BIRDS FROM SIAJM AND THE MALAY PENINSULA 137 



Robinson and Kloss^^ report it rare in Trang, where they secured 

 only two si)ecimens; later ^^ they record a female from Nong Kok, 

 Ghirbi; de Schauensee^° obtained three specimens in Nakon Srita- 

 niarat. Barton's record from the Raheng District *' later was ques- 

 tioned by Glydenstolpe." 



The species is not a common bird in Peninsular Siam, being com- 

 moner in the extreme south and the Malay States. It ranges from 

 Sumatra to the Malay States and northward through Peninsular 

 Siam to southern Tenasserim. 



1 have examined only three specimens from the Malay Peninsula 

 and two from Sumatra, and these apparently do not show any material 

 differences. A closely related form, Rhopodytes diardi borneensis 

 Salvadori, is confined to Borneo. 



RHOPODYTES SUMATRANUS (Raffles) 



Cuculus sumatranus Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, vol. 13, p. 287, 1822 

 (Sumatra and adjacent islands). 



Two males, Bangnara, Patani, May 13, 1924, July 10, 1926; one 

 female, Yala, Patani, January 29, 1931; one male and one female, 

 Patalung, July 7, 1929; four females, Tha Lo, Bandon, September 

 15-30, 1931 ; two females, Kao Soi Dao, Trang, January 4 and 15, 1934. 



Dr. Smith describes the soft parts as: Bill grayish green; feet dark 

 green; circumorbital skin orange-red. 



Dr. W. L. Abbott collected the following: Four males and three 

 females, Trang (Prahmon, February 23-March 22, 1896; Lay Song 

 Hong, August 15 and November 12, 1896); two males and two females, 

 Trengganu (Tanjong Dungan, September 20; Dungun River, Septem- 

 ber 22; and Packa, September 27, 1900); one male and one female, 

 Singapore Island, May 16 and 29, 1899; one male, Pulo Rupat, Straits 

 of Malacca, March 15, 1906. 



Dr. Abbott gives the following notes on the soft parts: Iris dark 

 red, sclerotic pale blue or white (5), reddish orange (1), brown, sur- 

 rounded by a pale blue ring, outside this a darker blue (1), pale blue 

 or blue (5), bluish white (1); bill light green; feet slate; orbital space 

 orange-red, posterior angle blood red. 



Judged from the above, the color of the iris must vary considerably ; 

 according to the sexing, it is not due to sex, but possibly age or season. 



One male from vSumatra, one male from Banka, and one female 

 from Billiton are the only typical specimens available for comparison. 

 They do not seem to differ from mainland birds. 



"Ibis, 1911, p. 42. 



«» Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 3, p. 99, 1919. 



•0 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 86, p. 268, 1934. 



" Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 1, p. 107, 1914. 



»! Ibis, 1920, p. H95. 



