red; eyelids, plumbeous; feet and claws, black. The front of the tarsus in many birds has a metallic gloss.” This species, in the case of the adult male, has the entire head, neck all round, breast, back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail coverts, pale iron grey, much paler than in me/aschistos, and of about the same color as the back in Sykesi7. The wings and tail, black, with a greenish metallic lustre; the former, with most of the quills, excessively narrowly margined with white on the outer webs, most conspicuous on the second primary and on_ the later secondaries, and with the lesser coverts, especially towards the shoulder of the wing, tinged with iron grey; and the tail, with all the feathers, tipped with white, the central pair almost obsoletely so, and the exterior lateral ones broadly so; the abdomen, greyish white, turning to pure white on the vent and lower tail coverts. The central tail feathers a good deal suffused 94 A FIRST LIST OF THE with ashy towards their bases, and with traces of obsolete barring. The wing lining and axillaries, unicolorous with the breast. In a slightly younger male, the abdomen and flanks are faintly barred greyish white; on the lower surface of the wing there is not a trace of any white upon the inner webs of the quills. A female, whether adult or not I cannot say, differs in having the whole of the under parts,including the wing-lning, and axillaries, but excluding the lower tail coverts, greyish white, very narrowly and closely barred with greyish brown. The feathers at the edges of the eyelids are white, and the ear coverts are streaked with white, having narrow white central shaft streaks. The wings and tail are hair brown, instead of black, and devoid of metallic lustre. Another female is similar in most respects, but has the lower tail coverts also barred, and has a very large white patch on the basal half or two-thirds of the inner webs of all the primaries, except the first two. It also has the outer webs of all but the first two or three primaries somewhat broadly margined towards their bases with iron grey. The wings and tail are deep hair- brown, but the two central tail feathers are entirely a pale grey brown, except just at their tips. A young male again is very similar to the last, but has the lower tail coverts white, and has the rump and upper tail coverts faintly and narrowly barred with greyish white. There is much more white on the tips of all the tail feathers than in any other specimen ; and the four central feathers, besides the white fringe at the tips, have a moderately large double white spot inside the tips. The primaries and secondaries are conspicuously fringed with white on the margin of the outer web. These birds are very variable in their plumage, and I cannot at present pretend to understand allthe changes. Thesize of the bill, too, is very variable ; indeed, Mr. Oates was almost disposed to think that his numerous specimens might include two species, but ~T have no doubt myself that all belong to one and the same species. 2'70.—Graucalus Macei, Less. Specimens from Thayetmyo sent by both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are identical with birds from Upper India. Mr. Oates remarks: “These birds are common within our limits and also in the Arracan Hills. They are very partial to the fruit of the Banyan tree ; but I have generally found insects m their stomachs. The males, with black lores and unbanded lower parts, run rather larger. Females without the black lores, and with, I think, generally the lower parts more or less banded, are perhaps somewhat smaller ; they vary in length from 12 to 13; expanse, 20 to 21°3; tail, from vent, 53 to 6; wing, 6°6 to 7:1; bill, from gape, 1°5 to 1:6; tarsus, 1*1 to 1:2. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 95 “‘ A male had the iris hazel brown; eyelids, grey ; bill, black ; feet and claws, black. A female had the iris lake red, and the eyelids greyish white.” Captain Feilden also noted that in some of his specimens the irides were brown. I do not think that it is always the ease that there is a difference in color in the irides of the two sexes, as there undoubtedly is in those of Phenicophaus pyrrho- cephalus, and curvirostris, and perhaps others of that same group; I am inclined to believe that in this species the difference is due, as in Llanus melanopterus, to differences in age. 271 ter_—Pericrocotus elegans, Mc Clell. and Horsf, (PROCEEDINGS, ZooLoGicaL Soctery, 1839, p. 156). As already noticed, when treating of the Andaman Minivet (Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 208), I believe that both the Assam and the Pegu birds should be referred to elegans. Mr. Oates remarks: “I think this bird requires to be sepa- rated from the Indian speciosus, the inner webs only of the central tail feathers being black.” This distinction is possibly not absolutely constant in Burmese and Assamese specimens, but I cannot understand how elegans can ever have been confounded with either speciosus or flammeus. First, as to flammeus, no doubt it is of much the same size, and also that the color of elegans is, to a certain extent, intermediate between that of speciosus and Jlammeus ; but then the red extends in elegans (as in speciosus) on to the third, whilst in flammeus it only extends on to the fifth primary. As regards speciosus, elegans is only about half the bulk. I do not lay very great stress upon the outer web of the central tail feather being entirely red in elegans, because I have specimens, both from the Central Provinces and Sikhim, of the true speciosus in which the outer webs of these central feathers are partly or wholly red. The points I would insist on are, as regards flammeus, the difference of the amount of red on the wing, and as regards speciosus, the great difference in size. As regards the females, the same kind of differences exist, and moreover the female of elegans has, like that of speciosus, a great deal more yellow on the front of the head than that of flam- meus. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘ This species is common everywhere, very often alone, at times in flocks of five or six. The males are, perhaps, a little larger than the females as a rule, but the differ- ences are scarcely perceptible. “The followmg is a réswmé of the dimensions of numerous specimens :— “Length, 7:6 to 8:1; expanse, 11 to 11:7; tail, from vent, 3°3 to 3°9; wing, 3°6 to 3°8; bill, from gape, 0°9 to 0°98; 96 A FIRST LIST OF THE tarsus, 0°7 to 0°78; bill, legs, and feet, black ; claws, dark horny ; irides, dark brown; eyelids, plumbeous fleshy ; inside of mouth, fleshy, almost salmon-colored.” 2'76.—Pericrocotus peregrinus, Liz. Pegu specimens are moderately dark birds, intermediate in color between those from Southern and Western India (vide ante, Srray Fratuers, 1873, p. 177, and 1874, p. 209). This species, according to both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates, is common about Thayetmyo. 277 vis—Pericrocotus albifrons, Jerdon—(Ints, 1862, p. 20). I reproduce here Dr. Jerdon’s original description, which is available to very few of my readers :— “ Male.—Crown of the head, nape, back, wings and tail, glossy black ; forehead, and a wide supercilium, white; lores and ear coverts, mixed white and black; chin, throat, sides of neck nearly meeting on the back of the neck, the greater coverts, tertiaries, and a band on the primaries, and the whole of the lower parts, white; all the tail feathers, except the four eentre ones, broadly and obliquely tipped with white; the breast with a gorget of shining orange red, and the rump the same, mixed with white; bill, black; legs, dark brown; irides, ight brown. Length, 6°25; expanse, 8; wing, 2°65; tail, 3°25; bill, rather more than 0°32; tarsi, 0°56. “The female differs in having the parts that are black in the male sooty brown, in wanting the breast spot of the male, and in the rump being only slightly mixed with red. “This pretty bird is the representative in Upper Burmah of P. erythropygia of Southern and Central India, from which it differs conspicuously in the white forehead and in the somewhat paler and more aurora tinge of the red on the breast and rump. It is found usually in pairs, or im small families, chiefly in low and thorny jungles, not frequenting the dense forests. It is active and rest- less, flitting about the smaller branches, and feeding on various insects, which it usually picks up from a leaf or twig, now and then catching one in the air.” Mr. Oates remarks: “ This species is extremely local, and not common even in places which seem suitable to it. Apart from the immediate neighbourhood of Thayetmyo, it occurs, as far as I know, only at Palow, fifteen miles south; northward it may be commoner, but the frontier is a barrier that stops all my inves- tigations in that direction. It feeds a good deal on the ground ; when flying’, it always reminds me of the English Bottle-Tit. It is generally seen in couples. The sexes do not differ in size. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 97 Birds vary in length from 6-4 to 6:6; expanse, 8 to 8°38; tail, from vent, 3 to 3:5; wing, 2°5 to 2°6; bill, from gape, 0°53 to 0°55; tarsus, 0°55 to 0°65. “The irides are dark brown, hardly distinguishable from the eyeballs; eyelids, grey; bill and legs, black; claws, dark horny.” 278.—Dicrurus albirictus, Hodgs. Thayetmyo specimens are not to be separated from others from various parts of the Indian empire. Birds differ cuter se in size, breadth, and carmation of bill; in the size, presence or absence of the white rictal spot, in the length of the tail and the width of the tail feathers; but here, as in the case of Jongi- caudatus, I see no possibility of making more than one species. Dr. Jerdon’s Jongus, which is supposed to differ in wanting the rictal spot, cannot, it seems to me, stand. There is no part of India, I believe, in which specimens wanting the rictal spot may not be found, and between the absolute absence of the spot, and the presence of a large well-marked spot, every intermediate grada- tion may be found, from the merest indication on one side of the gape only. Mr. Oates remarks: “ For many months of the year this species is very abundant ; but from April to September or October few, comparatively speaking, are to be seen, the bulk go away to breed elsewhere; but where do they breed? On the Pegu Hills I saw none. In the cold-weather you may see a dozen together in your compound ; now, in August, it would be difficult to find two in a whole day.” 280.—Dicrurus longicaudatus, Hay. Some of the specimens of this species sent from Thayetmyo are probably identical with Blyth’s D. cwtermedius, which he thus described (Journat, Asiatic Society, 1846, Pt. XV, p. 298)— “ D. intermedius, nobis, nova species. Also closely allied to D. cerulescens, but having no white whatever on the under parts, which are darker than the throat and breast of D. cerulescens, and have a faint steel blue gloss. The upper parts are also glossed with steel blue instead of steel green. Length of wing, 5;. of middle tail feathers, 3}; and of outermost tail feathers, 13 inch more. From Penang, in general aspect intermediate to D. cerulescens and D. longicaudatus.” If these specimens really belong to this species, then I enter- tain no doubt that this is nothing more than one of the numerous forms of D. longicaudatus,—forms which I have satisfied myself are only partially local, varying quite as much with the individual as they do according to locality. N 98 A FIRST LIST OF THE Dr. Jerdon in his recent supplementary notes (Isis, 1872, p- 120) remarks as follows in regard to the present and a supposed nearly allied species :— “Tt has been asserted that the Himalayan bird generally referred to under this name is distinct from the bird from Southern India; and the late Mr. Beavan named it D. Walden, with which D. himalayanus of Tytler is identical. I have recently compared specimens from the Himalayas with others from Southern India, and have been unable to detect any appreciable difference. Hodgson’s name of pyrrhops is given as a synonyme of this bird by Gray and Blyth, and I followed them. This so far appears to be correct that one drawing of this species in Hodgson’s collection is named by him D. pyrrhops; but there is another decidedly distinct bird figured by Hodgson under the same name, which will therefore stand as Buchanga pyrrhops, Hodgson, the Grey Long-tailed Drongo. Viscount Walden first discriminated this species. It somewhat resembles in coloration D. cimeraceus, Horsfield, bemg of a moderately dark shade of grey, with a distinct metallic shine ; and the tail feathers always show the ashy grey tinge in a marked manner when compared with specimens of D. dongicaudatus. The dimensions of one killed at Dacca were as follow :— “ Length, 11; wing, 53; extent, 164; tail, 53. “ T am not certain now whether I ever procured this at Darjeeling (having confounded it with D. longicaudatus) ; but the specimen T got at Dacca I looked upon as a pale individual of that species, and it was not till Lord Walden had pointed out its distinctions and showed mea similar specimen from the Himalayas that I fully recognized its claim to specific separation. ° I found it by no means rare at Dacca, in groves, and at the edges of jungle, with a strong and rapid flight, quite similar to that of D. longicaudatus, capturing insects in the air at a considerable distance from its perch. I have little doubt that it will be found to extend south- wards through Chittagong to Arracan; and it was probably seeing specimens of this race that caused Blyth to remark that Dicrurus cineraceus, Horsfield, in advancing northwards from the Malayan Peninsula, appears to grade into D. longicaudatus. ““T may here remark that Lord Walden considers Blyth’s D. mtermedius, placed as the synonyme of D. longicaudatus, to be a distinct race from Burmah.” Now, I quite agree with Dr. Jerdon that Waldeni and hima- layensis are mere synonymes of dongicaudatus; but I absolutely dispute Lord Walden’s supposed species which Jerdon identifies with Buchanga pyrrhops, Hodgson. I have some very fine speci- mens from Dacca, one quite grey enough and pale enough, espe- cially on the under surface, and with the grey tint on the lateral margins of the tail feathers quite strongly enough developed BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 99 to illustrate most fully the supposed characteristics of this new species ; but, on the other hand, I have another specimen from the same locality undistinguishable from Etawah, Simla, and Southern Indian specimens, and other specimens again inter- mediate between these ; but in size of wing, in shape and size of bill, there is not one iota of difference between the grey bird and one of the darkest Darjeeling birds, or between it and others of different shades from Dacca, as well as from other localities. I hardly understand making a species dependent on a slight difference in tint in a case like this, when difference of tint is not even constant in all the individuals from the same locality. These particular Thayetmyo specimens, to which I have referred, are exactly similar in every respect to the grey Dacca birds, and illustrate, I think, clearly Mr. Blyth’s remark, that Dierurus longicaudatus in passing eastwards and southwards begins to assimilate somewhat or approximate to Dicrurus cineraceus. 280 dis—Dicrurus leucopheus, Vieil. (Vide ante, Stray FEATHERS, 1874, p. 210.) But besides the intermediate forms above referred to, which I have identified with Jongicaudatus, and which any one who pleases may sub-divide into two species,—nyrrhops, Hodg., and intermedius, Blyth, both of which, as well as the true ongicaudatus, Hay, occur together at Dacca, and may be there shot together off the same tree,—there are some specimens from Thayetmyo greyer still than those referred to, and absolutely identical with speci- mens from Singapore and Malacca, except in having a somewhat narrower bill. I confess that I do not know how to deal with these Dicrur?. Nature has drawn no hard-and-fast line between all the innumer- able varieties which bind together with an absolutely perfect chain, no single link apparently wanting, the perfectly grey, comparatively short-tailed, and broad-billed birds from Sumatra and the Straits, which I take to be dewcopheus, and the dark comparatively narrow-billed and long-tailed typical longicaudatus. If we compare birds from the opposite ends of the scale, nothing: can appear more distinct; but if we carefully collate hundreds of specimens from very numerous localities, the impossibility of drawing any but entirely arbitrary lines of separation becomes more and more palpable. If two nearly allied races are to be distinguished as distinct species, it appears to me that it is not merely sufficient to define the types of each species, but to lay down such a definition of each species as shall enable observers to refer any specimen they ob- tain certainly and definitely to one or other species; and this is what it appears to me cannot be done in the case of the four or possibly more races of /ewcopheus, longicaudatus, §c. As far as E 100 A FIRST LIST OF THE can judge, define these races how you will, specimens can be produced in regard to which it will always be doubtful whether they should be referred to this or that species; and not only this, but while in certain localities doubtless only a single race is to be procured, in certain other localities two or more of these supposed species will be found associated together with numerous intermediate forms. How cases like this are to be treated is a question which becomes daily more and more important to Indian ornithologists, as we collect together specimens from all parts of this vast empire. This is a question which, owing to the limited collections existing in Europe, does not appear to me to have been ever sufficiently considered there ; and it would be a great boon to us if philo- sophical naturalists at home would consider the subject in all its bearings, and agree upon some intelligible rule by which we might all be guided. I have elsewhere explained my views in regard to this complex problem, but what I or other individual colonial naturalists think or wish is of little consequence ; what is wanted is something like a consensus amongst the leading naturalists at home. The want of some recognized rule is becoming a serious bar to scientific progress, and has a grave tendency to discourage and disgust neophytes. Mr. Oates remarks in regard to the present birds: ‘ Not uncommon. I have procured it fifteen miles south, and twenty-five miles east, of Thayetmyo. Ithas all the habits of the Common King-crow. I saw,afew days ago, a family of them,—two adults and three or four well-grown young ones; this was at Tonyeh, thirty miles south of Thayetmyo, on the 26th August. Specimens that I measured varied as follows :— “ Length, 10°6 to 11°5; expanse, 15°6 to 16°5; tail, from vent, 5:7 to 6; wing, 5:2 to 5:4; bill, from gape, 1:1 ; tarsus, 0°8 to 0°83. “ Tn the adult the iris is scarlet; the eyelids, grey; bill, feet, and claws, black; and the inside of the mouth, dusky fleshy. In the young, the iris is wood brown ; the eyelids, smoky plum- beous; the gape, fleshy; and the imside of the mouth, pale fleshy.” 282.—Chaptia enea, Vieil. Specimens from Thayetmyo are undistinguishable from Nil- ghiri and Northern Indian birds. Captain Feilden gives the length at from 8 to 8°75. Mr. Oates says: “ Not common. I have only seen it a few times. A male measured: Length 8°85; expanse, 14-2; tail, from vent, 4°75; wing, 4°75; bill, from gape, 1:0; tarsus, 0°62. “ Tris, pinkish hazel ; eyelids, purplish grey ; bill, legs, feet, and claws, black, BIRDS OF UPPER PEQU. 101 283.—Bringa tectirostris, Hodgs. Specimens from Thayetmyo are not separable, I think, from Sikhim and other Himalayan birds, though they seem to be rather smaller and to have a slightly broader and less compressed bill. The whole of this family is extraordinarily variable ; and as I have had no opportunity of examining Javan and Sumatran specimens, I do not know that these are really distinct, and only follow Mr. Gray in assigning to our Indian bird Hodgson’s name above cited. Mr. Oates says: “I saw a few specimens in the Evergreen Forests, where it appears to be tolerably common ; no bird that I saw of this species had long tail feathers up to the end of April. A female I shot, which had no elongated tail feathers, and which was probably a young bird, measured: Length, 10:3; expanse, 15°8; tail, from vent, 5:2; wing, 5°1; bill, from gape, 1:13; tarsus, 0°85. The bill, legs, feet, and claws were black; the inside of the mouth, blackish grey ; eyelids, plumbeous; iris, rich reddish brown.” 284.—Dissemurus malabaroides, Hodgs. I have already (Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 212) discussed the different species of Dissemurus. I have only to say that the birds from Pegu are identical with those from the Himalayas, except that in the case of some of the specimens that I have seen from the former locality both the crests and bills were slightly smaller than those of Himalayan specimens. A bird, however, from the Arracan Hills is absolutely identical with Nepalese specimens. Further south and east a different race, rangoonensis, Gould, which is, I believe, considered identical with paradiseus, L., re- places the Himalayan form. Mr. Oates says : “The Great Racket-tailed Drongo is common all over the country ; near some of the springs of water in the Pegu Hills, especially on the western side where water is scarce, I have seen as many as ten or twelve together close to my camp, trying to get a sip at a small pool of water which I and my followers had monopolized. It has a magnificent voice, and its song Is very rich and powerful. It sings at all hours, but chiefly in the evening about sunset. A specimen I shot (sex ?) measured : Length, 21:1; expanse, 19-7; tail, from vent, 15°3; wing, 6°5; bill, from gape, 1-41; tarsus, 1:05. The iris was pink; bill, legs, and feet, black.” 286.—Chibia hottentotta, Zin. Mr. Oates says: “ This is a rare bird. I procured one at Boulay, and lately saw another at the same place. The bird I shot was a male, and measured: Length, 12°8; expanse, 20°5; tail, from 102 A FIRST LIST OF THE vent, 6 ; wing, 6°7; bill, from gape, 1°62 ; tarsus, 1:09. | The irides were pale pink ; eyelids, pinkish grey ; bill, legs, and claws, black ; and inside of mouth, bluish black.” 28'7.—Artamus fuscus, Veil. Thayetmyo specimens differ in no respect, that I can see, from specimens from other parts of India. Mr. Oates says: “ The Common Swallow-Shrike abounds throughout the plains; it flies over the Thayetmyo cantonment almost every evening in large flocks high in the air, hawking after insects; towards the hills it disappears. Paired birds are excessive- ly affectionate to each other. I have seen a pair kissing and caress- ing each other for fully an hour. I have never found the nest, but I saw a pair making preparatory arrangements at the end of April. A male I shot measured: Length, 7°35 ; expanse, 15 ; tail, from vent, 2°4; wing, 5°3; bill, from gape, 0°95; tarsus, 0°65. “The bill is a fine pale blue ; the tip and anterior half of mar- gins, brownish; irides, dark brown; eyelids, grey; legs, slaty grey ; claws, dark horny; inside. of the mouth, black in some, bright yellow in others. I have not yet discovered the reason of this.” 288.—Tchitrea paradisi, Lin. Specimens sent from Thayetmyo are nearer paradist than affinis. a cannot say that I have ever been very certain of the points of difference between these two species. Jerdon says that the differences consist in (1s¢) the smaller size of affinis ; (2nd) in the lengthened central tail feathers being black- shafted throughout their whole length, and often more or less conspicuously margined throughout with black ; (37d) in the crest not being so long, and having the feathers composing it more equal; (4¢4) in the lengthened tail feathers bemg shorter and narrower ; (5¢/) in the chestnut birds wanting the rich glossy black neck, and having the inner webs of the quills dusky, while they are chestnut in paradist. Now, No. 5 may be ignored at once, seeing that in one stage of the plumage both species equally want the glossy black throat, and have the inner webs of the quills dusky, and again in another stage both species equally have the glossy black throat and the interior webs of the quills chestnut. Next as to the size, I compare a typical male afinis from Sikhim with typical male paradisi ; the wings in both are 3°7 ; there is no appreciable differ- ence in the size of the bills. As to No. 2, this distinction holds good in typical specimens, but at the same time I have speci- mens from Sikhim, shot at the same time as typical affinzs, with the central tail feathers about 11 inches long, and the terminla BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 103 five inches white-shafted. As to No. 3 this also holds good in typical specimens ; but I have specimens, some of which I should class as affinis and some as paradisi, in which the crests are quite intermediate between the typical forms. No. 4 appears to me to be the only criterion, and even this is not very constant. Now as to the Pegu birds. The tail feathers are decidedly broad- er than in typical affinzs ; only the basal five inches or so of the central feathers are black-shafted ; they have no black margins ; the crest is more lengthened and pointed than in affinis, and though the tails seem to run shorter than typical paradisi, still the birds, as a whole, are decidedly closer to this latter than to affinis. Mr. Oates says: “ This species is common in the hills and not rare in the plains. It may occasionally be seen in the cholera- camp hillsin Thayetmyo ; the males in April are generally in the chestnut plumage, but a fine male shot on the 21st May, which was undoubtedly breeding, was in the white plumage. “* J found the nest in the Evergreen Forests of the Pegu Hills on the 30th April. It is described in Nzsts anp Eags, Part I.” 290.—Myiagra azurea, Bodd. Mr. Oates says that this species is “common throughout our limits. The sexes are of much the same size. The birds that I measured varied as follows :— Length, 6:1 to 6-5; expanse, 8°5 to 8°6; tail, from vent, 2°9 to 2°95; wing, 2°8 to 2°85; bill, from gape, 0°71 to 0°8; tarsus, 0°65 to 0°75; the irides are dark brown; edges of eyelids, blue ; eyelids, plumbeous ; bill, dark blue, edges and tip, black; inside of mouth, yellow; legs, plumbeous ; claws, dark horny. In the female the bill is a little dusky.” Thayetmyo birds differ in no respect from those from all parts of India. 291.—Leucocirca albicollis, /e71. Thayetmyo specimens agree well with others from various parts of India. Mr. Oates correctly points out that, whereas Jerdon describes /wscoventris, Frankl., which I consider to be this same species, as having only the three outermost tail feathers tipped with white, his birds from Thayetmyo have all but the central feathers thus tipped; but this is equally the case with many Indian specimens ; in fact, the bird is very variable in this respect, sometimes the outer three, sometimes the outer four, and sometimes the outer five, pairs are tipped with white, and the breadth of this tipping also varies greatly in various specimens. Mr. Oates remarks: “This is common enough about us. The eyelids are grey; the irides, deep brown; and the inside of the mouth, fleshy white.” 104 A FIRST LIST OF THE 292.—Leucocirca aureola, Less. Mr. Blyth (Journat, Astatic Society, 1863, XXXII, p. 79) says that the Upper Pegu race “ isa little different from the Indian one, being just distinguishable by having the white of the fore- head and supercilia not so broad, nor meeting round behind at the occiput ; there is also not so much white on the tail feathers.” I have carefully examined several specimens sent from Thayet- myo by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates, and they appear to me absolutely identical in these respects with Upper Indian specimens ; at the same time they do appear to me to differ slightly in having much less spotting on the coverts. Both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates say that this species is common about Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates gives the following dimensions :— “ Length, 6:9 to 7°15; expanse, 9°6 to 10; tail, from vent, 3°5 to 3:75; wing, 31 to 34; bill, from gape, 0°68 to 0:7; tarsus, 0°8 to 0°82.” 295.—Culicicapa cinereocapilla, Vieii. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘ I observed this bird only on the west- ern slopes of the Pegu Hills, where it was common. The bill is horny brown above, pinkish fleshy below ; the inside of the mouth, fleshy ; the gape, yellowish ; the irides, dark brown ; eye- lids, plumbeous ; legs, feet, and claws, pinkish brown.” Pegu specimens agree well with Indian ones. 296.—Hemichelidon sibiricus, Gm. Mr. Oates says that this species, of which he only sends a single specimen procured on the Eastern Pegu Hills, is rare with- in our limits. Great doubts exist in my mind as to the correct nomenclature of this and certain closely allied species. To prevent confusion as to what bird it is that occurs in Pegu, I may note that it is the species which I have figured in Lanore TO YARKAND, Pl. 4, as Hemichelidon fuliginosa, Hodgson ; but Iam to this day not sure that this bird is the true fuliginosa of Hodgson. The bird Jerdon gave me as one of Hodgson’s specimens, and which bore Blyth’s label, belongs, I consider, to a different species to that which I figured. If this be so (but in this Mr. Sharpe does not concur), then the present species would stand as Hemichelidon terricolor, Hodgson. If, on the other hand, I have rightly figured /udzginosa, then terricolor, Hodgson, must, I believe, merge as a synonyme of latirostris, Raffles (vide ante, Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 220). 304,—Cyornis rubeculoides, “7g. I cannot say wherein Cyornis elegans, Tem., Pl. Col. 596, from Sumatra, differs from our Himalayan species ; but I take it to be BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 105 a slightly larger and decidedly brighter-colored bird. Mr. Gray, I see, assigns ‘Temmuinck’s name to birds from Pegu and Tenas- serim ; the specimens however sent me from Upper Pegu are absolutely identical with numerous others that I possess from various parts of the Himalayas; on the other hand, birds from Tenasserim are decidedly brighter-colored, but certainly not larger than Himalayan examples. Mr. Oates says: ‘This species is common all over the hills, and I have lately received it from Arracan. I found it chiefly in thickly-wooded nullahs. In April it was, I think, breeding. The contents of the stomach were bugs and small beetles. ales measured: Length, 5°75 to 5°95; expanse, 8°5 to 9; tail, from vent, 2°35 to 2°5; wing, 2°75 to 2°8; bill, from gape, 0°75 to 0°77; tarsus, 0°69 to 0°75. A female measured: Length, 5°75 ; expanse, 8°3; tail, from vent, 2°3; wing, 2°7; bill, from gape, 0°66; tarsus, 0°74. “The bill is black; the inside of the mouth, blackish (bluish fleshy in the female) ; iris, dark hazel brown ; eyelids, bluish grey ; legs, pinkish brown ; claws, the same.” —323.—Erythrosterna leucura, Gm. Pegu birds are similar to those from Sikhim and Eastern Bengal generally. Mr. Oates says: ‘I met with this bird once at Yattown bungalow, where several were playing about in a Mango tope; this was in March. I have not met with it anywhere else, except once at the end of December at Engmah. I do not think that it can becommon. The sexes appear to be of much the same size. “ Length, 5°1 ;expanse, 8 to 8°3; tail, from vent, 2 to 2:1; wing, 2°6, to 2°68; bill, from gape, 0°58 ; tarsus, 0°67. “ Tris, dark brown ; eyelids, plumbeous ; bill, dark brown, yellow at gape, and greyish at base of lower mandible ; inside of mouth, orange fleshy; legs, very dark brown, almost black ; claws, dark horny.” 343.—Myiophoneus Temminckii, Vig. A single specimen in Captain Feilden’s collection was identical with Himalayan specimens. This is presumed to have been obtained somewhere in the neighbourhood of Thayetmyo. Unfor- tunately I know nothing of the distribution of this and the next species. Mr. Oates however writes tome: ‘I think I am correct in saying that Captain Feilden’s collection was made entirely at Thayetmyo, or at least on the west side of the Irrawaddy. The Arracan Hills throw out bold spurs, which reach quite up to Thayetmyo, forming nullahs such as a Myzophoneus delights in. No doubt his specimen, which you refer to Temminekit was procured here, where only Zemmiuckit should oceur. oO 106 A FIRST LIST OF THE “T did not discriminate Hugene from the Arracan bird till you pointed out the differences between the two. I have now no hesitation in assigning Temminckit to the Arracan Hills, and generally to the whole country west of the Irrawaddy, and Lugenei to the Pegu Hills extending eastwards, certainly as far as the Sittang. “Perhaps therefore, Zemminckit should hardly find a place in our list.”’ 343 vis—Myiophoneus Eugenei, Hume. This species has already been described (Stray FEaTuErs, 1873, p- 475). It appears to be common throughout the Pegu Hills to Tonghoo. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ Itis generally found singly in rocky nullahs. Length, 13:1 to 13:5 ; expanse, 22-2; tail, from vent, 54; bill, straight from gape, 1:6 to 1:7; wing, 6:9 to 7:2; tarsus, 2°32; the bill, orange yellow; the region of nostrils and anterior half of culmen, dark brown; iris, umber brown; eyelids, straw yellow; feet, legs, and claws, black.” 344 bis—Hydrornis Oatesi, Hume. This species was characterized in Stray Featuers, 1873, p. 477, and we have nothing to add to what was there stated in regard to it. 345 dis.—Brachyurus moluccensis, Wil/. The numerous specimens sent by both Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are precisely identical with specimens that Ihave received from Rangoon, Tenasserim, and Malacca. The bird reminds one much of Brachyurus coronatus, but is distinguished at a glance by its glistening blue wing coverts. Mr. Oates says : “ It measures: Length, 8-1 to 8°35; expanse, 15°8 to 16; wing, 4°7 to 4°9; tarsus, 1:5 to 1°65; bill, at front, 0:95 to 1:05; from gape, 1:2 to 1:25; tail, from vent 1:5 to 1°9. “The irides are dark brown ; the eyelids and a bare spot behind the eye, bluish lead color; the bill, black; legs and feet, fleshy pink, tinged dusky or bluish on the tarsus ; claws, pale horny.” The lores, a streak over the eye, cheeks, ear coverts, sides of the head, and a broad nuchal collar, velvet black ; forehead, occiput, and nape, a sort of brownish fawn, varying a great deal in shade in different individuals, and with a dark blackish brown central stripe ; back, scapulars, and tertials, a somewhat dingy sap green ; rump and upper tail coverts, bluish green; the feathers, broadly tipped with shining smalt (?) blue, so as to leave no other color visible until the feathers are disturbed. The tail is black, obscurely tipped with blue ; the primaries and their greater coverts are black, with a conspicuous white bar on the inner webs of the first two and on both webs of the other primaries, sometimes on both webs of all BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 107 the primaries. The secondaries, dull black, paling somewhat on the inner webs, and broadly margined on the terminal moieties of the outer webs with dull greenish blue; their lesser and median coverts, and the primary lesser coverts, similar to the rump feathers ; but the tips not always so completely hiding the ground color of the feather, which appears as glossless greenish spots amidst the glistening blue. The blue tips, both of rump and coverts (upper tail and wing) have the filaments a good deal de- composed; chin, dusky; throat, white, with a more or less faint buffy tinge ; centre of the lower abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts, bright rose vermillion ; rest of the lower portions of the body, buff, darker on the sides of the breast ; axillaries and wing lining, black or dusky. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘This bird appears by fits and starts. A sharp gale from the south-west in May will brmg them in by the dozen, but they disappear again aday or twoafterwards. I have also had specimens from the Arracan Hills.” 345 quat.—Brachyurus cyaneus, Blyth. Mr. Oates says: “ This bird is found commonly enough in the Evergreen Forests. It lives in precipitous dark ravines among brushwood, creeps away very cautiously when accidentally met, and would seldom be discovered were it not for the rustling of the dead Bamboo leaves as it hops away. One I flushed ina nullah flew up on a tree where I shot it, but, as a rule, it seldom leaves the ground. At times it may be found on a sunny hill- side, where doubtless it goes to pick up black ants. The stomach of one shot in such a situation contained nothing but these ; another shot elsewhere had eaten beetles and grasshoppers. The birds vary a good deal in size, but not, I think, according to sex. The following is a réswmé of the dimensions of six specimens, three males and three females, which I measured :— “ Leneth, 8-9 to 9°5 ; expanse, 14°5 ; tail, from vent, 2°2 to 2°45; wing, 4°45 to 4°6; bill, from gape, 1:2 to 1:25; tarsus, 1°72 to 1:9. The bill is black; the inside of the mouth, dusky fleshy ; the irides, dark reddish brown; eyelids, plumbeous; legs, dark fleshy pink ; claws, whitish.” In the male the lores, and a long stripe behind the eye, con- tinued backwards to the nape, velvet black; the forehead and crown, pale brown, with a faint greenish olive tinge ; all the feathers, black at their bases, with a narrow black stripe from the base of the culmen to the occiput; the feathers of the occiput and nape, elongated, so as to form a full round crest ; the visible portions, dull scarlet vermillion; some of the posterior feathers of the crown tinged ruddy. The back, scapulars, rump, upper tail coverts and tail, blue, brightest on the upper back, where in some specimens it becomes almost smalt blue. Quills, dark hair 108 A FIRST LIST OF THE brown, paling towards the tips. The first six primaries have a broad white band on their inner webs at the bases, and a narrow white band almost hidden by the coverts on the outer webs of the second to the seventh. The primaries, tinged on the outer webs, towards the tips, greyish. The secondaries, broadly mar- gined on the outer webs, except just at their bases, with dull blue. The tertiaries, with the whole of the outer webs and tips, have this same color. The first two or three secondaries often exces- sively, narrowly, and irregularly margined towards their tips with white. The primary greater coverts, dark hair brown. The rest of the greater coverts suffused on the outer web, and the later ones more or less on both webs, with much the same dull blue as the secondaries, palest on the earlier ones, and with the exterior webs of these at times excessively narrowly margined with white, in which there are often traces of tiny black spots. The median coverts, a somewhat brighter blue. In some specimens, some of the earlier ones conspicuously barred towards the tips with black and white, and all of them obsoletely barred with paler blue. Lesser wing coverts, hair brown, suffused towards the tips with dull bluish green or dull olive. The cheeks and ear coverts, very pale fulvous white ; many of the feathers excessively narrowly tipped with black. The chin and throat, white or fulvous white; the feathers on each side, more or less broadly margined at the tips with black, as are some of the feathers in the centre of the chin and throat. The whole of the breast, sides of the neck, sides, flanks and upper abdomen, white, barred with black; the last bar near the tip of each feather contracted to aspot; the centre of the breast suffused with a slightly greenish blue ; the other parts with a pale, delicate, somewhat lavender, blue. The lower abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts, dull white or bluish white ; some only of the lower lateral tail coverts more or less strongly tinged blue, and in some specimens barred. The edge of the wing is a dull bluish green, the wing hning mostly hair brown, but with a conspicuous white patch, formed chiefly by the median secondary lower coverts. In the females the color of the crest is duller and paler ; the central coronal stripe is less well marked. All the feathers of the back and scapulars are more or less broadly margined with a sort of dull olive green, which, owing to the overlapping of the feathers, is almost the only color seen, the bluer basal portions of the feathers only peeping through here and there. It is with this dull olive green, and not with blue, asin the male, that the secondaries, tertiaries, and coverts generally are suffused. On the lower surface the beautiful lavender blue tinge is wholly want- ing, and in the centre of the breast the somewhat greenish blue tinge of the male is replaced by dull fulvous. In other respects the sexes do not appear to differ. “PAA \AYAVHd WIONIOOHLNV VT “TOA SABUPDA T 044 BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 109 346.—Brachyurus cuculatus, Harti. Pegu specimens are absolutely identical with many others that I have from Sikhim, where the bird is very common. Blyth apparently considers (IB1s, 1866, p. 374) that our Indian bird is distinct from the Malaccan one, and should stand under his name, xigricollis ; as far south as Tavoy, at any rate, all are of one and the same species. Mr. Oates correctly points out (as I have previously noticed) that, in describing this species, both Dr. Jerdon (Birps or Inpra, Vol. I, p. 505) and Mr. Elliot (Ints, 1870, p. 420) omit the con- spicuous black patch which on the centre of the lower abdomen surmounts the rich vermillion of the lower ventral region. Mr. Oates remarks: “ I met with this bird in one ravine only in the Evergreen Forests, where I procured several specimens. I searched many precisely similar localities, but never again met with it. Two pairs that I measured varied as follows :— “ Length, 7:3 to 7°55; expanse, 13°5 to 14°5; tail, from vent, 1:55 to 1:65; wing, 4°25 to 45; bill, from gape, 1:05 to 1:08; tarsus, 1-6 to 1:7. “The bill was black; the inside of the mouth, dusky fleshy ; irides, dark coffee brown ; eyelids, pale plumbeous fleshy ; legs, fleshy pink ; claws, pinkish horny. 346 ¢er.—Anthocincla Phayrei,* Blyth. Pl II. Neither Mr. Oates nor Captain Feilden has obtained this species, but Sir Arthur Phayre obtained it somewhere in the Tonghoo District, and it has also oceurred in the Peeu Yoma Hills, and must, therefore, be included in this list. Mr. Blyth constituted a new genus for this species, of which he thus writes :— « A very remarkable Thrush-like mytotherinme (?) form, with short tail and rounded wings. The tarsi moderate or somewhat short, and the toes furnished with straight claws, especially that on the hind toe. Bill, as in the coarser-billed Oreocincle, with no perceptible notch to the upper mandible; no rictal vibrisse ; plumage, devoid of bright colors. “Length about 9:5, of which tail barely 2; closed wing, 4; the fourth and fifth primaries, longest; and the first primary, measuring 2; bill to gape, 1:5; tarsi, 1:13; hind claw, 0°56; color, a rich brown above, paler and more fulvous below, where each feather has a black spot on either web; middle of throat, white, bordered laterally with black, and this again by a streak of black-margined fulvous white feathers below the brown ear- coverts ; a long supercilium of feathers, resembling those of the white moustache streak, and above this again the feathers on the sides of the crown, are squamate and pale-centred ; primaries and * The plate is taken from a drawing made by Davison from the fresh bird. 110 A FIRST LIST OF THE their coverts, which are black, have an angular fulvous spot at the base of the first primary; tertiaries, plain brown, like the back ; but the coverts of the secondaries, black, with broad fulvous ° sagittate tips; bill, dusky; and feet and claws, pale.” Obtained by Colonel Phayre at Tonghoo (JournaL, Asiatic Society, 1862, Vol. XX XI, p. 343). Now, this description and these remarks fail, I think, to convey an adequate idea of this very handsome, though not gaudily, attired Ground-Thrush. Mr. Blyth never saw the bird alive, and the type, which, till we obtained others, was perhaps unique, is and always must have been an indifferent specimen. ‘The consequence was that Mr. Blyth was unable to notice the two perhaps most character- istic features in the bird. The first are the wonderful aigrettes, if I may so call them, projecting fully an inch backwards behind the occiput, giving the head a most remarkable appearance ; and secondly, the red tint on the lower tail coverts, indicating the close affinity of the bird to the other P7ttz, for no one who sees the bird alive or even sees a really good specimen can doubt that this is essentially a Pitta. Its habits, its manner of holding itself, its haunts, are all those of the Prttz, and, different as they are in coloring, the Burmese have but one name for this and cyaneus. The following are the dimensions in the flesh and description of a fine adult male :— Length, 8°82; expanse, 13°75; tail, from vent, 2°5; wing, 4°12; tarsus, 1°25 ; bill, from gape, 1-4; weight, 3 ozs. -The legs, feet, and claws are dark fleshy; the bill, black, only the lower mandible reddish brown towards the gape; the irides are deep brown. A velvet black stripe from the base of the culmen running backwards over the centre of the crown and occiput to the nape, where it widens out and covers the whole nape. The upper part of the lores, the sides of the forehead, crown and occiput on either side of the black streak, warm rufescent buff, each feather very narrowly margined with black and with a black ‘spot on each web, forming a more or less perfect bar towards the bases of the feathers, of which but little is seen till the feathers are lifted ; the lower part of the lores, a streak under the eye, and the ear coverts, black; the'feathers, mostly rufous-shafted, and some of them a little streaked with rufous. From the pos- terior angle of the eye, between the dark ear coverts and the buffy black-margined feathers of the forehead, crown, sides, and occiput, a white stripe runs backwards, the later feathers of which, springing from either side of the nape, are much elonga- ted and sharply pointed; the whole of these feathers exhibit more or less perfect black bars on each web. It is the terminal sharp-pointed feathers that stick out behind the head something BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. lll like the tufts of the Crossoptilon, though of course the feathers are of a totally different texture, being in this case stiff, sharp- pointed, linear, lanceolate in shape. The sides of the neck, imme- diately below this white stripe, and the upper back just at the base of the neck, black, being im fact a continuation of the central head streak, which, as already mentioned, broadens out on the nape. The entire mantle, rump, and upper tail coverts, very rich, rufescent, olive brown, with a sort of burnished glow almost golden on the upper back ; many of the feathers, but not very conspicuously, paler shafted; one or two feathers of the upper back, nearest the black, with a distinct black fringe at their margins; and almost all the feathers of the interscapulary region with a fainter-marked darker marginal fringe. The tail feathers, secondaries, and tertiaries, plain, slightly rufescent, olive brown, the two latter margined slightly more rufescent. Pri- maries and their greater coverts, blackish brown ; the former, with a broad buffy bar at their bases, and paling at their tips to much the same shade as the rest of the quills. The rest of the greater and median coverts, of the same tint as the tertiaries, broadly tipped with bight buff (with occasionally a very narrow fringe of black beyond this), preceded by a broader or narrower, more or less perfect, black bar. The chin and a spot on the upper throat, pure white. From the edge of the lower mandible, about opposite the middle of the lores, a narrow black stripe descends from either side towards the base of the throat, slanting mwards so as to divide the throat into three nearly equal divisions. The whole of the throat between these two lines, and between these and the black ear coverts, pale buff; the feathers (many of them very narrowly and almost obsoletely), fringed with black. The breast, abdomen, and sides are a warm, somewhat ferrugi- nous, brown; the sides and flanks, tinged with olivaceous ; and all the feathers of these, as well as of the breast, exhibiting a more or less perfect or imperfect black bar not far from the tip. The bar is generally very perfect and conspicuous on the sides and flanks, but on the breast they are mostly reduced to double spots or even to a spot on one web, and very few of them are visible until the feathers are lifted. The lower tail coverts are what I should call a pale salmon vermillion ; the centre of the abdomen is slightly paler; the edge of the wing and the carpal joint is buffy with very narrow, almost obsolete, transverse dusky bars. The wing lining, except the primary lower greater coverts (which are a grey brown like the under surface of the quills), are, like the patch at the base of the primaries, buff-colored. As regards the structural affinities of this bird, I must admit that, as Mr. Blyth says, the bill has no perceptible notch ; the rictal vibrisse are also inconspicuous, but not more so, I }i2 A FIRST LIST OF THE think, than in Brachyurus moluccensis. The toes and claws are very much on the model of this latter bird, but the tarsi are doubtless conspicuously shorter. The bill is longer and more compressed than in most of the Ptt@; but, excepting the notch, it is almost a miniature of that of Brachyurus megarhynchus, except that the culmen of this latter is straighter and less arched than in our present species. The bird clearly belongs to a distinct genus, but I myself entertain no doubt that it must be included in the Pztiide. We have attempted to convey a feeble idea of this remarkable bird in the accompanying plate, but we shall require a couple of years’ practice before we can turn out much in the way of pictures. 351 dis.—Cyanocincla solitaria, iii. Following Mr. Sharpe, I, for the present, identify the birds from Thayetmyo with the Eastern Blue Rock-Thrush ; but I am myself by no means satisfied with the explanation of the changes of plumage in this species afforded in the “ Brrps or Evuropn.” Mr. Sharpe’s conclusion is that there are two distinct species, one of which, the Eastern one, at one stage of its existence exhibits more or less of deep chestnut coloring on its lower surface, which it entirely loses when fully adult. My own view, I confess, is that there is only one true species, but that many of the mem- bers of this species, whose habitat is eastern, exhibit more or less of this ferruginous tinge as an individual peculiarity; that, broadly speaking, the further east and south-east you go the more the rufous exhibited, and the greater the proportion of individuals that exhibit it; but still in all localities some individuals remain true to the type, showing no rufous at any stage of their existence. If this view be not admitted, then we must say that there are two species—a Western, which extends, though sparingly, to the extreme east; an Eastern, confined to the east ; and throughout the tract of country in which the western overlaps the eastern, an inter-breeding of the two, producing hybrids with every degree of rufous in their plumage from one single feather up to the full amount of the Hainan birds, which are the most rufous that I have seen. First, I would premise that I have examined some hundreds of these birds shot in all parts of India. I have now before me twenty-five males in more or less of the blue plumage from the Khelat Hills, various localities in Sindh, Museat, Ladakh, hills near Simla, near Mussoorie, Almorah, from Mount Aboo, the Sambhur Lake, from Goorgaon, Mynpoorie, Etawah, Saugor, the Nilghiris, and Coimbatore, and not one of these or of any that I have examined from any locality, except Eastern Bengal, exhibits or exhibited the faintest trace of rufous. I have one male from Dacca, exhibiting a faint ferruginous tinge on the BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 113 lower tail coverts ; but I have others again from further east, viz., Tipperah, in different stages of plumage, none of which exhibit the smallest trace of rufous anywhere. Of the Thayetmyo birds, one is a male in the almost perfect blue plumage, only a few blackish points are dimly seen upon the back, and the greater coverts are dimly margined with white. There is not a trace of rufous about this specimen. The second is a male, also in blue plumage, but with the whole of the feathers of the upper and lower surfaces, except on the head and chin, tipped with dull white, preceded by a blackish line. In this bird the whole of the lower tail coverts are mingled chestnut and blue. The third is similar to the last, except that the white tippings have almost disappeared from the upper surface ; while, curious to say, the chin and throat are not blue, but still retain the young spotty plumage. This has only a trace of chestnut in the lower tail coverts. This has also the faintest possible chestnut tinge in one or two of the under-wing coverts. The fourth is a female, in no way differing from dozens of other Indian ones that I have. Now, if this chestnut plumage was doffed on the birds coming to maturity, these quite young blue birds ought to show much more rufous than others more advanced; but I have before me a specimen, killed at Haman on the 29th March 1868, which is in perfect adult blue plumage, no single trace of immaturity, except tiny white tippmgs to the greater coverts, which has the whole lower breast, abdomen, vent, lower tail coverts, wing lining, and axillaries, deep chestnut. Then, I have a younger bird from Formosa, in much the same stage of plumage as the third male from Thayetmyo, in which the axillaries and wing lining are pale chestnut, and the whole of the abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts are mottled with a comparatively pale chestnut. Lastly, I have a female from Amoy, identical, as far as I can judge, in every respect with our Indian female. And here I wish particularly to note that, whereas Mr. Sharpe remarks that the adult females are precisely similar to the males, I must say that, though I have shot and sexed several scores of these birds, I have never had the luck to meet with a female in the blue garb of the male, and I confess that I still think it very doubtful whether she ever does assume it, in India. In regard to these eastern and western races, and the supposed smaller Indian race, I can only say that if large series are com- pared, I do not believe that any substantive difference in dimen- sions can be established.. Big and little birds, short and long billed ones, occur wherever the species occurs, and it seems to me quite unreasonable to pick out the smaller birds and convert them into a separate species, when all sizes, big and little, oceur side by side. Py 114 A FIRST LIST OF THE Tn corroboration of these views I may add that Mr. Davison has recently shot and sexed thirteen males and six females in the Tenasserim Provinces. Eleven of the males are in the blue, or blue and rufous plumage, two young males are in the female garb, and all six females are in the spotted garb. If Mr. Sharpe was correct in saying that the adult female was similar to the male, it seems scarcely probable (let alone my own experience) that there should not amongst all these birds killed by Davison be one blue female, or even one female showing the slightest tendency to assume the plumage of the adult male. Then, as regards the rufous plumage, the youngest blue birds amongst this Tenasserim lot, everywhere on the mantle and on the lower surface, banded with blackish brown, fringed paler, exhibit scarcely a trace of rufous. Only a slight tinge of this color is observable on the lower tail coverts. As the banding begins to disappear, the rufous on the lower tail coverts and about the vent becomes more pronounced, in a further stage it has spread up the middle of the abdomen, and by the time that all traces of the immature banding has dis- appeared, the axillaries, wing lining, sides, entire lower breast, middle of abdomen, vent, and lower tail coverts are deep chestnut. Running parallel to this series, however, is another composed of birds shot in the same localities, m which the progress from the most strongly banded form up to the entirely unbanded one may be traced without the bird at any time exhibiting a single rufous feather. I cannot, therefore, avoid withholding for the present my assent to Mr. Sharpe’s views in regard to this species. Mr. Oates makes the following remarks mm regard to this species :— “Without being a common bird, it is not unfrequently seen singly, more especially in the vicinity of wooden bungalows. “«« At Thayetmyo one occasionally came into my compound for a day or two, and then disappeared for a month or two. It will flit mto the verandah, sit on the post plate, and remain for a few minutes in perfect silence. I never heard it utter a note. Three birds that I shot, males, measured as follows :— “ Length, 8:9 to 9; expanse, 14-2 to 146; tail, from vent, 3-4 to 3:6; wing, 4°65 to 4°75; bill, from gape, 1:18 to 1:22; tarsus, 1‘1 to 1-2. “The bill was blackish horny ; the gape and the inside of the mouth, yellow; the legs, feet, and claws, black; irides, hazel ; eyelids, pinkish plumbeous.” 355.—Geocichla citrina, Lath. Most of the specimens from Thayetmyo are precisely identical with others from Oudh, Darjeeling, Dacea, and various localities in Continental India, One only exhibits scarcely a trace of white BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. es 5. markings om the wing, thus showing an approach to Blyth’s Malayan species innotata. Mr. Oates remarks : “Though not often seen, this is really a common bird from Thayetmyo to Tonghoo. The sexes are of much the same size. Specimens measured varied in length from 8°55 to 87; expanse, 14 to 14°75; tail, from vent, 3:2; wing, 4°6 to 4°8; bill, from gape, 1:1; tarsus, 1°33, “Those killed at the end of April in the Pegu Hills were appa- rently about to breed. “The bills were blackish brown ; the gape and base of lower mandible, fleshy ; eyelids, greenish plumbeous ; irides, dark hazel ; legs, feet, and claws, fleshy pink.” 371.—Oreocincla dauma, Lath. A single specimen sent from Thayetmyo is identical with Himalayan examples. Though unknown in the plains of India during the _ hot- weather, it occurs there as a straggler during the cold-season. I shot one once at Bhurrey, the point of junction of the Chumbul and Jumna Rivers, and Mr. Blewitt has sent it from Raipore, and Mr. Ball from Chota Nagrpore. Mr. Oates remarks: “I have only seen a single specimen, which I shot on the 14th April, in the Evergreen Forests of the Pegu Hills. This was a female and measured— _ “Length, 10°35; expanse, 16; tail, from vent, 3°6; wing, 5°5; bill, from gape, 1:23; tarsus, 1°28. «Bill, dark brown above and at centre of lower mandible, remainder of lower mandible, pale brown, the gape with a tinge of orange ; inside of mouth, yellowish. Eyelids and naked spot behind eye, plumbeous; iris, dark hazel brown; legs and claws, fleshy white, the latter with a tinge of pink.” 385.—Pyctoris sinensis, Gm. Four specimens which I have received from Thayetmyo are ab- solutely inseparable from Indian specimens from various localities. Some of them have bills a great deal deeper than some Indian birds, and one of them has a bill a good deal less deep than several Indian birds. There is absolutely no separating them. What then is Jerdon’s a/tirostris which he described from Thayet- myo in the Isis, 1862, p. 22? This is what Dr. Jerdon said :—- “ Above, pale reddish brown, deepest on the wings and tail , forehead and streak over the eye, hoary grey; beneath, whitish ; tinged on the lower part of the breast, abdomen, and flanks with pale fulveseent; quills and tail feathers, shghtly dusky on their inner webs; under-wing coverts, pale ferruginous; bill, fleshy horny; legs, fleshy ; irides, dark brown, with an outer rircle of white: eyelids, pale sulpbur yellow. 116 A FIRST LIST OF THE “ Length, 6} inches; expanse, 74; wing, 23; tail, 3; bill, %, + inch high; tarsus, 1. “This interesting bird is very closely allied to Chrysomma sinensis, for a young bird of which I at first mistook it. It differs, however, in some important particulars, more especially in the depth of the bill, in which it makes an approach to the Paradoxornis group. The claws are more lengthened and less curved than in that species. It will probably be considered worthy of separation as a sub-genus. I found it frequenting long grass in islands on the Irrawaddy River, in Upper Burmah. “ Tt had partaken of ants and small coleoptera.” Now, this description agrees perfectly with our birds, except that the forehead and the streak over the eyes are white and not hoary grey. As to the bills I have already remarked that they do not differ in any way constantly from those of Indian birds, and the same may be said of the claws. It is impossible to make a second species out of these Thayetmyo birds, let alone a new sub-genus. Can it be thata distinct species, altirostris, inhabits this same limited locality? Observers on the spot must solve this question. In the meantime all the birds sent by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are positively s¢zensis and nothing else. Mr. Oates remarks: “ These birds though common are not often seen. They occasionally sing on a low tree with much vivacity. I did not observe it on the hills. Specimens measured: Length, 6°8 to 7; expanse, 7°9 to 8°3; tail, from vent, 3°4 to 3°5; wings, 2°5 to 2°6; bill, from gape, 0°6; tarsus, 1°0. “ Trides, pale orange yellow; eyelids, deep orange; the edges, tumid ; bill, black, yellowish at nostrils ; inside of mouth, yellow ; feet, pale orange yellow ; claws, pinkish.” 389 vis.—Alcippe Phayrei, Blyth. The specimens sent by Captain Feilden and Mr. Oates are doubtless identical with that described by Blyth (Journat, Asiatic Soctrry, 1845, Vol. XIV, p. 601) in the followmg words :— “ Alcippe Phayret is most allied to A. potocephala (Jerdon), but is distinguished by its much less rufescent hue, especially on the tail and its upper and lower coverts, which are devoid of such a tinge, or the upper tail coverts retain it only in a very slight degree. Length about 5} inches, of wing 2%, and tail 23 ; bill to gape, under } inch; and tarsi, inch. Upper parts, shghtly fulvescent olive brown ; the crown, ashy ; and wings, particularly the large alars, margined with somewhat deeper fulvescent ; lower parts, fulvescent whitish, whitest on the throat and middle of the belly ; bill, dusky above, below paler; and legs light-colored ; outermost tail feather, 55, an inch shorter than the middle ones ; inhabits Arracan, where discovered by Captain Phayre.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. Aig Alcippe Phayrei differs not only in the less rufescent hue from povocephala, approximating in this respect more closely to xipal- ensis, but it has longer and slenderer bill than potocephala, and a fortiort a very much longer bill than A. xipalensis, which is moreover altogether a smaller bird; but in one respect it more closely resembles nzpalensis, a point that Blyth appears to have overlooked, in that it exhibits the same sort of dark streak run- ning backwards on either side of the nape that nipalensis does ; only in Phayrei it is less strongly marked, and sometimes ap- pears to be almost obsolete. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ This little Quaker Thrush is not un- common in the Evergreen Forests. It struck me as being very silent. It breeds, I think, about the end of April. Two males I shot on the 19th April in the Pegu Hills measured— ** Length, 6°15 to 6°25; expanse, 8°25 to 8:5; tail, 2°65 to 2°78 ; wing, 2°55 to 2°65; bill, from gape, 0°72 to 0°73; tarsus, 0°84 to 0-9. * Tn the one the bill was yellow at gape, brown on upper man- dible ; the lower mandible also brown, but the tip yellowish ; side of mouth, yellow; iris, whitish brown ; eyelids, yellowish green ; feet, fleshy brown ; claws, the same. In the other, the bill, legs, &e., were the same; the iris, however, was pale blue; eyelids, plumbeous, yellowish at the edges.” 391.—Stachyris nigriceps, Hodgs. A specimen from the Pegu Hills, a female shot off the nest, agrees perfectly with others from Darjeeling. Mr. Oates remarks: “I procured only one specimen of this bird in the Evergreen Forests. I shot it off the nest on the 29th April. The nest and eggs are fully described in your Nests anD Ecos or Inpran Birps, Pt. IT. “The female measured: Length, 5°45; expanse, 7; tail, from vent, 2; wing, 2:2; bill, from gape, 0°73; tarsus, 0°84. “The bill was bluish black on the upper mandible ; pale bluish on the lower; the anterior half of the margins, dusky; eyelids, bluish ; iris, orange brown; legs, pale dusky green; claws, yellowish.” I am inclined to believe that in this species the bill changes color in the breeding season. Specimens that I have obtained in the cold-season had the upper mandibles pale brown; the lower mandibles, pale yellowish horny. 393 is,—Stachyris rufifrons, Hume. This species was fully described in Srray Featuers, 1873, p- 479. I have nothing to add to what I then stated, except that, judging merely from the description, I cannot be at all sure that this is not identical with S. precognitus, Swinh., from China. % 118 A FIRST LIST OF THE 395.—Mixornis rubricapilla, Zickell. Pegu specimens do not appear to be quite so yellow under- neath as all my Himalayan specimens are; but I believe that the color of the lower surface varies a good deal in this species according to season. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘ This species is found sparingly on both sides of the Pegu Hills. A male measured: Length, 5:4; expanse, 7; tail, from vent, 2°15; wing, 2°3; bill, from gape, 0°73; tarsus, 0°7 << The irides are a sickly white ; the eyelids, plumbeous ; the bill, horny brown; the inside of the mouth, fleshy brown ; legs and feet, fleshy horny ; ; claws, yellowish horny.” 396.—Timalia pileata, Horsf. Pegu specimens are very similar to birds from Tipperah, Dacea, the Lower Sikhim Valleys, &c.; but the bills are appreciably smaller, and the color of the upper surface appears to run some- what paler: but I have only seen two specimens from Thayet- myo, and I do not know whether these differences are persistent, but I do not think so. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘This isa common bird in the plains, and is generally met with in pairs. I found the nest at Thayet- myo on “the 2nd June. It contained young ones only a few days old. The nest was placed on the ground in the centre es a low, but very thick, thorny bush. «Two males measured as follows :— “Length, 7°0 to 7:1; expanse, 8:0 to 8-1; tail, from vent, 3:1 to 3°5; wing, 2°6; pill, from gape, 0°73 to 0°78; tarsus, 0-9 - to 0:97. «The bill was black; irides, dark red; eyelids, dark bluish grey, inside of mouth, black; legs, purplish brown; claws, horn colored.” ; Lord Walden separates the Indian bird as 7. Jerdonz, and offers the following remarks on this subject (AN. anp Mag. or Naturau History, 1872, p. 61):— “ Timalia Jerdoni, nova species. “ Timalia pileata, Horsf., apud Jerdon, Birps or Inp1a, Vol. II, p. 24, nec Horsf. « A narrow frontal band extending over the eyes. The cheeks, chin, and throat, white. Forehead and crown, deep chestnut ; remainder of upper surface, dark olive grey; quills and rectrices above, brown, tinged with olive ; rectrices, traversed by numerous narrow bands of a darker shade of brown. Upper part of breast, white, changing to cinereous lower down; each feather, with a black shaft; remainder of lower surface, fulvous, mixed with cinereous olive; under-tail coverts, cinereous olive. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 119 Longitudo. Rostr.a mar, Ale. Cauda. Tarsi, T. Jerdoni ... 0:31 2°36 2°88 0°88 Khasia Hills. T. pileata ... 0°50 262 312 100 8 8©Java. “« Described from specimens obtained in the Khasia Hills. “This bird has hitherto been considered identical with the Javan 7. pileata, Horsf. A comparison I have recently been enabled to make with authentic Javan examples has convinced me of their specific distinctness. True, 7. pileata is a larger bird ; in it the billis much more powerful, its altitude being quite double that of examples from the Khasia Hills. The crown of the head is bright ferruginous, not dark chestnut. The color of the upper plumage, wings, and rectrices is considerably paler, that of the lower is pale tawny, and the ashy color of the black-shafted breast plumes is less intense. My deeply lamented friend Dr. Jerdon fully coneurred with me in the propriety of separating the two species. ~ © Tn the Brirps or Inp1a this species is said to extend through the Malayan Peninsula to Java; but I believe that it has never been found further south than Arracan. Neither it nor the Javan species has been shown to occur in the Malayan Penin- sula or in Sumatra. It seems to belong to that category of Javan forms (such as Harpactes oreskios, Crypsirhkina varians, Bhringa remifer, &c.), which, while absent from the intermediate regions, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, re-appear further to the north in Burmah, some penetrating ‘as far as Nipal.” I fear this is not quite correct. I have seen only one Javan specimen, it is true, but that had the wing only 2°47, andI can provide Lord Walden with any number of Indian specimens with wings from 2°5 to 2°6. Possibly Lord Walden’s supposed pz/eata is the male and his Jerdoni the female. Every one who has shot these ana kindred birds knows what a great aifference in size there is in the sexes. Then, as to this species not occurring in the Malay Peninsula, I am not sure where this is supposed to commence, but most certainly this, H. oreskios and Crypsirhina varians all occur as low down as Mergui, which is hardly separable from the Malayan Peninsula. 399 ¢er.—Pellorneum Tickellii, Biytz. One specimen is sent, which I suppose to belong to this species. Mr. Oates says: “‘ This specimen agrees pretty well with Blyth’s meagre description which you quote at page 299 of Srray Fratuers for 1873. It is not uncommon on the eastern slopes of the Pegu Hills, frequenting brushwood and heaps of rubbish in 120 A FIRST LIST OF THE the nullahs. It is very tame and slow in its movements. A female that I shot measured— “ Length, 5:6 ; expanse, 7-2 ; tail, from vent, 1°9 ; wing, 2°22; bill, from gape, 0°79; tarsus, 1°02. «The billis dusky above, pale fleshy beneath ; the inside of the mouth, yellow; irides, reddish brown; eyelids, greenish fleshy ; legs, fleshy white; toes, of a slightly paler color.” 399 sextus—Pellorneum minor, Hume, ? P. sub- ochraceum, Swinh. Mr. Oates sends an unmistakable specimen of this species, and says: “This bird appears to feed on the ground in pairs. I have met with it very rarely, and always in thick brushwood on the ground. A pair I shot measured as follows :— “ Male.—WLength, 6°65; expanse, 8:6; tail, from vent, 2°65; wing, 2°62; -bill, from gape, 0°82; tarsus, 1:05. “ Female.—Length, 6°4; expanse, 8; tail, from vent, 2°7 (?) ; wing, 2°5; bill, from gape, 0°79; tarsus, 1:0. * Primaries.—Fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, sub-equal and longest; fourth, 0°05; third, 0°35; second, 0°6; and first, 1:0, shorter than the longest.” I described this bird (Stray Fratuers, 1873, p. 298) from a very indifferent specimen, which must have been a female. The type specimen agrees well with a specimen sent by Mr. Oates, except that the latter is rather more fulvous below. The proportions of the primaries, as given by Mr. Oates, agree very well with those of the type specimen. Mr. Oates has sent another specimen which, though it has a somewhat longer wing, belongs also, I think, to this same species; but the bill is broken, and the specimen otherwise so indifferent that I cannot be quite certain. Of this Mr. Oates, who seems inclined to consider it as distinct, remarks— “This is far from common. I have met with only two specimens. One measured: Length, 6:5; tail, from vent, 2°7; wing, 2°75; bill, from gape, 0°82; tarsus, 1. The irides were reddish chocolate; the upper mandible, dark horny, slightly paler towards the tip; the anterior half of lower mandible, very pale horny; the basal one-half, light yellowish ; legs, feet, and claws, fleshy.” The bird is very close to both raujiceps and nipalensis, but it has a much shorter bill than the former and a much slenderer one than the latter. The spotting on the breast is paler-colored, less in extent and less conspicuous altogether than in either species. I have recently obtained a series of more than twenty of this species, a considerable number of which were measured in BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 121 the flesh. The males as usual amongst these birds run, I find, a good deal larger than the females. The following are the dimensions of both sexes :— Males: Length, 6°65 to 6°8; expanse, 8°5 to 9:25; tail, from vent, 2°25 to 2°82; wing, 2°5 to 2°75; tarsus, 0°95 to 1:05 ; bill, from gape, 0°8 to 9°85; weight, 1 to 1:2 oz. Females: Length, 6:12 to 6:4; expanse, $ to 8-25; tail, 2°4 to 2-6; wing, 2°37 to 2°5; tarsus, 1:0; bill, from gape, 0-79 to 0°83; weight, 0°75 to 0°85 oz. In both sexes, legs, feet, and claws are pinkish fleshy; the irides vary from red brown to reddish pink or light pinkish red. The upper mandible is dark brown, paling to the tip. The lower mandible yellow from base to the angle of the gonys, and thence to tip, fleshy or fleshy white. There is no doubt that this is a perfectly good and distinct species, but now that I find the bird common, I begin to suspect that this is P. subochraceum described by that indefatigable ornithologist Mr. Swinhoe in the An. anp Maca. or Narurat History, 1871, p. 257. He says: “Like P. ruficeps, Swainson, of India, but smaller, with /ess deep bill and shorter tarse; crown, richer rufous, with a distinct pale buff eye streak extending to the nape; breast, flanks, and vent, buff, leaving the belly nearly white; the breast streaked with a few, long, olive brown, arrow-head marks ; length, 5°38; wing, 2°7; tail, 2°6. «My single specimen of this bird was collected in the Tenas- serim Provinces, and sent to me some years ago by Mr. Blyth. My P. rujficeps is from Mr. Beavan’s collection.” Now, if Swinhoe had specimens of the real ruficeps from Southern and Central India, of course the two birds could not be identical; but it seems probable that he had specimens of the thick-billed nipalensis, Hodgs. (re-described- as Mandellii by Mr. Blanford), in which case there would be no difficulty in identifying minor and subochraceum 402.—Pomatorhinus schisticeps, Hodgs. Two specimens sent by Mr. Oates belong to this present species, while specimens received from a little further east in Northern Tenasserim are /eucogaster, Gould—that is to say, smaller birds with shorter bills, a much less cinereous tinge upon the forehead and crown, and a marked, though irregular, ferruginous demi- collar on the nape. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘This species is common throughout our limits, and is the only bird of the genus I have met with here. It goes about in parties of five or six; its ery is ‘ 00-r00- 700-100-ta-rway, repeated frequently from the middle of thick jungle. Q 122 ‘A FIRST LIST OF THE “Males measured: Length, 9:2 to 9°3; expanse, 11 to 11:4; tail, from vent, 3-9 to 4:2; wing, 3°7; bill, from gape, 1:3; tarsus, 1°3. “The bill is orange yellow; the base of the lower mandible and gape, dusky; the inside of mouth, flesh color; iris, pale yellow ; eyelid and naked skin behind eye, pale lavender ; legs, dusky plumbeous ; claws, horny.” 407 bis—Garrulax Belangeri, Less. Specimens from Thayetmyo appear to be identical with others from the neighbourhood of Rangoon and various localities in Tenasserim, where this species is specially common and abundant. Mr. Oates says: ‘This is a common bird both in the plains and on the hills—commoner perhaps in the latter ; goes in flocks of from five to twenty, feeds on the ground, and has a very loud cheerful laugh, which it utters in chorts with others on the shghtest provocation. Their united noise is rather startling, when heard unexpectedly, in some dark forest. Specimens I measured gave dimensions as follow :— * Length, 11:2 to 11:8; expanse, 14°5 to 16°25; tail, from vent, 4°4 to 4°8; wing, 4°85 to 5; bill, from gape, 1:4; tarsus, 18. The billis black ; the gape, yellow ; the inside of the mouth, flesh-colored; iris, pinkish hazel; eyelids, yellowish grey; legs, plumbeous; claws, pale horn color. I found the remains of insects and two grains of rice in the stomach of one that I dissected.” This species, though recognizable at the first glance, only differs from Garrulax leucolophos, Hardw., in having, as Mr. Blyth pointed out in 1841, the whole back, wings, sides, vent, and lower tail coverts more or less ferruginous, which color im leucolophos is confined to the nape and sides of the neck, passing downwards across the breast, and in having the white of the under parts, which in Jdewcolophos terminates abruptly at the lower part of the breast, continued some way down the middle of the abdomen. 412.—Garrulax pectoralis, Gould, Some of the Thayetmyo birds differ from Darjeeling specimens in having the whole upper surface somewhat paler; the chin, throat, and whole space within the pectoral band, pure white, instead of more or less ferruginous; in having the breast and flanks only faintly tinged with this color ; and lastly, in having the white tips to the lateral tail feather somewhat broader. I do not know whether these distinctions are constant in all specimens; in dimension the birds correspond exactly. It is curious how the ear coverts vary in this species ; in some birds they are entirely silvery white ; in others, they are mingled BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 123 black and white ; and in othersagain (and this was the form that Blyth long ago separated as melanotis) they are entirely black. This does not appear to be a sexual difference: to the best of my remembrance both sexes vary equally in this respect. Is it seasonal, or is itdue to age? This is a problem I should like to see solved. There is another problem scarcely less puzzling, and that is the relation of the present species to moniliger, Hodgson. This latter is nothing but a smaller race of pectoralis ; which it matches feather for feather; its ear coverts vary just as those of pectoralis do, but it is very distinctly smaller, and has a wing fully half aninch shorter. It might be supposed that these were different sexes of the same species, but this is certainly not the case; we have both sexes of each race. If these races occurred in different localities, the matter would be comparatively easy; but, as far as I know, wherever the one is found the other also occurs, and this is certamly the case in Sikhim, in the Bhootan Dhooars, in Assam, the Tipperah Hills, and Pegu. How are we to explain these two persistent differently-sized races, precisely similar in every other respect, living side by side, and yet apparently not interbreeding? At any rate, I have never seen a specimen intermediate in size between the two races. Mr. Oates says: ‘ Within our limits this species is as common as Belangeri, and of similar habits. I found the nest of this bird on the 27th April. The nest I have already described in Nzsts AND Eaas, Pt. II. A pair I shot measured as follows :— “ Male: Length, 12°7; expanse, 17; tail, from vent, 5:1; wing, 57; bill, from gape, 1:5; tarsus, 1°95. << Female: Length, ee expanse, 17; tail, from vent, 5; wing, 5:7; bill, from gape, 1: 5; tarsus, 1°8. “The irides are reddish “brown; the upper mandible, dark brown ; lower mandible, bluish horny at base and tip, darker in the middle; inside of mouth, bluish fleshy; eyelids and bare patch behind, grey; edges of eyelids, orange yellow; legs, light plumbeous ; claws, bluish white.” —413.—Garrulax moniliger, Hodzgs. Identical with specimens from other localities referred to in the preceding. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ This species is not so common as pectc- ralis, but is of the same distribution. I shot one female off her nest on the 27th April in the Pegu Hills. The nest is described in Nests anp Eaés, Pt. II. A pair I shot measured as follows :— ~ © Male: Length, 12; expanse, 15:2; tail, from vent, 4°8; wing, 5; bill, from gape, 1:3; tarsus, 1°74. “ Female: Length, 11:2 ; expanse, 14°3; tail, 4-7 ; wing, 4°6; bill, from gape, 1:3; tarsus, 1°72. . 124 A FIRST LIST OF THE « Another female measured 11°7. “The irides, bright yellow ; eyelids and their edges, dark dull purple; bill, dark horny; tips and margins of both mandibles, very light transparent horny.” 439.—Chatarrhea Earlei, Blyth. Mr. Blanford obtained this species on the banks of the Ivra- waddy, in high elephant grass, at Thayetmyo (Ips, 1870, p. 466), and I have now received specimens thence, though neither Mr. Oates nor Captain Feilden appears to have met with it. 439 dis.—_Chatarrhea gularis, Blyth.—(Journat, Asiatic Society, BenGAL,1855, XXIV, p. 4:78.) This species, which appears to be common in Pegu and Upper Burmah, is not of course described by Dr. Jerdon, and I therefore transcribe Blyth’s original description: ‘ Color, ruddy brown, passing: to olivaceous on the hind part of the back, each feather having a narrow black mesial streak; frontal feathers, narrow, stiffish pointed, and white, with black mesial ihne—these peculiar feathers continued over, but not beyond, the eye; lores, blackish ; chin and throat, pure white, extending down the front of the neck ; ear coverts and sides of neck, unstreaked ruddy ; breast and flanks, ruddy brown, paler on belly ; and lower tail coverts, duller brown ; tail, dull olive brown, and conspicuously rayed across ; bill, ‘dull plumbeous, yellowish towards gape; and legs, pale brown, and darker on joints; length, about 11 inches; of tail, 6 inches ; closed wing, 33 inches ; bill to gape, 1 inch ; and tarsus, 14 meh.” Mr. Oates remarks : “This species is common round Thayetmyo and as far south as Prome, and easterly tothe foot of the Pegu Hills. The sexes are of much the same size. A pair measured as follows :— “‘ Length, 10-1; expanse, 10°4 to 10°8; tail, from vent, 5°3 to 5'4; wing, 3°2 to 3°25; bill, from gape, 1:0 to 1:05; tarsus, 1°35 to 1:4.” I have however a specimen fully as large as that of which the dimensions were given by Mr. Blyth. 440.—Megalurus palustris, Horsf. Mr. Oates says: “ Having recently procured this bird, I iden- tify with it two birds which I once saw at Thayetmyo in a bean field, on a sand-bank opposite the station.” 451 is—Criniger griseiceps, Hume. I have already described this species (Stray Featuers, 1873, p. 478), and have nothing now to add to what I then said, except that it is very distinct from C, ochraceus, Moore, of which also we now have a large series, BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 125 452 quat—Microtarsus Blanfordi, Jerdon. This species was first discriminated by Dr. Jerdon (Isis, 1862, p- 20). Mr. Oates remarks : “ Common in the Irrawaddy Valley as far south as Prome, and easterly to the foot of the Pegu Hills. Its range is chiefly north of Thayetmyo in native territory. It has a harsh note, and is very irritable when approached, raising its crest and chattermg. It is generally found in gardens and waste land, and is not uncommon in our cantonment. The sexes are of much the same size. Specimens measured— “Length, 7°6 to 7-7; expanse, 10°5; tail, from vent, 3°05 to 3°20; wing, 3°12 to 3°15; bill, from gape, 0°81 to 0°88; tarsus, 0°85 to 0°93. The fifth primary is the longest ; the fourth, sixth, and seventh, sub-equal; the third 0°15, the second 0°55, and the first 1-4 shorter than the fifth. The irides are pale yellowish brown ; eyelids, greenish plumbeous; bill, light brown, paler at the base of lower mandible and gape; inside of mouth, flesh color ; legs, clear plumbeous ; claws, horny.” I have specimens of this bird also from Bhammo in Upper Burmah. The entire upper surface is a dull pale earth brown, with a slight olive tinge, most marked upon the rump, the margins of the outer webs of the quills and greater coverts, and of the outer webs of the tail feathers. In some specimens the head also has a decidedly olive tinge, and the feathers of the forehead and crown are slightly lengthened and faintly centred darker. There is no trace of this in other specimens. The lores, chin, and cheeks, are dull white, slightly tinged with grey or brown. ‘The ear coverts are pale brown, conspicuously shafted with pure white, and this is the most conspicuous feature in the bird’s plumage; the breast and the rest of the lower parts are pale brownish grey, passing on the abdomen and lower tail coverts into very pale fulvous; the upper abdomen is likewise, in some specimens, streaked with pale fulvous; the wing lming and the margins of the quills on the inner webs are also pale fulvous ; the lower surface of the tail, pale brownish grey, often, in fine specimens, with a faintly fulvous tinge. Specimens vary a good deal in tint, according to the season at which they were killed; some are much more olivaceous above and fulvous below, 456.—Rubigula flaviventris, Tickell, This species is includedin Mr. Oates’s list. The only specimen he sent, however, was so entirely destroyed that I cannot say whether he had correctly identified it, or whether it was some distinct nearly-allied species ; however, the bird has already been 126 A FIRST LIST OF THE sent by others from Pegu, and we may, I think, safely accept Mr. Oates’s identification. He says: “ This bird is very common in the Evergreen Forests; dozens may be seen on the hills on any Banyan tree which may happen to have fruit. I believe it to be entirely frugivorous. «A female measured: Length, 7:7; expanse, 10°2; tail, from vent, 3°6; wing, 3:2; bill, from gape, 0°72 (in another, 0°8), tarsus, 0°65. The irides were pale yellow ; the eyelids, yellowish fleshy ; bill, dark brown; inside of mouth, fleshy yellow ; legs and feet, brown ; claws, dark horny.” Subsequently I have examined twe specimens from the Pegu Yoma Hills. They are identical with Indian examples. 460.—Otocompsa emeria, Shaz. Neither Captain Feilden nor Mr. Oates has sent this species, but it was obtained by Sir Arthur Phayre somewhere in the Tonghoo District, and I therefore include it in our list. Mr. Oates says: “ Mr. Raikes shot a specimen at Prome which he showed me. It is perfectly identical with birds from Lower Pegu, of which I have lately procured several. The dimensions are much smaller than those given by Jerdon. The Burman bird is very common throughout Lower Pegu, and extends into our limits sparingly. «A female measured: Length, 7°55 ; expanse, 9°6; tail, 3:1; wing, 2:95 ; tarsus, °8; bill °85; iris, hazel brown; inside of mouth, yellow ; bill, legs, and toes, black.” This would appear to be the smaller race, with shorter ear tufts, usually identified with monticola, McClell., but which I do not think can be this species, because, though I have seen many examples of it from Assam, I have also seen one in which the red ran forwards above and below the eye, so as to make nearly a ring round it. This I take to be monticola. It may be merely an abnormal form of the ordinary Assam race, but it gives the bird a very different appearance, although in other respects I did not notice (I had, however, no opportunities of comparing it) any differences in plumage. 461.—Molpastes pygmeus, Hodgson. In these Thayetmyo birds I expected to meet with Blyth’s nigropileus (JOURNAL, Astatic Society, 1847, Vol. XVI., p.472).* * « Pycnonotus nigropileus,’ says Blyth, “merely differs from P. hemorrhous, in having no black on the throat. and breast, which are brown, with greyish margins to the feathers, like the back; and the whole nape and back are much paler than in P. hemorrhous, the cap alone being black.” We found this and chrysorrhoides, Lafr., (the Chinese form) common in Northern Tenasserim. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 127 As a matter of fact, however, the Thayetmyo specimens are somewhat intermediate between pygmaeus and Blyth’s bird. In general character of plumage it resembles P. intermedius, Hay, (which is very doubtfully distinct) ; but it has the large bill and wing of the true pygmaeus ; the black however is confined to the cap, and the breast is brown, narrowly edged with greyish white ; but the whole chin and throat are black.as in pygmaeus, and I have no doubt that, if the whole country between Dacca and Mergui were to be properly worked, every intermediate stage of plumage between typical pygmeus and typical nigropileus would be met with. Chrysorrhoides, Lafr., which is the Chinese bird and not, as Mr. Gray makes it, identical with the Indian or Madras Bulbul, is very common in Northern Tenasserim, as is also nigropileus, and these two grade into one another. Again, the Madras Bulbul, pusi//us, Blyth, and pygmaeus, if typical examples be selected, are very distinct; but between them we have P. intermedius, and between intermedius and each of them again we have an almost unbroken series of links. Mr. Oates says: ‘This species is very common in the plains, but is not found on the hills.” I follow Mr. Gray im calling this species “ pygmaus ;” hitherto the name has been generally given as “ pyg@us.” 463 ¢er.—Phyllornis chlorocephalus, Walden. Lord Walden characterized this species in the AN. AnD Mac. oF Narvurat History for 1871, p. 241. He remarked : “The Burman representative of the Sumatran and Malayan Phyllornis icterocephalus, Tem., apud Bonap., has not been hitherto discriminated. It chiefly differs from that species by possessing a much longer bill, by having the crown of the head green and not yellow, and by wanting the intense golden color of the nape. The frontal plumes are bright yellow. The female (perhaps the young male) has the forehead, as well as the crown, bright green. Bill from nostril full half an inch ; other dimensions as in Malaccan examples (four in number) of Phyllornis icterocephalus, Tem. Described from three adult males and one female obtained near Tonghoo.” Mr. Blyth says he received cochinchinensis from Sir Arthur Phayre from somewhere in the Tonghoo or Thayetmyo District, but his bird doubtless belonged to the present species, of which Mr. Oates also sent one specimen so entirely destroyed by insects that I only identified it by the dimensions which he recorded in the flesh. Numerous specimens subsequently obtained by ourselves enable me to give full dimensions and a description. Males: Length,7 to 7:4; expanse, 9° 82 to 11:0; tail, from vent, 2°75 to 3:0; wing, 3°25 to 3°39; tarsus, 0°65 to 0°7; bill, from gape, 0°82 to 0°95; weight, 1 oz. 128 A FIRST LIST OF THE Legs and feet, plumbeous, or dull horny blue; claws, plum- beous, horny, brown at tips; bill, black; irides, deep brown. The male has the lores, the cheeks as far back as the centre of the eye, the chin, the upper throat, and a gradually narrowing streak down the centre of the rest of the throat, velvet black, with a very short, dull violet cobalt mandibular stripe on either side: a band across the forehead over the lores and eye and round the eye, and thence bounding the black of the throat, pale yellow. The rest of the forehead, and the anterior half of the crown and a more or less perceptible extension behind the yellow eye-band to the ear coverts and these latter, pale green, with only a faint yellowish tinge. The occiput, nape, and sides of the neck behind the ear coverts, green, with a strong golden tinge. On the Jower part of the throat the pale yellow band is greatly extended, and gradually changes on the upper part of the breast to a golden green like that of the nape. Back scapulars, rump, and upper tail coverts, grass green, with more or less of a golden tinge on the upper back, and darker and purer on the rump and upper tail coverts. Central tail feathers, blue green; shafts, brown ; lateral tail feathers, dull blue; all the feathers, very narrowly margined at the tips with albescent. Inner webs of primaries and secondaries, dark hair brown. Winglet, outer webs of pri- maries, and their greater coverts, bright cerulean blue, greener in some lights, and all shghtly tinged greenish toward their tips. Lesser coverts, glistening smalt blue ; median and secondary greater coverts, outer margins of outer webs of secondaries, and visible portions of tertiaries, grass green, with more or less of a golden tinge at times. Inner portions of outer webs of secondaries, blue ; and more or less of a blue green tinge on parts of the inner webs towards their bases. Lower breast, abdomen, sides, flanks, vent, and lower tail coverts, drigit grass green. Edge of the wing at carpal joint, blue. Wing lining and greater portion of the lower surface of the quills, except the first two primaries and the tips of the next two or three, pale satin brown. The coverts, faintly tinged with green. The tibial plumes, brown. It must be understood that in the head, neck, and back the pale yellow, the green, and the golden, run smoothly into one another without any hard lines of demarcation. The female wants the black lores, chin, and throat, the yellow encircling band, and has much less of the golden tinge on the nape and sides of theneck. The tail and wings are much less blue, and the shoulder patch is much smaller in extent, less glistening, and verditer blue. The black in the males is replaced by a slightly bluish green, and the mandibular stripe represented by a small pale bluish green patch. The young male seems to be exactly like the female; except that it wants the blue tinge on the chin anal the middle of the BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 129 throat, that it generally exhibits traces of a sub-terminal brown band on the tertiaries, and the shoulder patch is of almost the same color as that of the adult male, though less in extent. 465.—Phyllornis aurifrons, Tem. Messrs. Gray and Gould separate the Himalayan race as Hodgsoni, Gray, from aurifrons, Tem., which was originally described from Sumatra ; neither of them appears to have examined Sumatran examples, and I am therefore not prepared at present to separate the two races, the more so as Temminck’s figure (Pl. Col. 484-1) represents perfectly one of the many phases of plumage of our bird. Moreover, I have awri/rons—I mean the Himalayan bird—not only from numerous localities throughout the whole Sub-Himalayan region eastward of the Jumna, but from Dacca, Tipperah, and Northern Tenasserim. Now, we have it here from Pegu, and I have seen it from somewhere near Penang. All that can be said apparently of the Himalayan birds is that they run perhaps a trifle larger than those from Eastern Bengal, Burmah, &e. Mr. Oates says: “This species is common in the plains. T did not meet with it often on the hills, and what few I saw I did not shoot. Specimens that I measured varied as follow :— “ Length, 7:5 to 7°7 ; expanse, 11 to 11°75; tail, from vent, 2°8 ; wing, 3°55 to3°9; bill, from gape, 0°95 to 1:0; tarsus, 0°65 to 0°38; bill, black; mside of mouth, bluish grey; eyelids, dark brown; legs and feet, plumbeous; claws, horny.” 467.— Akgithina tiphia, Zin. Here we have from Thayetmyo, killed on the 19th May, a typical Jora zeylonica, with the whole nape and back black, absolutely undistinguishable from Ceylon males in breeding plumage; and a second bird, killed on the 2nd June in the same locality, with the whole head and nape black, and the back yellow, fringed with black, as is so commonly the case in zeylonica from different parts of India. On the subject of the two supposed species, ¢¢phia, Lin., and zeylonica, Gm., I have already (Stray Feratuers, Vol. II, p- 459) recorded my views at some length, but as the question is rather important, being typical of a great number of similar ones, I venture to re-state in a somewhat different form my argument. Iam entirely open to conviction. I am ready to change, on good cause shown, the most cherished opinion I hold at a moment’s notice. I have not a bit more belief in my own infallibility than in that of my neighbour’s, and am quite con- vinced that I make just as many, if not more, mistakes than they do. All I want is the truth. R 130 A FIRST LIST OF THE Why I press this question is that I have paid particular atten- tion to it, more I think than any one else has yet done, and I want others to take it up also, so that it may be throughly threshed out. My contention is— ls¢.—If you base the distinctness of the species on difference of habitat, then I can show typical ¢zphia from the extreme south of India, and zeylonica from Burmah. Nay, there is in the India Museum a specimen, a black- headed, partially black-backed, male, collected in the Wellesly Province which I pointed out to Mr. Wood- Mason, and which he concurred with me in pronoun- cing absolutely identical with another Ceylon specimen in the same drawer. 2nud.—If you base the distinctness of the species on difference of size, then I can show equally big and equally little birds in doth plumages. 3rd.—If you base the distinctness of the species on difference in plumage, then I say we can show every stage between the two typical forms. I confess that I am unable under these circumstances to see my way to making two species. Possibly, if the subject be throughly studied, some slight, but certain and constant, diagnosis may be established, and, if so, no one will hail the discovery with greater pleasure than myself. Mr. Oates says that this species is very common, and gives dimensions as follow :— ‘“ Length, 5 to 5:3; expanse, 7°5 to 7:9; tail, from vent, 18 to 2; wing, 2°3 to 2°45; bill, from gape, 0°63 to 0°65; tarsus, 0°7 to 0°82. The irides yellowish white; bill, whole lower mandible, and margin of upper to within 0-1 of the tip, light blue ; remainder of upper mandible, black ; legs and claws, pale blue. In one specimen the irides were brown.” Mr. Oates refers to another species of Jora, which varied in length from 5:5 to 5:6, and had the wings 2°4; the other dimensions and colors of soft parts as in the present species, and remarks : “ Both species, if distinct, are equally common,” and his notes show that the specimens of both were killed at Thayetmyo on the same date. ‘There is no doubt that this sup- posed second species, of which one male is sent, were birds in the tiphia plumage. 469.—Irena puella, Lath. Specimens from Thayetmyo are not separable from others from Southern India, and the Himalayas, and the Andamans. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 131 They all belong to the true puel/a, as distinguished from malay- ensis, Horsf. Here I think that Lord Walden is clearly right. So far as I have yet seen, there is no gradation be- tween the two species; all the birds that I have examined, either have the lower tail coverts reaching to the end of the tail, or fallmg from 1-2 to 1:5 short of this. I have not as yet, how- ever, obtained specimens from the southern portion of the Tenas- serim provinces, and if from these or any other intermediate locality between Tenasserim and Penang we should get specimens with an intermediate length of lower tail coverts, then I should refuse to admit malayensis as a distinct species ; for the present it seems to me impossible not to accept it. Mr. Oates says: “It is only on the eastern slopes of the Pegu Hills that this bird is found; in the plains and on the western slopes of the hills it never occurs, neither have I ever received it from the Arracan Hills. “Tt is extremely abundant in all the Evergreen Forests, frequent- ing well-wooded ravines. Jerdon states that it keeps to the tops of the highest trees ; this, however, is not the case in Pegu, where the bird seems to prefer low densely-foliaged trees. It does not wander much, as arule. It has a sweet note, a kind of clear whistle not to be compared, however, in richness to that of the Common Black-headed Oriole. It is very sprightly in its actions, flitting from branch to branch restlessly, but never going far from the particular locality it has selected. I measured a good many ; the sexes do not differ constantly in size. The follow- ing is a 7éswmé of the dimensions :— * Length, 10 to 10°45 ; expanse, 15:3 to 15:5; tail, from vent, 4°1 to 4°5 ; wing, 4°9 to 5:2; bill, from gape, 1°15 to 1:25; tarsus, 0°79 to 0°87. *< Tn one specimen the under-tail coverts fell short of the end of the tail by 1:2, in the rest by 1°25. ‘The irides are rich red ; the eyelids, pinkish fleshy ; bill, legs, feet, and claws, black; the inside of the mouth, fleshy. I ex- amined the stomachs of many specimens ; they were all entirely filled with Banyan figs. Looking to the appearances presented on dissection, I should say that they breed during the latter half of April.” 471 ter.—Oriolus tenuirostris, Blyth. My museum happens to be rather rich in Black-naped Orioles. Of some of the species rarest in collections, I have, if my identifi- cations are correct, a very fine series, and in hopes of helpmg to clear up some of the difficulties that beset this little group, I subjoin a rough diagnostical key to the several species, eight in number, with which I am acquainted, and shall be glad to have any errors pointed out. 132 A FIRST LIST OF THE With no, or|With only a narrow yellow frontal]/Wing,6 ...|frontalis, Wall. (Su- searcely any,| band, or pair of frontal spots. la Islands). yellow on}With a broad black occipital band,|Wing, 5°75)macrourus, Blyth. the quills. 0°6 to 0°7 wide. to 6:12. (Nicobars). With narrow black occipital band,|Wing, 5:25\andamanensis, Tyt- 0°3 to 0'4 wide. to 54. ler. (Andamans). With the ter-|No yellow wing spot; occipital band,|Wing, 6 ...Jacrorhynchus, _ Vi- tiaries only| 1 to 1°3 wide. gors. (Philli- moderately pines). broadly, and|A small wing spot; occipital band,|Wing, 5°5|Broderipi, Bonap. secondaries | 0°5 to 0°7 wide. to 5'8. (Sumbava, Lom- very nar- bok, Flores). rowly,tipped with yellow. With muchOuter halves|Wing spot|Wing, 5°25 to 5°7;/hypocrepis, Wag- yellow on} of the outer} very small) bill, very broad at} ler. (Sumatra, the tertia-| webs of the} or want-| base; 1°25 atfront.| Java). ries. tertiaries} ing. | yellow. Entire outer|Wing spot)Occipital band, 04 chinensis, Lin. webs of ter-| moderate,| to 0°8; bill, strong. indicus, Jerd. tiaries yel-| 0°3 to 0-4 (Southern India, low. deep. China, and Tenas- serim). Wing spot/Occipital band, 0'3\tenuirostris, Blyth. very deep,| to 0°4; bill, more} (Burmah). 07 to 0°8.| slender. I do not think that we can separate chinensis and indicus. No doubt some of my Chinese specimens (from Mr. Swinhoe, from Formosa, and Fungshan) have a slightly larger bill, a somewhat larger wing spot, and decidedly more yellow on the tertiaries than any Southern Indian specimen I possess ; but in a large series from Tenasserim, shot at and about the same time and place, I ean match in every respect every Chinese and Southern Indian specimen. As to hypocrepis, Wagler, Bonaparte says that this has no wing spot, but all my Sumatran specimens exhibit a very small wing’ spot. Mr. Oates remarks of fenuzrostris: “This species is not uncommon about Thayetmyo, but it is not so plentiful as melano- cephalus. An adult male that I measured was: Length, 10:1; expanse, 18; tail, from vent, 3°85; wing, 5°9; bill, from gape, 1:35; tarsus, 0°97. “The irides were crimson; the eyelids, grey; the bill, pale pink ; the inside of the mouth, fleshy ; legs, plumbeous. “In a young bird, with a streaked lower surface, the bill was black and the irides brown.” This present species, fenuirostris, was first described by Blyth (JournaL, Asiatic Socrnry, 1846, p. 48), but he described a BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 133 young bird which he at the time believed had come from Central India. The bird is so close to zdicus that it seems unnecessary to give a full description. It may at once be distinguished from this latter ; ; (1st), by its much slenderer bill; (2d), “by its much narrower occipital band ; (3rd), by the much greater extent of yellow on the primary greater coverts ; (4¢/), by the much greater extent of yellow onthe tail. Ona fine adult male zxd/eus from the Malabar Coast the terminal 1:5 of the inner webs of the external lateral tail feather is yellow; in the same feather in ¢enuirostris the yellow extends nearly 2 inches; about 0°4 of the tips of the feathers next the central ones in indicus are yellow ; in the same feather in ¢enuirostris the yellow extends to nearly an inch; of course, in both instances, I refer to adult males. There is always much less yellow on the tails of younger birds. 472.—Oriolus melanocephalus, Zin. The Black-headed Orioles from Pegu are typical melanocephalus, that is to say, they have the black of the chin and throat coming well down on the breast, and they have the yellow running well up the outer webs of the tertiaries. They are, in fact, quite similar to birds from Lower Bengal, such as one generally meets with there. I have already (Stray Fratuers, 1873, p. 439) expressed my opinion as to the great difficulty that presents itself in separating ceylonensis from melanocephalus, and need. therefore say nothing further on this subject here. Mr. Oates tells us that this species is very common about Thayetmyo, and he gives the following réswmé of the dimen- sions of six specimens of both sexes which he measured in the flesh :— “Length, 8:9 to 9°8; expanse, 15 to 16°3; tail, from vent, 3°35 to 3°5; wing, 5 to 5:3; bill, from gape, 1:22 to 1:38; tarsus, 0°97 to 1:0. In an adult the indes were crimson; the eyelids, yellowish grey, with the edges black; bill, pmk; the terminal half, dusky ; inside of mouth, fleshy ; legs, plumbeous ; claws, dark horny. “Tn younger birds the bill was fleshy brown, overrun with spots and patches of dusky pink; ims, bright red; centre of lower eyelid, pale yellow ; edges of both, purpurescent ; legs, brown ; claws, nearly black. «Ina quite young bird the bill was black; eyelids, grey ; iris, hazel brown; legs, plumbeous; the margins of the scute, nearly white.” 4'75.—Copsychus saularis, Zin. The Thayetmyo birds are very nearly true sau/aris ; that is, so far as I can Judge from the males only, for I have received no 134 A FIRST LIST OF THE females. Still the males have more black on the fourth tail feather than is usually seen on typical sawlaris, and probably the upper surface of the females would prove to be slightly darker than in the females of typical saw/aris. I have already explained (Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 230) how the Andaman birds. are exactly intermediate between sawlaris and mindanensis ; these Thayetmyo birds are, I take it, intermediate between the Andaman birds and sawlaris, but nearest to the latter. The Tenasserim birds on the other hand are more like those from the Andamans. Mr. Oates remarks: “ Common in the plains, but I never met with it on the hills.” 4'76.—Cercotrichas macrourus, Gm. I have seen no specimens myself from Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates says: On the hills this bird is very common, and it occurs also in the plains, but is less abundant there. It may frequently be heard in the Rifle-Range Nullah at Thayetmyo by any one who cares to go and listen to our finest songster. “The dimensions of males and females that I measured were as follow :— “ Males: Length, 10°35 to 10°8; expanse, 11°75; tail, from vent, 5°9 to 62; wing, 3°7; bill, from gape, 0:92 to 0°95; tarsus, 1°09 to 1-1. “ Females: Length, 9°25; expanse, 11:1; tail, from vent, 5; wing, 3°65; bill, from gape, 0°95; tarsus, 1:01. «The bill is black ; inside of mouth, fleshy ; legs and claws, fleshy pink; iris, dark brown ; eyelids, plumbeous. This species breeds with us about the end of April.” 481.—Pratincola caprata, Lin. Thayetmyo specimens are identical with Indian birds. Mr. Oates remarks that it is ‘common in the plains from Thayetmyo to the foot of the Pegu Hills.” 483.—Pratincola rubicola, Zin. One specimen of this was sent by Mr. Oates, shot at Wadow. He says it is “ common in the plains only, and on waste ground where there are patches of dry grass and small shrubs.” This specimen belongs to the smaller darker race, which many ornithologists separate as znxdica. In this, however, I cannot follow them, as any really large and carefully selected series sufficiently proves in my opinion that the two races grade ab- solutely insensibly one into the other; of course, naturalists who separate them explain this on the theory that they imterbreed on the extreme limits of their respective areas of distribution, and they would doubtless explain the occurrence of typical specimens BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 135 of one race in the very centre of the area of the other by saying that these are mere seasonal migrants. It does not much matter, perhaps, how the thing is explained ; the facts are the same. 484.—Pratincola leucura, Blyth. A single specimen procured at Boulay is quite identical with birds from Tipperah, but they are rather darker and brighter- colored, and perhaps a shade smaller, than those from Sindh ; but the difference is not sufficient to warrant specific separation: indeed, is not so great nearly, though it is of the same kind, as that between rudicola and indica. This species is only to be found in the plains about paddy lands. 486.—Pratincola ferrea, Hodgs. Mr. Oates procured a single specimen of this Chat—a female— at Prome, on the 23rd November. He gives the following dimensions :— Length, 5°95; expanse, 6°4; tail, from vent, 2°5 ; wing, 2°25; bill, from gape, 0°72 ; tarsus, 0°92. The bird occurs, as we already know, in the Arracan Hills, although whether as a permanent resident or a seasonal visitant is uncertain, and it now appears that in the winter, at any rate, it straggles down to the plains of Upper Pegu. 500.—Ruticilla aurorea, Pail. A single specimen, a female, was sent me by Captain Feilden, who obtained it in the cold-season in the neighbourhood of Thayetmyo. It was the only one, he said, that he had seen. 512.—Calliope camtschatkensis, Gi. Of this species also Captain Feilden sent a single specimen, killed near Thayetmyo. 530.—Orthotomus longicaudus, Gm. Thayetmyo specimens are identical with those from various parts of India. Mr. Oates remarks: “ This is a common bird in the plains, and possibly also on the hills, though I did not observe it on the latter. I found the nest of this species containing young birds in the Thayetmyo cantonment on the 12th August. The irides are reddish yellow ; the eyelids, grey ; but their edges, reddish yellow ; the upper mandible, dark horny; the lower, pale fleshy ; the inside of mouth, pale whitish fleshy ; legs, rufous fleshy ; claws, pale brown. The length varies very greatly, according 136 A FIRST LIST OF THE to the development of the tail. The expanse is usually about 58; the wing, 1:8; bill, from gape, 0°63; and the tarsus, 0-8 or thereabouts.” 536.—Prinia gracilis, Frankl. Thayetmyo specimens are identical with others from various parts of India. Mr. Oates remarks: “ I do not know anything precise about the occurrence of this bird. I only shot one at Sakanghee. I have as yet paid little attention to these small warblers. The one I shot wasa male. It measured: Length, 4°55; expanse, 5°6; tail, from vent, 2°15; wing, 1:7; bill, from gape, 0°58 ; tarsus, 0°7. “The irides were hazel red ; eyelids, grey ; bill, horny, paler at gape; legs, pinkish fleshy ; claws, pale pinkish horny.” This, I may add, is gracilis, “ pure et simple,’ and not the more rufous race, with “ the tail above and wings externally uniform rufous or light ferruginous,” from Arracan, which Blyth described (JourNAL, Astatic Socigty, 1847, p. 456) as P. rufescens. 538.—Prinia Hodgsoni, Blyth. A specimen from Thayetmyo, though marked a male, agrees perfectly with females from the Wynaad, Sambhur, and other parts of Upper India. The male in this species has the bill a good deal larger than the female, the head darker, and the breast band broader and darker. Mr. Oates says: ‘Common round Thayetmyo Cantonment in small parties. The male sometimes sits on the topmost twig of a bush, and sings a tremendously hearty little song. A male measured: Length, 4°3; expanse, 5°8; tail, from vent, 1:75; wing, 1°8; bill, from gape, 0°52; tarsus, 0°75; irides, amber ; edges of eyelids, orange ; claws, pale horny ; bill, blackish brown ; inside of mouth, black.” I may note that I thik that the bills and the color of the inside of the mouths in many of these little Prinze and Drymoipi become much darker in the breeding season. The bird described by Mr. Oates was shot on the 2nd June. 538 Jis.—Prinia Beavani, Valden, A single specimen from Thayetmyo is identical with one from Commillah, Tipperah, and others from the Bhootan Dhooars, Sikhim, and Tenasserim. Lord Walden first described this species from specimens obtained by the late Captain Beavan, at Sconaygoon, on the Salween River, and who gave the colors of the soft parts as: ‘ Inrides, reddish yellow; legs, fleshy; beak, black horny.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. iby! Lord Walden’s original description runs as follows :— “Tt isa well-marked form, having the head and nape dull cinereous brown, contrasting distinctly with the slightly ruddy brown of the dorsal plumage. The upper surface of the wings and tail is of a similar color, the outer edges of the primaries being edged with ferruginous. From the nostril, and extending over and a little beyond the eye, a bold pure white band. The chin, throat, cheeks, breast, and belly, pure white. The under wing coverts, under tail coverts, and thigh coverts and flanks, fulvous. The rectrices, which in the specimens sent are com- paratively short, are tipped with dirty white, which edges a dark brown terminal spot, showing through to the upper surface. The remaining under surface of the rectrices is pale brown, similar in hue to the under surface of the quills, the inner edges of these latter being pale ferruginous. The tail consists of ten feathers, which are graduated ; the first primary is about two- thirds the length of the second, which is considerably shorter than the third; the fourth is longer than the third, and but slightly shorter than the fifth, which and the sixth are equal and longest; the seventh is equal to the fourth. “Wing, 1:65; tail, 1°75; bill, from forehead, 0:5; from nostril, 0°31; tarsus, 0°75; hallux, 0°25 ; middle toe, 0°44.” This species is nearest to gracilis, from which, if you cut off the heads of the birds, its body, wing's, and tail would be undis- tinguishable ; but it differs im having a markedly longer and stronger bill, in the cap being a decided grey brown, while in gracilis it is unicolorous with the back ; and in having the loral eye streak, which in gracz/is is feebly defined, a much purer white, and much more distinct and conspicuous. We recently measured five males obtained in Tenasserim in the flesh. They varied as follows :— Length, 4°25 to 5:0; expanse, 5°25 to 5°75; tail, 1°45 to 2°25 ; wing, 1°55 to 1:7; tarsus, 0°75 to 0°95; bill from gape, 0°55 to 0°62; weight, 0°25 oz. The legs and feet varied from pale to dark fleshy, and in one were slightly brownish; the claws were fleshy brown. Bill varied from horny brown (December to February) to black (end of April); the gape and base of lower mandible being paler, in some fleshy, in some bluish. The indes varied, some light red (end of April), some reddish or orange brown, some light wood brown. Mr. Mandelli has recently sent me numerous specimens obtained in Sikhim. 539.—Cisticola schenicola, Bonap. Specimens from Thayetmyo correspond entirely with many others from all parts of India, from Ceylon to Sindh, and Sindh = 138 A FIRST LIST OF THE to Dacca. As I have mentioned (Stray Freatuers, 1873, p. 439), the plumage of this species varies very materially, as also does the length of the bill; but this is the case in every locality. Thus, here one of the birds sent by Mr. Oates has an entirely streakless olive brown head, whilst another has the head bright pale fulvous, each feather with a broad black central streak, and had Mr. Oates shot a sufficient series, he would doubtless have obtained, as I have elsewhere, specimens exhibiting every pos- sible intermediate variation of coloring. I am myself persuaded that not a few of the new Cisticole described of late years are nothing but stages of plumage of one and the same species. T have been rather fortunate im obtaining most of the neces- sary materials, and I hope shortly to be able to review this genus. Mr. Oates remarks that this species “is very common in all paddy lands in the rains.” 547.—_Suya crinigera, Hodgs. A single specimen from Thayetmyo agrees well with some specimens from the Himalayas. ‘This is a species which varies much in size and in plumage,and though no doubt the males are always larger than the females, this is not the sole reason of the difference, as you get small males also. Sometimes the whole upper surface, the head especially, is very strongly striated with dark brown, and the bird has quite a ruddy tint ; at other times the striations are almost obsolete, and the whole upper surface is a dull earthy brown. I think the changes of plumage of this species require investigation ; itis possible that some birds that I have passed by as erinigera really belonged to obscura. Mr. Oates says: “This is not uncommon immediately round the Thayetmyo cantonments ; I have seen it nowhere else. It likes to sit on the topmost bough of a rather high tree, or less frequently on a shrub, and to sg a weak grating song which lasts for two or three minutes. A male I shot measured : Length, 7; expanse, 7°3; tail, from vent, 3°3; wing, 2°25; bill, from gape, 0°68; tarsus, 1:0. “ The irides were pale brownish yellow ; the bill, black, paler at base of lower mandible; the inside of the mouth, black; eyelids, plumbeous ; feet, yellowish ; claws, pale horny.” These are scarcely the habits of Suwya erinigera in the Himalay- as; there they avoid towns and villages, and affect open sunny slopes, at an elevation of 2,000 to 4,000 feet, where there is some stunted scrub and a little high grass, in amongst which scrub and grass they thread their way, comparatively rarely showing themselves, except during the breeding season, and im some little thorny bush amongst which they build their flimsy little nest. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 139 552.—Neornis flavolivacea, Zodys ? A specimen sent by Mr. Oates I identify somewhat doubt- fully with this species ; the bill is wanting, and both wing's are imperfect, and under these circumstances this is not a bird of which one can be absolutely sure; however, I believe I have correctly identified it. Mr. Oates remarks that he “met a party of seven or eight on the 10th January at Tamagan. They were moving very restlessly amongst brushwood. They have a sharp note frequently repeated.” 595.—Phyllopseuste fuscata, Blyth. A single specimen is sent from Yattoun, Thayetmyo District, by Mr. Oates, who says: “ I only shot one bird of this species, and that m a Mango grove. I carbolized the bird, and did not ascertain its sex; but it measured: Length, 5:2; expanse, 7:8 ; tail, from vent, 2; wing, 2°45; bill, from gape, 0°54; tarsus, 0°88. “The irides are brown ; the eyelids, grey ; the upper mandible, dusky rufous ; the lower mandible, dusky at tip only ; the remain- der, fulvous yellow; gape, yellowish; inside of mouth, yellow; legs, dusky fleshy, darker on the toes ; claws, yellowish horny.” The specimen sent agrees perfectly with others from Cachar, Tipperah, the Bhootan Dhooars, &e. Itis entirely an eastern form, and I myself have never known it to occur, south of the Hima- layas, west of a line drawn north and south through Benares. 561.—Phyllopseuste affinis, Tick. 562.—Phyllopseuste indica, Jerd. Both these, Mr. Blyth records, were obtained by Sir Arthur Phayre in the Tonghoo District. 564.—Reguloides trochiloides, Swndev. One very bad specimen earbolized and without a tail, which I refer to this species, is sent by Mr. Oates from the Pegu Hills, where he shot it on the 10th April. It 1s, he says, the only bird of the kind he met with, but he has not yet worked the small Warblers. This bird agrees perfectly in size and markings with ¢rochi- Joides, but it absolutely wants, except on the wing bars, the yellow tint so conspicuous on the whole lower surface of trochiloides, on the edge of the wing, on the long superciliary stripe, and on the cheek stripe ; but I believe this is due to the birds having been carelessly carbolized. I find that where carbolic acid is allowed to spread at all it turns all yellow feathers pure white. I have noticed this in many birds, and have tried experiments with carbolic acid which have proved the fact beyond a doubt, 140 A FIRST LIST OF THE and here amongst the birds sent by Mr. Oates is an Adrornis superciliaris with the whole abdomen pure silky white, bleached by the incautious use of carbolic acid. Now that small birds are so commonly carbolized, ornithologists should be on their guard against this change of color. I have not been able to ascertain that this substance affects any other color. Many people object to carbolized birds, but there is no doubt that if the process is care- fully performed, it is the only way open to the travelling naturalist, who has to preserve twenty or thirty specimens a day, of securing really perfect specimens, in which the various stripes and streaks about the head of many of the small, soft-plumaged birds—Phylloscopi, Reguloides, and the ike—shall not be in any way disarranged. 565.—Reguloides superciliosus, Gm. Obtained by Sir Arthur Phayre in the Tonghoo District. 569 tis—Culicipeta tephrocephalus, Anderson, A single specimen sent by Mr. Oates I refer to this species. Tn size and general appearance it differs in no way from Burkhii ; but when closely examined it proves to have, which Dr. Anderson does not notice, a much smaller bill than any Burkzi, and more- over the central head streak is pure grey, and on either side of the occiput from behind the eye runs another grey stripe, which, curving round the base of the occiput, meets at the termination of the head stripe. Of the great number of Burkiz now before me, no specimen presents any such appearance, but one or two of them have portions of a few of the feathers of the head streak erey ; this difference of coloring, coupled with a conspicuous difference in the size of the bill, quite justifies, I thmk, the separation of the species, which Dr. Anderson first obtained in Upper Burmah and of which we have numerous specimens from Tenasserim. Mr. Oates says: ‘This bird is uncommon. I met with only one specimen on the western slopes of the hills. It was a male, and measured as follows :— “ Length, 4°8 ; expanse, 6°8 ; tail, from vent, 2; wing, 2°3; bill, from gape, 0°56; tarsus, 0°72. “The irides, dark brown ; eyelids, plumbeous ; upper mandible, dark horny brown; the edges, pale reddish yellow; the whole lower mandible, pale reddish yellow; the inside of the mouth, reddish fleshy; legs, fuscous yellow; claws, pmkish horny.” 574.—Abrornis superciliaris, Ticked. This is the species first described, (JournaL, AstatTic Society, 1859, p. 414) from Tenasserim, later described by Jerdon and Blyth BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU 141 from Darjeeling as a/bigularis (PRocenDINGs, ZOOLOGICAL Society, 1861, p. 200), and this latter name having been forestalled, again described by Jerdon, in 1863, in his Brrps or Inpra, Vol. I, p. 203, as flaviventris. Neither of the descriptions appear to me altogether correct. In the original one it is said that the cap is hght ashy ; in Jerdon’s, that the head is greyish; but in none of the specimens that I have seen has more than the fore- head and anterior half of the crown been grey; the posterior half of the crown and occiput are always concolorous with the back. Again, Jerdon says that the lores are black; but they are not black, they only have a dusky stripe running through them ; not merely are the chin and throat white, but soalso is the upper margin of the breast. The whole of the cheeks and ear coverts are greyish white, only the extreme tips of the latter are sometimes faintly tinged with green. There is in good speci- mens a dusky spot behind the eye, and the ear coverts are some- times greyish brown instead of greyish white. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘This species does not appear to me to be common. I have only met with it on the western side of the hills—in nullahs, amongst brushwood. The birds vary a good deal in size. Two specimens, the smaller, perhaps a female, though I did not ascertain the sex, measured as follows :— “Length, 4, 4°4; expanse, 5:6, 6; tail, from vent, 1°55, 18; wing, 1°72, 1:92; bill, from gape, 0°55, 0°57; tarsus, 0-71, 0°78. “The bill is a more or less dark brown above, paler and more or less plumbeous on the lower mandible; the inside of the mouth, yellow, or pale orange, fleshy ; the inides, dark brown; eyelids, grey or plumbeous ; legs, dusky or fleshy yellow.” 585.—Enicurus immaculatus, Zodgs. Thayetmyo specimens are identical with others from Sikhim,. A very little further south-east this species is entirely replaced by Leschenaultu, V. . Mr. Oates says: ‘The Spotless Fork-tail is common in all the hill streams, but not in the plains, where I have never seen it. It appears to be equally common in the Arracan Hills. It has rather a pretty song which it sings off a bush. A male measured— “Length, 9:8; expanse, 12°5; tail, from vent, 5°3; wing, 4; bill, from gape, 0°95; tarsus, 1°22. “Birds from the Arracan Hills seem to be slightly smaller. “‘ The irides are brown ; eyelids, well-feathered ; bill and inside of mouth, black; feet and claws, pale yellow.” 142 A FIRST LIST OF THE 590.—Motacilla luzoniensis, Scop. * A single specimen, a female with the wing 3°65, in winter plumage, sent me by Mr. Oates, is, I consider, clearly referable to this species. This Wagtail, he says, is one of the commonest birds about Thayetmyo. Itis to be regretted that he was un- able to send a series, as it is not improbable that more than one species of Grey Wagtail occurs within our limits. 593 ter—Budytes cinereocapilla, Savi. This also is said by Mr. Oates to be excessively common during the colder season, within our limits. He sent me a single typical male. As he has not yet worked up the Wagtails, it is not unlikely that other species of Budytes also occur. 595.—Limonidromus indicus, Gm. A single specimen was obtained by Mr. Oates in the heart of the Pegu Hills, m dense forest, on the 13th April. Captain Feilden also sent this species from the immediate neighbourhood of Thayetmyo. 596.—Pipastes agilis, Sykes. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘‘ Very common in the cold-weather. It begins to come in about the 25th August.” Captain Feilden also sent specimens, and remarks that they are very common about Thayetmyo. 59'7.—Pipastes plumatus, Mii. A single specimen was obtained by Mr. Oates in the Pegu Hills, in thick jungle, on the 10th April. He did not diserimi- nate this from agilis, so I do not know whether the present species occurs in the plains also. 600.—Corydalla rufula, Veil. Sir Arthur Phayre obtained this species in the valley of the Sittang in the Tonghoo District. 630.—Erpornis xanthochlora, Hodgs. Pegu specimens correspond exactly with others from Sikhim, where it is a very common bird at moderate elevations. Mr. Oates remarks: “This is a common bird all over the hills, frequenting ravines and nullahs. Two specimens, a pair, of which I took the dimension in the flesh, measured as follows (the figures first given in each case are those of the male) :— “Length, 4°83, 4°63; expanse, 83, 8:0; tail, from vent, 1:8, 1°85; wing, 2°65, 2°67; bill, from gape, 0°62, 0°6; tarsus, 0:7, 0°72. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 143 “ The irides were brown; the bill, fleshy horny above; the edges of the upper mandible and the whole of the lower mandible, hight fleshy ; gape and inside.of the mouth, yellow ; eyelids, plum- beous ; legs, feet, and claws, pinkish.” 631.—Zosterops palpebrosa, Tem. Specimens sent by Captain Feilden appear to me identical with Indian ones. 645.—Parus cesius, Tick. Specimens sent by Captain Feilden are absolutely identical with specimens from Southern and Northern India. 650.—Melanochlora sultanea, Hodygs. Pegu specimens are identical with others from Sikhim and Bhootan. Mr. Oates says: “This species is common on the hills, generally in pairs, but sometimes in small flocks. The males seem rather larger than the females. Some males measured as follows :— * Length, 7°9 to 8:3; expanse, 12°5 to 13; tail, from vent, 3°8 to 3°85; wing, 415 to 43; bill, from gape, 0°69 to 0-7; tarsus, 0°95. “A female measured— ‘Length, 7°7; expanse, 12; tail, from vent, 3°45; wing, 3°9; bill, from gape, 0°67; tarsus, 0°87. “The bill is black; the inside of the mouth, dark fleshy ; the eyelids, plumbeous ; the irides, dark hazel brown ; Jegs, dull blue ; claws, dark horny.” 660.— Corvus Levaillantii, Zess. Pegu birds are inseparable from Indian ones. One specimen has the bill rather more bowed than in any Indian specimen that I possess, resembling in this respect the Andaman birds; another is identical in every respect with one killed at Abbottabad in the extreme north-west frontier. Mr. Oates remarks: ‘This species is common in jungle, away from large towns, in pairs, but at times it assumes the habits of ¢mpudicus, collecting in large numbers, and coming into the house to snatch food off the table; such is the case at my small house at Boulay, where cmpudicus is comparatively rare. A male measured: Length, 19; expanse, 37; tail, from vent, 7-6; wing, 12:2; bill, from gape, 2°3; tarsus, 2°3.” 663.—Corvus impudicus, Hodgs. I refer the Burmese Crow with very great hesitation to the same species as our Indian one. It is no doubt similar in form 144 A FIRST LIST OF THE and size, but it is entirely black, with at most a somewhat dull appearance about those parts which in our Indian Crows are a pale brownish grey, or in very western examples pale greyish white ; and, moreover, it has, it seems to me, a somewhat longer, slenderer, and more compressed bill than zmpudicus has; no doubt the grey portions of many of the Crows from the extreme west and north-west of India are much purer and paler than birds from Sambhur, Agra, and Cawnpore, and it might be supposed from this analogy that as we proceeded further east these grey parts became darker and duller, till at last in Pegu they disappeared altogether ; but the little evidence which I possess on this subject is adverse te such a conclusion, since specimens from Calcutta and Dacca are identical with those from Sambhur. If in the course of time, as the country is further explored, every inter- mediate shade of coloring between, say, the Dacca and Thayet- myo birds is found to be exhibited in intermediate localities, then, notwithstanding the slight difference which appears to me to exist in the bill, I should quite agree to consider the Pegu birds a mere race of zmpudicus; but if, on the contrary, no such con- necting links be discoverable (and I can find no record of any such ever having been observed), then I think that the Burmese bird is entitled to specific separation, and might stand under my name—C. znsolens.* Mr. Oates remarks: ‘ This Crow is very common, specially in large villages and towns.” 671 dis.—_Urocissa magnirostris, Blyth—(Journat, Asiatic Socrety, BenGAL, 1846, Vol. XV, Pp. 202 Gould’s B. A., Pt. XITI, Pl. 3). Mr. Blyth in characterismg this species or race remarked as follows :— “Resembles U. occipitalis, but is still more richly colored, especially on the wings, the bill much larger than in others, and a great naked space surrounding the eyes ; the legs and claws are also large and strong; length of bill to gape 1:75; that of U. occipitalis, barely exceeding 1:5, its depth and strength also con- siderably greater ; inhabits the Yamadong Mountains, separating Arracan from Pegu.” Subsequently Mr. Blyth doubted the validity of this new species, but Mr. Gould, who obtained an imperfect specimen from Bangkok, while carefully avoiding all useful details, asserts that it is decidedly different from U. occipitalis and every other species he has yet seen. I cannot of course tell what the Bangkok bird may be like. Mr. Gould figures it with a bill measuring 1-8 from gape to point. I dare say * See also Stray Fratuers, Vol. I, p. 479. — 4 @ 6 BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 145 this may be an artistic exaggeration, but even the type speci- men had not.so large a bill as this, and magnirostris, if so the Upper Burmese race from Thayetmyo is to be called, usually has a bill of 1°6 to 1:7, against 1:5, a maximum, as I think, for occipitalis. In good specimens there is no great naked space sur- rounding the eyes, and in fact, the only real differences between fine specimens of the two races are—(ls¢), that magnirostris is rather more richly colored, especially on the wings; and (2nd), that the bill averages nearly a quarter of an inch longer, is pro- portionally stouter, and is of a somewhat deeper and brighter color. Captain Feilden adds that the legs are scarlet, instead of the reddish orange of ocezpitalis, and that the irides are of different shades of brown, but never red. Mr. Oates confirms this statement in regard to the irides being hazel. brown, and the bill and feet deep coral red; but then the sole specimen sent by Mr. Oates unsexed, and perhaps a female, is undistinguishable, I should say, from true occipitalis, and it remains to be discovered whether both races inhabit Pegu, or whether the specimen first named by Mr. Blyth, and that which I owe to Captain Feilden, are fair samples of a race, or merely abnormally fine males of occzpitalis, or whether it is only the males of this Burmese race, which are characterized by the richer coloring of the wings and the larger size of the bill. In favor of magnirostris being distinct, I am bound to say that, though I have an excessively large series of occipital’s from various parts of the Himalayas, many of them really superb birds of our own preserving, I have not one that, in regard to size of bill and colormg of wings, can be mistaken for the magnirostris sent me by Captain Feilden. I should add that a specimen from the Arracan Hills, apparently a young male, has a rather larger bill than occipitalis of the Himalayas ever has, but not so large as either Blyth’s type or Captain Feilden’s bird. On the whole, it seems to me very doubtful whether this species can be maintained ; what is wanted is a really large and carefully sexed series from Pegu and the Arracan Hills. Mr. Oates says that “‘ this bird,” (but whether he means the big-billed or small-billed race is uncertain,) “is very common in some localities in the plains. It likes the neighbourhood of villages in forest country, and may often be seen on the stages erected for stacking straw.” These habits are curious, and are different to those of occipz- talis of the Himalayas, which I have never seen in the imme- diate vicinity of villages. 6'73.—Cissa speciosa, Shaw. Specimens from Thayetmyo correspond well with others from Tipperah and various parts of the Sub-Himalayan Ranges from zr 146 A FIRST LIST OF THE the Bhootan Dhooars westwards to where the Jumna debouches from the hills; westward of this I have not observed it. Al- though it cannot be exhibited by measurements, I think that the bills, both of Thayetmyo specimens and others from the Arracan Hills, do average slightly larger than those from the Sub- Himalayan tracts and Eastern Bengal. Mr. Oates says: “Common in the Pegu Hills, and also on those of Arracan, but not found in the plains. I found the nest, and shot the female off it on 19th April. The nest and eggs have been described in Nusts anp Eaes, Pt. II. “A male measured: Length, 15°3; expanse, 18:3; tail, from vent, 7°8; wing, 5°9; bill, from gape, 1°7; tarsus, 1°7. “ Female: Length, 14°9; expanse, 17°75; tail, from vent, 7°8 ; wing, 6; bill, from gape, 1°58; tarsus, 1:8. « Bill, legs, feet, and edges of eyelids, coral red ; rest of eyelids, yellowish brown ; irides, blood red; claws, pale red; inside of mouth, reddish fleshy.” 6'74.—Dendrocitta rufa, Scop. The Thayetmyo specimens sent belong to the somewhat larger- billed and darker race of this species. Southern Indian birds seem generally rather smaller, paler, and conspicuously smaller- billed. Captain Feilden notices that the irides are dark brown. Mr. Oates says that the species 1s common about Thayetmyo, and he gives the colors of the soft parts as follows :— « Bill, black, purpurescent towards the base, and flesh-colored at the gape ; inside of mouth, reddish fleshy ; eyelids, grey ; iris, pinkish hazel; legs and feet, black ; claws, horny.” 678 bis,—Crypsirina varians, Lath. In writing of C. ewculata Mr. Oates remarks: ‘I once had a shot at a bird with a similarly shaped tail, and much the same size. It appeared to be jet black all over; unfortunately I missed it: what could it have been?” I have no doubt that this was Crypsirina varians, Latham, of which I have fine speci- mens from the neighbourhood of Rangoon and again from various localities in Northern Tenasserim. When I say varians, I mean a bird exactly of that type. I have no Javan specimens to com- pare it with, and the Burmese bird may prove to differ in some minor particulars sufficiently to warrant its specific separation. Looking to what Mr. Oates says, and to its having been ob- tained by Colonel Phayre in Tonghoo, we shall have to add Cryp- sirina varians to our list of Upper Pegu birds. The following are dimensions recorded in the flesh, and deserip- tion taken from birds procured in Tenasserim :— Length, 12°8 to 13:5; expanse, 13°75 to 15; wing, 4°37 to 4-75; tail, from vent, 7°5 to 8°25; feathers next the central tail BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 147 feathers about 1:3; the next pair about 2°4; the next about 3°8 ; and the external pair of all about 5 inches shorter than the central and longest pair; tarsus, 1:05 to 1:15; hind toe and claw about 0-8; bill, from gape, 1:0 to 1:1; from margin of frontal feathers straight to tip about 0:8. The sixth primary, the longest; the fifth, a hair’s breadth shorter ; the fourth, 0-1 ; the third, 0°35; the second, 1:0; and the first, 2-1 shorter than the longest. Weight, 1-75 to 2 oz. Bill, legs, feet, and claws, black ; irides, turquoise blue, darken- ing towards pupil, where it is almost ultra-marine. A broad velvet black band covers the base of the lower man- dible, the lores, and the front of theforehead. The whole of the rest of the bird, except the quills and rectrices, a dark metallic green, much the same kind of color as in Ca/ornis, and with more or less of a bronzy tinge, most strongly marked on the rump and upper tail coverts and on the abdomen. The tibial plumes, vent, and lower tail coverts are a deep brown, almost wanting any trace of the metallic lustre. The primaries are black, with a slight green metallic lustre on the outer webs. The secondaries and tertiaries also black, but with the same dark green metallie lustre on the outer webs and tips that is exhibited by the rest of the upper surface of the bird, and with more or less of green lustre on the inner webs also. The tail, black; the central tail feathers, expanded into a broad racquet shape at their tips, and all of them more or less suffused with a dark green metallic lustre, most marked towards the outer webs of the lateral feathers towards their bases. Subsequently Mr. Oates remarked: “The bird referred to as the one shot at unsuccessfully was undoubtedly, as you surmised, C. varians. An adult female in splendid plumage, which I lately shot in Pegu town, had the iris red with a beautiful outer ring or sclerotic of blue (?) ; eyelids thickly feathered, with the excep- tion of asmall portion low down, which is plumbeous. Bill, legs, and claws, black; inside of mouth, flesh color ; ovaria, minute ; food, entirely insects. “ When shot it was thoroughly overhauling the outer branches of a Mango tree, and while doing so uttered a remarkably loud and disagreeable note.” 678 ter_—Crypsirina cuculata, Jerdon. Mr. Oates says : “ This isa common bird for twenty miles round Thayetmyo ; it seems very local, but it may extend north some distance beyond the frontier. It goes singly or in pairs ; occa- sionally I have seen as many as six together ; it wanders from tree to tree, much as Dendrocitta rufa does. It was certainly not breeding on the 11th May, when I shot several specimens 148 A FIRST LIST OF THE and I have no idea when it does breed. Birds that I measured have varied as follows :— « Length, 12 to 12:1; expanse, 12-5 to 12-7; tail, from vent, 7 to 7°8; wing, 4°08 to 4-2; bill, from gape, 0°78 to 0°9; tarsus, i-0 to Ind. “Tn the old birds the irides are blue; the eyelids, leaden ; the whole bill, black ; the legs and claws, dark brown ; the inside of the mouth, flesh color. In what Mr. Hume says are the young birds, the basal portion of the bill is orange, and so are the edges of the eyelids and the inside of the mouth.” This species was first described by Dr. Jerdon, Isrts, 1862, p. 20. The whole of the chin, throat, cheeks, ear coverts, lores, fore- head, crown, and occiput, black; the extreme tip of the chin, a spot at the base of the lower mandible, the lores, a narrow spot under the anterior half of the eye, and a narrow frontal band, velvet black; the rest with a dull green metallic lustre ; a dull white line, narrow across the throat and widening some- what on the nape, sharply defines the black of the head. The breast, abdomen, vent, flanks and lower tail coverts, the back, scapulars, upper tail coverts, lateral tail feathers, tertiaries, and all but the greater primary coverts, a pale delicate brownish or dove grey; central tail feathers, wmglet, primaries, their greater coverts and secondaries, dull black ; the central tail feathers paling somewhat towards their bases, especially on their outer webs. The secondaries, paler, more or less broadly margined with white or greyish white on their outer webs and tips, and paling on the inner webs towards their margins; wing lining and axillaries, silky, very slightly greyish or brownish white ; the central tail feathers, somewhat abruptly widened out on both webs towards the tips: three inches from the tips they are only about 0°5 wide, while half an inch from the tips, where they are widest, they are 1:3 wide. They widen out more gradually on the mner, and much more suddenly on the outer, web. The tail feathers, ten in number, are very much graduated, all but the central pair normally shaped. The pair next the central ones are 1:4; the next pair, 2°5 ; the next pair, 3°5; and the exterior tail feathers, 4°7, or thereabouts, shorter than the central ones. The fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries are equal and longest ; the third and seventh, about equal ; the second, about 0°75; and the first, about 1°75 shorter than the longest. The interior margins of the quills albescent towards their bases on the lower surface of the wings. In the young birds there is no hood; the lores, ear coverts, and chin are blackish brown, and the top of the head is darker brown. Then there is no white line round the neck; the grey of the plumage is duller and dingier; and quills and central tail feathers, altogether duller-colored. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 149 Dr. Jerdon says: “I found this neatly plumaged little Mag- pie not rare at Thayetmyo in Upper Burmah. It was generally seen singly, now and then in pairs; wanders about a good deal in low jungle, and feeds on grasshoppers, locusts, mantides, and the like. I have seen it catching white-ants, as they issued from their nest in the winged state, with considerable dexterity, returning usually to the same perch. It breeds early, Iimagine, for I killed young birds m June. They differ from the old ones in having the hood dusky ashy, instead of black. A native shikaree assured me that it occasionally perched on the backs of cattle to devour the insects that often infest them.” 683 dis —Sturnopastor superciliaris, Blyth. Mr. Oates says: “I hope to be able to send you a skin soon ; I have none by me now. ‘The bird is very common at some periods of the year, but it is now (lst October) two or three months since I saw one.” Fortunately, I have other specimens from Upper Burmah, and can describe the species. It is very close to our common Sturno- pastor contra; it only differs in being on the average slightly smaller, with slenderer tarsi and smaller feet, and withal having a decidedly larger bill. The whole forehead is white or yellowish white ; there is much more white above the eye than in contra; and all the feathers of the crown havea conspicuous narrow white shaft stripe. I do not think that there are any other constant points of difference between this species and our common Indian one. 684.—Acridotheres tristis, Zin. Specimens from Thayetmyo appear quite identical with others from various other parts of India. Mr. Oates says: “This species is common all the year through ; it keeps near villages and houses, and only goes into the jungle to feed.” 688 2is.—Temenuchus burmanicus, Jerdon. This species was first described by Dr. Jerdon from Thayetmyo, (Insts, 1862, p. 21). He then said in regard to it: “ This Mynah is somewhat aberrant, being allied in its colormg and less robust form to Sturnia, but approaching Sturnopastor in its red bill and habits. It isa ground Mynah, of familiar habits, feeding in the compounds and about villages in Upper Burmah, and breeding in holes in old trees. At the pairing season it is generally in pairs; afterwards small flocks of them are seen together, and many consort together in the same tree. It 1s rather a silent bird, but has the usual Mynah-like call when it takes wing. It feeds chiefly on insects.” 150 A FIRST LIST OF THE Mr. Blyth remarked (Journat, Astatic Soctrty, 1862, p. 342) : <¢ A fine species approaching to Acridotheres in size, the markings of its wings and tail, and also in having the skin bare under and behind the eye. Length about 9:5, of closed wing, 45 ; and tail, 3; bill to gape, 1:25; and tarsi 1°25. Culmen of bill compressed and elevated above the nostrils. Head, cheek, and throat, white. The back and scapularies, pure ashy, and the lower parts, vinaceous, passing to white on the lower tail coverts ; wing primaries, white at base; the remainder, black; secondaries and tertiaries with their coverts bronzed, and having a narrow black margin to each feather; underneath, the wing is white on the anterior half, and dusky for the remainder; middle tail feathers brown and black margined, like the tertiaries; the rest, black; each feather more largely white-tipped to the exterior. Bill, coral-colored, with the basal half of the lower mandible and below the nostrils, black; legs and claws, bright yellow. Procured by Colonel Phayre at Tonghoo, also by Dr. Jerdon at Thayetmyo, and at Arracan by Mr. W. T. Blanford. It is also evidently the species to which Major Tickell directed my attention, as a White-headed Mynah, common about Rangoon, and which he had only observed in that vicinity ; but I did not chance to meet with it.” Mr. Oates remarks: “ This species is common throughout the year; it is more of a Tree Mynah than the others. It is very fond of searching the flowers of the Cotton tree (Sa/malia mala- barica) for insects. I have seen fully a hundred of these birds on one of these magnificent trees at one time. It also feeds on the ground in large flocks. The dimensions of several that I measured were as follows :— « Length,'9 to 9:25; expanse, 14 to 14°8; tail, from vent, 2°85 to 3:1; wing, 4:4 to 4°75; bill, from gape, 1-1 to 1°24; tarsus, 1:2 to 1°36. Irides, dark brown; about one eighth of an inch of the lower part of the iris, yellow,—this has been constant in all the specimens I have examined; eyelids and naked skin of face, slaty brown ; the gape, the basal half of the lower mandible, and the base of the upper mandible, black ; the remainder of the bill, dull red ; inside of mouth, dark blue; legs, feet, and claws, dusky orange.” A fine specimen has the entire head, chin, throat, and upper breast, white. The whole of the feathers on the top and back of the head, elongated, very narrow, and pointed ; the white not pure, except at the bases of the feathers, but with a very faint brown tinge ; the whole of the back, scapulars, ramp, and upper tail coverts, brownish grey, paling on the rump and upper tail coverts; the lesser coverts about the shoulder of the wing, darker grey ; winglet and primaries, black, the latter palmg to brown at their tips, and with a white band at their bases, narrow on the first two or three primaries and gradually widening ; primary greater coverts, white; the first and second have some blackish brown BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 151 on the inner webs; the third and fourth, nearly entirely black on the outer webs; the rest of the greater coverts, the median coverts, the secondaries, and tertiaries, hair brown, bronzed, the latter on both webs, the rest on the exterior webs, but leaving on each feather a very narrow dark brown margin to which the bronzing does not extend ; central tail feathers, brown, bronzed, but more faintly than the tertials and secondaries ; lateral tail feathers, black ; the pair next the centre, with a white spot at the tip; the next pair, regularly tipped; the next, more broadly, and so on to the external pair, which have nearly the terminal one inch white; the breast and centre of abdomen, pale vinaceous ; flanks and sides, browner and greyer; region of the vent, more or less fulvous ; lower tail coverts, slightly sullied or yellowish white; edge of the wing, axillaries, wing lining, and basal portion of primaries, pure white; lower surface of quills, pale, glossy, hair brown; the first primary is spurious, less than half an inch in length, the second large primary is the longest, the third shghtly shorter, the fourth about equal to the first long pri- mary ; the tail is a good deal rounded; the exterior tail feathers, from 0-5 to 0°75 inch shorter than the central ones. Mr. Oates sends one specimen obtained in the Pegu Hills, which he considers to belong to a distinct species, but which I think is merely the young of the present one. It is of precisely the same size, and had the soft parts colored very similarly, but it has the whole of the head, neck, and throat, where these are white or slightly sullied white in the adult, thoroughly dirty or suffused with a dingy grey brown tint. The interscapulary region is browner, and the breast, upper abdomen, and flanks have a somewhat deeper vinaceous tinge; in other respects the birds are identical. He adds: “This Mynah is conspicuous by its absence from the plains of Lower Pegu, where ¢ris¢is and super- ciliaris are both common. 689 guat—Temenuchus nemoricolus, Jerdon. This species was originally described (Inis, 1862, p. 22) by Dr. Jerdon in the following terms :— : “Head, nape, face, and whole lower parts, white ; the back of the neck, back, and wings, ashy, tinged with ferruginous on the upper tail coverts ; quills, black ; secondaries, the same, edged with grey externally ; winglet and a spot on the greater coverts, pure white; thigh coverts, tinged with rusty ; tail feathers, blackish on the inner web, more or less grey externally, and tipped with chestnut, increasing in extent from about } inch on the middle feathers to $ inch on the outer tail feathers; bill, blue at the base, then green, with the tip yellow; irides, glaucous white ; legs, dull yellow ; length, 7 to 8; expanse, 123; wing, 4; tail, 24; bill, 2; tarsus, ¢. 152 A FIRST LIST OF THE «This is a typical Sturnza, and, like my 8S. Blythi and S. mala- barica, keeps entirely to the forest and to the tops of the trees. It has a pleasant warbling song.” Dr. Jerdon gave me what I understood from him were the type specimens of both this and the preceding species; my specimens do not agree at all well with his description. In my bird the forehead and crown, chin, throat, and ear coverts are pale buffy white, shghtly more buffy on the three latter ; occiput, similar, but shghtly greyer; back of the neck, brownish grey ; back, scapulars, and lesser wing coverts, greyish brown; rump and upper tail coverts, fulvous or dingy buffy; quills, winglet, and primary greater coverts, dark brown; median coverts and secondary greater coverts, fulvous white ; tail feathers, dark brown, the external pair, with most of the outer web and all but the central pair, broadly tipped with rufous ; breast and upper abdomen, pale brownish white ; lower abdomen, fulvous white ; tibial plumes and lower tail coverts more rufescent; wing lining and axillaries, white, the former tinged somewhat rufescent. My specimen may be somewhat faded, as it is dated Thayetmyo, 1861-62; but Dr. Jerdon’s description must, I think, be wrong about the winglet, and the spot on the greater coverts being white. Neither Mr. Oates nor Captain Feilden appears to have met with this species. 693.—Eulabes javanensis, Osdeck. T have already (Stray Fratuers, 1874, p. 254) explained the insuperable difficulty that appears to me to exist in separating javanensis and intermedia, and it will be sufficient here to say that the Upper Pegu birds, while they have bills a great deal larger than the Raipore and Sumbulpore birds, correspond in this respect fairly well with those from Sikhim, but have smaller bills than those from the Tipperah Hills and from Malacca. Mr. Oates says: ‘Very common on the Pegu Hills, and appears to be equally so on those of Arracan. I have heard of its being seen near the Irrawaddy, but I must say I doubt whether it ever really is found in the plains at all. “The sexes are of much the same size. The specimens I measured varied as follows :— “ Length, 11:25 to 11°85; expanse, 19°75 to 20°5; tail, from vent, 3 to 3:5; wing, 6°3 to 6°5; bill, from gape, 1°47 to 1:53; tarsus, 1°35 to 1°42. “ The bill is coral red, yellow at the tip; the inside of the mouth, fleshy ; the irides, brown; eyelids, well-feathered, naked skin, in general, deep yellow; more or less tinged with orange on the face, and purer, and varying in depth of color on the lappets ; the upper- most corner of the lappet near the eye, tinged with blue; legs, feet, and claws, yellow.” BIRDS OF UPPER PEGQU. 13 694.—Ploceus baya, Blyth. Specimens from Thayetmyo agree well with others from all parts of India. Mr. Oates says: “I never got two birds with the soft parts of the same color. I wish you would clear up the whole matter by explaining how and when the changes take place. “This is a very common bird with us. Its nest is to be seen everywhere just now in September. Specimens that I measured in the flesh varied as follows :— “ Length, 5°6 to 6; expanse, 8°5 to 9; tail, from vent, 1-9 to 2°2; wing, 2°7 to 2°S; bill, from gape, 0°68 to 7; tarsus, 0°8 to 0.7 As regards the soft parts, I cannot quite explain all the changes. The legs and feet do not appear to me to vary perceptibly. The eyelids are always, 1 think, grey ; in the breeding season perhaps a little bluer, in the cold-weather a little more fleshy. In the breeding season the bill is black, except the gape, which is yellow ; in the winter it is pale, brownish, horny yellow in some, more dusky in others, and acquires, I think, somewhat more of a pinkish tinge in the spring. I wish to call attention here to Ploceus megarhynchus, nobis, Isis, 1869, p. 356. I have now five specimens of this bird, two from the terai below Nynee Tal in winter plumage, and two from Dacca, and one from the terai below Darjeeling, nearly in breeding plumage. The bird is quite distinct from éaya, which it most resembles, and a fortior: from bengalensis, from Blyth’s striata, which is supposed to be identical with manyar, Horsfield, and from hyporanthus, Daud. In both winter and summer plumage it appears to resemble daya; but it is altogether a larger and more massive bird, with a wing from 3 to 3:2 at least, a bill at front 0°7 to 0°8, with an enormously stout tarsus, 0-9 to 0°95 in length, and, judging from my specimens, I should say weighing quite double as much as Jaya. I feel almost con- fident that specimens of this will be found in the British Museum, as although Jaya is the common species below Darjeeling, I have obtained a specimen of megarhynchus also from this locality, and Mr. Hodgson is sure to have done the same; whether he ever published any name for it I cannot say. The late Dr. Jerdon at once recognized the distinctness of this species. Directly I showed it to him he said he had never seen anything hke it; it will probably be found to occur all through Hastern Bengal and the entire Sub-Himalayan region east of the Ganges. It was plentiful enough about Kaladoongee and Jewlee, below Nyneetal, in December 1866, when I shot it there, without however unfortunately at the time sufficiently recognizing its distinctness. U 154 A FIRST LIST OF THE 695.—Ploceus manyar, Hors/, Thayetmyo birds appear tobe identical with Indian ones ; whether these latter, which Blyth named sé¢rzatus, are really identical with Javan specimens I cannot say. ‘They seem to be generally so considered at home, and I therefore adopt Horsfield’s name. Mr. Oates says: ‘This species is scarcely less common about Thayetmyo than aya. The following are the measurements of a female shot on 7th December :— “Length, 5:4; expanse, 8°3; tail, from vent, 1:85; wing, 2°65; bill, from gape, 0°63; tarsus, 0°91. “The irides were brown ; the eyelids, grey ; the bill, yellowish horny, darker on the upper mandible; legs, fleshy ; claws, pinkish.” 696.—Ploceus bengalensis, Blyth. Mr. Blanford states that he obtained this species at Thayetmyo. Four closely-allied species; therefore, of this one genus occur in this single locality. 696 ter.—Ploceus hypoxanthus, Daud. Rangoon and Thayetmyo specimens appear to be identical with the Javan bird which Horsfield called philippinus, but which is, I believe, distinct, and more nearly allied to Gaya. The Javan bird, says Mr. Strickland (Journat, Asiatic Socrery, 1844, p. 945), “is bright yellowish above; back, striped with dusky; wings, dusky; each feather, margined whitish; tail, dusky, narrowly tipped with whitish ; beak, shorter than in den- galensis; the cheeks and throat, blackish, with a yellow streak dividing that on the lower jaw; lower parts, deep yellow.” This brief description appears to agree sufficiently well with our Burmese birds, but these Plocei require, it seems to me, to be carefully overhauled. Mr. Oates remarks: “ In the Thayetmyo District this spe- cies is not common, although it is occasionally met with, but at Poungday in the Prome District I found it very abundant. The large plains of elephant grass near that town, the first in- dications that you are on the limits of the dry region, seem well adapted to the bird. I saw several dozens in one morning’s ride. This was in June, and they were apparently building. I do not know if the male assumes the dull brown plumage in the winter months, but you certainly never see the yellow bird after October. It either changes plumage, or migrates southwards. Later I took the eggs and nest which I have described in Nusts anp Eees; Pr. II. I shot a pair at Palow on the 19th September. The male measured— “ Length, 5°7; expanse, 8°5; tail, from vent, 2°1; wing, 2°6; bill, from gape, 0°6; tarsus, 0°8. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 155 “The bill was deep black ; the under side of the lower mandible, dark horny ; the inside of the mouth, dusky fleshy ; the irides, brown ; the eyelids, grey ; legs, pinkish fleshy ; claws, horny. “ The female measured— “ Length, 5°2 ; expanse, 7:7 ; tail, from vent, 1°85; wing, 2°3; bill, from gape, 0°54; tarsus, 0°78. “The lower mandible and the edges of the upper were pale fleshy horny ; the remainder of the upper mandible, dark brown ; the inside of the mouth, fleshy ; the rest as in the male.” In this species the bills are shorter and proportionally deeper than in any of our other Indian birds species. In breeding plumage the male has the forehead, top, and back of the neck, rump, and upper tail coverts, breast, abdomen, sides, flanks, and lower tail coverts a bright gamboge yellow, only the central portion of the upper breast just below its junction with the blackish throat slightly tinged with brownish orange. The feathers of the back and scapulars are dark brown, dusky at base, and broadly frmged with dark yellow. The wings are hair brown, all the feathers narrowly margined with white. In some specimens the brown is almost black, and the longest ter- tiary and one or two of the later secondaries are margined with pale yellow, imstead of white. The tail is hair brown, in some blackish brown, excessively narrowly margined (chiefly at the tips and on the outer webs towards their bases) with yellowish white. The lores, cheeks, ear coverts, chin, and throat are black; the lowest feathers of all, where the black meets the yellow, are more or less tipped with that color; traces of a narrow, yellow, man- dibular stripe, from the inferior angle of the lower mandible, more apparent in some specimens than in others ; axillaries, pure white or nearly so; edge of the wing and wing lining, very pale fulvous or buff. I have never myself shot this bird, and do not know there- fore what the non-breeding plumage of the male may be, nor do I know whether the female assumes the yellow plumage. The female shot by Mr. Oates at the same time as the male in breeding plumage, and which may be a young one, though I do not think so, is, except so far as the bill is proportionally broader and deeper, an exact miniature of the female Ploceus baya, and agrees with this feather for feather. 698.—Munia atricapilla, Veil. * Mr. Oates says: “This species is common ; it affects elephant grass and swampy places in preference.” Unfortunately the only specimen sent by Mr. Oates was entirely destroyed. I have no Upper Pegu specimens by me, but examples from Tenasserim do not differ from Indian ones. a 156 A FIRST LIST OF THE 699.—Lonchura punctulata, Lin. Mr. Oates says: “ This is by far the commonest Wunia of these parts, being found everywhere except on the hills. Grass and paddy lands are their favorite haunts. Specimens that I mea- sured varied as follows :— “ Length, 4°7 to 4°8; expanse, 6-9 to 7; tail, from vent, 1°6 to 1:8; wing, 2°1 to 2°2; bill, from gape, 0°41 to 0°46; tarsus, 0°61 to 0°63. “ Trides, deep reddish brown ; eyelids, plumbeous ; bill, bluish black, paler and somewhat plumbeous on lower mandible ; inside of mouth, dusky ; legs, plumbeous ; claws, horny.” Specimens sent by Mr. Oates were unfortunately destroyed ; I have little doubt that the species is correctly identified; at the same time Tenasserim specimens are not, as I mentioned (Stray Fratuers, Part II, p. 480) identical with Indian ones. 702.—Lonchura acuticauda, Hodygs. A single specimen, a young bird, sent by Mr. Oates, appears identical with others from Sikhim. Mr. Oates remarks that it is comparatively common about Thayetmyo. /06.—Passer indicus, 7. §- 9. Mr. Oates remarks: “ This is the common House-Sparrow of the country, and is very common. Although these birds breed all the year through, nesting operations are carried on in a very desultory way, except in February and March.” 708 dis.—Passer flaveolus, Blyth. This pretty Sparrow belongs to the same group as c/nnamomeus, Gould, of the Himalayas, and ruti/ans, Tem., of Japan. It was first described by Mr. Blyth (Journan, Astatic Socrxry, 1844, p. 946). He remarked; “ With a close resemblance in its markings to the Common Sparrow, except that the back is not streaked, this pretty species is distinguished by its smaller size and predomi- nating yellowish plumage. The bill somewhat inclines to be slender, and in this respect, as well as in the absence of all streakiness above, some approach is shown to Gymuoris flavicollis. In the male the top of the head, nape, and rump, are of a dull light green, inclining to yellowish on the forehead,” (I should say greenish grey, with a narrow pale frontal band) ; “ the cheeks and sides of the forehead are tolerably bright yellow, and the, rest of the under parts are sullied yellow: streak from eye to mouth, and the usual patch on the throat and foreneck, deep black ; sinciput,” (I should say broad streak from posterior angle of. BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 157 eye to nape), “ mantle, and anterior third of wing, chestnut bay, passing to maroon at the bend of the wing; there is a whitish bar on the wing, formed by the tips of the smaller range of coverts ; and the rest of the wing, with the tail, is dusky, ” (I should say pale hair brown) ; “the feathers margined with yellowish brown,” (I should say yellowish white) ; “bill, black,” (in the breeding season); “and legs, brown. The female is nearly uniform pale brown above, darker on the mantle, and Laving the whitish bar on the wing somewhat narrower; supercilium, cheeks, and under-parts, dull yellowish; and bill, ight brown. Length 5, or nearly so; of wing 23, and tail 2; bill to forehead 5% inch, and tarsi 3 inch ; from Arracan, where procured by Captain Phayre.” Mr. Oates remarks: “This species is nearly as common as indicus. Itis, however, more of a Bush Sparrow, generally build- ing its nest in trees; one pair indeed built a nest in my house, but as soon as it was finished the birds left the place.” 708 ter. 7—Passer assimilis, Walden. In the An. anp Mac. of Naturat History for 1870, p. 218, Lord Walden describes the above species, which, if a good one, is entitled to a place in our list. The description is so brief that it is impossible to pronounce positively ; but sofar as it goes, it would apply fairly well to the young of /laveolus. Lord Walden says: “ Resembles P. cinnamomeus, Gould, but differs by being smaller, by having a slenderer and smaller bill, and by having the cheeks and sides of the neck pure white, and the breast, flanks, and ventral region ashy grey. Wing, 22 inches; tail, 1$, or nearly } inch shorter thanin P. e/nnamomeus ; from Tonghoo.” 710.—Passer montanus, Ziv. Though Mr. Oates does not appear to have observed it, several specimens of this species have been sent me from Upper Burmah, where, however, it 1s not, I believe, a permanent resident, as in Arracan and further south in Burmah, but merely a seasonal visitant. 719.—Citrinella fucata, Pai. Occurs as a cold-weather visitant at Tonghoo, and hills be- tween Tonghoo and Thayetmyo. Mr. Oates quite recently obtained a specimen a good deal further south, at Wan, in Lower Pegu. 719 dis —Citrinella rutila, Paid. Also occurs as a straggler during the cold-season in Upper Pegu, as well as in Tenasserim, Lower Pegu, Upper Burmah, Assam, and the Bhootan Dhooars and Sikhim. 158 A FIRST LIST OF THE This bird is not included in Jerdon, and I must therefore de- scribe it from a pair killed at Pahpoon on the 17th January. Male: Length, 6°25; expanse, 9; wing, 2°9; tail, from vent, 2°62; tarsus, 0°65; weight, 0°55 oz. The female is barely perceptibly smaller. The bill is brown, paler on the lower mandible; legs and feet, fleshy. In the male the entire head and neck all round, back, rump, lesser and median wing coverts and all but the very longest tail coverts, bright chestnut ; most of the feathers of the throat, some of those of the upper parts, narrowly and inconspicuously fringed with a paler color ; the fringe is so narrow in this specimen that it is impossible to say whether it was yellow or white. The longest upper tail coverts are brown, tinged with chestnut. The tail feathers are hair brown. The exterior tail feather on either side has a streak about an inch long and } inch broad, white or greyish white, which commences at the tip, runs down the margin a little way, and then turns down slantingly towards the shaft, where it ceases. The next feather has a minute greyish white spot at the tip. All the feathers have a barely per- ceptible greenish olive tinge at the extreme margins of the outer web. Winglet, quills, and primary greater coverts, hair brown ; tertiaries, tinged chestnut on the outer web ; the rest, margined on their outer webs with pale olivaceous yellow; secondary greater coverts, like the tertiaries, but more strongly suffused on the outer webs with chestnut ; lower parts, breast to lower tail coverts, pale clear yellow, streaked, dashed, and tinged on the sides and flanks with olive green. The female has the lores, cheeks, ear coverts, chin, and throat, a slightly fulvous white, with an obscure streak of dull brown spots running down from the base of the lower mandible on either side of the throat; the breast and the rest of the lower parts much as in the male, but slightly paler. The sides of the neck behind the ear coverts, pale chestnut. The feathers, fringed with greenish ashy; and it is this color alone that is seen till the feathers are lifted. A narrow dark brown inconspicuous supercilium runs backwards from above the nostrils over the eye. The forehead, crown, and occiput, chestnut ; most of the feathers, with a blackish brown shaft spot towards the tip, and broadly fringed with pale, dingy yellow or yellowish white. The mantle, including the lesser and median coverts, the feathers mostly brown, broadly fringed with pale yellowish olive, and here and there tinged with chestnut. Rump, pale chestnut; the feathers, nar- rowly fringed yellowish. Upper tail coverts and tail, hair brown; the former fringed at the tips, the latter at the margins towards their bases, with pale yellowish olive or dull greenish yellow. The tertiaries and their own and the secondary greater coverts, BIRDS OF UPPER PEGU. 159 dark hair brown, broadly margined on their outer webs, the two former with rufous, the latter with greenish fulvous. The rest of the quills, the primary greater coverts, and the winglet, a some- what lighter hair brown; and all the feathers conspicuously margined on their outer webs, but not nearly so broadly as the feathers already mentioned, with greenish albescent. This is the only female we secured, and, though it was care- pay sexed, I do not feel quite certam that it was not a young male, 723.—Kuspiza aureola, Pail. Though neither Captain Feilden nor Mr. Oates appears to have obtained this species, I have myself seen a specimen killed near Thayetmyo, and Sir Arthur Phayre obtained it in the neighbourhood of Tonghoo. It must, therefore, be included in our list. 755 bis—Mirafra microptera, Hume. This species has been already characterized (STRAY FEATHERS, 1873, p. 483). It is the same species as Dr. Jerdon mentions under the name of affinis as being common about Thayetmyo. Captain Feilden says: “ This is certainly the commonest Lark about here.” Mr. Oates remarks: “ Very common, being seen all the year through in every field and on every road-side. It is so tame that it will hardly get out of your way. I found the nest on the 20th July, and have described it, as well as the eggs, in Nests AND Eees, Part II. «