THE BIRDS OF NORTHERN THAILAND 571 



Chai range and from Phu Kha, at elevations between 3,000 feet 

 (Doi Suthep) and 6,000 feet (Doi Ang Ka). The extreme dates for 

 its stay with us are unknown; my own observations of it run from 

 January 9 (1937) on Suthep to April 9 (1936) on Phu Kha. 



I found this species solitary or in pairs, feeding on the ground be- 

 neath the bracken or along the trails through the lalang on Doi 

 Suthep, with rosefinches gleaning the poppy seeds on Phu Kha. It 

 is shy and, when flushed, seeks refuge at once in some high tree. The 

 only note I have heard is a soft chip. 



The adult male, as seen in Thailand, has the crown and nape black 

 (the feathers fringed with rufous), with a broad rufous mesial stripe 

 (the feathers fringed with ferruginous) ; the remaining upperparts 

 ferruginous, the feathers with rufous-margined black centers (most 

 conspicuous on the dorsum) to give a boldy streaked appearance; the 

 wing feathers dark brown, outwardly margined (more broadly on 

 the secondaries) with rufous, the coverts also narrowly tipped with 

 pale rufous or rufous-white to form two bars; the rectrices dark 

 brown, the outermost pair largely white; the lores, anterior half of 

 the supercilium, ocular region, and ear coverts ferruginous, the last 

 outlined above, behind, and below by a narrow black line ; the posterior 

 half of the supercilium ferruginous-white, connected with a whitish 

 band that runs down the side of the neck behind the ear coverts and 

 then forward beneath them to the base of the bill ; the entire under- 

 pays white (usually more or less sullied) , boldly but narrowly streaked 

 with black at the sides of the throat, across the breast, and down along 

 the flanks. The female is similar but has the markings about the head 

 rather paler and thus less conspicuous. The feathers of the crown 

 gradually lose their pale fringes by abrasion, with the result that the 

 head stripes become much more obvious toward the end of the winter. 



MELOPHUS LATHAMI LATHAMI (Gray) 



Chinese Crested Bunting 



Emoerisa Lathami Geay, Zoological Miscellany, No. 1, 1831, p. 2 ("China and 

 India"; type specimen from Canton, fide Ticehurst, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 

 vol. 53, 1932, p. 16) . 



Melophus melanicterus, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1929, 

 p. 560 (Chiang Rai, Chiang Saen). 



Melophus malanicterus, Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 153 

 (Doi Suthep). 



Melophus lathami, de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1934, p. 237 

 (Doi Suthep).— Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1936, p. 127 

 (Doi Suthep).— Rixey, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 535 (Doi Ang Ka). 



The crested bunting is a winter visitor to northern Thailand, where 

 it has been recorded only from the provinces of Chiang Mai and 

 Chiang Rai. On the grassy plains of the latter district I found it 



583136—45 37 



