338 TIMALIIDjE. 



The position of this genus, of ^EgOhina which is very closely 

 allied to it, and of Chloropsis is very doubtful. In all three the sexes 

 are dissimilar and in the first two the summer and winter plumages 

 of the males are different. They have frequently been placed in 

 a family with the Bulbuls and one or two others but they appear 

 to me to be even less closely connected with them than with the 

 truly Timaliine birds. Probably they should be placed in a family 

 by themselves leading from the Timaliidce to the Pycnonotidce but 

 for the present I leave them as they are. Specimens in spirit are 

 wanted for examination. 



(361) Aethorhynchus lafresnayi. 

 THE GREAT IOEA. 



lora lafresnayi Hartl., Rev. Zool., 1844, p. 401 (Malacca). 

 Aethorhynchus lafresnayi. Blanf. & Dates, i, p. 228. 



Vernacular names. None recorded. 



Description. Breeding male. Upper plumage dull green, the 

 feathers fringed with black : wings, tail and upper tail-coverts 

 deep black, the primaries and outer secondaries very narrowly 



Fig. 63. Head of Ae. lafresnayi. 



edged with greenish on the outer and more broadly with white on 

 the inner webs ; lores, cheeks, a ring round the eye and the whole 

 lower plumage bright yellow. 



Non-breeding male and female. Upper plumage without the 

 black fringes; the tail dull greenish yellow; primaries and second- 

 aries brown instead of black. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris brown or hazel-brown ; bill plum- 

 beous, leaden blue or bluish slate, the culmen darker ; legs and 

 feet clear slate or plumbeous blue, the claws horny-brown. 



Measurements. Length about 165 mm.; wing 67 to 72 mm.; 

 tail about 55 to 57 mm. ; tarsus about 20 mm. ; culmen about 

 17 mm. 



Distribution. From South Arrakan down West Burma to 

 Tenasserim and the Malay Peninsula, Siam and ? Annam. 



Nidification. Two nests taken by Mr. W. A. T. Kellow near 

 Perak are small, rather deep cups of the softest grasses, lined 

 with the same and well bound round and about with spiders' webs, 

 often mixed with their egg-bags. Both were placed in high 

 bushes in evergreen-jungle. They were taken on 4th January and 



