Coast and Islands of South-eastern Siani. 749 



Turdiniis abbotti. 



Turdinus abbotti (Blyth) ; Sliarpe, Cat. vii, 1883, p. 541; 

 Ogilvie-Grant, Journ. Fed. jNIalay States Mus. iii. 1908, 

 p. 29. 



Turdinus abbotti olivaceum (Strickl.) ; Hartert, Nov. Zool. 

 ix. 1902, p. 562. 



a-k. 4 c?, 7 ?. Koh Kut I., S.E. Siam. 24-29 Dec, 

 1914. 



I, m. Ic?, 1?. Klong Menao, S.E. Siam, 9-11 Jan., 

 1915. 



"Iris ochreous ; bill horny black, lower mandible pale 

 grey ; feet fleshy. 



"Extremely common on Koh Kut, skulking about in the 

 undergrowth of the forest.^' — C. B. K. 



This considerable series is very uniform, and when com- 

 pared with a series of over thirty specimens from various 

 parts of the Malay Peninsula may be said to differ on an 

 average in having the flanks and under tail-coverts a richer 

 ochraceous rufous, as is noted for northern specimens by 

 Hartert (Joe. cit.). A word of warning from the field-orni- 

 thologists to those whose only experience is with cabinet 

 specimens is perhaps necessary in this respect. Many species 

 of Timeliine birds with rufous or brown, or greyish brown, 

 in the plumage, change tint with unexampled rapidity when 

 converted into skins, greys and hrowais becoming less 

 greyish and more snuffy brown, while rufous browns fade 

 rapidh^ 



These skins from Siam, when laid out with the available 

 material from more southern localities in the Malay Peninsula, 

 are noticeably brighter and richer in tint and are so noted 

 at the present moment. I have very little doubt, however, 

 that, if in the course of the next two years or so a large 

 series from the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur was brought in 

 and compared with the present series, I myself, or the average 

 observer, would note that there was no recordable difference 

 between the two groups, or that, if anything, the southern 

 group was the brighter. It is also a significant fact that, 

 when a recently collected series of birds is worked out, the 

 average differences noted are nearly always in the direction 



