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Show 354 ON BIRDS I N T H E H U M E COLLECTION. [June 29, Both races are figured by Gould in the ' Birds of Asia,' but, like other ornithologists, he considered the differences between them to be of insufficient specific value. They are, however, so well marked that I propose the name of Carpodacus severtzovi for the Central- Asian bird, and Mr. Seebohm agrees with me that it ought to have a different name from that of the Caucasus form (C. rubicillus of Giildenstiidt). No. 3. On Lalage melanothorax, Sharpe. In registering and arranging the splendid series of Campophagidse in the H u m e Collection, I naturally looked out for additional specimens of the fine Lalage which I described in 1879, from Madras, naming it Lalage melanothorax (Cat. B. iv. p. 91). Not finding any additional specimens in the H u m e Collection, I had another look at the type in the British Museum, and at once recognized that it must be an artefact! The body is that of Lalage sykesi, but the head and neck are those of Buchanya atra. That I should not have noticed this before is as surprising as the fact that I have shown the specimen to many ornithological friends, most of them intimately acquainted with the two species above mentioned, and that none of us have detected the fraud. On re-examining the specimen, as 1 have done many times before, it is impossible to detect where the birds have been joined together. Lalage melanothorax, however, is a name to be suppressed. No. 4. On some Flycatchers of the Genus Siphia. Seven specimens of Siphia olivacea (Hume) are in the Hume Collection, and I find that I had rightly identified the species in the ' Catalogue of Birds,' vol. iv. p. 458. Cyornis albo-olivacea, Hume, Str. F. 1877, p. 488, is Setaria pectoralis, Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 233, and Rhinomyias pectoralis of my ' Catalogue,' vol. iv. p. 368. Cyornis poliogenys, Brooks, Str. F. 1878, p. 469, seems to be a good species, and is closely allied to S. olivacea (Hume), but has a grey head and face, and is orange-rufous on the breast, the throat also being washed with the same colour and not white as in C. olivacea. This species will have the following synonymy:- SIPHIA POLIOGENYS. Cyornis poliogenys, Brooks, Str. F. 1879, p. 469. Siphia cacharensis, Madariisz, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. i. p. 52, Taf. 1. fig. 2 (1884). Hab. Sikhim Terai (W. E. Brooks) ; Bhootan Dooars (Mandelli) ; Dibrughur, Assam (J. R. Cripps) ; Shillong ; Cachar (A. 0. Hume) ; Manipur (A. 0. Hume) ; Tippera. The plate of Siphia cacharensis does not agree with the description. The latter, however, is very good, and leaves no doubt as to the identity of the species. |
