44 GYLDENSTOLPE, BIRDS COLLEOTED BY THE SWEDISH ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO SIAM. 



species is inostly seen on the lower trees, bnt sometimes I also observed it on the 

 tops of very high leafless trees, and from such places I often heard its soft, mono- 

 tonous call. 



Anderson in his remarkable vvork »Zoological Results of the two Expeditions 

 to Western Yunnan, London 1879» points out that the Burmese birds are to be 

 separated from the Indian birds on account of the entire absence of a greenish gloss 

 on the feathers on the upper parts of the body. He therefore separates this form 

 under the name of Arachnechthra edeni Anders. The typical Arachneclithra asiatica 

 Lath. appears purplish blue above but in Arachnechthra edeni Anders, the violet 

 colour on the upper surface of the body is continued to the sides of the neck and 

 the purplish throat is margined on each side with violet instead of with green. 



In my coUection there are specimens from different localities in Siam, though 

 chiefly from the northern parts of the country and among these there are specimens 

 with a greenish as well as a violet colour on the upper parts of the body. I there- 

 fore believe that the different colour on the back cannot be enough for separating 

 the Burmese or Siamese birds from the typical Arachnechthra asiatica Lath. because 

 I have coUected both violet and green coloured specimens from the same localities. 



^ ^«/i 1912 Nou Luum. ^ ^j-i 1912 Den Chai. 



Length =98 mm. Length =100 mm. 



Wing =53 » Wing = 53,5 » 



Tail =31 » Tail = 30 » 



Culmen = 17 » Culmen = 17 » 



$ 72 1912 Den Chai. 

 Length =100 mm. 

 Wing = 49 > 

 Tail = 32 » 

 Culmen = 16 » 



79. Arachnechthra flammaxillaris Blyth. — In one of the gardens at Sriracha 

 the Yellow-breasted Sun-bird was not uncommon and this place was the only one 

 where I could be certain about the occurrence of this bird in Siam. Hovvever, I 

 believe I saw a few birds, belonging to this species in a garden at Bangkok, but 

 neither in Eastern, Central nor in Northern Siam did I notice this beautiful bird. 



The male shot at Sriracha on the 21st of April measures as follows: Length: 

 91 mm., Wing: 48 mm., Tail: 29 mm., Culmen: 15 mm. 



According to Blanford (Fauna of British India, Birds II, p. 362) this bird is 

 distributed över the greater part of Pegu and the whole of Tenasserim, extending 

 into Siam, Cochin China and the Malay Peninsula. 



80. Arachnothera magna Hodgs. — The large streaked Spider-hunter is an 

 inhabitant of the dense and moisty evergreen primeval forests and in these it was 

 sparingly distributed, especially in the Northern districts. In the evergreen forest 

 belt near the eastern shore of the Gulf of Siam I only observed two single speci- 



^ ^'■'h- 1912 



Deu 



Chai. 



Length = 



110 



mm 



Wing = 



53 



» 



Tail 



31 



» 



Culmen = 



16 



» 



