Letters, Announcements, fyc. 251 
I have also examined the types of the two species of Batra - 
chostomus described as new by Mr. Hnme Stray Feathers/ 
ii. p. 348) by the names of B. castaneus and B. punctatus. 
These have been referred by Lord Tweeddale, in Blythes “ Ca¬ 
talogue of the Mammals and Birds of Burma 39 (J. A. S. B. 
1875; pt. ii. extra number, p. 84); the former to B. affinis, 
Blyth; the latter to B. moniliger, Layard. There are in Mr. 
Hume’s collection the following specimens representing this 
genus:— 
Batrachostomus affinis, Blyth; three specimens (sex not 
noted) from Malacca. These have been compared with Blythes 
original type in Calcutta. 
B. castaneus , Hume; three specimens; from Sikkim, sex 
doubtful. 
B. sp.; two specimens; one adult and marked female, the 
other immature, from Sikkim, closely agreeing in general 
coloration with the figure of Otothrix hodgsoni (P. Z. S. 1859, 
p. 101, pi. clii.), but having the same bill as B. castaneus. 
B. moniliger, Layard, three specimens—a male, female, and 
nestling (sexes carefully determined by Mr. Bourdillon)—from 
Travancore. 
B. punctatus, Hume, the type from Ceylon, sex un¬ 
determined. 
It is, in the first place, quite clear that B. castaneus is a 
different bird from B. affinis, despite so close a general re¬ 
semblance that one bird might easily be mistaken for the 
other. The coloration above is nearly the same, B. castaneus 
being a little paler chestnut, and wanting entirely the con¬ 
spicuous white spots which occur on the wing-coverts of B. 
affinis, though both birds have the white black-edged spots 
on the scapulars, and the narrow white collar edged with 
black. Beneath there is more difference, B. affinis being 
much paler, and having the feathers of the breast and abdo- 
mine pale isabelline, with rufous edges, which are broader on 
the breast. In B. castaneus the greater portion of the lower 
surface is the same colour as the back, chestnut ; but many 
feathers on the throat, breast, and upper abdomen are white, 
with black margins. The number of these feathers and their 
distribution appear to vary slightly in the different specimens. 
