THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 351 



Mesia argentauris galhana, Riley, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 363 (Doi 

 Ang Ka, Doi Langka). — Geeenway, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1940, p. 174 (Doi 

 Ang Ka ) . 



The mesia has until now been recorded in the northern provinces 

 only from Doi Ang Ka, Doi Suthep, Doi Langka, and Phu Kha; on all 

 these mountains it is common within its altitudinal range. On Doi 

 Ang Ka it has been found between 4,000 and 5,700 feet, but on Doi 

 Suthep it is strictly confined to the topmost ridge from 5,000 to 5,500 

 feet. 



This bird requires lalang-covered areas at high elevations, dotted 

 with low trees and brushy thickets, and enters the evergreen only in 

 the immediate proximity of such places. It travels in large bands, 

 usually accompanied by other species of small babblers. A stomach 

 examined by me contained ants and beetles. 



The breeding season is very protracted : on Doi Ang Ka I have 

 taken a specimen with gonads enlarged, April 27, and another with 

 them greatly enlarged, September 3. Full-plumaged juveniles have 

 been collected May 1 (Doi Langka), July (Doi Suthep), and Septem- 

 ber 7 (Doi Ang Ka). The only bird seen in postnuptial molt is 

 from Doi Ang Ka, December 4. 



Adults had the irides brownish red; the bill ochreous-yellow (the 

 mandible brighter) , tinged greenish at the corners of the mouth ; the 

 tarsi horny yellow; the toes horny brown; the claws fleshy yellow 

 or light horny brown. 



The adult male in fresh plumage (December-March) has the fore- 

 head deep yellow; the ear coverts shining silvery gray; the crown, 

 lores, and mustachial streak below the ear coverts black; the nape 

 and uppermost back deep olivaceous-golden; the mantle gray, 

 strongly suffused with olive-green; the upper tail coverts red; the 

 outermost primaries edged yellow along the outer web, the other 

 remiges (except the innermost secondaries) similarly edged shining 

 red near the base, yellow elsewhere ; the rectrices blackish, the outer 

 pairs edged yellowish along the outer web ; the chin and throat bright 

 orange-yellow, changing on the breast to the olivaceous-yellow of the 

 remaining underparts ; the under tail coverts red. The adult female 

 differs in having the upper and under tail coverts orange-buff. The 

 juvenile resembles the old female but has the top of the head duller 

 black and the nuchal collar pale and indistinct. As the plumage be- 

 comes worn during spring and summer, the green suffusion is lost 

 from the mantle and the yellows become much duller, possibly as a 

 result of exposure to sunlight. 



Mayr and Greenway (loc. tit.) have described M. a. vernayi (Hai 

 Bum, Upper Burma) and galbana (Doi Ang Ka, North Thailand) as 

 distinct from argentauris (Nepal) on characters of size and tone of 

 mantle, nape, and throat. 



