Iail16 (2000) Forklaii15 (2000) SHORT NOTES 183

Rufous-chinned Laughingthrush Garrulax rufogularis! a new species for

MCK DYMOND and PAULTHOMPSON

On I 1 March I 999ND, PT,J. Hornskov and D. Johnson Head and neck appearedlargely blackish, wirh werebirding in subtropical hill forest near Ruili, in prominenr rawny-buff loral parch curvnrg erftremesourh-wesrYunnan pmviflce, China. DJwas in upwards in ftonr of eyej pale rufous chin and thelowerreaches of a ravine,whilethe orherthreeofus whitish rhroat.Typically strons laughingrhrush weretogether near thehead ofthe ravinearound a larse bill appeared dark. Underside of lonsish compleyol marurebamboo and den,e wais'-hith graduaredtail appearedvery dark,bur wirh rufous sround flora. SeveralRed-billed Scimitar Babble$ dps ro f-eathers;undeftail coverrsand rearvenral Pomatarhiflusoctuaceiceps, at leasr two Red-faced area rich tawny rufous. \Jt'ingsand lower back Liocichlas Lio.ichla phaeni.ea, se.veratGrey,throared plain mid-brownwirh pale edgesro tips of flight Babblers Srdcrj",rlrnisti.eps and a White sorgeted feathers.Rear flanks pale buff with botd btack Flyc^tchet F;cetuLr monileger had a1l been showing crescendcbaIs. inlermittentlywhen a singlelaughingrhrush sized emersedlrom a ]ow, thick rangleof bamboo and flew Despiie the brief viewsND and PT had no hesitarion up to perchbriefly on a sidebranch ofa treesome 20 m in idenrifying rhe bjrd as a Rufous-chinned , in Delhi, up the slopefrom ND. After a shoft time, pefiaps only Laughingthrush Garrulax rujosuldris,a specieswirh )th breed 20 secondsor so, dle, bird dived ieftwardsacross the whichthey borl hadprevious elpenence, ND asrecenrty slopeand disappearedinro dense cover; subsequenr asDecember 1S98 at Cherrapunjee,Meghalayar India. prolonsedsearching failed ro relocareir. Both ND and There are sevenrecosnis ed n.es ol Garrulax ruJaeutari!, lli babbler PI from ditrerenrposttions, had binocularviewsofrhe ranging from Pakisranand the wesrernHimalayas to re heavily bird at rest:the backrwings and brcasrwere obscured the hill statesof north-easr India and norrhern ri (Gaston from ND, while the head and forepartswere obscured , and nofthvietnam, but our sightingis the from PT. Unfortunarelyit wasnor iniriauyin viewro JH filst record for China.Western Yunnan is adiacenrro and he got only a naked-eyedglimpse when ir flew off. Kachin statein northernMyanmar where c /. /r,tberr?s The followinsis a compositedescdption from rhenores hasbeen recorded previousiy in Myitkyina disrricr (as Lptronsof ofND and PT. well asin Naealand,India); the city ofMyirkyina is abour t50 km almostdue north ofRuili. n March- icate rhar Nnk U,nond, SprinEfield,Scausburyh, Shendnd, ZE2 9lg U.K n Keraiaj Paul Thompson,ICILIRM, Houle 75 Road 7, Banafli, Dhdkd j 2 j 3, Ba etadesh breeding breeding tia u'ould

Streak-breasted Pl:cus oiridanus in : re-identification of the region's sole specirnen recorded as Laced Woodpecker P oittatus

PAMELA C. RASMUSSEN -348.

48. The LacedWoodpecker P,;r6 1,?irar&sand the Sreak- third very similar species,rhe Streak-breasred r,Voodpecker breasted Woodpecker tiriddnus are largely Piri ra,.rorJaaers,occurs thrcugh much allopatric,bur locallyoccur in rhesamearea,where rhey ofthe Indian subcominent,and overlapsin ransemm occupy differcnt habirarc(Deignan 1955).Although the other two.Were ir nor for thesezones of rvnrDuv. Deignan considered them conspecific,arguing thar theserhree \pecie. would .,*t1 U. .on.;j.r.J habitatpaftitioning doesnot constituterrue sympatry, conspecificAhhoLgh rhe rdle. in rhearea of slmparry mostrecentworksacceprrhem as separaie species_ Both (P L. ?iri.lanus and P oiudtus connectans,sensu Deisnar, taxa show considerablevariation, leading ro much 1961)are not asdisrincr from one anofier as are some confusion in the litemtl]re, and resuhing in the erroneous oftersj neitherdo they appearto inrergrade,and in rhe assumptionof widespreadsympatry (Kloss 1926).A southernMalay Peninsula(P tiidanus weberi^nd p u 184 SHORT NOTES Forkrail 16 (2000) z'irarrt, the races of each thar essentiallyrcplace each the eyej it has a largerblack moustache wift more white other geoeraphically differ greaily.While it is accepted streaking; its auriculars are darker and more unifonn here that they are separate species,this is not very well grey, contrasting lcsswith the duller, darker sidesofthe established and has been disputed (Goodwin 1968, neck, but set ofi more strongly by whitish srripesboth Short 1982), and further study is needed in rhe areasof above and below; and the cap of adult male ?,i itarff is presumecl sympatry. slighlly fuller and redder. The mantle of ?,if arrl is On 12 April 1958, R. A. Paynter,Jr collecred a single darker and less yellolv-tingcdj its entire upperparis are adult female woodpecker (MCZ no. 298094) of rhis more monochromatic ericept for the remiges, with rhe grcup ar Burigoalni, about 30 miles south ofKhulna, in wings concolorous with the mantle (duller or bronziei the Sundarbans of Bangiadesh.It clearly was not in urrar"r)j the tertials (and less ofren rhe mantle and The N aanthob,sdeus,unil then the only speciesrecorded from uppertail coverts) often show clear, fine light b:ring the Indian subcontinent. Paynter (1970) tenradvely visible ftom above (lacking or vaguer and broader in on Ca idenrified ihe specimen as R;us o?r.dlr^,closest to the t,ttdtus); the rump is less yello\l', while the uppertail race eidrlorf,, but probably of a new mce, and rejected coverts are yellower and conrrasr more wirh the iail.The (Richr it as a member of the ?irdarrs group because it lacks primary coverts are distincrlyand narrowly barred widr Ripley obvious sueaking on the throat and brcast. On this basisj white (vague and buffy in "trdr6); and the rectnces 1909.1 l?r??rar,i has been included as a mcmber ofrhe avifauna usually have disrinct buf& bairing on the upper halfof Nicob of the lndian subcontinent (Harvey 1990 and more fte ceniral pair (no or vague barring in ?,irdrrr). The rhroat ofoirda,us may be clearly streaked orhave only (Abdu However,I find fie Bangladeshspecimen inseparable fine whidsh striations, and similally the breasr, which illustft from sevcral specimens of nominate riridant$ ftom usually has at least weak striations, may appear 30 has Myanmar,while ditrering in a number ofchancters ftom unmarked bro{'nish olive (rhroar and breasr unmarked all races of ?jitdrrs. Addirionally, no race of "tnaa6 and yellolver in o,;rar6); and rhe underparrs of otrtdaflar approaches the Indian subcontinent more closely than look darker and more streaked,as most feathers havea about Banskok (Boonsong and Round 1S91, contra stong dark shaft sreak narrorviy bordered whjre, then Paynter 1970), while ,iddrrr occurs through southern a brcad dark border, rhen a narrow pale outer border, Myanmar, and wesi into Arakan, which is adjaccnr to and finally distinct darkedges infteshplumage (a single, slghtr( Bangladesh. Study ofextensive seriesofall races ar rhe narrower dafk ellipse within each feather in ,rir@tur. (Sanks USNM and BMNH collection (seeAcknowledsements) Juveniles were not closely studied, but rhey clearly \fh has coflfirmed that the Bansladesh bird is indeed present additional identification chalLenges,as rhey ottdar"s,and rhlrs ilis necessaryto replace irarrs \a'irh usually have much lessprominent markinss beioq and zrfiaz,s on regioflal lists (at leastwhen ?,t,Ad'?r6is given boihspecies are subjecr to staining and extrcmelywom, species staius). Given the sedentariness of tropical faded plumage. Besm( , rhe difilculty of identification, and the 1980\ pauciry of fieldwork in the area, ,i/ida"us is probably similar more than a stmggler to southern Bangiadesh, and P D. Roundand N. J. Collarprovided nelptul dG.ussion. Speci mens$e.e *ud,cd ir thc Nltional Museun of NaturalHistory indeed the specimen label states that it had enlarged (USNM),Snnhsonim In*itulio!,Vrashinston, D.C , USAandThe ovaries, almost cenainly indicating it was in breeding Nltu.al History^,ilseum (BMNH),T.nrs, UI<, and I rhankR A. differer condition. Although rhe possibility fiat the Bangladesh I'nynter,Jr andA. Pi.ic or rhc Museunof ComparativeZoolo8y bird reprcsentsa new race ofurranshad been suggesred (Mcz))canbridge,i\'lA, USA, forlendinsDc tlc Baql.dcshspeci one Br rPalnr

Pa ela C. Rasmusten,Dioiion of , Smnhson;aflInstituti.fl,WdshiilqtalL D.C. 20560 0116, atld Michigan State Unbersitj Museun, Ealt Lansins, MI 48824-1015, U.S.A. 1909.11