Letters, A?inouncements, ^c. 351 



I have also examined the types of the two species of Batra- 

 chostomus described as new by Mr. Hume {' Stray Feathers/ 

 ii. p. 348) by the names of B. castaneus and B. punctatus. 

 These have been referred by Lord Tweeddale, in Biyth^s "Ca- 

 talogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma" (J. A. S. B. 

 1875, pt, ii. extra number, p. 84), the former to B. affinis, 

 Blyth, the latter to B. moniliger, Layard. There are in Mr. 

 Hume's collection the following specimens representing this 

 genus : — 



Batrachostomus affinis, Blyth, three specimens (sex not 

 noted) from Malacca. These have been compared with Blyth's 

 original type in Calcutta. 



B. castaneus, Hume, three specimens, from Sikkim, sex 

 doubtful. 



B. sp., two specimens, one adult and marked female, the 

 other immature, from Sikkim, closely agreeing in general 

 coloration with the figure of Otothrix liodgsoni (P. Z. S. 1859, 

 p. 101, pi. clii.), but having the same bill as B. castaneus. 



B. moniliger, Layard, three specimens — a male, female, and 

 nestling (sexes carefully determined by Mr. Bourdillon) — from 

 Travancore. 



B. punctatus, Hume, the type from Ceylon, sex un- 

 determined. 



It is, in the first place, quite clear that B. castaneus is a 

 diff'erent bird from B. affinis, despite so close a general re- 

 semblance that one bird might easily be mistaken for the 

 other. The coloration above is nearly the same, B. castaneus 

 being a little paler chestnut, and wanting entirely the con- 

 spicuous white spots which occur on the wing-coverts of B. 

 affinis, though both birds have the white black-edged spots 

 on the scapulars, and the narrow white collar edged with 

 black. Beneath there is more difference, B. affinis being 

 much paler, and having the feathers of the breast and abdo- 

 mine pale isabelline, with rufous edges, which are broader on 

 the breast. In B. castaneus the greater portion of the lower 

 surface is the same colour as the back, chestnut ; but many- 

 feathers on the throat, breast, and upper abdomen are white, 

 with black margins. The number of these feathers and their 

 distribution appear to vary slightly in the different specimens. 



