362 BULLETIN 18 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



November 11; adults in postnuptial molt, between August 28 and 

 December 11. Examples collected between February 14 and March 4 

 are undergoing prenuptial molt of the feathers of head and neck. 

 Spring birds with the rufous-edged remiges of immaturity indicate 

 that postjuvenal molt is incomplete. 



A breeding male had the irides crimson-lake ; the orbital region dull 

 black ; the bill black, with the commissure edged gray at the tip ; the 

 feet and toes blackish brown ; the claws horny gray. 



In the deep shade of the forest, this appears to be a black bird with 

 a conspicuous white patch at each side of the neck. In fact, it has the 

 top of the head and the nape rich brown, suffused with blackish on the 

 front and forecrown ; the remaining upperparts dull olivaceous-brown, 

 strongly suffused with ashy on the upper portion of the back; the 

 cheeks and anterior ear coverts black, this color changing to rich 

 chestnut on the remaining ear coverts; on either side of the neck, 

 adjacent to the ear coverts, an indefinite area of pure white that be- 

 comes ashy posteriorly; the throat and upper breast wholly covered 

 by a deep chocolate-brown area, which is posteriorly edged with 

 rufous; the remaining underparts dull olivaceous-brown, irregularly 

 and variably suffused with ashy and rufous, especially on the lower 

 breast and the abdomen. 



GAMPSORHYNCHUS RUFULUS TORQUATUS Hume 



Indo-Chinese White-headed Babbler 



Gampsorhynchus torquatus Hume, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, No. 5, 1874, p. 107 

 (no locality given; type specimen collected "on the banks of the Younzaleen 

 below the Pine forests in the Salween district," fide Hume, Stray Feathers, 

 vol. 2, 1874, p. 446). 



Gampsorhynchus torquatus, Gyldenstolpe, Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, 1915, 

 p. 165 (Khun Tan) ; Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1916, p. 56 (Khun 

 Tan). 



Gampsorhynchus rufulus torquatus, Gyldenstolpe, Ibis, 1920, p. 480 (Khun 

 Tan). — Detgnan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 174 (Doi 

 Suthep) ; 1936, p. 105 (Doi Suthep). — de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, 1934, p. 188 (Doi Suthep).— Riley, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 

 1938, p. 328 (Khun Tan, Doi Langka). 



The white-headed babbler has been found in all our provinces but 

 is common only in districts that have extensive bamboo-brakes in 

 the vicinity of water. In many parts of the lowlands of Nan and on 

 such a hill as Doi Khun Tan it is numerous; on Doi Suthep, on the 

 other hand, where its preferred habitat is almost wholly lacking, it is 

 decidedly rare and local — occurring only between 3,000 and 4,500 feet 

 and compelled to haunt the edges of evergreen clearings and the thick- 

 ets and low trees along small streams. One may almost say that its 

 occurrence at a given locality is contingent upon the presence of suit- 



