10. uissEJimiua. 



203 



named character does not change its form a good deal with the 

 growth of the feather. 



D. brachi/phonis is a small, almost crestless race (fig. 7), with a 

 very small racket (fig. 8), and would have to be regarded as a di- 

 stinct species on this account, if it were not approached by the 

 intermediate forms in Malacca &c. 



Head of Dissemurus hrachi/phorus. 

 Fig. 8. 



Racket of Dissemurus hrachyphorus. 



D. affinis (fig. 9) is a small-crested form of the Malabar bird, the 

 crest, such as it is, being full and the racket large. 



FW. 9. 



Head of Disscimirus affinis. 



D. malaharicus of the 'Hand-list' must be called D. cristateUas, 

 Blyth ; for the former name, founded on Sonnerat"s utterly irrecog- 

 nizable plate (Voy. Ind. ii. pi. cxi.), ought to be discarded, as there 

 is no chance of the figure ever being referred with certainty to any 

 species. The crest in this form is very close-set ; but considerable 

 variation appears to exist even in birds from different parts of 

 Southern India. 



