58 BIRDS OF TENASSEMM. 



110.— Caprimulgus macrourus, Eorsf. (28.) 



(Tonghoo, Bums.) Pahpoon ; Thatone ; Wimpong ; E-poo ; Moulmein ; Am- 

 herst ; Yea; Pabyin; Mergui; Bankasoon ; Malewoon. 



Common everywhere except in dense forest throughout the 

 less elevated portions of the province. 



[In habits this species differs in no way from the other and 

 better known species of the genus, Its note might be syllablized 

 tok tok tok, repeated quickly three or four times, then a short 

 pause, when it is again repeated. I know of nothing so tho- 

 roughly disagreeable when one is lying ill with fever in the jungle 

 as the monotonous call of this Night Jar, which goes on inces- 

 santly from early in the evening till dawn next morning.— 

 W. D.] 



I have entered all our Tenasserim specimens as macrourus, 

 and some of these are what I consider typical macrourus, but 

 the great mass are neither typical macrourus nor typical albono- 

 tatus, but an intermediate form, such as one gets about Dacca 

 also. When I speak of macrourus I mean macrourus such as 

 one gets about the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. 

 I have no Javan specimen by me at present to compare. 



Jerdon pretty clearly discriminated albonotatus from macrourus. 

 Typical albonotatus is altogether a larger bird, (wing 9, against 

 7*75 to 8"0 in macrourus,) both above and below altogether a 

 lighter colored and more buffy bird, with broader white orbuffy 

 or creamy white margins to the scapulars and wing feathers, 

 and with the whole lower parts comparatively uniform ; where- 

 as in macrourus the breast is much darker and contrasts strong- 

 ly with the much paler abdomen. 



These points indicate the differences observable between 

 specimens at the extreme ends of the scale, but in between 

 them every possible intermediate form occurs, and in this, as in 

 many other cases, I see no way so to define both species as not 

 to exclude at least one-third of all the specimens one procures. 

 It must be noticed that in no locality that I know of is either 

 species absolutely true. I have obtained specimens at Etawah 

 in the North Western Provinces much nearer to macrourus than 

 to albonotatus, and Davison shot at Pulo Seban,22 miles from Ma- 

 lacca, along with a typical macrourus male, a female, that, so 

 far as coloration goes, is a typical albonotatus, but has the wing 

 only 7 '3, so that to a great extent the discrimination of these 

 two species must depend upon dimensions. Amongst the Tenas- 

 serim specimens the majority show the dark breast, but a 

 few show no traces of this, and several show it very faintly. 



The wings of those that show no trace of the dark breast, and 

 that are miniatures of typical albonotatus, measure as follows : — 



Female. — 7*5, Malewoon ; absolutely identical with the Pulo 

 Seb^rx female already referred to. 



