334 A Contribution to Malayan Ornithology. [No. 4, 



insufficiently distinguishable, and, therefore could "be brought 

 together under the name pugnax, Temm., "subject to a cer- 

 tain amount of local variation." This appears to be a very fair 

 view of the question, for comparing large series of these birds 

 from different parts of India, from the Malayan countries and 

 Java, it certainly appears extremely difficult to find any perma- 

 nent distinctions strictly peculiar to each form, but to a certain extent 

 the local varieties, or sub-species, generally possess some slight 

 distinctive characters. 



Typical Java and Malayan puanax generally are the small- 

 est of all. The head is dark, the pale brown edgings to the fea- 

 thers being very narrow, the median occipital streak is dark and 

 usually indistinct, the feathers of the back are scarcely margined 

 laterally with pale, and those of the lower back and scapulars very 

 little, generally only on the outer web. The longer scapulars and 

 wing-coverts have pale yellowish, transverse, largely oval spots- 

 Specimens from Malacca and the Wellealey Province, belonging to 

 this race, have the wing only 3^'-oJ" ; tail 1-iy (rather long); 

 bill at front J", from gape f* ; tarsus £". 



The Himalayan race (plumlipcs, H o d g s.), is very similar in 

 its dark coloration to Malayan specimens, but the median streak 

 on the head appears to be always more distinct, the chin and throat 

 is less pure white in the male (?), and the blackish spots on 

 the terminal outer webs of the tertiaries are more distinct. As 

 to size, the North Indian and Himalayan specimens are the 

 largest. J e r d o n gives wing 3 -fa", tail 1", bill at front T V, 

 tarsus 1", and Himalayan specimens in the Asiatic Society's collection 

 quite come up to these measurements. I have measured specimens 

 with the wing 3f ". 



The third form is taigoor, S y k e s, (apud J e r d o n), being in- 

 termediate in size between the two, and very similar to the latter . 

 in coloration, except that the feathers on the back generally are 

 very distinctly margined laterally with pale or yellowish rufescent. 

 Looking at these variations, one cannot help to recall to mind 

 the perfectly similar and corresponding variations in the plumage of 

 Turtur Stiratensis, tigrinus and Chinensis, and the variations in size 

 are also something similar in the two series of races, at least as • 

 regards the Malayan and Indian birds. 



