508 Birds of Celebes: Turdidae. 



208. MALACOPTERON AFFINE (Blyth). 

 Malacca Babbler. 



a. Trichastoma affine (1) Blytli, J. A. S. B. 1842, XI, 795. 



Malacopteron affine (1) Gray, Gen. B. I, 209 (1846); (2) Blittik., Notes Leyden Mus. 1895, 

 XYU, 105; (3) M. & Wg., Abli. Miis. Dresd. 1896, Nr. 2, p. 17. 



b. Setaria affinis (1) Salvad., Cat. Ucc. Borneo 1874, 231. 



c. Malacopterum affine (1) Sharp e. Cat. B. VII, 1883, 569. 



For further synonymy and references cf. Salvador! b 1; Sliarpe c 1; Buttikofer 2. 



Description. Sharps c 1. 



Young. Aljove olive-brown, greyer on head and neck, with a cinnamon tinge on rump; tail 

 dull chestnut, the edges brighter; wings dusky, externally brighter brown than above, 

 lightest on the edges and tips of the wing-coverts and innermost remiges, the last 

 with very obscure and imperfect bars; lores whitish; ear-coverts bro-\\Ti, mth wliitish 

 shafts; below pale broccoh-brown, clearing into whitish on the cliin and throat, and 

 buff-whitish on abdomen ; under wing-coverts and inner edgings of quills below rather 

 more fulvous: bill dark, tomia pale; legs, feet and claws pale brown. Wing 74 mm; 

 tail 62; tarsus 19; exposed culmen 11, fi'om suture 16 (Tonkean, E. Celebes, V. — Vili. 

 95 _ C 14405). 



Adult. Has the head above sooty brown, the throat and under parts white, shaded with 

 ashy on the breast and sides (fide Sharpe and Biittikofer). 



Distribution. Malay Peninsula (Blyth a 1, b 1, Cantor b 1, c 1, etc.); Sumatra (Wallace 

 c 1); Banka (Mus. Leyden 2;; Java (Mus. Leyden 2); Borneo (Low etc. c 1, b 1, 2); 

 Celebes ■ — Macassar (Teijsmann 2), Tonkean, E. Celebes (Nat. Coll. 5). 



Two specimens only are known from Celebes, one in the Leyden, the other 

 a young one in the Dresden Museum. In the case of Teijsmann's example it 

 seems possible, as in other cases, that the island of Saleyer may have been the 

 true habitat. From Mr. Biittikofer's valuable revision of the genus Turdinus 

 and its allies, it would appear that M. magnirostre (Moore), ranging from Tenas- 

 serim to Borneo, and M. kalidongae Sharpe, of the mountain regions of Sarawak 

 and Central Borneo, are its nearest relatives: both of these have a dark mous- 

 tachial streak, and the crown of the latter its dusky grey, of the former olive 

 like the back. 



FAMILY TURDIDAE. 



The true Thrushes are partly terrestrial in habits, their food consisting of 

 grubs and insects, sought on the ground, and of fruit. Their tarsi and feet are 

 rather large and strong, and they both run and hop with buoyancy and quick- 

 ness. It is preferable, perhaps, to restrict the family to the true Thrushes 

 (Turdus, Merula, Geocichla, Mimocichla and perhaps Monticola and Petrophda), for 

 Saxicola and Myrmecocichla form transitions to the Redstarts and Flycatchers, and 

 Cataponera and probably Catharus to the TimeUidae. 



The wing of the Turdidae is rather pointed, the first primary minute, the 

 second longer than the secondaries, which fall short of the tip of the wing by 

 Vs to Vi its length. The young wear a spotted or mottled plumage. 



.. ('7,/' 3;<^; -i. 



