22 MR. W. J. F. WILLIAMSON ON | 
its way to the sea at the head of the Gulf of Siam, and the country 
round Bangkok, for a very considerable distance, was accordingly under 
water for several weeks. I first observed these birds on the 25th No- 
vember, when the floods were subsiding, and the roads in the suburbs 
again became usable by pedestrians. In walking along the Wireless 
Station road that evening, L noticed a number of small brown birds on 
the ground by the roadside, which struck me as being unfamiliar. 
They had the regular robin-like quick run for a few feet, with the habit 
of elevating the tail at the end of each short course. The ditches on 
both sides, and the fields beyond, were still brimful of water—the former 
being choked with Java weed. There must have been quite a dozen 
birds within a space of a quarter of a mile, and they seemed very 
tame—either flitting on a few yards when I got too near, or circling off 
over the flooded fields to get back to the road behind. Once or twice 
they flew on to the picked Java we'd, ora roadside bush. I had no 
gun with me at the time, but the next morning I went there again 
and obtained four specimens, as well as others on later dates. I also 
procured three, early in December, on the Racecourse at the Sports 
Club, where the conditions of the ground, and the proximity of flood 
water, were similar. The birds obtained in January and March 1918 
were shot by my collectors at other places in the neighbourhood, and 
they reportedthat they were found on moist ground. Neither I nor 
my collectors had ever come across the species before. It is, of course, 
only a winter visitor to this part of the world. 
The blue throat of the males (whence the bird gets its English 
name) is exceedingly attractive, but unfortunately, owing to its 
ground-feeding habits, this feature cannot be appreciated until a 
specimen is obtained. 
Family PRINGILLIDM—Finches. 
25. Emberiza rutila Pall. Zhe Chestnut Bunting. 
This species was included by Mr. K. G. Gairdner in his list of 
birds from the Ratburi and Petchaburi districts (Vol. i., p. 149 of this 
Journal), As no other collector appears to have obtained it, it may be 
worth recording that Mr. Gairdner informs me that his specimen (¢) 
was shot at Sai Yoke, Western Siam, in January 1915, out of a large 
flock in elephant grass. 
JOURN. NAT. HIST, SOC. SIAM. 
