58 



margins to the feathers ; a broad loral band, chin, throat, and front of the breast carmine-red ; a 

 moustachial band of metallic violet and black feathers ; remainder of the underparts dusky ash, often 

 tinted with olive on the flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts ; under surface of the wings dark 

 brown, with the inner margins of the quills paler, and the coverts white : bill, irides, and legs dark 

 brown, with the under portion of the lower mandible much paler. Total length 4 - 4 inches, culmen - 6, 

 wing 2, tail l - 8, tarsus 05. 



Adult Female. Upper parts olive, including the least and median series of wing-coverts ; remainder of the 

 wings dark brown, the feathers margined with olive-yellow; tail black, the feathers margined with 

 olive, and with pale ends, broadest on the outer ones ; sides of the head olive, slightly shaded with ash 

 in front of the eyes, and rather yellower on the cheeks ; entire under surface of the body pale olive- 

 yellow, with the yellow slightly predominating down the centre of the breast ; under surface of the 

 wings dark brown, with the inner margins of the quills and the coverts white. Total length 36 inches, 

 culmen OG5, wing 1/8, tail 1/4, tarsus Oo. 



Hais. Malay peninsula, from Penang to Singapore, Sumatra, and Borneo. 



This Sun-bird is a native of the Malayan region, and is a very well-known species, being common 

 in many localities. 



It belongs to that section of JEthopyga in which the throat is red and the metallic portions 

 of the crown, upper tail-coverts, and tail blue. 



To this section also belongs 2E. mystacalis from Java, which is to be distinguished by having 

 an eyebrow and a few feathers on the forehead red. 2E. flavostriata and ^E. magnified differ in the 

 almost black colour of their abdomens and under tail-coverts, these parts being in jE. siparaja of 

 an ashy brown, often tinted with olive. From the Burmese and Tenasserim species it may readily 

 be distinguished by the black inner margins to its violet moustachial bands. Its nearest ally 

 appears to be JE. iiicobarica, which may be recognized by its larger size, and especially by its 

 greater length of bill. 



On the island of Penang it has been collected by Mr. Swinhoe ; and Dr. Cabanis has recorded 

 it from Malacca ; but Messrs. Hume and Davison write to me : — " We have not found this species 

 abundant anywhere in the Malay peninsula. It was tolerably plentiful at the waterfalls near 

 Penang, and again on Singapore Island, where it was not uncommon in the cocoanut plantations. 



" It does not seem to differ in any way in habits or note from JE. cam, JE. miles, or JE. 

 nicobarica. 



" Males measured in the flesh 4*25 to 4'62 inches, expanse 6"25 to 6-5, bill from gape - 65 

 to 0-7, wing 2-05 to 2T2, tail from vent 1-65 to 1-82, tarsus 045 to 0-5 : weight 0-2 ounce." 



In Sumatra, where it was first discovered by Sir Stamford Raffles, it is known to the natives 

 by the name " Sipa-raja," which means " King Honey-sucker," so called, no doubt, from its brilliant 

 colouring. 



In the summer of 1876 Mr. E. C. Buxton collected this species in the Lampong district ; 

 and the Marquis of Tweeddale, in his article upon that collection (Ibis, 1877, p. 301), clears up 

 all doubts as to the identity of Sir Stamford Raffles's Certhia siparaja in the following short 

 paragraph: — "The examples from S.E. Sumatra are identical with Malaccan, Penang, and 

 Bomean specimens ; Cabanis's title of eupogon must therefore fall." 



