THE MALAYAN CRiJSTED NIGHTJAR 
Lyncomis temmincki (Gould) 
alay name : — Bnrong Taptibau. 
t)escription: — To the casual observer this species looks 
very much hke an ordinary nightjar arid indeed making a 
superficial comparison between the female *'tock-tock bird" 
(we choose the female because of her lack of the conspicuous 
white ^ots on tail and wings) and the crested nightjar, the 
only diiierence appears to be in the general tone of the plumage, 
which in L. iemmincki is rather darker in general eftect thrm 
is C. macrourus. 
Closer investigation will reveal the characters that are 
regarded by systematists as of sufficient importance to place 
this bird in a separate gcnv^s — Lycurnls. These characters arc 
the absence of the stifi hair-like feathers ("rictal bristles") at 
the base of the bill and the presence of two small tufts of 
feathers growing from just above the ear. These tufts are 
very smalJ and not at all conspicuous. 
Like the other nightjars the plumage of this bird is a most 
complicated affair of dark browms, warm browns, russets and 
buff and so we must try to strike a broad hne of description. 
The sexes are ahke. 
• 
The general colour of the upper parts is rich brown, 
copiously mottled with blackish. The tail and wing quills are 
dark brown, nearly black in fact, with indistinct bars, i.e. 
broken up bars of mfous or rich brown. On the underparts 
there is a large white patch on the throat. Folio vvmg this is 
dark brown zone in which the feathers have rufous edges. 
The remainder of the breast, the abdomen and the under-tail 
coverts are buff with wavy blackish cross-bars. The large eye 
has the rris brown. The bill is brown and the feet purplish 
flesh or brownish. 
The length is abput loj inches: the wing y\ to 8^ inches. 
Dtstributiov : — This is a characteristic Malaysian species 
and is not found outside the area. In the Malay Peninsula 
it is a common bird, 
l>43] 
