BIRDS FROM SIAM AND THE MALAY PENINSULA 495 



The form ranges from southwest Burma to eastern Burma, Tenas- 

 serim, Siam proper, Yunnan, and Indo-China. 



A closely related form, A, g. infuscatus Baker, is found in northern 

 Burma and eastern Assam. A. javanicus (Cabanis), of Java, is a 

 distinct species in my opinion, a much lighter gray, and separated by 

 a long stretch of country where another species takes its place. 



STURNOPASTOR CONTRA FLOWERI Sharpe 



Sturnopastor floweri Sharpe, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vol. 7, p. 17, 1897 (Tachin 

 and Tahkamen, central Siam). 



Two males, Nan, April 13, 15, 1930; one male, Prae, April 26, 1930; 

 one male, Ban Pong, September 17, 1929; one male, Muang Kanburi, 

 April 14, 1928; nine males and eight females, Bangkok, October 7, 25, 

 1924, September 14 and October 24-31, 1925, April 7 and September 6, 

 1926. 



A pair taken at Bangkok April 7 are young of the year not fully 

 groM'n. They are brownish black above, on the throat, and chest; 

 superciliary, anterior ear coverts, and chin, white; otherwise resembling 

 the adult. Another immature pair, taken September 6 and 17, have 

 assumed the glossy black of the adult, except on the head, throat, and 

 part of the remiges, the brown of previous plumage still remains. 

 Another pair taken September and 14 has about acquired the glossy 

 black plumage of the adult and even some of the peculiar white 

 feathers are coming in on the forehead. 



Dr. Smith also toolc an adult male at Moulmein, Burma, February 3, 

 1933. This specimen difiers from the Siamese series in having the 

 back dark brown and the breast grayish white and evidently belongs 

 to S. c. superciliaris. One of the males from Nan has a brownish wash 

 to the back and approaches this Moulmein male but still has a black 

 sheen and is really intermediate. The other male from Nan is typical 

 floweri and so is the male from Prae. I am therefore of the opinion 

 that the birds from northern Siam should all be placed under j^owen, 

 or else they are intermediate. 



S. c. floweri is found practically all over Siam proper and in the 

 southwest as far as Koh Lak. Williamson ^* has recorded it from 

 Chantabun, but I have seen no records from eastern Siam. In the 

 north it is said not to be common. Herbert ^^ states that it is a 

 common breeder in centra-l Siam, nesting from April to July. He 

 describes the nest and eggs. 



The form ranges from eastern Tennasserim through Siam to 

 northern Laos. 



» Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 1, p. 206, 1916. 

 " Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. Siam, vol. 6, p. 112, 1923. 



