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Show 274 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON [May 15, flew quickly from tree to tree. Day after day we went out into the jungle to watch for them, but as there was no certainty which side of the camp they would take, and as the)- always passed when it was so dark in the forest that neither they nor the sight of the gun could be distinguished, we were never successful, until nearly the last day of our stay at that camp, in shooting one. The strange thing was that we never saw these birds in the daytime. They passed up the hill to roost at nightfall and down again at dawn. Their note is so loud and distinctive, and they are so noisy, that they could not easily be overlooked or mistaken for any other bird. " They are evidently rare, as only this one small party was seen." This new species is very closely allied to G. torquatus, Hume, from Tenasserim, but is altogether of a much darker colour, the upper surface being more rufous-brown. It is evidently a southern race of the Tenasserim form. SIBIA SIMILLIMA, Salvad. Sibia simillima, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 352. Heterophusia simillima, Salvad. t. c. p. 232. "No. 13. ^ ad. Batang Padang Mountains, Perak." POMATORHINUS BORNEENSIS, Cab. Pomatorhinus borneensis, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. vii. p. 411 • Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 61. " No. 100. 8 ad. Gunong Batu Putch (3400 feet). " Irides very light brown ; bill white, with black on the top of tbe ridge, reaching about halfway to the point; legs and feet bluish ash ; soles of feet yellowish brown. "Only one pair of these birds were seen, they were in company with a number of other birds." MELANOCICHLA PENINSULARIS, sp. n. "No. 84. 8 ad. Gunong Batu Putch (3400 feet). " Irides bluish grey ; bare skin round eye and also the skin of the head and neck under the feathers dark purplish blue ; bill bright reddish orange. Legs grey, edges of scales yellowish ; feet same, but more yellow, soles of feet yellow. Stomach contained a quantity of reddish-coloured ants. It is a shy and uncommon bird, frequents dense jungle, in pairs or small parties of three or four, is noisy and harsh-voiced. I saw it also at nearly 5000 feet on Gunong Ulu Batang Padang." This species is an interesting representative of M. lugubris of Sumatra, but is slaty grey, instead of brown or blackish, both above and below. Total length 10 inches, culmen 14, wing 4'8, tail 4-6 tarsus 1'45. RHINOCICHLA MITRATA (S. Mill!.). Rhinocichla mitrata, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 352. Leiothrix mitrata, Salvad. t. c. p. 230. "No. 12. $ ad. Batang Padang Mountains, Perak." |
