1873.] DISTRIBUTION OF ASIATIC BIRDS. 6/9 



unlike the other parts of the subregion. Cory don, Calyptomena, and 

 Cymbirhynchufi are all absent ; only three species of Hornbills occur, 

 whilst there are seven or eight in Sumatra and nine in the Malay 

 peninsula. 



No species of Argus, Polyplectron, or Euplocamus, all of which 

 are found in the other islands, is known from Java ; but, to make up 

 for the want of them, it has a Jungle-fowl (Gallus varius, Shaw) not 

 found in the islands to the west of it. Among the Columbse it has 7 

 peculiar species, namely: — Treron pulverulentus, Wall.; Ptilonopus 

 porphyrius, Reinwt. ; P. melanocephalus, Gm, ; Carpophaga lacer- 

 nulata,Temm.; Macropygia emiliana, Bp. ; M. ivalichaehra, Reich. ; 

 M. leptogrammica,Temm. Other fine birds from Java are : — Arrenga 

 cyanea, Horsf. ; Myiophonusjlavirostris, Horsf. ; Myiophaga andro- 

 medon, Temm., which extends to Lombock and is very similar in 

 appearance to the Himalayan genus Zoothera ; Loriculus pusilius, G. 

 R. Gray ; and Cissa thalassina, Temm., a near ally of which, if not 

 the same bird, is found in Sumatra. 



Sumatra. 



The island of Sumatra, which is nearly 1000 miles in length, and 

 lies under the equator, contains mountains of great elevation, pro- 

 bably exceeding 12,000 feet. It is therefore evident that the birds 

 known to occur there (which do not exceed about 240) represent but 

 imperfectly the avifauna of so large an island. Sir Stamford Raffles, 

 assisted by Dr. Arnold, and for a time by the French naturalists 

 Diard and Duvaucel, collected largely in the neighbourhood of Achen 

 and Bencoolen ; but the greater part of his collections, together with 

 all his papers, were lost by the burning of the ship in which they 

 were embarked for England. Since his time S. Midler and other 

 Dutch naturalists have made collections, principally, I believe, near 

 Padang, on the south coast. Mr. Wallace also spent three months in 

 the southern part of the island ; but the greater part of the interior, 

 and especially the northern half, is still quite unknown. 



The birds and animals seem to be remarkably similar to those of the 

 Malay peninsula, not more than about twenty species being at present 

 supposed to be peculiar to the island. Among them are Psilopogon 

 pyrolophus, Temm. (a fine Barbet, the only one of its genus), 

 jEthopyga temminckii, Midi., and Pitta vennsta, Mull. Four 

 birds which are usually assigned to the genus Garrulax are known 

 from Sumatra, of which Garrulax bicolor, Mull., resembling G. 

 belangeri of Tenasserim, and G. palliata, allied to G. monachus, 

 Swinh., are outlying representatives of the genus. 



Garrulax lugabris and G. mitrata, Mull., however, are of quite a 

 different type, the former being a peculiar bird with deep-curved 

 bill and bare skin behind the eye like a Eulabes, while the latter 

 somewhat resembles Timalia thoracica in colour and form. 



Cissa minor, Cab., and Platylophus ardesiacus, Cab., differ but 

 slightly from their representatives in Java and Malacca. 



Stachyris larvata, Mull., I have not seen ; but if a true Stachyris, 

 it is an interesting occurrence, as the genus is decidedly Himalayan. 



