72 ON THE SUN-BIEDS OF THE [1870. 



Ibis, 1870, we find two Indian and two Indo-Malayan forms, the two Indian, N. zeijlonica and N. minima 

 ^' " ■ being nearly related, one Indo-Malayan, N. brasiliana, showing affinities to Chalcostetha, 

 a fourth, N. sperata, being perhaps a Philippine representative of N. zeylonica, and the fifth, 

 2^. graiji, representing N. brasiliana in the island of Celebes. 



The Indo-Malayan subregion is the richest in species ; and the greatest number are to be 

 found concentrated in the island of Sumatra, the metropolis also of Arachnotlura. In the 

 plains and lowlands of India proper only three or four species occur. Ten or eleven specific 

 forms are peculiar to the Australian region, including two Indo-Malayan generic forms, besides 

 which two Indo-Malayan species have partially invaded its frontier. The remaining KectarinioB 

 all belong to the Indo-Malayan subregion, as I extend it. After Sumatra, which possesses nine, 

 comes Java \\\t\\ seven, and Borneo with five or six species; while the Malay peninsula seems 

 equally rich with Sumatra, if authors are exact in the habitats they assign. Ceylon possesses 

 four, the same number and the same species as are found in Southern India. A few species 

 more than I shall enumerate occur in our books, but have not been since recognized. The 

 majority of them are either described from manufiictured specimens, or else are badly described 

 species belonging to other groups such as Trochilus. One, if not two, seem to be lond Jide 

 species, as, for instance, Cinnyris leucogaster, Vieill., from Timor. Some species perhaps still 

 remain to be discovered in the interior of Borneo, in New Guinea and its islands, in the 

 Philippines, and in the mountainous districts of Siam and Cochin China ; yet the materials we 

 already possess are sufficiently extensive to permit of generalization, while the nomenclature of 

 the species known is in a state of confusion which will justify, 1 trust, this imperfect attempt to 

 introduce order. 



1. Arachxechthra asiatica (Lath.), Ind. Orn. i. p. 288, no. 22, "India," 6 adult. (1790), 

 descr. orig. 



ICertliia cirrhata, Lath., torn. cit. p. 299, no. G2, " Bengala " (1790), ex Lath. Synop. Suppl. i. 

 p. 132, no. 57, descr. orig. 

 Ibis, 1870, C. clirysoptera, Lath., torn. cit. p. 299, no. 64, "Bengala" (1790), ex Lath. Synop. Suppl. i. 



p. 133, no. 59, descr. orig. 



C. maJtrattensis, Lath., Ind. Orn. Suppl. p. 3G, no. 3, "India" (1801), ex Lath. Sj-nop. ii. 

 p. 164, no. 20, "Mahratta country," descr. orig. 



C. saccharina, Shaw, Gen. Zool. viii. i. p. 258 (1811), ex Lath., nee Cinnyris saccharina, 

 Steph. oj). cit. xiv. p. 233. 



Purple Indian Creeper, Edwards, Gleanings, ii. p. 116, t. 265, fig. inf , descr. orig. 



Violet-breasted Creeper, var. B, Lath., Gen. Hist. iv. p. 248, no. 41, ex Edwards. 



Le Sou'i-manga violet, Audcb. & Vieill.*, Ois. Dor. ii. p. 31, t. d 12, adult. "Malabar," 

 descr. orig. 



Cinnyris iodens. Less., Diet. Sc. Nat. 1. p. 24 (1827), ex Audeb. & Vieill. t. 12. 



Certhia nitens, Hermann, Obs. Zool. p. 137, 6 adult. " Tranquebaria " (1804), descr. orig. 



Le Soui-manfja a cravate bleue, Audeb. & Vieill., Ois. Dor. ii. p. 53, t. 31 ; patr. non indie. 

 d adolesc. 



• The folio edition is quoted. 



