174 BIRDS OF TENASSERIM. 



south of Pahpoon, although, by a misprint in my first list, S. F., 

 II., p. 473, I am made to record a specimen from near Yea. 



There is little to be said of the habits of these Arachnotheras, 

 which are all very similar to those of other Sunbirds fre- 

 quenting large flowering trees, like the silk cotton tree (Bom- 

 bax, several species) and feeding chiefly on nectar, though 

 unquestionably also consuming insects, the remains of which are 

 continually found in their stomachs. 



If the trivial name Spider-hunter- is meant to indicate that 

 they are chiefly insectivorous, I doubt its correctness, as I 

 believe that their chief staple of food is nectar. 



They have a feeble chirruping note, uttered chiefly while 

 the bird is feeding, but occasionally also as they fly from tree 

 to tree. 



Their flight is swift and direct, with rapid beats of the 

 wings, but they seldom, if ever, appear to take any length- 

 ened flight. 



Further particulars will be found, Stray Feathers, Vol. III., 

 p. 85, but the first paragraph of page 86 must be considered 

 cancelled, except the first line and a half. It is true that 

 male aurala has almost the same dimensions as female magna, 

 and also that the striatum on the back of female magna is some- 

 what less marked than in the male ; but male aurata, with its ex- 

 cessively fine striae of the lower surface, and its almost 

 unstriated back, can never be mistaken for female magna. 



223 bis. — Araclmothera aurata, Bly. Descr. S. E., 

 III., 85. 



Has occurred at Tonghoo and in the Karen Hills, but has 

 not been as yet observed elsewhere in Tenasserim. 



224.— Arachnothera longirostra, Lath. (27). 



(TonqJioo, Earns.) Pahpoon; Moulrnein ; Tkayetchoung ; Pabyin ; Tenas- 

 serim Town ; Pakchan ; Bankasoon. 



Rather common throughout the province. 



[This is the most widely-distributed Spider-hunter in Tenasse- 

 rim, occurring throughout the country from its northern to its 

 southern limits, but it is nowhere very abundant. I have "al- 

 ways found it most abundant in plantain gardens, where it may 

 be seen clinging head down and sucking the nectar from the 

 plantain flowers. I have also found it not uncommon in cocoanut 

 plantations, and the undergrowth on the outskirts of forest, and 

 in scrub jungle. — W. D.] 



The little Spider-hunter is common in Hill Tipperah and the 

 Cachar Hills, Chittagong, and the Arrakan Hills, but it does not 

 seem to extend northwards into Assam, the Doars, or Sikhim 



