226 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums.  |[Vou. X, 
heterogeneous species excluding each other geographically. 
In spite of the broad zone of separation andamanensis and 
macrorhynchus have remained very similar—so similar 
that the majority of modern ornithologists declare them 
to be identical.” ° 
Dr. Stresemann could be accused of manipulating 
literature to fit a theory. In stating that no examples of 
coronoides seem available trom the northern part of the 
Malay Peninsula he ignores our record of specimens from 
‘Trang, etc., where it was very abundant. In stating that 
it does not occur in the southern half of the Peninsula he 
ignores our next remark. “In the southern half of the 
Peninsula it is scarcer being only seen in numbers on the 
coast in the vicinity of fishing villages.” This last does 
away with his “ broken land bridge ” theory ! 
And when he wrote “ From Perak to Johor the Slender- 
billed Crow, Corvus enca occurs, but is rare, ete.” and 
suggests (as I understand), that we have transferred the 
names of two species he stultifies himself—tfor if he believes 
that our enca of the Southern Malay Peninsula is coronoides 
he himself builds a bridge which he later demolishes. 
There is no break in distribution—as far as the Penin- 
sula is concerned. 
Why is our opinion astonishing that Corvus enca is rare 
in the Malay States ? It is based on the experience of good 
many years : rather there is ground for astonishment that 
in probably little more than as many days in the country 
Dr. Stresemann found it, by inference, common. 
As to Borneo and Sumatra Dr. Stresemann makes the 
same suggestion regarding the birds determined by Finsch 
and Stone as he does about our identification. Personally 
| have only seen examples of C. enca from these two islands, 
Dut it seems to me that, for the present, negative evidence 
is little better than no evidence. 
The conclusion arrived at by Dr. Stresemann’s methods 
is that only one form of C. coronoides, viz., andamanensis, 
occurs in the Malay Peninsula, and that the species (apart 
from its occurrence at Penang), may extend from Burma 
to the northern part of the Peninsula only. Also that 
Corvus enca compilator is the common form. 
I will now proceed to give some account of the 
Malaysian specimens of Crows at present in the F.MLS. 
Museums and, as no instructions have ever been given to 
our collectors to discriminate between the two species when 
procuring examples, it may be taken that the numbers 
secured fairly represent the rarity or commonness of the 
two birds. They show that as far as our experience goes 
we can repeat our former statement that coronoides is the 
commoner bird and in some form occurs throughout the 
Malay Peninsula. 
