290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. i08 



The population of Chieng Rai, northernmost Thailand, mentioned 

 by Deignan (1945, p. 559), is somewhat variable, but cannot be 

 satisfactorily assigned to either a kno^vn race or an intergrade between 

 races. Rather than to try to stretch the limits of well-defined sub- 

 species to include these birds, it would seem advisable to recognize 

 them as a subspecific entity, for which an appropriate name is 



Lonchura malacca deignani, new subspecies 



Type: USNM 350467; adult male; Chieng Rai, northern Thailand 

 (1,214 feet); May 8, 1936; H. G. Deignan, collector (original No. 

 1297). 



Diagnosis : Differs from all other subspecies of the mainland, glossy 

 black-headed group except ruhro-nigra in that the long upper tail 

 coverts and central rectrices in most (not all) specimens are deep 

 orange-red rather than some shade of yellow. In a minority of 

 individuals these feathers are rich yellow-orange, not unlike (but 

 somewhat more intensely colored than) those of atricapilla. All 

 individuals of deignani, however, may be distinguished from ruhro- 

 nigra or atricapilla by their more diffuse and generally less blackish 

 abdominal patch, and by having dark brown rather than black under 

 tail coverts. The general color of both dorsal and ventral surfaces is 

 also a paler reddish brown in ruhro-nigra than in deignani. 



Range: Chieng Rai Province, northern Thailand, and probably 

 Indo-China. A single specimen from Hue, Annam, is referable to 

 deignani. A series of specimens from Hainan in the American Museum 

 of Natural History consists of cage birds, as shown by the condition 

 of the claws; the species is not known to occur in Hainan in a wild 

 state. However, these specimens may well have originated on the 

 Indo-China mainland across from Hainan, since they agree in every 

 respect with deignani. 



Specimens examined (mainland and Sumatra races) : 



L. m. ruhro-nigra: Nepal, 1; Nepal-Bihar border, 1; United Provinces, 2. 



L. m. alricapilla: Assam, 5. 



L. m. atricapilla x sinensis intermediates: northern Yunnan, 5; northern Burma, 



2; central Burma, 2; southern Burma, 2. 

 L. m. sinensis: Malay Peninsula, 2; Sumatra, 1. 

 L. m. batakana: Sumatra, 2. 

 L. m. deignani: northern Thailand, 6; Annam, 1; "Hainan" (cage birds), 8. 



Leaving the glossy black-headed bu-ds of the mainland, we tiu-n now 

 to the eastern popidations inhabiting Taiwan, the Philippines, 

 Celebes, and Borneo. There is a general cline in the direction of 

 increased saturation of the pigment of head and breast running from 

 north to south, from grayish brown in Taiwan to rich black in Borneo 

 and northern Celebes; then, sm-prisingly, back to bro%vn again in 



