INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
T HE most noteworthy point brought out by the present collection is the 
complete absence of any of the higher mountain hirds from Bukit 
Besar. That this cannot be due to altitude alone is proved by the 
fact that the mountain fauna is strongly represented on the Selangor Hills at 
a height considerably less than that of our encampment on Bukit Besar 
(2,500 feet). 
From Mr. Ogilvie-Grant's paper it is evident that the avifauna of the 
Patani States is on the whole more Burmese than Malayan, as is shown by 
the occurrence of Gecimis * virtdanus instead of G. vittaius and by the presence 
of such species as Coracias affinis and Crypsirhina Vartans. 
The affinities of the high mountain fauna are puzzling, and both Bornean 
and Sumatran forms seem to be represented, though as might be expected the 
latter are predominant* The existence of a species of Chlorura is interesting 
as this genus has not hitherto been recorded from continental Asia. 
Taking the Peninsula as a whole, three very distinct faunal zones can be 
recognized which may be called 
I. The Indo~Burmese zone : occupying the whole of the coastal districts 
as far south as Penang on the west coast, and extending to the Pahang River 
on the eastern side of the Peninsula. This zone is coterminous in range with 
that of Thereieeryx lineata , Partis c%nereus y and, among plants, with Casuarina 
equiselifolia. 
II. The Malayan zone ; including the remainder of the Peninsula with 
the exception of the high mountains. The characteristic forms are Nyctiornis 
amicta , Cymborhynchus macrorhynchus , Hemixus cinereus. 
III. The Himalayo-Sundaic zone ; covering the mountains of the main 
range above three thousand feet as far south as Southern Selangor, and also 
certain of the loftier isolated massifs. The characteristic forms are Rhinukhla 
mitrata , Sibia simillima , etc. 
Speaking generally there seems but little more to do on the western side 
of the Peninsula, even in the mountains, as assiduous collecting for the last 
year has only resulted in the discovery of one new species and the addition of 
some five or six others to the list of birds found in the Peninsula. 
