" Contributions to Malayan Ornithology.^' 159 



in the north intersects the Malayan peninsula at the point 

 where the peninsular oruis commences to lose its Sumatran 

 character. 



The synonymy of the Indo-Malayan avifauna remains still, 

 to a great extent, in a backward and unsettled condition. The 

 difficulty of obtaining specimens from the different principal 

 areas of the subregions wherewith to make comparisons is one 

 great reason ; for it is useless to attempt to decide from de- 

 scriptions alone the identity or non-identity of many of the 

 species described by the older authors ; and the ornithology 

 of the Indo-Malayan countries having attracted the attention 

 of writers from the earliest period, its literature is very consider- 

 able. We must not, therefore, be surprised at finding some 

 corrections needed in Dr. Stoliczka^s interesting paper, and that 

 his conclusions, here and there, require some modification. 

 Having for many years devoted much time to the study of 

 Malayan ornithology, and having had considerable opportunities 

 of consulting both books and specimens, I propose to make a few 

 remarks on some of the more important observations and state- 

 ments of the learned Doctor. 



The suggestive introduction to the " Contributions," however, 

 contains some sweeping generahzations, which first deserve 

 special notice. We are told that more than one-half the species 

 inhabiting Sumatra, Java, the greater part of Borneo, the 

 Malayan peninsula, from Singapore to province Wellesley, and 

 including the island of Pinang, are absolutely the same. Upon 

 what data is this assertion based ? In the absence of any au- 

 thentic and exhaustive lists of the species inhabiting these 

 several regions, it is not in our power to deny its accuracy ', 

 but, until such lists have been prepared and analyzed, it remains 

 equally beyond our power to affirm its truth. The facts I have 

 been enabled to collect, insufficient, I admit, to be deemed con- 

 clusive, tend to prove that nearly all the birds of the Malaccan 

 peninsula are identical with those of the island of Sumatra, but 

 that Sumatra over and above possesses species that do not occur 

 in the peninsula of Malacca, that Java contains a large 

 number of species which differ from those of Malacca and Su- 

 matra, and that Borneo possesses species some of which are 



