( 537 ) 



ON BIRDS FROM PAIIANG, EASTERN MALAY 

 PENINSULA. 



By ERNST IIARTEIIT. 



THE following article is based on a folleotion matlo li}- Mr. John Watoi-stnult 

 an<I a party of niitive linut.ers and skinners on Monat Talian, the enonnous 

 monntain, said to be 1U,IJOO ft. or more high, sifnated on the north border of 

 Paliaug, east of Perak, in tlie eastern half of the Blalay Peuinsnla. Considering 

 the difficnlties of travelling in those regions and the unwillingness of the natives 

 to ascend the high mountains, which they imagine to be inhabited by " hantns " 

 (gliosts), Mr. Waterstradt's ascent has been a i)lncky and most interesting trip that 

 does him much credit, as he was the first European to explore Mount Talian. 

 Unfortunately the collection is not, however, as good as we had hoped that it 

 would be. The collectors did not reach very great heights, the number of birds 

 from "."iOOU to 7000 ft." being small, while the skins, owing to the difficulties of 

 travelling and transport, are mostly not in very good condition ; and the se.xes 

 marked on the labels are, I am sorry to say, not reliable, being as often wrong as 

 they are correct where this can be said with certainty. Nevertheless the bird 

 collection is of great interest, being from an unexplored place. Besides a few 

 novelties, it contains most of the species hitherto only known from the mountains 

 of Perak. The similarity with the Snmatran fauna is very striking. I have also 

 mentioned a number of species obtained by native hunters in the lowlands of 

 Pahang, and those collected on the Sungei Lebeh, a river not far from Gnnoiig 

 Tahan (Gnnong = Mount). 



(In this article I have also quoted the original description, and I have been 

 obliged to settle some interesting nomcnclatorial and other questions. I have not 

 altered the spelling of the specific names in any case, not even the sex, thus treating 

 them as mere names, not as adjectives added to the substantive generic names.) 



1. Rhizothera longirostris (Temm). 



Perdix lonyirostris Temm., Piy. et Gall. iii. [ip. ^i^i'.^, I'^l (181.5) (Northern 

 Sumatra). 



Two males, near Mount Tahan, North Pahang; also received from Selangor 

 in IDOU. 



2. Arboricola charltonii (Eyton). 

 Perdix chrirltoiiii Eyton, Aim. & Mag. S. II. xvi. (Is4r.) p. •.'liii (Alalacca). 

 One specimen, Nortli Pahang plains. 



3. Houppifer erythrophthalmus (IJafll.). 



Pliasianii.s crythi-ophlliulinas Kalll., Tnuis. Linn. ,Soi: London xiii. (I^V.'2) j). :i','l 

 (iSumatra). 



iSungei Lebeh and other places in the lowlands of I'ahniig. 



