1919-] Oriental VFoodpeckers and Barbels. 205 



^^ TIGA JAVANENSIS and TIGA SHOREI. 



Altliough recently 1\ shorei has generally been held to be 

 only a subspecies of T.javanensis, this does not appear to me 

 to be correct, for over a considerable portion of its range it 

 is found occupying the same country as forms of that bird. 

 This is especially the case over north and north-east Burma 

 and down the hill-ranges as far as Tenasserim. Tiga shorei 

 is separable from all the races of T. jav an ensis, in having the 

 chin and throat with two central streaks of black instead of 

 one. In a few individuals the streak is single on the chiu, 

 but in every instance it bifurcates and becomes two distinct 

 streaks on the throat. Again, T. shorei has the feathers of the 

 crest with pale^ almost white bases instead of dark, almost 

 blackish ones. This gives the crest a brighter, more scarlet 

 tinge, in addition to which the crest itself is longer, and 

 there is practically no visible black patch on the nape 

 posterior to the scarlet. 



We have therefore two distinct species : — 



(1) Tiga shorei. 



Picas shorii Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 175 : Himalaya Mts. 



Throat, and generally chin, with a double median stripe • 

 feathers of crest with pale bases, more scarlet and longer 

 than in javanensis. 



A large bird. Wing from 146 to 162 mm. ; average of 

 31 birds, 153*3 mm. 



Habilat. Himalayas, from Nepal through Sikkim, northern 

 Assam, Chin and Kachin Hills, northern Arrakan Hills and 

 down the Burmese hill-ranges as far south as Thyetmyo. 



(2) Tiga javanensis. 



A smaller bird with shorter crest, the feathers of which 

 have dark bases, and a single streak of black dots down the 

 centre of the chin and throat. In very rare cases this line 

 becomes double on the throat, but in such the intermediate 

 space is white, not dull buff as in shorei. 



This species seems to be divisible into certain geographical 

 races. 



In coloration there is a decided difference between southern 



