324 BULLETIN 186, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



vol. 6, 1881, p. 21; restricted to Cachar, by Stuart Baker, Bull. Brit. Orn. 

 Club, vol. 41, 1920, p. 8). 



Chloropsis aurifrons [partim], Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 

 1913, p. 23 ("Northern . . . Siam") ; 1916, p. 64 (Pha Kho, Khun Tan, Tha 

 Chomphu, Pang Hua Phong, Doi Pha Sakaeng). 



Chloropsis aurifrons, Gyldenstolpe, Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, 1915, p. 166 

 (listed). 



Chloropsis aurifrons aurifrons [partini], Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1920, p. 489 ("North- 

 ern Siam"). 



Chloropsis aurifrons subsp., de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 

 1928, p. 567 (Doi Suthep). 



Chloropsis aurifrons aurifrons, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila- 

 delphia, 1929, p. 537 ("Chieng Mai" [=Doi Suthep], Doi Suthep, Chiang 

 Rai, Mae Chai) ; 1984, p. 200 (Doi Suthep). — Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. 

 Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 139 (Doi Suthep) ; 1936, p. 108 (Doi Suthep).— Riley, 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 3G8 (Doi Langka, Ban Nam Khian, Mae 

 Suya valley, Mae Hong Son). 



This leafbird is very common in all of our provinces, occurring in 

 the deciduous forest of the lowlands and ascending the hills in the 

 same type of vegetation to about 2,500 feet. De Schauensee's imma- 

 ture example from the evergreen of Doi Suthep at 4,600 feet and 

 another collected by me in a Chiang Mai garden must be considered 

 merely stragglers from the normal range. 



On the lower slopes of Doi Suthep, the orange-fronted chloropsis 

 is one of the commonest birds, traveling in noisy flocks of as many 

 as 20 individuals and gathering in even greater numbers at the tops 

 of fruiting or flowering trees. Its brilliant colors and sweet voice 

 make it a favorite cage bird at Chiang Mai. 



Specimens with the gonads enlarged were taken on Doi Suthep on 

 March 5 and July 12. There is probably an incomplete prenuptial 

 molt, but the protracted breeding season obscures the picture and I can 

 say only that every example in a series of ten, taken at various local- 

 ities between February 28 and September 29, is undergoing one molt 

 or another. 



Breeding males had the irides brown; the bill black; the feet and 

 toes dark plumbeous ; the claws slate. 



The adult has a conspicuous patch of plushlike, shining golden- 

 orange feathers on the forehead; the chin and upper throat shining 

 ultramarine; the lores, ocular region, anterior ear coverts, and the 

 remainder of the throat black, bordered by an indistinct golden-yellow 

 band (broader and more distinct across the breast) ; a shining tur- 

 quoise-blue shoulder patch; the rest of the plumage bright green, 

 slightly more yellow-green on the underparts. 



No northern specimen shows any approach to inomata. 



Since aurifrons is common at Chiang Saen Kao and also in Nan 

 Province, it is almost certain to occur in Laos, whence it is still 

 unknown. 



