lay 



that of the rest of its congeners, is only a very feeble ' chip chip,' uttered as it flies from flower 

 to flower. 



" We measured a great many specimens in the flesh : — 



"Male. Length 3 - 8 to 4T2 inches, expanse 5 - 85 to 6-25, tail from vent 1-1 to 1-45, wing 

 1-75 to 1-95, tarsus (M5 to 0-5, bill from gape 0-6 to 0-65 ; weight 0-2 to 0-25 oz. 



"Female. Length 3-75 to 3-85 inches, expanse 5-82 to 6-12, tail from vent 2-12 to 2-25, 

 wing 1-75 to 1-85, tarsus 0-5, bill from gape 0-62 to 0'65 ; weight 0*2 to 0-25 oz. 



" Bill, legs, and feet black ; hides dark brown." 



In Penang Mr. Swinhoe collected numerous specimens, a male and female of which I have 

 figured and described in the present work. Dr. Cantor also found it plentiful in that island, as 

 well as at Malacca. 



Mr. Blyth observes (J. A. S. B. xiv. p. 557) : — " Nectarinia phayrei proves (as I formerly 

 suspected) to be the N. hasseltii, Tem-m., and is common also in Malacca;" and he further justly 

 remarks that it is the Certhia sperata, var., of Raffles, from Sumatra, where, according to that 

 naturalist, it is known as " Chirichit, Chechat, or Siap." According to M. Pucheran, the type 

 of Cinnyris ruber, Less., was collected by M. Duvaucel in Sumatra ; and as Temminck's type of 

 Nectarinia hasseltii was procured by Van Hasselt in Java, it is seen that the Arracan, Sumatra, 

 and Java specimens have each received a separate title. 



In Borneo it appears to be widely distributed, having been collected at Banjermassing, in 

 the south, by Motley, at Sarawak by Wallace, Doria, and Beccari, where it is considered by 

 Count Salvadori to be rare ; but from the north-west coast opposite Labuan, and from that 

 island itself, Mr. Low has brought home a great number of specimens, as well as the nest and 

 eggs. 



The nest is suspended from the end of a twig by a cord of bark fibres, 2 - 5 inches in length, 

 at the end of which it swells gradually into the shape of a pear, with an oval aperture at one 

 side near the top, and, although loosely, is very neatly constructed, entirely of bark, thin leaf-like 

 portions of which give to it solidity, and are bound together with strips like matting, and with 

 hair-like fibres, the finer threads forming the sole inner lining. The whole structure being of 

 the colour of dead leaves, with here and there some whitish portions of outer bark, mus't be very 

 difficult to detect. 



The egg measures 0-72 by 0-50 of an inch, and is of a nearly uniform oval. Its colour is 

 white clouded with a greyish zone towards the obtuse end; and it is thickly striped longitudinally 

 with irregular rufous-brown bands, not extending quite to the ends, where there are a few bold 

 irregular blotches of the same colour ; these coloured parts appear as if thinly washed over with 

 white ; and there are no small spots. 



Messrs. Hume and Davison inform me that C. zeylonlcihs has no separate non-breeding 

 plumage ; and I feel very confident that the present species has not got one either, a very excep- 

 tional case with birds of this family. 



I published my illustration of this bird in the first Part of my work, under the oldest name 

 Cinnyris brasilianus. It was afterwards pointed out to me (Ibis, 1877, p. 124) that this name, 

 not being appropriate to a Malayan bird, may on that account be put aside. I have therefore 

 here employed Temminck's title. 



K 2 



