1845.] or little known Species of Birds. 601 



Plumage full and lax, the coronal feathers somewhat elongated and of 

 a spatulate form. 



M. Abbotli, nobis. Length about six inches, or a trifle more ; of 

 wing three inches ; and tail two and one-eighth : bill to gape not 

 quite an inch, and tarse the same. Colour plain olive-brown above, 

 tinged with rufous on the rump and tail, the upper tail-coverts ferru- 

 ginous-brown : under-parts paler, the throat and middle of the belly 

 white, the ear- coverts, sides of the breast, and flanks, rufescent, and 

 the lower tail-coverts weak ferruginous. Bill chiefly pale horn colour- 

 ed ; and legs light brown. Discovered by our industrious contri- 

 butor, Capt. Abbott, in the island of Ramree, Arracan ; and since sent 

 by Capt. Phayre from other parts of the same province. 



Alcippe Phayrei, nobis. This genus is defined, and four species of it 

 described and others indicated, in J. A. S. XIII, 384. The present 

 one is most allied to A. poiocephala, (Jerdon,) and also to Siva nipa- 

 lensis, Hodgson, of the Leiotrichane series : but is distinguished by its 

 much less rufescent hue, especially on the tail and its upper and 

 lower coverts, which are devoid of such a tinge, or the upper tail- 

 coverts retain it only in a very slight degree. Length about five 

 inches and a half, of wing two and three-quarters, and tail two and a 

 half; bill to gape under three-quarters; and tarse seven-eighths of an 

 inch. Upper-parts slightly fulvescent olive-brown, the crown ashy, 

 and wings, particularly the large alars, margined with somewhat 

 deeper fulvescent; lower-parts fulvescent-whitish, whitest on the 

 throat and middle of the belly : bill dusky above, below pale ; and 

 legs light-coloured : outermost tail-feather five-sixteenths of an inch 

 shorter than the middle ones. Inhabits Arracan, where discovered by 

 Capt. Phayre. 



In naming the two preceding species, I have merely rendered 

 homage due to two gentlemen who have made great efforts to investi- 

 gate the Natural History of the districts which have been placed under 

 their administration. It is a kind of honour which is in the power 

 of the naturalist to award ; but it has been so much and so egregiously 

 abused, that the distinction is no longer a very marked one, such as 

 originally it was intended to be. The evil, however, it is to be hoped, is 

 now working its own cure : and there is reason to believe that natu- 

 ralists in general begin to feel the impropriety of underrating their 



