1844.] for December Meeting, 1842. 383 



the abdominal feathers dull white, laterally marked with greyish, the 

 breast and flanks nearly resembling the back, and the under tail-co- 

 verts rusty-brown : bill dark horn-colour, and legs and toes brown, 

 the claws pale. Brought from Singapore. 



Malacopteron, Eyton, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 103, founded on two 

 species, M. magnum and M. cinereum, Eyton, to which, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Strickland {An. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1844, p. 35), my 

 Trichastoma rostratum and Tr. affine, J. A. S. XI, 795, must be 

 referred ; an identification which I suspect holds true in neither in- 

 stance, further than as regards the genus. With the series of species 

 before me, I find it necessary to restrict the group Malacopteron to 

 those species which, as stated by Mr. Eyton, have the bill about equal 

 to the head in length. 



1. M. magnum. Eyton. Described to have the forehead and tail fer- 

 ruginous, the neck black, the back, and a streak across the breast, 

 cinereous ; wings brown, and bill yellow. Length six inches ; of bill 

 seven-twelfths of an inch, and tarse nine-twelfths. Female smaller, 

 with the head and neck ferruginous, spotted or mottled with black. 

 Inhabits the Malay peninsula. 



2. M. ferruginosum, Nobis. Bill somewhat thicker and more Fly- 

 catcher-like than in the others, and the wings comparatively longer. 

 Length about seven inches, of wing three and a quarter, and tail two 

 and three-quarters : bill to gape an inch ; tarse an inch and one- 

 sixteenth ; hind-toe and claw three-quarters of an inch, the latter very 

 large, being double the size of the middle front claw. Colour of the 

 upper-parts ferruginous-brown, purer dull ferruginous on the crown 

 and wings, and much brighter ferruginous on the tail; coronal feathers 

 of different texture from the rest, being somewhat broad, with dis- 

 united webs, inconspicuously squamate : under-parts much paler, the 

 throat and belly white ; lores albescent, contrasting with the rufous 

 hue of the crown. Bill dusky-brownish above, pale and yellowish 

 below ; and legs light brown. Probably from Singapore. 



3. M. rostratum ; Trichastoma rostratum, Nobis, passim. I have 

 nothing to add to the description before given of this species, to which 

 that by Mr. Eyton of M. magnum does not apply. Its form is less 

 robust than that of the preceding species. 



3h 



