( 570) 



li5ii. Pnoepyga lepida Salviul. (?) 



Pnoepyga lepida Salvad., Aim. Has. Civ. Genora xiv. p. 227 (Mt. Siiigalaii, 

 Sumatra), 



?. GuiKing Tahan, October 1901, between oiioo and TOOi) ft. 



The ? Pnoepyga from the Gnnong Tahau certainly does not belong to 

 P. pusilla, thongh it is of the same size and general colonration. It differs, how- 

 ever, in several things. It is of a somewhat richer and some more rufescent brown, 

 the forehead, up to the eyes, is rufous ; the feathers of the under surface are much 

 more broadly edged with brownish black, and it seems that the feet and legs are 

 much darker, though the collector has not marked their colour in the flesh. I 

 have compared a number of fi'inale.'i from Sikkim and North Cachar (E. C Stuart 

 Baker coll.) in the Tring Museum and the large series in the British Museum, and 

 there is not one specimen like this Malayan bird. 



Dr. Sharpe (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. vi. p. 304) has united Pnoepyga lepida and 

 P. pusilla, but not having seen specimens from Sumatra his judgment is not con- 

 vincing, and he, in fact, adds that he "does so with all reserve." lam not (juite 

 certain that the Gnnong Tahan bird is the same as P. lepida from Sumatra. The 

 type of the latter is said to be a.fem.ale, but, from the description, I deduct that it is 

 a male, for a, female of this group is not " biancheggiante snlla gola e snl mezzo 

 deir abdome." Even the actual comparison of the type is therefore not decisive, and 

 further material must be awaited. In any case the Gnnong Tahan is not P. pusilla 

 and from the similarity of the mountain fauna of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula 

 it is much more likely that they have the same Pnoepyga than that the Samatran 

 lepida should be the same as the Javan bird {P. rufa Sharpe, Cat. B. vi. p. 304), in 

 which both sexes are alike, and very similar to the male of P. pusilla, or a 

 form of it. 



162. Hydrocichla rnficapillus (Temm.). 



Enicurus ruficapillus Temm., PI. Col. ,534 (1831) (" Pallambang, Sumatra"), 



S ? and juv. Gnnong Tahan 15011 and 4000 ft. The young bird (marked "(?") 

 has the entire throat white. Otherwise it resembles the adult male, except that the 

 crown of the head is of a duller and more brownish orange-chestnut. The 

 white throat is remarkable, because Dr. Sharpe has })ased on this character his 

 " Hydrocichla riifidorsalis " (cf. Cat. B. vii. p. 320). He admits that the rufous- 

 red back is not a specific character, but pecnliar to all femalci of //. ruJicajiHlu.<<, a 

 fact now well known, but he maintains that " in no stage of plumage has the last- 

 named bird been described with a white throat." Now, however, our Gnnong Tahan 

 birds show that the young birds have white throats, and therefore I have no doubt 

 that " If. r/ijidorsali.s " is based upon a yonng female of //. riijicupillus. 



Mr. Butler obtained II. rujicapilli/.s on the Gnnong Ijau. 



It was also sent Irom the lowlands of Tahang. 



163. Enicurus schistaceus Hodgs. 



Knicuru.s .sc/ii.stareu.'< Hodgs., A.iiat. l{e.teare/ie.'< xix. ]i. l^^O (1S36, Nepal). 

 "S " juv. Gunong Tahan, l.jdii ft. 



This young bird has a white throat, but the fresh black feathers are just 

 beginning to show. The forehead is slate-colour, but white feathers are appearing. 



