OaSITHOLOGY. 381 



PEiirciiOTUs sPECinsrs, Lafli. Araknn. Tcnasscrini. 



Hiu't-mun-tha i . IIiict-mcu-tlKUuit' y . 



P. niiKVlROSTKis, Yig. Karrn-iii at 301)0. I'ahpooii. 



P. RosEVs, Vicill. Arakau. Pegu. Pahpoou. 



P. I'KUKoRiNus, L. Arakan. Pegu. Tonassorim. Andamans. 



P. ALBiFRONs, Jcivlon. Pegu. Toung-ngoo. 



P. Kr.E(iAJjs, MacClell. Martaban. Kanui-ui. Tcnasserira. 



P. Andamanensis, Tytlor. Aiulamaiis. 



P. iGNEUs, Blyth. Pakclian. SDutbcrn Tenasserim. 



P. NEGLECTUS, Humc. lloolcyit. 



P. FLAMMIFER, Hiime. Pakclian. 



P. SOLARIS, Blyth. Mookyit and Tliatono. 



P. ciNEUEDS. Southern Tenassorim. 



Famihj Muscicapidse. 



The flycatchers arc a group of insectivorous birds of small size, with a wide 

 gape and usually strong rictal bristles, which enable them the more readily to retain 

 winged insects, on which they mainly feed. Their wings are not adapted for long 

 flight, but they can make rapid and powerful sallies after their insect prey. 



myiagrix^t:. 



MuscrPETA paeahisi, L. Arakan. Pegu. Tenasserim. 



M. afflnis, A. Hay. Andamans. Nieobars. 



The paradise Flycatcher. 



The changes of colour in this bird are very striking. In the second year the 

 prevailing hue of the body is chestnut, but the nuptial plumage in the third year 

 is white. The head in either case is black. The adult females resemble the males, 

 but want the elongated tail feathers. It is restless and wandering in its habits, 

 and the undulatory movement of its long tail in flying is very peculiar. 



The Burmese race is regarded as distinct by Jerdon and Blyth, but nunio, with 

 fuller materials, amvcs at an op])osite conclusion. The point is, not that extreme 

 examples of either race would not be justly held to constitute distinct species did 

 no inteiTuediate links occur, but that in the presence of numerous intermediate 

 forms, they cannot be held to do so. These intermediate forms not clearly referable 

 to either species, but having relations to both, constitute the umbilical cord which 

 binds a race to a species. Let natural causes sever this cord, and a new species is 

 thereby produced (S.F. iii. p. 102). Subsequently (S.F. vi. p. 223) Mr. Hume 

 accepts affinis as the Burmese species, but adds nothing to detract from the force 

 of the reasons which he previously gave for an opposite conclusion. It of course 

 matters little whether a distinction is treated as specific, or sub-specific {i.e. racial), 

 but it is clearly desirable, when we can do so, to restrict the swarms of shadowy 

 species with which zoological literature is afflicted. 



PniLENTOMA PYERHOPTEEUM, Tem. Southcm Tenasserim. 



P. VELATUM, Tem. Martaban. Tenasserim. 



Hypothvmis azueea, Bodd. Arakan. Pegu. Tenasserim. Nieobars. 



Common throughout the country. It is solitary in its habits, and spreads out 

 its tail in a fan, like the species of Leucocerca or ' Fantails.' This species is replaced 

 at the Andamans by the next, which is however merely a local race. 



H. Tytleri, Beavan. Andamans. 



Leucocerca alhicollis, Vieill. Tenasserim Hills, from 2000 to COOO feet. 

 L. albifrontata, Frank. Pegu. Tenasserim. 



L. aureola, Less. 

 L. JAVANicA, Sparrm. Tenasserim south of Tavoy. 



L. infumata, Humc. 



