BIRDS FROM SIAM AND THE MALAY PENINSULA 259 



The species ranges from Aracan and Pegu to Tenasserim, Burma, 

 Siam, Cambodia, Cochinchina, and Laos and south through Penin- 

 sular Siam to the Malay States, Sumatra, Borneo, and some of the 

 adjacent islands. 



Oberholser " named the bird from the Island of Nias P. m. lepta. 

 He evidently founded the form upon size alone and upon two males 

 only from Nias and a female from Pulo Tuanku, Banjak Islands. 

 No other differences are mentioned in the original description and I 

 have found none. Even size in such a small series is not diagnostic 

 and for the present this name is better not recognized until more ma- 

 terial has been examined. 



The two males from Nias measure: Wing, 119-120; tail, 38-39.5; 

 culmen, 25-26 mm. Six males from eastern Sumatra: Wing, 120-130 

 (126); tail, 41.5-44 (42.8); culmen, 26.5-28.5 (27.5) mm. One male 

 from central Borneo: Wing, 130; tail, 43; culmen, 26 mm. Nine 

 males from Langkawi (1) and Trang (8): Wing, 122-129.5 (125.7); 

 tail, 40-46 (42.9) ; culmen, 25-28 (26.7) mm. Seven males from south- 

 western, central, and eastern Siam: Wing, 118-131 (125.9); tail, 

 40.5-50 (43.9); culmen, 24-28 (25.7) mm. 



No birds have been examined from northern Siam. These are evi- 

 dently rare in collections. 



PITTA MEGAEHYNCHA Schlegel 



Pitta megarhyncha Schlegel, De vogels Nederlandsch Indie, p. 32, pi. 4, fig. 2, 

 1863 (Banka). 



Dr. W. L. Abbott secured a single male in Rupat Strait, eastern 

 Sumatra, March 1, 1906, and this is the only specimen of this species 

 in the United States National Museum. 



This is a rare bird in Peninsular Siam. Robinson and EJoss " 

 record it from Pulo Terutau in March and Pulo Karimon and Pulo 

 Bintang, Rhio Archipelago, in August and June and say there is an 

 old mounted bird in the Selangor Museum labeled Pahang. Robin- 

 son " adds the locality Langkawi, and later Robinson and Kloss ^^ 

 record a male from the Pangnga River, Peninsular Siam, and state: 

 "Shot among mangroves, outside which this species, at any rate in 

 our experience is never found." This may account for its rarity in 

 collections. It is similar to P. moluccensis but with a much larger 

 bill (36 mm or less). 



The species ranges from Tenasserim south through Peninsular Siam 

 to the Malay States, Sumatra, Banka, and the Rhio Archipelago. 

 Possibly migratory in the north. 



« Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 60, no. 7, p. 8, 1912. 



M Iliis, 1911, p. 48. 



" Journ. Federated Malay States Mus., vol. 7, p. 107, 1917. 



- Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 5, p. 221, 1924. 



