THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 371 



Staphida striata striata, Deignan, Journ. Siani Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, 

 p. 138 (Doi Suthep) ; 1936, p. 107 (Doi Suthep). 



The present race of the striated siva is restricted, "within our area, 

 to the mountains west of (and including) the Khun Tan chain, oc- 

 curring rather commonly from 4,500 to 5,500 feet, and rarely down 

 to 3,300 feet. In addition to the localities listed above, it is known 

 from Doi Ang Ka and Doi Chiang Dao. 



This little bird is seen in flocks, often accompanied by other small 

 arboreal babblers, which, constantly chattering, sweep rapidly through 

 the tops of the bushes and the lower branches of the trees, whether 

 at the edge of the evergreen or in the open hill-forest. De Schauensee 

 (1929) records having seen a band of at least 50 feeding among the 

 flowers of a tree of the genus Cassia at the summit of Doi Suthep. 



De Schauensee took two juveniles on Doi Suthep, July 12. I have 

 examples in postnuptial molt, collected between June 15 and Novem- 

 ber 19. 



My specimens had the irides browm; the bill horny brown; the 

 feet and toes dark fleshy or orange-flesh; the claws orange-horn. 



The adult has the forehead and crest dark grayish brown, each 

 feather with a grayish- white shaft streak; the mantle olivaceous- 

 brown, with each feather (except on the rump and upper tail coverts) 

 similarly streaked; the remiges and graduated rectrices deep brown, 

 the latter ( except the central pair) with outwardly increasingly broad 

 white tips; an indistinct superciliary area ashy-gray, this color suf- 

 fusing the occiput beneath the crest; the ear coverts dull chestnut 

 (with white shaft streaks) , this color often invading the nape to form 

 an indistinct collar; the entire underparts grayish white, somewhat 

 sullied with gray on the breast and flanks. 



SIVA CASTANICEPS TORQUEOLA Swinhoe 



Chinese Striated Siva 



Siva torqueola Swinhoe, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. 5", 1870, pp. 174-175 

 (Tingchow mountains, about 100 miles from Amoy, Fuhkien). 



The Chinese form of the striated siva is known, in Thailand, only 

 from Phu Kha, where, in April 1936, I found it common between 

 4,000 and 5,000 feet and collected four specimens. 



Examples with the gonads enlarged were taken April 4 and a ju- 

 venile, which has all but finished postnatal molt, April 11. 



From striata this race differs in having the crest a purer gray; 

 the mantle darker and suffused with rufous ; the ear coverts and well- 

 marked nuchal collar rich chestnut. 



The population of Phu Kha tends to be rather smaller than torqueola 

 of Fuhkien but not sufficiently so to justify subspecific separation. 



