508 
Birds of Celebes; Turdidae. 
208. MALACOPTEKON AFFINE (Blytli). 
Malacca Babbler. 
a. Trichastoma affine (1) Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1842, XI, 795. 
Malacopteron affine (1) Gray, G-en. B. I, 209 (1846); (2j Biittik., Notes Leyden Mus. 1895, 
XV 11, 105; (3) M. &Wg., Abli. Mus. Dresd. 1896, Nr. 2, p. 17. 
b. Setaria affinis (1) Salvad., Cat. Ucc. Borneo 1874, 231. 
c. Malaeopternm affine (1) Sharpe, Cat. B. VII, 1883, 569. 
For further synon 3 rmy and references cf. Salvador! b 1\ Sharpe c 7 ; Buttikofer 2. 
Description. Sharpe cl. 
Young. Above olive-brown, greyer on head and neck, with a cinnamon tinge on rump; tail 
dull chestnut, the edges brighter; wings dusky, externally brighter brown than above, 
lightest on tlie edges and tips of the wing-coverts and innermost remiges, the last 
with very obscm’e and unperfect bars; lores wliitish; ear-coverts brown, with wliitish 
shafts; below pale broccoli-brown, clearing into wliitish on the chin and throat, and 
buff-wliitish on abdomen ; under wing-coverts and inner edgings of quills below rather 
more fulvous: bill dark, tomia pale; legs, feet and claws pale brown. Wing 74 mm; 
tail 62; tarsus 19; exposed culmen 11, from sutime 16 (Tonkean, E. Celebes, V. — V TTT 
95 — C 14405). 
Adult. Has the head above sooty brown, the throat and under parts white, shaded with 
ashy on the breast and sides (fide Sharpe and Buttikofer). 
Distribution. Malay Peninsula (Blyth a 1, hi, Cantor b 1, cl, etc.); Sumatra (Wallace 
c J); Banka (Mus. Leyden 2); Java (Mus. Leyden 2 ); Borneo (Low etc. cl, b 1, 2); 
Celebes — Macassar (Teijsmann 2], Tonkean, E. Celebes (Nat. Coll 3 ). 
Two sjjecimens only are known from Celebes, one in the Leyden, the other 
a young one in the Dresden Museum. In the case of Teijsmann’s example it 
seems possible, as in other cases, that the island of Saleyer may have been the 
true habitat. From Mr. Buttikofer’s valuable revision of the genus Turdinus 
and its allies, it would appear that M. magnirostre (Moore), ranging from Tenas- 
seiim to Borneo, and M. kalulongae Sharpe, of the mountain regions of Sarawak 
and Central Borneo, are its nearest relatives: both of these have a dark mous- 
tachial streak, and the crowm of the latter its dusky grey, of the former olive 
like the back. 
FAMILY TURDIDAE. 
The true Thrushes are partly terrestrial in habits, their food consisting of 
grubs and insects, sought on the ground, and of fruit. Their tarsi and feet are 
rather large and strong, and they both run and hop with buoyancy and quick- 
ness. It is preferable, perhaps, to restrict the family to the true Thrushes 
( Turdus, Merula, Geocichla, Mimocichla and perhaps Monticola and Petrophila), for 
Saxicola and Mgrmecocichla form transitions to the Redstarts and Flycatchers, and 
Cataponera and probably Catharus to the Timeliidae. 
The wing of the Turdidae is rather pointed, the first primary minute, the 
second longer than the secondaries, which fall short of the tip of the wing by 
V 3 to V 4 its length. The young wear a spotted or mottled plumage. 
