Birds from Perak
R. B. Sharpe, of the Zoological Department at the British Museum, published this account in 1887 describing a second collection of 51 bird-skins assembled by L. Wray, Curator of the Perak Museum, during a six-week stay in the Larut Range of Perak in September and October 1886. The article, originally read before the Zoological Society of London, documents the avifauna of a highland forest zone at approximately 4,400 feet elevation and formally describes five new species to science.
Summary
The article is structured around Wray’s field collection, which Sharpe divides into low-country forms and highland species. Wray’s accompanying letter provides essential ecological context: the Larut Range is covered in dense unbroken forest from base to peak, with no elevated grasslands, and receives 200 to 250 inches of rainfall annually. Temperature at 3,300 feet ranges from 56° to 76° in the shade, and at higher stations from 50° to 72°. Wray notes that below 3,000 feet the hill forms become scarce and low-country species begin to appear, establishing a clear altitudinal boundary in the Perak avifauna.
Sharpe’s primary contribution is the formal description of five new species: Artamides larutensis (a large drongo from the Larut Range), Trochalopterum peninsulae (a babbler allied to the Tenasserim species T. melanostigma), Pomatorhinus Wrayi (a barbet representing P. tickelli in the Perak mountains but much darker in plumage), Corythocichla leucosticta (a small ashy bird distinguished by white dots on the wing-coverts), Minla soror (a larger, darker olive-brown relative of M. castaneiceps), and Æthopyga Wrayi (a honey-sucker with a velvety black throat, representing A. sanguinipectus in Malaya). Two of these are illustrated on plates.
Beyond the novelties, the article extends the known ranges of several species southward from Tenasserim or the Himalayas, including Bhringa remifer, Cyanops Ramsayi, and Vivia innominata. Sharpe also discusses taxonomic questions, notably the identity of a Syrnium specimen as belonging to the eastern race of S. newarense rather than the yellow-faced S. Maingayi, and the probable identity of an unidentified Myiophoneus as M. eugenii.
Key Findings
- Five new species formally described: Artamides larutensis, Trochalopterum peninsulae, Pomatorhinus Wrayi, Corythocichla leucosticta, Minla soror, and Æthopyga Wrayi (six total, with Æthopyga Wrayi on Plate XXXVIII, fig. 2).
- The collection comprised 51 bird-skins gathered over six weeks at approximately 4,400 feet elevation in the Larut Range, Perak.
- Annual rainfall on the Larut hills recorded at 200–250 inches; shade temperature at 3,300 feet ranged 56°–76°, and at higher stations 50°–72°.
- Bhringa remifer (Racket-tailed Drongo) recorded from Perak, extending its range southward from Tenasserim; Cyanops Ramsayi (barbet) likewise not previously known south of Tenasserim.
- Vivia innominata (piculet) found in the Larut mountains, greatly extending its known southern range, though it had previously been recorded by Beccari in Sumatra.
- Carpophaga badia (pigeon) observed descending from the hills to the plains near mangrove-swamps during April–June, a seasonal movement pattern also noted in C. insignis.
Conclusion
Sharpe’s account establishes the Larut Range as a distinct highland avifaunal zone in Perak, rich in endemic and range-restricted species, and provides the first systematic documentation of the birdlife above 3,000 feet in the central Perak mountains. The five new species described here remain valid and underscore the biogeographical significance of the Perak highlands as a transition zone between the Tenasserim and Sumatran faunal elements.
Context
- The article is a reprint from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (May 3, 1887), indicating it was presented to a London audience before appearing in the Straits Branch journal.
- Sharpe’s descriptions rely entirely on Wray’s specimens and field notes; no independent fieldwork by Sharpe is involved. The article draws on prior literature by Hume, Kelham, and Salvadori on the western Malayan Peninsula and Sumatran ornithology.