236 



larger twtes on feptoik* m$m\lh$w ml 



By W. Edwin Brooks, C.E. 



On re-examining, with my friend Mr. A. 0. Hume, the dark- 

 headed and richly-toned Shillong Reguloides, referred to by me 

 at page 128 of Vol. VII. of Stray Feathers, we find that they 

 cannot be referred to R. superciliosus, but that if not a distinct 

 species, they appear to be a dark-toned variety of Reguloides 

 humei, described at pages 128 to 133, Vol. VII. of S. F. 



The head is as dark or even darker than that of Phyllos- 

 copus lugubris, and the back is of the same olive green as in 

 Reg. humei, but very much richer and brighter. The legs and 

 feet are also the dark strong ones of R. humei, and the upper 

 wing bar being inconspicuous and nearly of the same colour as 

 the back, corresponds much better with that species than with 

 superciliosus. 



In the latter species, both wing bars are yellowish white, or 

 pale yellow ; and the upper one is scarcely less distinct than the 

 lower one. Sixteen examples of R. superciliosus obtained at and 

 near Muddapur (which is 183 miles from Calcutta to the north- 

 west), all had pale yellowish brown legs and feet, and are 

 very well represented by the upper green figure of the bird in 

 Mr. Dresser's "Birds of Europe •" except that the belly is not so 

 yellow, but more of a silvery white, as in Phylloscopus sibilatrix, 

 the Wood Wren of England, and only the sides and flanks are 

 washed with yellow. Two shot near Calcutta, in December 

 1877, are more like the lower figure of the plate. 



Take an example of Reg. humei from the North- West Provinces 

 of India, either hills or plains, and again take another from the 

 Eastern Hill Districts, and there is a great difference observable ; 

 the latter being much darker-toned and richer in colour ; but 

 still they may be the same species, for of other species of dif- 

 ferent genera found in the two districts above-mentioned, those 

 from the damp Eastern District possess, as Mr. Hume pointed 

 out {ante p. 135), a rich deep coloration never reached by the 

 same species in the dry North-West. Siphia leucomelanura is an 

 additional example to the point, and many others might be cited. 



Of course, I refer to birds in good fresh feather, and not to 

 faded midsummer birds. With faded summer birds fair com- 

 parisons cannot be made. No Phylloscopus hardly possesses 

 richer coloration than affinis, yet, in a summer specimen, I have 

 seen all green and yellow gone, and the plumage a dull dark 

 grey with a little yellow on the supercilium only ! 



