382 BIRDS OF TENASSERIM. 



another male, also from Java, brought to the museum in 1861, 

 by M. Steenstra. Lesson's bird has the greater coverts, pri- 

 maries and secondaries greyish brown on the outer webs, while 

 this part in the adult is dark purplish brown. The back is also 

 inclined to a greyish hue. In other respects it resembles M. 

 Steenstra's adult specimen, though not quite so black in any 

 part of its plumage. 



" The female of Lesson's example (so marked by its collector) 

 has the wings and body rufous, and the tail slaty black, and is 

 in the style called Lanius coronatus by Raffles. Two young 

 males in the museum from Malacca are intermediate between 

 these type specimens, having rufous wings, a greyish back, and 

 slate-grey beneath, and many of the feathers tipped with white. 

 This is the style termed P. ardesiacus by Cabanis ; but the 

 examples are so evidently only young male of P. galericulatus, 

 that there could be no hesitation in deciding the point, even if 

 the indication of their sex had not been given by the collector. 

 In fact, these five specimens present a complete graduation of 

 plumage from that of the female to the adult male. It seems, 

 therefore, very clear to my mind that there is only one species 

 of Platylophus, viz., P. galericulatus (Cuv.), of which the so- 

 called P. coronatus is the female, and P. ardesiacus and P. 

 malaccensis, of Cabanis are, males in immature plumage. It 

 will be noticed that, among the specimens in Mr. Sharpens 

 possession, there are no authenticated females of either P. gale- 

 riculatus or i\ ardesiacus, nor any males of P. coronatus, which, 

 if there is only one species, would naturally be the case." 



Now Mr. Elliot may be right in his main contention that there 

 is only one species (though this even I doubt, as, out of some 

 50 Malayan specimens, there is not one nearly so black as Javan 

 birds are described) ; but he is certainly wrong in supposing 

 that coronatus represents the adult females. Of the Malayan 

 and Tenasserim birds the adult females differ barely perceptibly 

 from the males, and then only as above mentioned. 



Coronatus very possibly represents the young of both sexes, 

 as these do not differ; and if all previous descriptions of the 

 Javan bird are not incorrect, and that bird when fully adult 

 really is jet black, which our Malayan and Tenasserim birds 

 never are (see below a full and exact description of both young 

 and old), then probably our birds will eventually have to take 

 Raffles' name. For the present, however, I prefer to retain 

 Cabanis' name, I having no Sumatran specimens to compare. 



The following are dimensions, &c, recorded in the flesh from 

 a number of specimens: — 



Males.- — Length, 11 to 11*8; expanse, 17' to 17*5 ; tail from 

 vent, 5-0 to 5-62; wing, 5-4 to 5*76 ; tarsus, 1*3 to 1*35 ; bill 

 from gape, 1*35 to 1*4 ; weight, 4 oz. 



