3. HtPOT.EXIDIA. 35 



Iliave carefully examiiicd our series of this species to sec if there 

 was any things to confirm Dr. Stejneger's description of Jiallxs joui/i, 

 and with that view I selected three specimens which illustrated the 

 characters given by him for //. striata, Jl. fjularis, a.u(\ H. Jou;/i. 

 A specimen from Cebu answers to his //. striata, another from 

 Malacca to his //. gularis, and another from Formosa to his 

 //. joiii/i. I then selected a large series with the lower breast not 

 barred, all of which ought to be, according to Dr. Stejneger, either 

 Jf. striata or Jf. rjularis ; but when I came to examine the 

 secondary character of the white spots on the primary-coverts, I 

 was at ouce met with an amount of variation which shows that no 

 reliance can be placed on this character. 



I a])pcnd a list of the localities of tlie specimens examined : — 



a. With white bars and white spots on the primary-coverts well 

 developed. — Pegu {Gates), Fenang (Cantor), Malacca (Davi- 

 son), Singapore (Davison). 



h. Specimens with few spots. — Pegu (Oaies), Penang (Cantor), 

 Klaug (Dafison), Malacca (Mainrjaij), Xealys (Davison), 

 Johore (Davison). 



c. Specimens with no spots. — Klang (Davison), Malacca 

 (Maingay), Johore (Davison), Singapore (Davison). 



There is equal variation in the amount of barring on the breast, 

 even in specimens from the same locality, and I confess that I 

 cannot separate If. jouyi, or //. gnlaris, on this account. The 

 Malaccan birds are certainly whiter on the 5,bdomcu and lower 

 breast than birds from many other localities, but it is equally 

 certain that there are many specimens from Malacca which are 

 inseparable from //. gularis. Of course it is possible that these 

 may be migratory specimens, which winter in Malacca ; but there 

 seems to be every gradation between these and the white-breast( d 

 form, so that at present I am una1)le to find a constant character 

 to separate the three races as Dr. Stejneger proposes ; and I think 

 that the differences in plumage can be accounted for on the score of 

 age alone. 



JIab. Ceylon and Southern India to Eastern Bengal, thence 

 through the Burmese countries to China and down the Malayan 

 Peninsula to the Indo-ilalayan Islands. 



a. Ad. sk. Cevlon. T. Thwaites, Esq. 



[C.]. 



b. Ad. sk. Cevlon. Hume Coll. 



c. S iul. sk. Ceylon, Marcli 12 (Xevill). Tweeddale Coll. 

 il. (5 ad. sk. Cotta, Western Province, Ilume Coll. 



Ceylon (Hart), 

 e. Ad. sk. Madras. Sir Walter Elliot 



[P.]. 

 _/; ;/. cJ ad. sk. "West Coast of Madras. Hume Cll. 



h. cT ad.sk. Madras. Hume Coll. 



i. $ ad. sk. Ivotagherry, March lo (Miss Hume Coll. 



Cockhurn). 

 k, I. d 2 aJ- sk. Pelgaum. Julv, Sept. (E. A. Hume Coll. 

 liutkr). 



d2 



