584 Lt.-Col. C. T. Bingham on the 



the grey margins of the secondaries are more apparent on 

 the wings, and the tail-feathers are somewhat darker. The 

 measurements compared with those of two adult examples of 

 R. titys are given above (p. 583). 



The comparison of the sternum of the two species has 

 shown differences far greater than I ever expected to find in 

 members of the same genus, especially in a "compact" genus 

 such as Ruticilla, in which the species are so closely allied. 



Thus, in R. titys the pectoral arch is more robust in its 

 general characters, for, in both sterna of R. nigra, we observe 

 the more slender and less curved clavicles, and the shorter and 

 thinner scapulae; the coracoids are, however, decidedly longer 

 than in R. titys, but have a less prominent crest. The 

 sternum is narrower than in the latter species and longer, 

 the difference being quite a millimetre; finally, the pre- 

 sternum or manubrium is also larger in Ruticilla nigra and 

 the episternal apophyses are larger and more slender. On 

 the whole, we may say that the sternum is more robust in 

 R. titys, slighter and more slender in R. nigra. 



XLII. — A Contribution to our Knowledge of the Birds 

 occurring in the Southern Shan States, Upper Burma. By 

 Lt.-Col. C. T. Bingham. 



(Plates XI. & XII.) 



In the ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' vol. lxix. 

 pt. ii. (1900), Mr. H. N. Thompson, Deputy-Conservator of 

 Forests, and I gave a list of the birds collected or observed 

 by us during a short tour we made in the Southern Shan 

 States, Upper Burma. Since my return to England, 

 Mr. Thompson has continued collecting and in company with 

 Mr. W. H, Craddock, also of the Forest Department, who has 

 materially assisted him, has visited various parts of the same 

 States, including the remote and little-known valley of the 

 Mekong, and the high ranges, rising to 8000 or 9000 ft., 

 between that valley and the Salween. Messrs. Thompson and 

 Craddock have been good enough to forward their collection 

 to me. It contains examples of many species not seen or 



