Vol. xliii.] 168 



Mr. J. D. La Touche sent the following notes and 

 descriptions : — 



Pere David, in ' Lps Oiseaux de la Chine/ after describing 

 the ^^Dwneticola afinis " procured by him at Moupin, remarks 

 (pp. 247, 248) as follows : — *' Un oiseau tout a fait analogue 

 S€ rencontre €galenient en ete dans les endroits herbeux et 

 humides aux environs de Pekin, mais se distingue constam- 

 ment de celui-ci : 1°, par sa taille plus faible de 0™,02 ; 

 2°, par la teinte de ses joues et de sa poitrine qui sont a peine 

 lavees de gris cendre ; 3°, par les taches plus nombreuses et 

 plus arrondies du devant de son cou ; 4°, par sa raie sour- 

 ciliere a peine marquee." 



Two adult male specimens of a small Trihura. shot by me 

 on 31 May and 1 June, 1917, at Chinwaiigtao, N E. Ohihli, in 

 North China, and, together with a young bird obtained in the 

 same locality on 4tli September, 1912, erroneously recorded 

 by me as Tribura tUoracica (Blyth) (Ibis, 1920, p. 650), 

 agree exactly with Pere David's diagnosis of the Peking 

 birds. On comparing these birds with a couple of ex- 

 amples of T: tlim'acica from Sikhim from the Ball collection 

 in the National Museum in Dublin, I find well-marked 

 differences in colour, in size, and in wing-formula. I would 

 therefore propose to separate the North China bird as 



Tribura thoracica davidi, subsp. no v. 



Adult male differs from Trihura thoracica (Blyth) in its 

 smaller size, small first primary as compared with length of 

 second primary, and much paler underparts, the throat being 

 of a greyish white and the head just tinged with brownish 

 grey— ^not " ashy-brown " and " ashy," as described in 'Fauna 

 of India' (Birds, vol. i. p. 364, 1st ed.). Iris rather pale 

 brown, bill black, mouth pink, legs flesh-coloured. Mejisure- 

 ments of two adult males : — Culmen 11 mm. ; wing 53 mm. ; 

 tail 45, 46 mm. ; tarsus 18 mm. ; total length 128, 133 mm. 

 The young autumn male measures : — wing 52 mm. ; tail 

 49 mm. ; total length 132 mm. The first primary is con- 

 siderably shorter than half of ihe second and measures 13 mm.. 



