The Races of the Scarlet Minivet [Pericrocotus Flammeus (Forster)]!

VoL õ31 DEIGNAN,Races of Scarlet Minivet 511 •946 .I

Mountain Chickadee Black-cappedChickadee Chestnut-backed Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Pygmy Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Red-breasted Nuthatch Downy Woodpecker Horned Lark White-headedWoodpecker Lapland Longspur Brown Creeper Tree Sparrow Snow Bunting Hudsonian Chickadee Black-capped Chickadee Red-wingedBlackbird White-breasted Nuthatch Cowbird Downy Woodpecker Grackle Brown Creeper Starling

Red-winged Blackbird Slate-coloredJunco Brewer's Blackbird Tree Sparrow Cowbird Bohemian Waxwing Red Crossbill Cedar Waxwing White-wingedCrossbill StateCollege o[ Washington Pullman, Washington

THE RACES OF THE SCARLET MINIVET [PERICROCOTUS FLAMMEUS (FORSTER)]!

BY H. G. DEIGNAN THE mostrecent relatively complete treatments of the racesof the ScarletMinivet have been those of Stresemann(Mitteil. Zoolog.Mus. Berlin,15: 637-639,1930), Ticehurst (Jour. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 34: 906-907,1931), and Whistler and Kinnear (Ibid., 36: 340- 341, 1933). To accountfor the phenomenaof variationexhibited by this species,particularly in the Indo-ChineseSubregion, not one of theseis satisfactory;indeed, so insufficientwas the material from criticalareas available at thatperiod to revisersthat theycould scarcely fail to be led into error. Sincethe presentwriter hasbeen able to add to the series in the United States National Museum all the materialdeposited in the AmericanMuseum of Natural History,the Academyof Natural Sciencesof Philadelphia,and the Museumof ComparativeZo/51ogy, to make a grandtotal of 408specimens (with the majority from just the regionsmost poorly representedin the

Published by permission of the Secretary of the $mithsonian Institution. DEIGNAN,Races of Scarlet Miniver LI'Auk Oct. seriespossessed by his predecessors),it is felt that no apologyis re- quired for a new and more ambitiousstudy of the species. In addition to a wealth of skins, I have had the full use of notes contributedby Ernst Mayr, R. M. de Schauensee,and JamesC. Green- way,Jr., eachof whomhas at sometime consideredmaking a similar study and has now turned over to me his information. To these gentlemenand the institutionsthey represent,my thanks are grate- fully tendered. Finally, I am deeplyobligated to my friend Herbert Friedmannfor advicegenerously given during the courseof the work. Whistler and Kinnear (tom. cit.: 341) have stated: "We do not considerthat the Scarlet Minivet is racially connectedwith the Or- ange Minivet (Pericrocotusflammeus). A marked characteristicof the Minivets as a whole is that racial variation has less effect on their bright coloursthan other detailsof their make-upand in the speciosus group the stability of the scarlettint is very remarkable,and goes side by side with a close intergrading of the racial characteristic. There is moreover no trace of intergradation between flammeus and speciosus." These remarksare a fair exampleof the taxonomicpitfalls into which one who adoptsa geographicallylimited viewpoint may be led. With the exceptionof "[raterculus" (Hainan), no race from beyondthe confinesof the Indian Empirewas discussed by the authors, despite the fact that both genusand speciesshow their greatestdi- versity of forms in countriesto the south and east of India. In the Sundasand the Philippines occur birds not specificallyseparable from either flammeusor speciosusby any criteria acceptableto the modernstudent, yet in which the plumageof adult malesranges in color throughvarious oranges to pure yellow. As for the absenceof intergradationbetween flammeus and speciosus,it must be rememberedthat flammeusscarcely occurs on the eastern side of India north of Madras, while semiruber, the nearest race of speciosus-type,is not knownsouth of Vizagapatam;the non- existenceof intergradient individuals is therefore of no more con- sequencehere than in the casesof numerouspairs of isolatedraces generallytreated as conspecific. For thesereasons, I haveno choicebut to follow Stresemann(tom. cit.: 638-639) in employingthe name flammeusForster, 1781, for the entire group. The important charactersfor subspecificdivision of this minivet are, in variouscombinations: (a) size, (b) the numberof primaries in eachsex that lack a spotof colornear the centerof the outer web, Vol.õ•'] DEIGNAN,Races of ScarletMinivet 5 ] 3 •946 .1

(c) the ratio of the extent of colorto that of black in the centralrec- tricesof the adult male, and (d) the generalcoloration. (a) Sizein the racesof the ScarletMinivet, as shownby lengthof wing, variesclinally from north to southand east,while the periph.. eral populationsto northwestand northeastare largest,and those of the southeasternislands are smallest. This seemsto reflect simply the operation of Bergmann'sRule. (So large a percentageof my specimenshave the longestrectrices worn or otherwisedamaged that I find it inadvisableto presenttheir measurements.) (b) Taking the genusas a whole, but exceptingthe presentspecies, we find that in either sex the number of unmarkedprimaries is four or more. The populationsof flammeusvary betweenthose in which the number unmarked is four in either sex, and those in which a majority of the adult maleshave two, the adult femalesthree unmarked. That the processleading to reductionof the number of unmarked primariesis not yet completedis indicatedby the fact that all those populations with a lessernumber unmarked exhibit more or less individual variation in this character; even in the population of northern Siam, in which appearsextreme developmentin this direc- tion, 95--% of the adult males have two unmarked, 5-{-% three, and 13-{-% of the femaleshave two unmarked, 87--% three. (c) The populationsof flammeusvary betweenthose in which the centralrectrices of the adult male are wholly or predominantlyblack, and thosein which (ordinarily) one-third or more of the surfaceof each is colored. The latter extreme appearsin the males of every known population within a vast area, bounded to the north by an imaginary southeastward-slantingline drawn from the Chin Hills of west-centralBurma acrossSiam to central Annam, and extending south to (and including) the great islandsof Sumatra and Borneo. With this group must be placed also the Indian semituber,a form restrictedto the northernEastern Ghats and still but slightlydifferen- tiated from the bird of west-centralBurma, althoughnow separated from it by the Gangeticalluvial plain, here 300 miles in breadth. (d) Although the pattern in either sex is very constantthroughout the species,the coloration of the adult male is a combinationof glossyblue-black with either yellow, orange, or scarlet, while the adult female, with the exceptionof a singlepopulation, combines black, grays, and yellows. Taking the population of northern Siam as typical of the most highly coloredgroup, we find that the usual adult male, in his onto- geny, has passedthrough the following plumages: 5 ] Z• DEIGNAN,Races of ScarletMinivet L['Auk Oct.

(l) a whitish-barredgray juvenal dress; (2) a black, gray, and yellow first-winterdress, separable from that oœthe adult female mainly by a slight orangesuffusion on front, throat, and breast; (3) a first-nuptialdress, similar to the plumageof the adult female, but with yellow replaced by orange (a small minority of ex- amplesmolt directly from the juvenal to the first-nuptialdress, thus omitting stage 2); (4) the scarletand black livery of the old adult.

Viewing the speciesas a whole, the colorationof the adult female is nearest that of the first-winter dress of the male described above. On the Asiatic mainland, outsideoœ the Malay Peninsula,there occurs hardly more than individualvariation (within much the samelimits) anywhere except in southeasternChina. From the Malay Peninsula southwardand eastward(excepting Java and Lombok), the gray portions oœthe plumage gradually darken, then assumea steely sheen, until, in marchesaeof the Sulu Archipelago,the adult female (in most, not all cases)has theseparts as highly glosseda blue-black as the adult male. Since the tendencyto melanism appearsfrom west to eastin a band separatingthe gray-mantledraces of Java and Lom- bok from the gray-mantledforms oœthe mainland and affectsmem- bers of two different subspecies-aggregates,it would seem to result wholly from environmentalfactors. To judge from recapitulation as shown by the northern Siamese male, the commonancestor of the specieswas once an orange bird, and still earlier a yellow. Accordingly,the present-dayorange races would seem,by coloration, to stand nearer the primitive stock than the scarlet forms. That this may be consideredthe caseis indicated by the fact that the orangeflammeus of South India and the orange siebersiof Java possesssuch other relatively primitive charactersas the four unmarked primaries in either sex and the absenceoœ color from the central rectrices of the adult male. But while there is goodreason to believe that flammeusand siebersi have advancedlittle, if at all, beyond an orange ancestor,it would be untenable to argue that the forms of the islandsfarther east, in which the malesrange in color betweenpure yellow and orange,represent still earlier stagesof development. That the one race with a pure yellow male (marchesae)can in no sensebe consideredprimitive, is indicatedby the circumstance that its female has advancedbeyond the ancestraltype farther than that of any other population (although carryingone more step the Vol.as] DExa•^•,Races o! Scarlet Minivet 515 •946 1 trend shownby femalesof neighboringPhilippine forms). Moreover, this well-definedrace, restrictedto a tiny island at the southeastern extremityof the specificrange, can have arrived there only at a comparativelyrecent period from someother of the Philippine islands (probablyMindanao), all of which are still inhabited by birds in which the red lipochromeis still presentin more or lessabundance. If further proof be neededof the very late developmentof the Sulu form, it is affordedby the discoverythat one out of three adult females before me is in a livery, not like that of the Sulu male, but quite like that of the Mindanao female. In brief, while one can at present only guessat the genetic factors involved,it seemsprobable that the malesin all the populationsof the southeasternmostislands illustrate the phenomenonof reversion. If the orange and yellow populationsare held to stand nearer an ancestraltype of plumage,it followsthat the scarletforms, with their greater amount of red lipochrome and the invasion of the outer remigesand central rectricesby erythrism, must be consideredthe onesfarthest advancedfrom the primitive stock. It is interestingto note that, in the highly erythristicpopulation of northern Siam, isolated scarletfeathers not very infrequentlyappear amongthe black of throat, crown, mantle, or upper wing-coverts;it might be sur- misedthat the tendencythat has alreadyso strikinglyreduced the amount of black in the rectriceswill eventuallybring about similar diminution of yet other black areas. The Indo-Chinesecountries, lying at the centerof present-daydis- tribution,would seemto be the originalhome of the genusPeri- crocotus.Within this area has developedthe greatestvariety of forms. Of the ten or elevenspecies currently recognized, seven (in one or more subspecies)occur practically throughout Burma, non- peninsularSiam, and Indochine,while an eighth (the only species of Indian originand onerestricted to regionsof low precipitation) is representedby an endemicrace in the dry zoneof Burma. SinceP. fiammeusis the only minivetof whichthe specificrange is almostcoincident with that of the genus,is the only onewith even half as many well-definedraces, and is, in whatevercountry it is found, usuallythe minivet seenin greatestnumbers, it might be supposedthat it hasexisted as a specificentity for a longerperiod than any other of the Pericrocoti. Moreover, as in the case of the genus as a whole, one might assumefrom its modern distribution that the ancestral stock arose in Indo-China. It is, then, very surprisingto find that the populationsnow resi- 5 l 6 DEIGNAN,Races of Scarlet Minivet L['Auk Oct. dent at the heart of the presumptivehomeland, in a continentalter- ritory with a huge expanseof more or lesssimilar territory on every side,should seem by everycharacter to be the onesfarthest advanced from the ancestralstock, while most of the populationsrestricted to comparativelysmall, isolated, peripheral ranges should not only show no morphologicalchange, but even retain plumagesbest described as primitive or reversionaryl To sum up the viewsset forth above,the eighteenrecognizable subspeciesof the ScarletMinivet may be ranged (within the limita- tions imposedby linear representation)from the least to the most "advanced" as follows:

A. PRIMITIVE AGGREGATE I. [lammeus. II. siebersi, exul.

B. REVERSIONARY AGGREGATE I. leytensis,novus, ]ohnstoniae, marchesae. C. ERYTHISTIG AGGREGATE I. andamanensis,speciosus, fohkiensis, elegans, minythomelas, modiglianii,xanthogaster, insulanus (subspecies nova), [lammi[er, suchitrae (subspeciesnova), semiruber. But beforegoing on to a critical discussionof the races,these servations and reservations must be made: Amongthe somewhatunstable Indo-Chinese birds is found,as sug- gestedabove, an unusual incidenceof individual variation in the charactersof remigesand rectrices,so that subspecificreference of a given populationmay be basedin largepart on suchan intangible factor as the ratio of frequenciesof occurrence (or absence)of the charactersin question. A further complicationis brought in by the not uncommonincidence of bilateral asymmetry. Except in the caseof the population of South Annam, where asymmetryis of too frequent occurrenceto be passedover without specialnotice, I have treated an individual with a given remex in one wing marked, in the other plain, or with one central rectrix edgedwith color and the other plain, as if both of the remigesor rectricespossessed color. There is ground for belief that in so plastic a speciesno given character connectedwith the remiges or rectriceswill necessarily hold in everymember of any populationl Although I have indicated below numerouscases in which sucha characterappeared in 100% Vol.63'] DEIGNAN,Races of Scarlet Minivet 517 •946 / of the birdsexamined, this high percentage of frequencyis possibly attributablein eachcase to the relativelysmall sample available from thearea in question.If withlonger series the characters still obtain in 75% of the population,we needask no more.

TI•XT-FXOUI•1.--Map showing•/pproximate breeding ranges of racesof Pericro- cotusfiammeus:(1)fiammeus; (2)siebersi; (3)exul; (4) leytensis;(5)novus; (6)johnstoniae;(7) marchesae;(8) andamanensis;(9) speciosus;(10)fohkiensis; (11) elegans; (12) minythomelas;(13) modiglianii;(14) xanthogaster;(15) insulanus;(16) fiamrnifer; (17) suchitrae;(18) semituber.

Becauseof the wide rangeof variationthat mustbe allowedwithin eachof manyof the subspecies,it follows that exceptionalspecimens (conceivablyup to 25% of somepopulations) may fit, by everyout- ward particular,the requirementsfor membershipin somegeograph- ically remote race, although truly autochthonouswhere found. For this reasonit cannot be impressedtoo firmly upon collectorsthat they should endeavorto securea fair sampleof the population of any critical area. Raceso!Scarlet Minivet IL'Auk Oct.

A. PRIMITIVE AGGREGATE

I 1. Perieroeotu$ fiammeu$ fiammeus (Forster) Muscicapaflammea Forster, Indische Zoologie [Zoologica indica]: 25-26,p1. 15, 1781 (no locality given --- Ceylon;cf. Whistler and Kin- near,Jour. BombayNat. Hist. Soc.,36: 341,footnote, 1933). The adult male has the entire head, throat, neck, upper wing- coverts,scapulars, and upperhalf of the backglossy blue-black; the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsbright flame scarlet;the central rectricesblack, the remaining pairs with an orange-chrome tip increasinglyextensive outwardly until the outer pairs are more than half oœthis color;the primariesblack, all but the first with an inwardlyincreasingly extensive apricot-yellow spot on the inner web, and all but the first four with a similar salmon-orangespot on the outer web; the secondarieslike the inner primaries, but the outer onesalso with a conspicuous,elongate salmon-orange spot along the outer web near the t/p; the tibial plumesdark gray; the remaining under parts bright orangechrome, redder anteriorly. The adult female has the lores gray: the front, fore crown, and a ßshort supercilium bright lemon yellow, changing to olive-washedgray on the posteriorcrown, nape, upper wing-coverts, scapulars, and upper half oœthe back; the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsbright lemon chrome,often tinged with olivaceous;the remigesand rectrices as in the male, but with bright lemon chrome in place oœsalmon orangeor orangechrome; the tibial plumesdark gray;the remaining under partsbright lemonyellow. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 86-95 min. (/• /• ); 85-88 min. ( 9 9 ). (b) Adult /• with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult /• black (100%). Specimensexamined: 8 • •, 4 9 f•. Range: Ceylon;South India, from Cape Comorin north to Khandala on the west, to Chittur on the east. Remarks:This minivet seemsto have appearedonly recentlyon the easternside oœ southern India and is perhapsextending its range northward in the Eastern Ghats.

II 2. Pericrocotus flammeus siebersi Rensch Pericrocotusspeciosus siebersi Rensch, Orn. Monatsb.,36: 47, 1928 (Mount Gcdeh,West Java). Vol.•946O•' .tI D•IO•A•,Races o! ScarletMiniver 519

The adult male, in series,has the under parts lessintense an orange chromethan the male of fiammeus,but siebersiis distinguish- able chieflyby its lessersize and by having the tibial plumesorange chromemixed with gray. The adult female is separablefrom that of flammeusby its lesser size; by having the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsolive greeninstead of olivaceouslemon chrome; by havingthe tibial plumes lemon yellow insteadof dark gray; and, in series,by the rather less intenselemon yellow of the under parts. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 80-84 min. (8 8 ); 77 min. (9 9). (b) Adult 8 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 black (100%). Specimensexamined: 6 8 8,2 9 9. Range: Java; Bali.

3. Perieroeotus fiammeus exul Wallace Pericro½otus exul Wallace, Proc. Zool. $oc. London, "1865": 492- 495, 1864 (Lombok). The adult male differsfrom that of siebersiby having the color of the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsbright orangechrome, not flame scarlet;the markings oœthe rcmigcsand rcctriccsmikado orange,rather than salmonorange or orangechrome; the under parts bright cadmiumyellow insteadof orangechrome. The adult femaleis probablyinseparable from that of siebersi,but in seriesmay have the lemon-yellowunder parts very slightlypaler. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 82-85 min. (J 8); 81-83 min. (9 9). (b) Adult 8 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 black (100%). Specimensexamined: $ 8 8, $ 9 9. Range: Lombok. Remarks:This form is very closelyrelated to siebersi,from which it differsonly by a lossof someof the red lipochrome.

•. REVERSIONARY AGGREGATE

I 4. Perieroeotus flammeus leytensis Steere PericrocotusLeytensis Steere, List of the Birds and Mammals col- lectedby the SteereExpedition to the Philippines:15, 1890 (Leyte, V. I.). 520 DEIgNAN,Races of Scarlet Minivet I.[-Auk Oct.

The adult male is distinguishablefrom that of siebersiby having the central rectrices with the terminal third of the outer web and the tip of the innerweb orangechrome; the tibial plumesdark gray;the remainingunder parts a slightlyless intense orange chrome, scarcely redder anteriorly. The adult female differsfrom that of siebersiby having the lores blackish;the front and a short superciliumlemon chrome,sharply demarcatedfrom the slightly blue-glossedslate of the crown, nape, upperwing-coverts, scapulars, and upper half of the back; the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsa deep goldenyellow; the tibial plumesgray or yellowmixed with gray; the remainingunder parts bright lemon chrome. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 79 min. ( 8 ); 76-80 min. ( 9 9 ). (b) Adult 8 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 black, with the terminal third of the outer web and the tip of the inner web orangechrome (100%). Specimensexamined: 1 8, 3 9 9. Range: Samar; Leyte. Remarks:The ancestorof the reversionaryaggregate may be sup- posedto have reachedthe Philippine Archipelagofrom Formosa,although,strangely enough, the speciesis not now knownto be repre- sentedthere. That leytensisis not far behind the lessadvanced mem- bers of the erythristicgroup is indicatedby the presenceof a con- siderableamount of red lipochrome,the parti-coloredcentral rectrices,and the probableoccurrence of maleswith but three primaries unmarked.

5. Perieroeotus fiammeus novus McGregor Pericrocotusnovus McGregor,Bull. Philippine Mus., No. 3: 13, 1904 (Irisan, Benguet [sub]province,Luz6n, P. I.). The adult male is nearestleytensis, differing by having the markings on the wing a less intensesalmon orange, the tibial plumes orangemixed with gray, and the remainingunder parts uniformly bright orange insteadof orangechrome. The adult female is separablefrom leytensisonly by having the crown, nape, upper wing-coverts,scapulars, and upper half of the back slaty black, with a somewhathigher gloss. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 75-79 min. (8 8); 76-77 ram. (9 9). (b) Adult 8 with first3 primariesunmarked (20%) or first4 unmarked(80%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). Vol.6s'l DEIGNAN,Races o! ScarletMinivet 521 1946 .I

(c) Central rectricesof adult • black, with the terminal third of the outer web and the tip of the inner web orangechrome (100%). Specimensexamined: 5 • •, 2 9 9. Range: Luz6n; Negros. Remarks:Since we find, in novus,males with but threeprimaries unmarked, the samevariation may be expectedto appearin leytensis, which standseven nearer the membersof the erythristicaggregation. The onemale seenfrom Negroscannot be separatedfrom the birds of Luz6n, although the former island lies in much closerproximity to Leyte and Samar.

6. Pericrocotus fiammeus johnstoniae Ogilvie-Grant Pericrocotusjohnstonice Ogilvie-Grant, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 16: 18, 1905 (Mount Apo, Mindanao, P. I.). The adult male differs from that of novus by having the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts,as well as the marking of wings and tail, bright cadmiumorange (the central rectricesbut narrowly tipped with this color); the tibial plumesslate; the remainingunder parts bright cadmiumyellow. The adult female is similar to that of leytensis,separable only by having the crown, nape, upper wing-coverts,scapulars, and upper half of the back a rather lighter blue-glossedslate. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 81 ram. (• •); 79 mm. (9 9)- (b) Adult • with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • black, with the tip of each web cadmium orange (100%). Specimensexamined: 2 • •, 2 9 9. Range: Mindanao.

7. Pericrocotus fiammeus marchesae Guillemard Pericrocotus marchesceGuillemard, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1885: 259, pl. 18, fig. 1 (Maimbun,Sulu [Jo16]Island, Sulu Province,P. I.). The adult male is exactlylike that of ]ohnstoniae,except that it has the lower back,rump, upper tail-coverts,the markingsof remiges and rectrices,and the under parts below the throat bright golden yellow. The tibia1 plumesmay be slateor slatemixed with golden yellow. Of three adult femalesbefore me, two differ from the male only by having a frontal band and the chin and throat bright golden yellow insteadof glossyblue-black. The third seemsto be insepara- 522 DEIGNAN,Races of ScarletM inivet L['Auk Oct.

ß ble from femalesof ]ohnstoniae,although the golden yellow of the upper parts may be slightlymore intenselycolored. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 79-80 mm. (8 8 ); 75-80 mm. (9 9 ). (b) Adult 8 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectrices of adult 8 black, with the tip of each web golden yellow (100%). Specimensexamined: • 8 8, • 9 9. Range: Jo16.

C. ERYTHRISTIC AGGREGATE

I 8. Pericrocotus fiammeus andamanensis Beavan Perivrocotusandamanensis "Tytlcr" Beavan,Ibis, 1867:322 (An- daman Islands). The adult male is apparently separablefrom that of fiammeus only by having but three primariesunmarked on the outer web, and by having the lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts,the markingsof remigcsand rcctriccs,and the under parts below the throat bright scarlet instead of orange. The adult femalediffers from that of fiammeusby havingthe yellow portionsof the plumageof a deeperhue and with a suggestion of orangesuffusion. Subspecificsummary: (a) Winglength: 93-94 mm. ( 8 8 ); 92 min. ( 9 ). (b) Adult 8 with first • primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 black (100%). Specimensexamined: 2 8 8, 1 ft. Range: Andaman Islands (specimensseen from South Andaman and Henry Lawrenceislands). Remarks: In andamanensis we meet the first race in which the adult male ordinarily has lessthan four primariesunmarked.

9. Perieroeotus fiammeus speciosus (Latham) [Turdus] speciosusLatham, Index ornithologicus,1: 363, 1790 (India; typelocality restricted to "Himalayas,"by Hartert, Nov. Zool., 9: 555, 1902;further restrictedto Darjiling, by Stuart Baker,Jour. BombayNat. Hist. Soc.,27: 694, 1921). From andamanensisthe adult male is distinguishableby greater Vol.õs'l D•G•^•, Racesof ScarletMinivet 523 1946 J size,by havingbut the first two primariesunmarked, and by frequently having a small amount of scarletin the centralrectrices. The adult femaleis nearestthat of fiammeus,but is separableby greatersize, by having only the first three primariesunmarked, and possiblyby having the markingsof remigesand rectricesand the under parts bright lemon chromerather than lemon yellow. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 100-106 min. ( $ $ ); 102-105 min. ( 9 9 ). (b) Adult $ with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult $ as stated below. Specimensexamined: 6 • •, 2 9 9. Range: Himalayasof India; the plains of northern India (in winter). Remarks:"In speciosus... the first two primariesin the male and the first three primariesin the femaleare unspotted. In the western Himalayas (Gharwal-Kumaon)the red on the central tail feathersis usually entirely absent. When it occursit is merely a narrow line along the edgeof the outer web [usuallynot reachingthe tip] about one inch in length. In the Eastern Himalayas (Sikkim-Duars)the red is more often found and is greater in extent, though it seldom reachesto the shaft. The western birds on the whole are slightly larger than the eastern,but the sum of thesecharacters is not suffi- cient to allow of the separationinto the usual east and western ranges. The explanation no doubt is that the ScarletMinivet is a comparativelyrecent colonistof the Himalayas. It is not yet com- mon beyondthe JumnaValley and the mostwesterly authentic rec- ord is Kulu" (Whistler and Kinnear, Jour. BombayNat. Hist. Soc., 36: 340, 1933). Whistlerand Kinnear (tom. cit.: 341) statethat the wing length of 17 malesranged from 100 to 110.5 min.; of eight females,from 97.5 to 108 min.

10. Pericrocotus flammeus fohkiensis Buturlin Pericrocotusspeciosus )'ohkiensis Buturlin, Messagerornithologique, 1: 263-264, 1910 (Ashong,Fuhkien). Pericrocotusspeciosus )'ohkiensis Stuart Baker, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 40:116, 1920 ("Yamahan"-- Yamakan,Fuhkien). The adult maleis nowiseseparable from that oœspeciosus. The adult femaleis distinguishablefrom that of speciosusby having the lowerback, rump, and upper tail-covertsbright olive green (occasionallywith a slightgolden suffusion), and the underparts a paler, rather more greenish,lemon chrome. 52Z• I)EIGNAN,Races of Scarlet Minivet I.I'Auk Oct.

Subspecificsummary: (a) Winglength: 102-108 min. (• •); 97-104min. (9 9). (b) Adult • with first 2 primaries unmarked (67--%) or first 3 unmarked (•+%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • all black (67--%) or with a narrow line oœ scarlet along the edge of the outer web, usually not reaching the tip (•+%). Specimensexamined: 6 • 8, 6 9 9. Range: Fuhkien; Kwangtung (in winter).

11. Pericrocotus fiammeus elegans (McClelland) Phcenicorniselegans McClelland, Proc. Zool. Soc.London, "1839": 156-157, 1840 (Assam;type locality here restricted to the neigh- borhood of Sadiya,northeastern Assam). Pericrocotus[raterculus Swinhoe, Ibis, 1870:244 (Hainan). Pericrocotusspeciosus bakeri La Touche, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 42: 54, 1922 (Loukouchaiand Mengtze,southeastern Yunnan). This form in either sex can be distinguishedfrom speciosusonly by its lessersize; some larger individualscan be recognizedas elegans only by locality. Subspecificsummary (basedon Assamcscpopulations alone): (a) Wing length: 96-103 min. (• •); 93-101 min. (9 9). (b) Adult 8 with first 2 primariesunmarked (100%); adult 9 with first • primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rcctriccsof adult • all black (43-{-%) or with a narrow linc of scarletalong the cdgcof the outer web, usuallynot reachingthe tip (57--%). Specimensexamined: 30 • •, 20 9 9. Range:Assam; Burma (north of the rangeof suchitrae);Yunnan; northeastern Laos; Tongking; northern Annam; Hainan; Karenni (in winter); northern Siam (in winter). Remarks: It has long been recognizedthat the ScarletMinivet of Assamcannot be separatedfrom that of Hainan, and becauseit has been believedthat the name elegansmust be either synonymizedwith speciosusor applied to the more erythristicrace of southernBurma, Assamesepopulations have been called "[raterculus." The long seriesbefore me from many parts of Assamshow that, in that province (with the possibleexceptions of the Dafla and Lushai Hill tracts, whenceno specimenshave been seen)but one form is resident,and that it is intermediatebetween suchitrae and speciosus. That McClelland's type specimenis of the usual Assamesevariety may be acceptedfrom Oates'sover-hasty statement that it "is clearly referable to P. speciosus"(Fauna of British India, Birds, 1: 481, Vol.194663'[ J DEIGNAN,Races o! ScarletMinivet 525

1889) and Ticehurst'sassertion (Jour. BombayNat. Hist. Soc.,34: 907, 1931)that it is a male with wing measuring97 mm. La Touche's"bakeri" was describedafter comparisononly with fohkiensis. The adult male was said to differ by having the central rectriceswith the terminal half "broadly edged with red," and by having the red portions of the plumage of a different tone. The color differenceseems, however, to be imaginary,and the type in the Museum of ComparativeZo61ogy has the central rectricesnot broadly, but narrowly, edgedwith redl Just as speciosusintergrades through elegansand, presumablyin centralBurma, throughelegans • suchitrae,with suchitrae,we might expectto find in northernIndochine similarly intergradient popula- tionsbetween fohkiensis and suchitrae. In fact, "bakeri" is just such an intergrade,and sinceit seemsto be impossibleto delimit an area in which birds that answerto the descriptionof "bakeri" occurwith a frequencyas high as 75% of the population,and "bakeri" has no definitecharacter of any other categoryby which it may be known from elegansor elegans• suchitrae,I am compelled to place La Touche'sname in synonymywith elegans. From one restrictedarea in Haut-Laos,the populationof which has been recordedas "bakeri," I have seenspecimens whose central rectricesvaried individually from all black (elegans),through narrowly red-edged(elegans or "bakeri"),to broadlyred-edged ("bakeri")l To showthe possiblevariation within the subspecies,I give below the resultsof statisticalstudy of the severalpopulations examined:

G•o Populationalsummary: (a) Wing length: 96 min. ( 8 ); 98 min. ( 9 ). (b) Adult 8 with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with a narrow line of scarletalong the edge of the outer web (100%). Specimensexamined: 1 8, 1 9.

K•As• H•LLS

Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 96-103 min. (8 8); 96 min. (9). (b) Adult 8 with first 2 primariesunmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 all black (50%) or with a narrow line of scarletalong the edgeof the outer web (50%). Specimensexamined: 2 8 8, 1 9. 526 DEIGNAN,Races o! ScarletMinivet L['Auk Oct.

NORTH CACHAR Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 96-101 min. (/• /• ); 95-101 min. (9 9 )- (b) Adult /• with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first $ primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult /• all black (48+%) or with a narrow to broad line of scarletalong the edgeof the outer web (52--%). Specimensexamined: 21 /• /•, 14 9 9.

NORTHEASTERN ASSAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 96-100 min. (/• /•); 93-96 min. (9 9)- (b) Adult /• with first 2 primariesunmarked (1-00%); adult 9 with first $ primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult /• all black (67--%) or with a narrow line o[ scarletalong the edge of the outer web (33+%). Specimensexamined: 6 i• •, 4 9 9.

NORTHERN BURMA Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 96-97 min. (/• /• ). (b) Adult /• with first 2 primariesunmarked (50%) or first 3 unmarked (5055). (c) Central rectricesof adult /• all black (50%) or with a narrow line of scarlet along the edge of the outer web (50%). Specimensexamined: 2 • •.

NORTHERN SIAM IN WINTER Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 97-103 min. (/• /• ); 102 min. ( 9 ). (b) Adult /• with first 2 primaries unmarked (10055); adult 9 with first $ primaries unmarked (10055). (c) Central rectricesof adult /• all black (10055). Specimensexamined: 2 • •, 1 9. NORTHEASTERN LAOS Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 97-100 min. (/• /• ); 95-96 min. (9 9 )- (b) Adult /• with first 2 primariesunmarked (75%) or first 3 unmarked (25%); adult 9 with first $ primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Centralrectrices of adult /• all black (2555)or with a narrowline of scarlet along the edge of the outer web (25%) or with a broad line of scarlet along the edge of the outer web (50%). Specimensexamined: 4 • •, 2 9 9. HAINAN (data taken from Ticehurst, tom. cit.: 906) Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 94-98 min. (/• /• ). (b) Adult /• with first 2 primaries unmarked (10055); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (10055). Vol.õ$'] DEIGNAN,Races of ScarletMiniver 527 •946 a

(c) Centralrectrices of adult • "whollyblack or occasionallyedged with red on distal half of outer web." Specimensexamined: 11 $ $, -- 9 9.

12. Pericrocotus fiammeus minythomelas Oberholser Pericrocotusandamanensis minythomelas Oberholser, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., 60 (No. 7): 14, 1912 (Simalur Island, west of Sumatra). The adult male is very near to that of andamanensis,perhaps separableonly by havinga considerableextent of scarleton each central rectrix; in 89--% of thoseseen, all but the concealedbase of the outer web is scarlet,while the inner web is black (frequently scarletat the extreme tip). The adult female differsfrom that of andamanensisby having the crown, nape, upper wing-coverts,scapulars, and upper half of the back a slightlyblue-glossed slate insteadof gray. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 90-94 ram. ( 8 $ ); 88-90 mm. ( 9 9 ). (b) Adult $ with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black and all but the concealedbase of the outer web scarlet (89--%), or with black invading the scarletof the outer web along one-fourthof the shaft (11+%). Specimensexamined: 9 • • , 3 9 9. Range: Simalur.

13. Pericrocotus fiammeus modiglianii Salvadori Pericrocotus modiglianii Salvadori, Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, (ser.2) 12: 130-131, 1892 (EngganoIsland, westof Sumatra). The adult male is not certainly separablefrom that of minythomelas,although, as will be shownbelow, the majority of the population have the pattern of the central rectricessomewhat different. The adult female differsfrom that of minythomelasby having the crown, nape, upper wing-coverts,scapulars, and upper half of the back a lighter slate (scarcelyglossed), and by having the yellow portions of the plumagewith lesssuggestion of orange. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 92-96 min. ($ $ ); 92-93 mm. (9 9 )- (b) Adult $ with first 3 primaries unmarked (86--%) or first 4 unmarked 14+%); adult 9 with first 3 primariesunmarked (60%) or first 4 unmarked (40%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black and the outer web varying individually from black with a scarlet edging on the distal half, at first narrow, then suddenlyexpanding on the apical quarter to touch 528 DEIGNAN,Races o•Scarlet Minivet ['AukLOc•.

the shaft (69d-%), through variousintermediate stages to the patterns shown by minythomelas (23-{-%). Specimensexamined: 14 8 8, 5 9 9. Range: Enggano.

14. Pericrocotus fiammeus xanthogaster (Raffles) Laniusxanthogaster Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc.London, 13 (pt. 2): 309, 1822 (Sumatra;type locality restricted to Benkulan,by Kinnear and Robinson, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, 47: 130, 1927). The adult male can be distinguishedfrom that of minythomelas only by its lessersize. The adult female is nearestthat of modiglianii,from which it is probablyseparable by no characterbut lessersize. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 77-86 min. (8 8 ); 88 min. ( 9 )- (b) Adult 8 with first8 primariesunmarked (50%) or first4 unmarked(50%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet at the extreme tip) and all but the concealedbase of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 2 8 8, 1 9. Range:Sumatra; Bangka; Biliton; Malay States(hills of Johoreand Negri Sem- bilan and in the westernlowlands from Singaporeto the Siamesefrontier).

15. Pericrocotus fiammeus insulanus, subsp. nov. Type: U.S. NationalMuseum No. 191587,adult female,collected on Mount Kinabalu, British North Borneo, carly in 1904, by George H. Goss. Diagnosis:The adult male seemsto be inseparablefrom that of xanthogaster. The adult female differs from that of xanthogasterby having the yellow of the front more restrictedand more sharplydefined from the slateof the crown; the crown, nape, upper wing-coverts,scapulars, and upper half of the back a rather deeperslate; the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsbright olive green (without the golden suffusionof xanthogaster);the under parts a paler, lessgolden, lemon chrome. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 81-84 min. (8 8); 80 min. (9 9)- (b) Adult 8 with first 8 primaries unmarked (67--yo) or first 4 unmarked (•+%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet Vol.63] DEIgNAN,Races o[ ScarletMinivet 529 1946 .I

at the extreme tip) and all but the concealedbase of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 3 8 8, 3 9 9. Range: Borneo.

16. Peroeroeotus fiammeus fiammifer Hume [Pericrocotus]flammi[er Hume, Stray Feathers, 3: 320-321, footnote, 1875(region of Pak Chan Estuary,Malay Peninsulaat lat. 10ø N.). The adult male is distinguishablefrom that of xanthogasteronly on averagecharacters: by slightlygreater size and by havingthe number of unmarkedprimaries two or three (rarely or never four). The adult femaleis separablefrom that of xanthogasterby having the lower back, rump, and upper tail-covertsmuch more strongly suffusedwith golden,and by having,in a majority of the population, but three primariesunmarked. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 84-90 min. (8 8 ); 84-88 min. (9 9 ). (b) Adult 8 with first 2 primariesunmarked (35%) or first 3 unreal'keri(65%); adult 9 with first $ primaries unmarked (71-]-%) or first 4 unmarked (29--%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black (frequently scarlet at the extreme tip) and all but the concealedbase of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 20 8 8, 7 9 9. Range: Malay Peninsulafrom the Malay States (north and east of the range of xanthogaster)north to northern Tenasserimand southwesternSiam (where it is better called 1tammifer ) suchitrae). Remarhs:The type locality of this form unfortunatelylies on the Isthmusof Kra, just wherethe Malaysianavifauna ordinarily changes to the Indo-Chinese. This meansthat flareraileris a composite,made up of populationswhose characters at one extreme come too near thoseof xanthogaster;at the other, to thoseof suchitrae.Thus, in the Mae Klong basin of southwesternSiam, we find a population inter- mediate betweenflarerailer and suchitrae,but rather nearer the former in the charactezsof remiges and rectrices and in the dark mantle of the female.

SOUTHWESTERN SIAM Populationalsummary:. (a) Wing length: 90-95 min. (8 8); 87-95 min. (9 9)- (b) Adult 8 with first2 primariesunmarked (40%) or first 3 unmarked(60%); adult 9 with first 3 primariesunmarked (60%) or first 4 unmarked(40%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black (frequentlyscarlet at the extreme tip) and all but the concealedbase of the outer web 530 D•SGNAN,Races o! ScarletMinivet LOct.['Auk

scarlet (73--%) or with black tendingto invade the scarletof the outer web (27+%). Specimensexamined: 11 /• /•, 6 9 9. 17. Perieroeotus fiammeus suehltrae, subsp.nov. Type: U.S. National Museum No. 324493, adult male (in fresh plumage),collected on Doi Khun Tan, northern Siam (at lat. 18ø 30' N., long. 99ø 20' E.), on October 23, 1929, by Hugh M. Smith. Diagnosis:The adult male is separablefrom that of flarerailerby greatersize and by having,in a muchgreater proportion of the population, but two primaries unmarked; from that of semiruber,per- hapsonly by lessersize. The adult femaleis distinguishedfrom that of flarerailerby greater size and by having the crown, nape, upper wing-coverts,scapulars, and upper half of the back olive-washedgray (as in flammeusor speciosus)instead of slate; it is probably inseparablefrom that of semiruberexcept by lessersize. Subspecificsummary: (a) Wing length: 90-100 mm. (/•/•); 88-98 mm. (9 9). (b) Adult /• with first 2 primaries unmarked (92+%) or first 3 unmarked (8_%); adult 9 with first 2 primaries unmarked (15+%) or first 3 unmarked (85--%). (c) Central rectricesof adult 8 with the inner web black (frequentlyscarlet at the extremetip) and with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web scarlet (78%) or with scarlet invading the black of the inner web (11%) or with black tending to invade the scarlet of the outer web (11%). Specimensexamined: 71 /• /•, 43 9 9- Range: Burma, south of the range of elegansand north of that of flammi[er; Siam, north and east of the range of fiammi[er; Indochine, south and west of the range of elegans (but in southernAnnam and Cochinchinebetter called suchitrae> fiammqer). Remarks:The new form is named in honor of Miss SuchitrfiPunya- ratabandhu of Bangkok and Washington. To show the possiblevariation within the subspeciesand that all populationswithin the range outlined above seem to be racially inseparablefrom topotypicalsuchitrae, ! give here the resultsof statisticalstudy of the severalpopulations examined:

CHIN HILLS Populationalsummary: (a) Wing length: 9496 mm. (• •); 91-93 mm. (9 9). (b) Adult • with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). Vol.65• DEIGNAN,Races of Scarlet Minivet 53 l •946 J

(c) Centralrectrices of adult /5 with the innerweb black (sometimes scarlet at the extremetip) and with two-thirdsor moreof the total lengthof the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 5 /5 /5, 2 9 9.

ARAKAN Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 94-97 min. (/5 /5); 88-92 min. (9 9). (b) Adult /5 with first 2 primariesunmarked (67--%) or first 3 unmarked (S•+%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Centralrectrices of adult /5 with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet at the extreme tip) and with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 3 8 /5, 2 9 9.

NORTI• SlAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 91-100 ram. (/5 8); 90-98 min. (9 9)- (b) Adult /5 with first 2 primariesunmarked (95--%) or first 3 unmarked (•+%); adult 9 with first 2 primaries unmarked (13-]-%) or first 3 unmarked (87--%). (c) Central rectricesof adult /5 with the inner web black (frequentlyscarlet at the extremetip) and with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web scarlet (78--%, including the type specimen)or with scarlet invading the black of the inner web (14-]-%) or with black tending to invade the scarletof the outer web (8%). Specimensexamined: 37 /5 /5, 23 9 9.

HAuz-Mf•KONC Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 95-99 min. (/5 /5); 95-98 min. (9 9). (b) Adult /5 with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 2 primaries unmarked (•3'-{-•o) or first • unmarked (67--%). (c) Central rectricesof adult /5 with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet at the extreme tip) and with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 2 /5 i•, • 9 9.

WEST-CENTRAL SlAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 96 min. (/5); 90-91 min. (9 9). (b) Adult /5 with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult /5 with the inner web black and with two-thirds of the total length of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 1 /5, 2 9 9. 532 DEIGNAN,Races o! ScarletMinivet L['Auk Oct.

NORTHERN PARTS OF EASTERN SIAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 97-100 min. (• •); 94 min. (9). (b) Adult • with first 2 primariesunmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primariesunmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet at the extremetip) and with two-thirdsor moreof the totallength of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 2 • •, 1 9.

SOUTHERN PARTS OF EASTERN SIAM Populationalsummary: ß (a) Wing length: 90-98 min. (• •); 92 min. (9). (b) Adult • with first 2 primariesunmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 2 primariesunmarked (100%). (c) Centralrectrices of adult • with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet at the extremetip) and with two-thirdsor moreof the total lengthof the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 6 • •, 1 9. SOUTHEASTERNMOSTSIAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 90-95 min. (• • ); 91-94 min. (9 9 ). (b) Adult • with first 2 primariesunmarked (63--%) or first 3 unmarked (s7+%); adult 9 with first2 primariesunmarked (25%) or first3 unmarked(75%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • with the inner web black (frequentlyscarlet at the extremetip) and with two-thirdsor moreof the total lengthof the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 8 • •, 4 9 9.

EASTERNMOST SIAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 92-98 min. (• •); 91-94 min. (9 9). (b) Adult • with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • with the inner web black (frequentlyscarlet at the extreme tip) and with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: 7 • •, 5 9 9.

SOUTHE•RN ANNAM Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 90-96 min. ( • • ); 91-93 min. ( 9 9 ). (b) Adult • with first 2 primariesunmarked (72%) or first 3 unmarked(12%) or first 2 in one wing, first 3 in the other unmarked (16%); adult 9 with first 3 primariesunmarked (94%) or first 4 unmarked(6%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • with the inner web black (frequently scarlet at the extreme tip) and with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web scarlet (82%) or with scarlet invading the black of the inner Vol.63'] DEI(;NAN,Races o! ScarletMinivet 1946 -•

web (5%) or with black more or lessstrongly invading the scarletof the outer web (8%) or with two-thirdsor more of the total length of the outer web black (5%). Specimensexamined: 25 • •, 17 9 9. COCHINCHINE Populational summary: (a) Wing length: 88 mm. ( • ); 92 mm. ( 9 ). (b) Adult • with first 3 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 with first 4 primaries unmarked (100%). (c) Central rectricesof adult • with the inner web black (sometimesscarlet at the extremetip) and with more than two-thirdsof the total lengthof the outer web scarlet (100%). Specimensexamined: I •, 1 9. 18. Perieroeotus fiammeus semituber Whistler and Kinnear Pericrocotusspeciosus semiruber Whistler and Kinnear,Jour. Bom- bay Nat. Hist. Soc.,36: 340, 1933 (Sankrametta,elev. 3,500feet, Viza- gapatamDistrict, Madras Presidency,India). P. [. semiruber,in either sex, is somewhatlarger than suchitrae; it is not likely that the two forms can be separatedby any other character. Subspecificsummary (data taken from Whistler and Kinnear, tom. cit: 340, 341): (a) Wing length: 100-106.5min. (• •); 96-102 min. (9 9)- (b) Adult • with first 2 primaries unmarked (100%); adult 9 "usually" with first 3 primaries unmarked. (c) Central rectricesof adult • with "the red . . . very extensive,usually occu- pying the whole of the terminal two-thirds of the outer webs." Specimensexamined: 7 • •, 4 9 9. Range: Northeastern Madras Presidency;eastern Central Provinces;Orissa. Remarks:"Our series. . . differ from speciosusin their smallersize and the greater amount of red on the tail, in other words an ad- vancealong the lines in which the East Himalayan bird is tending to vary from the West Himalayan" (Whistlerand Kinnear,tom. cit.: 341). This race is so slightly differentiatedfrom suchitraeof Arakan and the Chin Hills that it is difficult not to believe that the specieshas at some quite recent period ranged continuouslyacross at least the upper parts of the deltaic region that now separatesthem by a dis- tance of some300 miles. The Scarlet Minivet is by no meansre- strictedto mountains;in Siam and elsewhereit occurson the plains whereverlowland evergreen is found. If no form of the speciesis now known from the Gangetic alluvium, it may well result from the reduction in forest growth brought about by the intensiveculti- vation necessaryto supporta densepopulation. U.S. National Museum Washington,D. ½.