368 PYCNONOTIDjE. 



(385) Alophoixus phaeocephalus. 

 THE CKESTLESS WHITE-THEOATED BULBUL. 



Ixos phteocephalus Ilartl., Kev. Zool., p. 401 (1844) (Malacca). 

 Alophoixus phceocephalns. Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 259. 



Vernacular names. None recorded. 



Description. Crown of head arid nape blackish, each feather 

 edged with bluish-grey; lores whitish; back, rump and upper 

 wing-coverts olive-green, the lateral feathers of the rump washed 

 with yellow at the tips ; upper tail-coverts and tail rufous-brown ;. 

 wings dark brown, the feathers rufescent on the outer webs ; sides 

 of the head and neck and a narrow half -collar on the hind-neck 

 ashy-grey, darker posteriorly ; chin and throat white ; remaining 

 lower plumage bright yellow washed with olive on the sides of 

 the body ; under wing-coverts yellow. 



Colours of soft parts. " The legs, feet and claws vary from 

 fleshy white (sometimes with a pinky tinge) to fleshy yellow ; the 

 upper mandible from dark plumbeous to dark horny brown ; lower 

 mandible and edges of upper mandible pale plumbeous ; irides 

 snuff-brown, burnt sienua-brown or reddish brown" (Hume 6f 

 Davison). 



Measurements. Length about 200 to 210 mm.; wing 86 to 

 95 mm., the female averaging some 5 mm. less than the male ; 

 tail about 70 to 90 mm. ; tarsus about 20 mm. ; culmen 14 to- 

 17 mm. 



Distribution. The extreme South of Tenasserim to Sumatra, 

 Java and Borneo. 



Nidification. Nothing recorded. 



Habits. Davisou found this bird either singly or in pairs in 

 thick forest or thin tree-jungle and, though common, never in 

 gardens or clearings. In its general habits it closely resembles 

 birds of the genus Criniger. It is never found on the ground. 



Genus MICROSCELIS Gray, 1840. 



The name Hypsipetes by which this genus of Bulbuls has 

 hitherto been known is unfortunately preoccupied by Yypsipetes 

 (Stephens, Syst, Brit. Ins., ii, p. 138, 3829) and the next name 

 applicable is Microscelis of Gray (List Gen. Birds, 1840, p. 28) r 

 created for M. rtmaurotis, a Japanese Black Bulbul which cannot, 

 I think, be separated generically from our Indian and Burmese 

 forms. Ifaringtonia of Mathews and Iredale seems to me to be- 

 unnecessary. 



The genus contains a group of Bulbuls characterized by grey 

 and blackish plumage, red bills and long, forked tails. The bill is 

 slender and about as long as the head, which is furnished with a 

 long crest of pointed feathers. The rictal bristles are very short, 

 not exceeding a third of the length of the culmen. The wing is- 



