THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 375 



S[choeniparus] r[ufogularis] major [partim], de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. 

 Sci. Philadelphia, 193S, p. 28 (Ban Huai Soin). 



In the moist evergreen of the little Huai Som valley, at the eastern 

 base of the Nan-Phrae border-range, this bird is apparently not un- 

 common, and I collected three males there, March 28 and 29, 1937. 



It is a terrestrial feeder, which usually stays beneath the densest 

 thickets but, occasionally, may come out onto some narrow trail 

 whence, at the first alarm, it takes refuge again in the undergrowth. 

 At least when disturbed, it utters a continual chur-r-r, chur-r-r, 

 chur-r-r. 



All my specimens had the gonads greatly enlarged. 



It has the crown, nape, and uppermost back dull chestnut-rufous, 

 this area completely bordered by a narrow black band (which tends to 

 be disconnected on the upper back) ; the remaining upperparts rufous- 

 brown, washed with olivaceous on the mantle; a narrow white super- 

 cilium below the black coronal border; the ear coverts olivaceous- 

 brown; the sides of the neck ferruginous, this area joined with a deep 

 chestnut-rufous gorget across the lower threat (often broken at the 

 center) ; the chin and the rest of the throat pure white ; the breast 

 olivaceous-gray; the flanks olivaceous-brown; the abdomen white; 

 the under tail coverts pale ferruginous. 



The birds of Ban Huai Som, taken about 56 miles west of Pak Mat, 

 are undoubtedly major. On the other hand, a pair from Ban Nam 

 Puat, in the French Enclave, about 90 miles northwest of Pak Mat, 

 erroneously identified by me, and also by de Schauensee (loc. cit.), 

 as major, are probably of the race hlanchardi. The latter is described 

 (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 48, 1928, p. 132) as differing from major 

 "in its smaller size, more olivaceous, less yellowish underparts, 

 browner breast, dull brown under tail-coverts." The Nam Puat 

 specimens have, in fact, the underparts less olivaceous, more rufous, 

 than major and I strongly suspect that a lapsus calami has caused the 

 characters to be reversed in the original description. A. r. hlanchardi, 

 as here understood, may be known from major by its smaller size; 

 deeper color of the upperparts, gorget, and under tail coverts; paler 

 brown ear coverts ; and more rufous flanks. 



ALCIPPE POIOICEPKALA HARINGTONIAE Hartert 



Shan Gray-eyed Quaker Babbler 



Alcippe haringtoniae Hartert, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. vol. 25, 1909, p. 10 (Bhamo. 



Upper Burma). 

 Alcippe phayrei, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1913, p. 21 



(Khao Phlung). 

 Alcippe phaeocephala magnirostris, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. 



Handl., 1936, p. 58 (Doi Pha Sakaeng) ; Ibis, 1920, p. 482 (Doi Pha Sakaeng, 



Khao Phlung). 



