316 A Contribution to Malayan Ornithology. [No. 



shews considerable affinities to Turclirostris, especially in the form 

 of the bill and the length of the rictal bristles. 

 Bare at Malacca and in the Wellesley Province. 



62. Micro tars us melanoleucos, E y t o n. 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1839, p. 102. Brachypodius tristis, 



Blyth, J". A. S. B., XIV, p. 576. 



Apparently rather rare in Penang and in the Wellesley Pro- 

 vince, occurring in dense forest ; wing 1£" ; tail 2 J ; bill at front 

 \% t from gape £" ; tarsus T \". 



63. BRACHYroDius melanocephaeus, 6meL 

 Temminck, PI. Col. 147. Ixos metallicus, E y t o n, Ann. 



and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1845, XVI, p. 228. 



E y t o n ' s name evidently refers to the greenish or purplish 

 metallic tinge of the whole head ; the total length stated to be 8" 

 must be a misprint, as Strickland suggested, for E y t o n ' s 

 two other measurements agree exactly with those of this species. 

 Wing 3"— 3^" ; tail 2*"— 2 |"; bill at front about i", from gape f ; 

 tarsus £". Common in the Wellesley Province and on Penang. I 

 have seen it darting after insects almost like a fly-catcher. 



64. Ixidia CYANrvE^TRis, Blyth. 



Pycnonotus ? cyaniventris, Blyth, J. A. S. B., XI, p. 792 ; idem 

 Cat., 211, cum syn. 



The original measurements given by Blyth must have been 

 taken from a rather large bird, for the specimens in the Asiatic 

 Society's Museum are somewhat smaller. The species is com- 

 mon with the previous about Malacca, on Penang and in the Wel- 

 lesley Province. Wing 2£ "— 2£" ; tail 2 J" ; bill at front very nearly 

 y % from gape nearly £•" ; tarsus T 9 g-". 



These three last named species are so closely allied as regards 

 their short stoutish form of the body, the subconical arched bill 

 (being slightly hooked at the tip), the presence of few rictal and 

 narine bristles, feeble feet with short tarsi, coloration, &c, that 

 it would at the first sight appear unnatural to apply to them three 

 distinct generic names. It is perhaps so, and a smaller sub-division 

 would suffice ; we may call them either genera or sub-genera, but 



