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THE
BIRDS OF ASIA.
BY
JOHN GOULD, ERS,
F.L.S., V.P. AND F.Z.S., M.ES., F.R.GEOGRS., M.RAY S., CORR. MEMB. OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN; OF THE SOC. OF THE MUSEUM OF NAT. HIST, OF STRASBURG ; FOR. MEMB. OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF NURNBERG, AND OF THE IMP. NAT. HIST. SOC. OF MOSCOW ; HON. MEMB. OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT ; OF THE NAT. HIST. AND THE NAT. HIST. AND MED. SOCS. OF DRESDEN ; OF THE ROY. SOC. OF TASMANIA ; OF THE ROY. ZOOL. SOC. OF IRELAND ; OF THE PENZANCE NAT, HIST. SOC.; OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST. SOC. ; OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST. SOC. ; OF THE IPSWICH MUSEUM; OF THE ORN. SOC. OF GERMANY ; OF THE DORSET COUNTY MUSEUM AND LIBRARY ; OF THE ROYAL UNITED SERVICE INSTITUTION, ETC.
DEDICATED TO THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
IN SEVEN VOLUMES.
VOLUME IV.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE.
1850—1883.
TN a RS a RS sh
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LIST OF PLATES. VOLUME IV. ;
Norr.—As the arrangement of the Plates in the course of publication was impracticable, the Numbers here given will refer to them
PLATE
mw we nw Ww WwW bw BH WL Sonn atk WW =
when arranged, and the Plates may be quoted by them.
Tesia cyaneiventer » castaneo-coronata Rhopophilus pekinensis Suya lepida . Dumetia albogularis os hyperythra Orthotomus longicaudus Staphida torqueola Stachyris pyrrhops 34 ruficeps Ixulus castaneiceps 5» occipitalis » flavicollis Yuhina occipitalis Leiothrix luteus a argentauris », laurinee Siva strigula 5, cyanouroptera Myzornis pyrrhoura Cinclus Asiaticus “A Pallasi 5 sordidus 3 Jletcoeaster m Cashmeriensis Dromolea picata
5 opistholeuca Saxicola capistrata Jeucomela
39
» montana
» atrogularis Rhodophila melanoleuca Pratincola leucura
Indica
Grandala ccelicolor Ruticilla erythrogastra
“% erythroprocta . Calliope camtschatkensis
s pectoralis fe tschebaiewi Accentor montanellus a rubidus .
- erythropygius
Blue-bellied Tesia Chestnut-crowned Tesia Chinese Rhopophilus Little Suya : White-throated Dumetia
. Buff-throated Dumetia Tailor-bird d Grey-headed Staphida Red-eyed Stachyris Red-headed Stachyris Chestnut-headed Ixulus Thick-billed Ixulus Crested Ixulus Rusty-naped Yuhina . Fork-tailed Leiothrix
. Silver-eared Leiothrix
Striped-throated Siva Blue-winged Siva Red-tailed Myzornis .
. Asiatic Water-Ouzel . Pallas’s Water-Ouzel ; Sombre-coloured Water-Ouzel White-bellied Water-Ouzel Cashmerian Water-Ouzel
. Pied Stone-Chat White-tailed Stone-Chat Grey-capped Stone-Chat Black-and- White Stone-Chat Mountain Stone-Chat Black-throated Stone-Chat
. Black-and-White Bush-Chat White-tailed Bush-Chat Indian Furze-Chat Celestial Grandala Great White-capped Redstart Coal-black Redstart Siberian Ruby-throat . Himalayan Ruby-throat Mongolian Ruby-throat Mountain Accentor Ruddy Accentor Red-backed Accentor
XX.
DATE. June 1858.
March 1873.
April 1855.
June 1860.
March 1873. March 1871.
June 1863.
March 1873.
June 1863.
May 1862.
June 1863. June 1851. | May 1862.
August 1883.
May 1862.
May 1856. | ) June 1860.
29 yy)
April 1865. |
April 1866. June 1863. May 1862. June 1851. May 1856. July 1879.
39 39
March 1871.
RR rt ee ne i ES RCT NS MRS TaN Sh Ce A ES
PLATE 44, 45. 46. An f
49.
ol.
03. 04,
Accentor Nipalensis lamaculatus
Rubeculoides .
strophiatus
atrogularis
Altaicus Sylvia nana :
Troglodytes Nipalensis
Anorthura formosa Urocichla longicauda Sphenocichla Roberti ? Humii Salpornis spilonota Certhia Nipalensis - Himalayana Phyllopneuste tristis Regulus himalayensis
Motacilla Maderaspatensis
Dukhunensis
3 personata Budytes citreoloides Pipastes agilis Anthus cervinus Limonidromus Indicus Enicurus maculatus
zm cuttatus
; Chinensis
a Scouleri Melanocorypha maxima
39
Pa Sel Or PLATES.
Nepaul Accentor : Blue-shouldered Accentor . Red-breasted Accentor Banded Accentor Black-throated Accentor Altaian Accentor
. Desert Whitethroat
Nepaulese Wren
Spotted Wren j Long-tailed Hill-Wren Robert’s Wedge-billed Wren Hume’s Wedge-billed Wren Spotted Creeper
Nepaulese Creeper Himalayan Creeper
Himalayan Goldcrest .
Great Pied Wagtail
Deccan Wagtail Masked Wagtail Yellow-headed Wagtail Indian Tree-Pipit Red-throated Pipit Variegated Wagtail Lunated Forktail Spotted Forktail Chinese Forktail Scouler’s Forktail . Long-billed Calandre
XXVI. : IV. . XXXIV.
. XX XIII.
23)
Date. April 1855.
d9 >)
June 1858. August 1874. Nov. 1852. January 1883.
a9 39
February 1882. oP) 93 April 1868. July 1850. April 1865. April 1869. October 1853. May 1861.
oy) 99 April 1865. 29 oy) April 1869. May 1862. April 1866.
Dy a>
May 1867.
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TESTA CYANEIVENTER, Godes.
Blue-bellied Tesia.
Tesia cyanwwenter, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. vi. p. 101.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 62.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 182, and vol. xiv. p. 586.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 178.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 156, Tesia, sp. 4.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 257, Tesia, sp. 1.— Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 179.
Saxicola olivacea, McClell. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 161.
Tesia auriceps, Hodgs.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. pp. 137, 474.
Tee-see of the Nepalese (Hodgson).
Wuen figuring such an interesting form as that to which the term esta has been given by Mr. Hodgson, the ornithologist inwardly wishes for an opportunity of visiting its native country, that he might be able to observe and to place on record some account of its habits and mode of life, which could not fail to be interesting.
The Testa cyanewenter is a rare species, and but few collections contain examples, except those of the British Museum, the Honourable East India Company, and the Asiatic Society at Calcutta, in all of which the natural history of India is well represented. It is in the rich countries of Nepal, Sikkim, and Assam that this little, almost tailless bird is to be found in a state of nature, and where it must present a very odd appearance, whether seen on the ground, or during its short flights through the dense and humid bottoms of the woods it is known to inhabit.
This bird appears to have been described by Mr. Hodgson under two different appellations, namely cyanwenter and auriceps, the former of which is the one generally adopted.
So far as we yet know, no difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes.
Head and back of the neck deep yellowish olive; remainder of the plumage deep bluish grey, washed on the back and on the edges of the wing-feathers with deep yellowish olive ; the bill appears to have been olive above, yellowish beneath ; the legs fleshy.
The Plate represents this little bird of the size of life, the figures being taken from specimens in my own collection. The plant is the Kpimedium pennatum.
oar eR EE ER Ne EE Se EST —— a p en
[A CASTANEOCORONATA.
Smnidd and H.C Richter, del, lth E Y , , ] Fir llrnrmutel & Walton. faim,
TESTA CASTANEOCORONATA.
Chestnut-crowned ‘Tesia.
Sylvia castaneo-coronata, Burton in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part III. p. 152. Testa castaneo-coronata, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 586.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 179.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 156. pl. 47. fig. 1, Testa, sp. 3.—Bonap.
Consp. Gen. Av., p. 257, Testa, sp. 2.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 179. Tesia flaviventer, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. vi. p. 102.
Oligura flaviventer, Hodgs. in Proce. of Zool. Soc., Part XIII. p. 25.
Turs species is even more diminutive than the Testa cyaneiventer, yet it has a somewhat longer tail; dimi- nutive, however, as it is, it plays its part in the economy of nature in the countries it is destined to inhabit —Sikkim and Nepal, where every variety of animal life is to be found, from the huge Rhinoceros to the little bird forming the subject of the accompanying Plate, each of which has its own province to fulfil, and each being equally worthy of the attention and admiration of the naturalist.
“These singular birds,” says Mr. Hodgson, speaking of both species of Zésia, “are peculiar to the mountains, and dwell in moist woods where there is plenty of underwood ; they are solitary, silent, live and breed on the ground, and feed on seeds, gravel, and insects ; the stomach is thick, almost a gizzard.”
Like the 7. eyanewenter, the T. castaneocoronata is rarely found in our collections; its diminutive size and the remoteness of the localities it frequents doubtless rendering it difficult of acquisition. Nearly all the examples that have been received in Europe were collected by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., a gentleman, than whom no one has added more largely to the stores of our museums, and whose researches are worthy of
being recorded among those who have rendered themselves most eminent for their devotion to the study of natural history.
Crown and sides of the head chestnut-red; upper surface, wings and tail dark olive; under surface yellow, brightest on the chin; bill brown above, yellow below; feet flesh-colour. The figures are of the natural size.
— Se ee eR RE NR ER TES REN SS EE A en we ii aaa
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RHOPOPHILUS PEKINENSIS, Swina.
Chinese Rhopophilus.
Drymeca (2) pekinensis, Swinh. in Ibis, 1868, p. 62. Rhopophilus pekinensis, Swinh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1870, pp. 436 & 443, 1871, p. 352.—David, Nouv. Archiv. du Mus, vol. vil., Bull. p. 7.
I am indebted to Mr. Swinhoe for the loan of a fine specimen of this new species, which was procured near Pekin. The following brief note, in which he introduced the bird to the scientific world, is extracted from ‘The Ibis’ for 1868, pp. 61, 62.
‘The second novelty from Pekin belongs to the Drymecine, and seems to occupy a place close to Suya, from which, however, it differs in having ¢we/ve rectrices instead of ¢en. I do not know to what restricted genus to refer it, and will, therefore, for the present place it under Drymeca in its broad sense. ‘The occur- rence of one of this group so far north is so worthy of note that I propose to name this bird Dryme@ca (2) pekinensis, sp. nov.”
Subsequently, in his communications to the Zoological Society of London, published in their ‘ Proceedings’ above quoted, he speaks of the same bird as Rhopophilus pekinensis, but gives no reason for the change of the generic appellation, and does not state whether it is a new term proposed by himself. Indeed, when speaking of a journey north-westwards through the valley to the Black-Dragon temple (which is considered especially sacred by the Pekinese, and twice each year is visited by pilgrims, who make the journey of thirty- five miles from Pekin on foot, prostrating themselves at every step) he merely says, ‘ On the hills we saw small parties of Rhopophilus pekinensis (mihi) flitting along the tops of bushes, singing sweetly ;” and ina subsequent page, ‘Near Yunglo’s tomb Rhopophilus pekinensis was whisking about its long tail on the tops of bushes, uttering a loud whistle. Its eyelid was madder-red, and its irides washed with yellow ; upper mandible light brown, lower one yellowish white ; legs brownish flesh-colour, tinged with yellow.”
The following is Mr. Swinhoe’s original description of this bird :—
‘‘Upper parts olive-grey; feathers on crown, back, and rump broadly marked in the middle with black, and tinged with rusty maroon; those of the sides of the neck grey, spotted with rusty; supercilium pale ; cheeks brownish, with an indistinct black moustache-streak below the ear-coverts ; quills light brown, edged with whitish; two middle tail-feathers olive-grey, brown near the shafts, and edged with whitish ; remainder of the tail-feathers blackish brown, edged externally with white, the external one bemg white at the tip and on its apical outer edge, and the shafts of all white beneath ; underparts dingy white, streaked on the sides of the breast and flanks with rusty maroon, the same colour pervading the sides of the abdomen and tibize, and slightly tinging the belly and vent: axillaries rusty white; the under surface of the wing tinged
with the same.” The figures are of the natural size.
eee
nt ee a eS PART A PER LN NT eS SS ST a . = ‘ = -_
TS Gould wah O Richter de
eee SUYA LEPIDA. ™ Little Suya.
Prinia lepida, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 376. .
Drymoica lepida, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 460.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. of Calcutta, ie p. 123.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 164, Drymoica, sp. 64.
Suya lepida, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 281.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 327.
As the singular little bird here represented was the first contribution to Indian ornithology sent to this country by my son, it will always be regarded by me as an object of especial interest, and the more so, as
prior to the present time the species was extremely rare in our collections ; and my own was destitute of any example. The specimen in question was transmitted to me in a letter, dated “‘ Kurrachee in Scinde, Oct. 5, y 1854,” accompanied with the following remark :— -
‘Enclosed is a curious little bird which I shot on the sea-shore. What is its name? It frequents the low salt-marsh plants that grow at the edgeof, and even in the water. It is extremely difficult to shoot, and when shot, equally as difficult to find; it runs among the roots, and occasionally perches on a twig, gives forth a wheezy feeble song, and instantly drops into the thicket. The eyes are dark.”
The only other note respecting this species on record is from the pen of Mr. Blyth, in the thirteenth volume of the “Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,” where he states that “this bird inhabits low scrub, intermixed with tufts of coarse sedgy grass, growing in sandy places by the river side, and it frequently flies out to feed among the thin herbage growing along the margins of the sand-dunes.”
Since the receipt of the specimen above-mentioned, additional examples from the same source have reached me, and have been forwarded, with some other species of birds, to the Museum of the East India Company in Leadenhall Street, where all my son’s future collections, or such portions of them as may be required for the Collection, will be deposited. |
There is no perceptible difference in the colouring of the sexes, but I find that in one of the specimens last received, which I consider to be a youthful bird, a wash of yellow pervades the greyish-white of the under surface.
General colour of the upper surface light olive-grey, with a dusky streak down the centre of each feather, broadest on the head and back; wings light brown, margined with olive-grey; upper surface of the tail faintly banded with narrow transverse dusky lines; under surface pale, with whitish tips, behind which is a dusky band ; lores, a slight superciliary stripe, and the under surface greyish-white ; irides brown ; bill brown, fleshy below ; feet fleshy-yellow.
The figures are the size of life.
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DUMETIA ALBOGULARIS, Bayt.
White-throated Dumetia.
Malacocercus albogularis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 453.
Dumetia albogularis, Blyth, Cat. of Birds m Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 140.—Layard in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd. ser. vol. xii. p. 272.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 403.
Timaha hyperythra, Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. x. p. 261.—Id. Ill. Ind. Orn., 7th page of text to pl. 19. |
Pellorneum albogulare, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xxi. p. 357.
Timala albogularis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. App. p. 10, app. to p. 228.
Shah Dumri of the Hindoos, Jerdon.
Pundi jitta (4. e. ‘ Pig-bird’) in Telugu, Jerdon.
To see this bird in a state of nature, one must pay a visit to the southern portion of the peninsula of India; if looked for in the north, it would not be found. Like many other of the species inhabiting the Madras Presidency, this bird is also found in Ceylon, but, I believe, not very abundantly, and it is somewhat local there. We are indebted to Messrs. Jerdon, Blyth, and Layard for all we know of the habits and manners of this bird; and it is only justice to those gentlemen to give their observations in their own words.
«This bird,” remarks Mr. Jerdon, ‘I have seen but very seldom ; once at the top of the Tapoor Pass in thick jungle, and in the neighbourhood of Jaulnah in jungly district, in thick hedges and thickly wooded © nullahs. From the dense nature of the bushes it frequents, it is with difficulty observed and obtained. I have generally seen it in parties of five or six, occasionally giving out a low and indistinct sort of chattering. Fragments of various insects were found in the stomachs of those I procured. It is called Pundi jetta, or Pig-bird, in Telugu,—a name given from its habit of making its way under the bushes, never showing itself above.”
Mr. Blyth states: ‘Its note considerably resembles that of Malacocercus caudatus, except in being pro- portionally weaker.”
“Tn Ceylon,” says Mr. Layard, “it 1s confined to the vicinity of Colombo, and is not uncommon ; it is generally found in small flocks about the cinnamon and other low bushes, creepmg about in search of insects.”
There appears to be little or no difference in the colouring of the sexes, the numerous examples that have come under my notice being all similarly coloured.
Forehead pale rust-colour, faintly striated with a lighter hue ; all the upper surface, wings, and tail very pale brown, the inner webs of the primaries somewhat darker, and the tail-feathers crossed by indistinct bars of the same tint, only seen in certain lights; chin and centre of the throat buffy white, remaimder of
the under surface deep fawn-colour.
The figures are of the natural size.
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DUMETIA HYPERYTHRA.
Buff-throated Dumetia.
Timalia hyperythra, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 118.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 228, Timalia, sp. 8.—De la Fresnaye, Mag. de Zool. 1835, Ois. pl. 40? Dumetia hyperythra, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 140. |
How frequently have we occasion to regret not having access to the typical specimen when there occurs any doubt as to the identity of a rare or little-known species! Major Franklin described a bird in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1831, now nearly thirty years ago, under the name of T’malia hyperythra. Unfortunately the specimen he described from cannot be discovered, and I fear is no longer in existence. I have regarded a bird which-I find in my Collection, procured in Central India by the late Captain Boys, and which bears on its label the name of Dumetia hyperythra, as probably the same as that of Franklin ; at all events it closely agrees with his description, and I have therefore figured it under that name. It 1s nearly allied to D. albogularis, but differs from that bird in its somewhat smaller size and in the absence of white on the throat, and in having the crown of a deeper rufous tint, striated with buffy white.
Mr. Blyth states that the D. hyperythra inhabits Central India, and that the specimens in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta had been procured in the Mednapur jungles.
I have quoted the Baron de la Fresnaye’s figure and description of a bird which he has called D. hype- rythra, with a mark of interrogation, as I am very doubtful as to its being a representation of my bird, or that described by Franklin.
Head rusty red, striated with buffy white; all the upper surface, wings, and tail very light brown; the ‘inner webs of the primaries somewhat darker; under surface rich fawn-colour, deepest on the sides of the chest and breast.
The figures are of the natural size.
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ORTHOTOMUS LONGICAUDUS.
Tailorbird.
Motacilla longicauda, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 954. Orthotomus longicauda, Swinh. Zool., 1858, p. 6229.—Idem, Proce. of Zool. Soc., 1871, p. 351. phyllorrhapheus, Swinh. Ibis, 1860, p. 49; 1861, p. 32; 1862, p. 258.—Idem, Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 294.—Gray, Hand-l. of Birds, part i. p. 195.
Mr. Freperic Moore, in the Monograph of the genus “ Orthotomus,” submitted to the meeting of the Zoological Society of London on the 28th of February, 1854, and published in their ‘ Proceedings ’ for that year, enumerates only nine species of this form, while the late Mr. G. R. Gray, in his recently published ‘Hand-list of Birds,’ extends the number to thirteen or fourteen. One or other of them has been commented upon by the earliest down to the latest of our ornithological writers on eastern birds, owing to their singular habit of sewing together the leaves of growing plants to form receptacles for their nests, and thus securing their frail structures from falling to the ground or being blown away by the wind. The ingenuity displayed by the “ Tailorbirds,”’ as they are called, is so well known to every school-boy that a minute account of it is quite unnecessary, especially as the accompanying illustration will at once enlighten through the sense of sight any one who may be unacquainted with the subject. Whether there are nine or fourteen species, as enumerated by the authors above mentioned, is a question which can only be solved when the entire group has received a more careful investigation than would seem as yet to have been given to it. One species, 4. longirostris, has been assigned to New South Wales by Swainson; but I may affirm with certainty that no bird of this form has yet been discovered in that country; neither has the O. Higeli of Pelzeln a better claim to a place in the fauna of New Holland. It is only when numerous examples of both sexes of every species are laid side by side that the specific characters of each are discernible and can be carefully noted down. A question has for some time existed in the minds of ornithologists whether the common species frequenting India and the one so abundantly spread over South China are identical or not. Mr. Swinhoe, in his Revised Catalogue of the Birds of China, published in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoolo- gical Society ’ for 18/1, remarks, ‘‘ Gmelin’s name ” [of Jongicauda] “applies specially to the China bird ; so that its Indian ally will have to take the next in priority of its numerous synonyms.”
The figures of the birds on the opposite Plate having been taken from Chinese specimens, and that of the nest copied from a drawing made in China, there can be no doubt of their representing the true O. longi- caudus, which Mr. Swinhoe states “‘is an abundant resident from Canton to Foochow ;” and in his notes on the ornithology of the latter district he says “ the little Tailorbird cheers up his mate with his well-known note as the contented pair thread their way through the close bents of the long coarse grass ’—and_ further remarks, in a paper read before the Literary and Scientific Society of Amoy, November 17, 1857 :— «The most diminutive of all the birds is the little Tailorbird (Orthotomus), remarkable for its long pointed bill, which serves as a needle in sewing leaves together round its nest; the underside of a long leaf of the Alpinia nutans is often chosen, the edges of which are drawn together by thread made of spider’s web and fibres. The prettiest construction of the kind I have seen was a nest flanked in by three orange-leaves, and placed at the extremity of a bough of an orange-tree. The bird is called Mang-tang-a in the vernacular.”
The following is Mr. Swinhoe’s description of a male shot at Amoy on the 22nd of February :—
“Forehead ferruginous, gradually changing to olive-brown on the head; back bright olive-green ; wings and tail hair-brown, the coverts margined with olive-green, the primaries with yellowish olive-brown ; round the neck and all the under surface, including the edge of the shoulder, ochreous white, darker on the flanks and buff on the tibize; bill pale flesh-colour, dark hair-brown along the culmen; irides buff; a narrow circle round the eye pale yellow; legs and toes pale yellowish brown.”
««The two central tail-feathers of the male gradually lengthen until May, when they are about an inch and a half or so longer than the others, which are all somewhat graduated; I observe that these lengthened feathers soon become worn, ahd usually drop after the first nesting, to be replaced by others only slightly
longer than the rest.” The figures and the representation of the nest are all of the natural size.
SS Nea RT TE SR, NE WO
ORQUEOLA, Swink.
J Gould & HCRichter deb & lithe.
STAPHIDA TORQUEOLA, Swinn. Grey-headed Staphida.
Siva torqueola, Swinh. in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1870, vol. v. p. 174.
When: I published my Plate and account of Mr. Moore’s Zxulus castaneiceps 1 felt convinced in my own mind that the bird had been placed in a genus to which it did not belong, if indeed, it could be assigned to any one that had then been proposed. Since that period Mr. Swinhoe has discovered another species of the same form, and, like Mr. Moore, placed it in a genus (Siva) to which it does not pertain ; this error, however, he has now corrected, as will be seen from the note with which he has favoured me, and which is given below. In future, therefore, the Lrulus castaneiceps will stand as Staphida castaneiceps, and the present bird as S. torgueola. The former is supposed to be a native of Afghanistan, or the Khasia Hills, while the latter was obtained in China. So little is known respecting both these birds that we are unable to state if there is any difference in the colouring of the sexes, and are in an equal degree ignorant of their habits and economy. The present species has a grey crown, while that of S. castaneiceps (as the name implies) is of a chestnut-brown; they also differ in some other respects sufficiently to convince any one conversant with the study of birds that they are distinct species.
The following is the note by Mr. Swinhoe above referred to :— .
‘I was wrong in referring this species to Hodgson’s genus Siva. It is most like an Zvudus with a deeply graduated tail; and on comparing it with Lrulus castaneiceps, which is of similar form, the two birds might with propriety be placed in a subgenus, for which I would recommend the name Staphida. 1 have nothing to record of the North-China bird, as the only two specimens I have procured were brought by a hunter, in December 1867, from the Tingchow Mountains, about one hundred miles north-west of the island of Amoy.
‘Crown greyish brown, each feather edged with bluish grey and having a pale stem; from the base of the under mandible, under the eye, and round the nape runs a broad line of chestnut-brown, most of the feathers with a central white streak ; back, scapularies, and rump olive-brown, with the shafts of most of the two former whitish; tail-coverts of a deeper hue; under surface white, tinged with bluish grey; tibials deep olive-brown, the same colour, but of a lighter shade, marking the central flanks and more slightly, in the form of obscure bars, the sides of the breast; vent-feathers blackish brown, with shafts and broad tips of white; axillaries white, with a brown- and white-barred carpal edge; under edges of the quills pale salmon-colour; wing-feathers hair-brown, margined with reddish olive, the three inner ter- tiaries having white shafts and margins; tail deep hair-brown, the four outer feathers tipped with white, increasing outwardly, and on the two outermost including the external web; bill light brown ; legs, toes, and claws brownish flesh-colour.”
“ Length about 6 inches; wing 2°7, tail 2:4; bill, to gape, °55, breadth of base -22; tarse -66.
“The tarse is thick, and the hind toe and claw strong ; the other claws are smaller, cultrated, well-curved, and sharp.
“Wing.—The third quill, which is slightly longer than the fourth, is the longest in the wing ; the first is -45 shorter, and the second °1 shorter than the third.
“ Tait.—Consists of twelve broad greatly graduated feathers; the fifth and sixth rectrices are nearly equal in length; the first is *72 shorter, the second °35, the third -2, the fourth -1.”
The figures are of the natural size.
Dyna Vibe,
V,
| I | | |
Ne nN a SRT NE a ER RN a
STACHYRIS PYRRHOPS, Hodgs. Red-eyed Stachyris.
Stachyris pyrrhops, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiii. p. 379.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 75.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.
Soc. Calcutta, p. 150.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 332.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 232.
Timaha pyrrhops, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. app. p. 10, app. to p. 228.
Stachyris pyrops, Hodgs. in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xiii. p. 23.—Id. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xvi. p. 193. : chrysea, Adams in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvil. p. 184.
I must plead guilty to having led my friend Dr. Leith Adams into error by sending him the wrong name for this little bird, a specimen of which was kindly presented to me by that gentleman. The name of Stachyrts chrysea, which appears in his “‘ List of the Birds of Cashmere,” in the twenty-seventh part of the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,’ has reference, therefore, not to the true Stachyris chryseus, but to the bird here represented, which is undoubtedly the S. pyrrhops of Mr. Hodgson, as I have ascertained by carefully comparing it with the specimens sent by him from Nepaul to the British Museum. Dr. Adams’s discovery of the bird in Cashmere proves that the species enjoys a wide range, which probably extends over the whole of the southern and temperate regions of the Himalayas. Of its habits and economy nothing has yet been recorded. Dr. Adams states that its bill is reddish towards the gape, and black at the tip; that its irides are red; and that it frequents bushy places in the Lower Himalaya ranges, but is by no means numerous. In all probability, there is little difference in the colouring of the sexes; but this and all other particulars respecting it must be left for the attention of future explorers.
The following is Mr. Hodgson’s description of its colouring :—
‘¢ Olive-brown above, sordid rusty below and on the sides of the head and neck; beneath and before the eye and under the chin a black spot; bill sordid sanguine, dusky on the ridge; legs horn-colour; eyes
sanguine.”
The figures on the Plate are of the natural size. The plant is the Dendrobium pulchellum.
/
CZ
S RUFICEPS, Blyth
| J
IR
oS
| |
STACH
Se
TGould eH CRichter ded eb ith
el NE a a ERTS cee es
ee
STACHYRIS RUFICEPS, Bytn. Red-headed Stachyris.
Stachyris ruficeps, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 452.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Cal- cutta, p. 150.— Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 409.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii., App. p. 10 (App. to p. 228).—Moore, Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1854, p. 141.— Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 332, Séachyris, sp. 3.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. 11. parti. p. 22.—Id. Ibis, 1872, p. 299. precognitus, Swinh. Ibis, 1866, p. 310.—Id. Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1871, p. 373.
Timalia (Stachyris) ruficeps, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 315.
pileata, McClell. Proc. of Zool. Soc., part vu. 1839, p. 161.
Syak-birang-pho, Lepchas (Jerdon).
Havine carefully compared Mr. Swinhoe’s Chinese specimens of his Stachyris precognitus with Nepaulese examples of Mr. Blyth’s S. ruficeps, 1 am unable to perceive sufficient difference between them to warrant their being regarded as distinct; I have no alternative therefore but that of placing the Consul’s name as a synonym of the latter. The accompanying illustration of two birds and a nest, taken from Chinese examples lent me by Mr. Swinhoe, will enable those who may possess Himalayan examples to judge for themselves whether I am right in considering them identical. Size is evidently of but little value; for one of my Nepaulese examples is much smaller than any Chinese specimen I have ever seen. If the above view of the case be correct, then it is evident that this little bird has a wide range, extending over Nepaul, Sikhim, and the Khasia hills, while Mr. Swinhoe also gives the island of Formosa and the Ichang gorge of the Yangtsze river as other places it inhabits.
The following notes, by Mr. Jerdon, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Swinhoe, comprise all the information I have been able to find recorded respecting this bird. ‘The meaning of Mr. Swinhoe’s remarks in connexion with it, given in his first account of the species in ‘The Ibis’ for 1866, I am at a loss to understand; for he therein compares the bird with various genera which seem to me in no way allied to Stachyris.
« This bird,” says Dr. Jerdon, ‘is found in Nepal, Sikhim, and the Khasia Hills. It 1s common at Dar-
jeeling, frequenting high trees in small parties, searching the foliage for mmute insects. A nest and eggs,
said to be of this species, were brought to me at Darjeeling. ‘The nest was a loose structure of grass and fibres, and contained two eggs of a greenish-white colour, with some rusty spots.”
Mr. Moore remarks that this species is ‘allied in form and size to Stachyris pyrrhops, but having the crown light ferruginous, and the chin and middle of the throat white, with slight black central streaks to the feathers; rest of the upper parts plain olive, and of the lower whitish, with a fulvous tinge on the sides of the neck and breast; bill and legs pale horny.
“Length 4 inches; wing 2; tail 2; bill, to frontal plumes xo, to gape 15; tarsus Z.
‘In some specimens the crown and nape are bright ferruginous, and the whole of the underparts pale:
ferruginous. ”
In his Revised Catalogue of the Birds of China and its Islands, published in the ‘Proceedings of ane Zoological Society of London’ for 1871, Mr. Swinhoe says :—“ Very like St. rujiceps, Blyth, of Nepal, but smaller, with much smaller bill, and with the red of the head confined to the crown.”
The figures and the nest are of the natural size.
ore
RS Sy
fi
7
Ce ded Z
1j
7 fll
J Gould and Al Ftc
IXULUS CASTANICEPS, Moore.
Chestnut-beaded Ixulus.
Ixulus castaniceps, Moore, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxii. p. 141.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 411.
Tue following is Mr. Moore’s description of a bird which was formerly in the Museum of the East India Company, but now forms part of the national collection. This individual, from which my figures were also taken, is the only one I have ever seen, and is probably the only specimen that has yet been collected.
Nothing whatever is known respecting the habits of this rare little bird, nor, although Mr. Moore has given Affghanistan as its habitat, is it quite certain of what part of India it is a native. Mr. Moore has recently informed me that he has reason to believe it is from the Khasia Hills.
‘Colour, above dull brownish olive, the shafts of the dorsal and scapular feathers pale; crown dark chestnut, and subcrested ; the frontal plumes short and scale-like, and having pale margins ; the occiput paler chestnut ; behind the eye whitish ; ear-coverts chestnut ; wings blackish, the secondaries and tertiaries with pale shafts; axille white; tail black, the three outer feathers graduated and tipped obliquely externally with white, the next white at the extreme tip only, and the rest entirely black; the whole under parts of a
dirty ruddy-white colour ; bill reddish brown; legs yellowish.
‘Length 57 inches; of wing 2;;.tail 27, its outermost feather ;ths less; bill, to front sths, to gape +; and tarse < of an inch.
‘Habitat Affghanistan.
‘This species is at once distinguished by the white tips to the tail-feathers.” |
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Berberis concinna of Dr. Hooker.
LORE A CRE AE NR i Ne A Neg PS
- LE SET NS eee ee ner
a
Se ee
Cee Ut Hb bebe,
LP.
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77
MH AT6.
! Sbwu
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IXULUS OCCIPITALIS, Buta.
Thick-billed Ixulus.
Siva occipitalis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiii. p. 937.
Ieulus occypitahs, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc, Beng., vol. xiv. p. 552, and xvi. p. 448.—Id. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xx. p. 318.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 100.—Moore, Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxii. p. 141.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol.i. p. 411.
Tue present bird, which is extremely rare in our collections, is an inhabitant of Nepaul and Sikim. It isa stouter bird than the Jvulus flavicollis, and has a much thicker bill; but in its general style of colouring it bears avery great resemblance to that bird. The red band at the nape of the neck, common to both species, serves to indicate their alliance as members of the same genus. Of the habits, manners, and economy of this species nothing whatever has yet been recorded ; and it 1s to be hoped that Mr. Jerdon, or some other zoolo- gist resident in India, will not fail to investigate the subject, and make us acquainted with them. In all probability, the sexes are alike.
Crown and nape ferruginous brown; coronal feathers considerably elongated, and the occiput beneath the crest pure white; upper surface olive-brown; the feathers of the back and scapularies pale-buffy white ; wings and tail dark olive-brown, the primaries edged with pale olive ; ear-coverts reddish, with greyish-white shafts, the latter slightly spreading on the webs; under surface reddish buff, faintly streaked with a darker hue on the chest; bill blackish brown, lighter at the base ; legs brownish olive, according to Mr. Hodgson’s drawing in the British Museum. :
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Rudus diflorus.
' i ' | ; | | f i
EL LL TE OTE LO ATE L EEO OO A EA ENO I RN serene
————
IXULUS FLAVICOLLIS 9 Hogs.
Walter & Cohn, 1p.
J6ouléandlRechier, de. & ith.
IXULUS FLAVICOLLIS, Hodgs.
Crested Ixulus.
Yuhina flavicolis, Hodgs. in Asiat. Research., vol. xix. p. 167.—Id. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. vi. p. 232.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 74.— Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 199.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 397.
Polyodon flavicollis, Hodgs.
Txulus flavicollis, Hodgs. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xiii. p. 24.—Id. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 562.— Blyth, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xx. p.318.—Id.Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 100. —Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 262.
Txose ornithologists who have studied the birds of India cannot have failed to remark that the southern slopes of the great Himalayan range of mountains are inhabited by a very peculiar avi-fauna, the temperate portion of these extensive hilly districts being tenanted by whole genera not found in the hotter contiguous plains. Generally speaking, the birds of these hilly regions are much more scarce in European collections than those from the peninsula; and had it not been for the energy of Mr. Hodgson, we should have known still less about them than we do. This gentleman, however, as well as others who have visited Nepaul, have done little more than collect specimens; for scarcely a word have they placed on record with regard to their habits and economy: thus all we are informed respecting the present species is that it inhabits Nepaul and Bhotan, frequents shrubby trees, and obtains its food among the leaves and flowers, rarely descending to the ground, and that there appears to be no difference in the outward appearance of the SEXES.
Head and crest lively brown in some specimens, darker brown in others ; nape reddish ; lores, orbits, and a streak passing from the angle of the bill down the sides of the neck black ; upper surface olive; wings and tails darker, the primaries with lighter margins; under surface white, washed with pale rufous on the abdomen flank, and vent; around the eye a narrow ring of white feathers ; bill fleshy light brown below, darker above ; legs and feet light olive-brown.
The figures are represented of the natural size, on the Clematzs barbellata.
RE ee Ne RR eg ce ee A
mi
Welter & bohm, limp.
OCCIPITALIS, Zodgs
A
7.
a
YUHL.
as Se
—
a
wb Fechter, del. et lith.
Lik LOT
Iii
> al Got
a a ee EL sR i a ee SEE
YUHINA OCCIPITALIS, Hodgs. Rusty-naped Yuhin.
Yuhina occipitalis, Hodgs. Asiat. Res., vol. xix. p. 167.—Id. Journ. Asiat. Soc, Beng., vol. vi. p. 231.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 74.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 100.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 199.—
Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 397.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 261.
Polyodon occipitalis, Hodgs. in Gray’s Misc., 1844, p. 82. Odonterus occipitalis, Cab. et Heine, Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 113, note.
Tue present elegant little bird is one of Mr. Hodgson’s numerous discoveries, and was first described by him in the nineteenth volume of the ‘ Asiatic Researches.’ Its native country is Sikim and the other portions of the Eastern Himalayas—provinces abounding in fine species of birds, and flowering trees and shrubs, particularly rhododendrons.
I believe the sexes do not differ in external appearance; and whether there be any marked variation in the colouring of the young Iam unable to say; nor, to my regret, can I furnish any details respecting the history, habits, manners, or economy of the species.
M. Cabanis has made this bird the type of a new genus, Odonterus; but I retain the generic appellation originally assigned to it by Mr. Hodgson, which I believe has only been discarded by M. Cabanis on account of its not being a classical term.
Forehead and front portion of the crest light brown, striated with greyish; hinder portion of the crest and nape rich rufous; upper surface, wings, and tail olive-brown ; all the under surface deep vinous buff, passing into rufous on the vent and under tail-coverts; under wing-coverts and edge of the shoulder fawn-white ;
bill and legs fleshy red. The figures are the size of life. The plant is the Rhododendron virgatum.
<a
I ST NR NS EE
ON TM enn eS eR
yp.
lien LH
i“
: Oa Tiillnandel & H
Ael et lth,
chter
L
J. Gould and ACR
LEIOTHRIX LUTEUS.
Fork-tailed Leiothrix.
Mésange de Nanquin, Sonn. Voy., tom. ii. p. 205. pl. 114. fig. 2.
Sylvia lutea, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Insub., pars ii. p. 96.
Tanagra Sinensis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 897,
Parus furcatus, Temm. Pl. Col. 287. fig. 1.
Chinese Finch, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 85?
Bahila calipyga, Hodgs. Ind. Rev. 1838, p. 88.
Mesia (Bahila) calipyga, Hodgs. Ind. Rey. 1838, p. 88.
Letothrie luteus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p- 99.
Calipyga for Bahila, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. x. part i. p. 29.
Leiothria calipyga, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvii. part ii. p. 934.—Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esgq., p. 94.
Tus beautiful little bird is one of the indigenous and stationary species of Upper India, over the hilly parts of which it is generally diffused ; it is consequently one of the commonest birds in all our collections ; the older writers have also given China and Manilla as its habitats, but I have never yet seen examples from either of those countries. Mr. Hodgson states that it inhabits the central and hilly regions of Nepaul ; it was killed by Captain Boys between Bumorie and Burthal, and by the late Hon. F. J. Shore in the Doon, where it would appear to be very abundant, as Mr. Shore mentions that he killed five at one shot, while engaged in picking up worms or insects from the dry gravelly bed of a stream from which the water had recently retired.
According to Mr. Hodgson it “‘ feeds equally upon grass-seeds, and upon insects and their larvae and pup ;” and I learn from Mr. Shore’s Notes that it is known to the natives of the Doon by the name of Nance chura, and that it retires to the cold ridges of the hills during the hot season. He further states that it builds in small bushes, where the underwood is tolerably abundant, a nest composed of grass and hair, and lays four or five eggs which are “ black spotted with yellow ” (?).
General plumage olive-green, becoming of a brighter olive on the forehead ; primaries and secondaries black ; the first seven primaries margined with bright yellow, deepening into rich chestnut-red at their base; the next three feathers with a mark of rich orange at the base, and a streak of rich red on the apical portion of their external webs ; secondaries with a similar orange mark at the base of the external web ; the three secondaries nearest the body olive, washed externally with rufous; upper tail-coverts reddish olive, slightly tipped with white; tail olive, the two central feathers largely tipped with black, lateral feathers margined externally and slightly tipped with the same hue; lores yellow; throat yellow, deepening into rich orange on the breast; streak from the angle of the bill running beneath the eye and the under surface pale greenish olive, becoming yellow down the centre of the abdomen ; under tail-coverts yellow ; bill coral-red ; irides dark brown ; legs fleshy brown.
The female is similar in colouring, but the hues are not so bright, nor the markings so decided as in the
male.
Mr. Hodgson states that as the feathers become old the colours fade very considerably ; the green of the upper parts changing to plain grey, the yellow of the throat and breast to a dull buffy hue, and the yellowish tinge of the abdominal region disappears altogether.
The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size.
2 Re a ON er RR See
= Re ST SS I anata. Nr LS NT OR ee ES = > a a ~ -
_ = . a TE = ae Sas eS a en en Ey
RS aS
,
Ler,
S byudd and Ml Buch
LEIOTHRIX ARGENTAURIS.
Silver-eared Leiothrix.
Mesia argentauris, Hodgs. Ind. Rev., vol. ii. 1838, p. 88.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 94.
Leiothrix argentauris, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 269.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc.
~ Calcutta, p. 99.—Id. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, vol. xxiv. p. 279.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i.
p. 332.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 365.
Philocalyx argentauris, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. x. p. 29.
Fringilloparus argentauris, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiii. p. 935.
Fringilloparus (Mesia) argentauris, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 84.
Tuis bird has so many characters in common with the type of the genus Leiothrix (L. luteus), that I am inclined to associate it with that bird, rather than to adopt the generic term of JMesza, proposed for it by Mr. Hodgson. Both ZL. /uteus and L. argentauris have very truncate tails: the outer feathers of the former, it is true, turn outwards in a somewhat singular manner, reminding one of Lyrurus among the Grouse, but I regard this difference as specific rather than as generic; in the form of their bills, legs, and wings, they are very similar. The native locality of this fine bird is the southern face of the great Himalayas ; and it is in all probability universally distributed over every district, from Nepaul on the east to Afghanistan on the west. My own specimens are from the former country; but Mr. Moore, of the India Museum, states that a specimen contained in that collection was obtained in Afghanistan by Mr. Griffith. Like most of the Leiotrichine birds, a great similarity exists in the colouring of the two sexes of this species; but some individuals are much less brightly coloured than others: in all probability these are females.
The few members known of the genus Lecothriv are more robust in form than those of Siva; they have also more hooked and stouter bills.
Forehead, bill, throat, and chest fine orange; ear-coverts silvery grey, remainder of the head black; nape orange-brown; back, scapularies, and wings dark grey; the greater coverts rich, deep blood-red, and the primaries margined with orange-red ; upper and under tail-coverts deep blood-red; tail dark olive, margined externally with dull orange; under surface grey; centre of the abdomen orange-buff; feet reddish flesh- colour ; irides brown. |
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Dendrobium cretaceum.
| } / | | } | |
ET TE LT, LLL CO CE SA LO TEE OT IS CIT OA ON I
» dalvad.
3
W.Hart del. et lath.
é a NS
OO TE TL SE ESO CO TE LE ON I I soc
LEIOTHRIX LAURI N AL, Salvad.
Marchioness Doria’s Hill-Tit.
Leiothrix laurine, Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov. xiv. p. 231 (1879).
Turis beautiful species was discovered by Dr. Beccari during his expedition to Sumatra in 1878. Ten specimens were obtained, all of them on Mount Singalan; and it is somewhat extraordinary that such a very conspicuous species should not have been discovered by any of the travellers who had previously | visited Sumatra. i
It is of the same form and style of coloration as Leiothriv argentauris of the Himalayas; but it is easily distinguished by the richer coloration on the throat and breast, which are crimson. . I
The following is a translation of Count Salvadori’s description :—
Forehead, throat, neck all round, upper tail-coverts, and a large patch at the base of the quills blood-red ; crown, lores, fore part of cheeks, and a line at the base of the lower mandible jet-black ; ear-coverts silvery grey; back and rump olive; breast and abdomen olive-yellowish ; wing-coverts olive like the back ; quills i blackish, edged towards the tips with orange, edged at the base with blood-red, the innermost dusky, uniform ; | tail black, the two outermost feathers edged externally with yellow ; bill orange-yellow; feet pale ; iris brown.
I am indebted to Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay for the loan of a pair of birds, received by him from the Genoa Museum, thus enabling me to give a life-sized figure of the male and female birds. |
LE OTE OT CN I CE TLIO Pe RE A I eC
7
jor & lit
J 6ould ant CRichier, del. et lith,
72, (ep.
fa
O
7
Gh.
Yh
SIVA STRIGULA, Hodgs.
Striped-throated Siva.
Swa strigula, Hodgs. Ind. Reyv., 1838, p. 89.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 95.
Levothrie strigula, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 269.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 99 —Id. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, vol. xxiv. p. 279.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 333.— Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 365.
Hemparus strigula, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. x. p. 29.
Toropus strigula, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiii. p. 935.
Joropus (Siva) strigula, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 84.
Muscicapa (Siva) strigula, Deless., Souv. Voy. dans l’Inde, tom. ii. p. 24, pl. 8.
Muscicapa variegata, Deless. in Mag. de Zool., 1840, Ois. pl. 19.
Letothrix chrysocephala, Jameson.
On reference to the above list of synonyms, it will be seen that ornithologists have not been sparing in generic appellations when writing on this bird; the generally received opinion, however, is that Siva is the one that should be retained; and under that name, therefore, I have figured it. The native country of the Siva striguéa is the more temperate regions of Nepaul and Bhotan; and, judging from the great number of specimens sent to this country by Mr. Hodgson and others, it must be very common there. The sexes, are very similar in size and in the colouring of their plumage; but the female differs from the male in being somewhat smaller, and rather less striking and brilliant in her markings.
The time, I trust, is not far distant when I shall be able to give some account of the habits and economy of this and other species figured in the ‘ Birds of Asia.’ At present, I regret to say, not a word has been recorded.
Mr. Moore considers the Garrulax felicie of M. Lesson (described in the ‘Revue Zoologique’ for 1840, p- 164) to be identical with this species, and has placed that name among its synonyms; but, after carefully reading M. Lesson’s description, I cannot coincide with him, and believe that it has reference to some other bird.
Crown of the head dull orange-red ; back and upper tail-coverts olive-grey ; wing-coverts olive-grey, tipped with white ; spurious wing black; primaries slaty black, margined on their basal half with rich orange-red, and ‘on the apical half with fine yellow; secondaries similar, broadly tipped with white, the three nearest the body grey on the outer web, black on the inner, the first of the three tipped with white, the others with black; two central tail-feathers brownish black, the basal portion of the inner web deep red, and the tips slightly margined with yellow ; the remainder brownish black, tipped and margined with orange-yellow; ear- coverts grey mottled with black, the black predominating on the front margin, and forming a somewhat conspicuous moustache from the angle of the bill down the side of the neck; chin and under surface yellow, becoming deeper on the under tail-coverts ; across the throat a series of narrow crescentic marks of black on a grey ground, whence the specific name ; upper mandible dark horn-colour, lower mandible yellow; legs and feet grey; irides brown.
The figures are of the size of life. The plant is the Dendrobium heterocarpum.
| | | | | 1
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SIVA CYANOUROPTERA, Heodgs.
Blue-winged Siva.
Siva cyanouroptera, Hodg. Ind. Rev. 1838, p. 88.—Gray, List. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Hsq., p. 95.
Leiothrix cyanouroptera, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 269.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 99.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 332.—-Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Kast Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 366.
Hemiparus cyanouropterus, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. x. p. 25.
Toropus cyanouropterus, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 937.
—— (Siva) cyanouropterus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 84.
Leiothria lepida, McClell. in Proc. Zool. Soc., part vil. p. 162.
Tuer Blue-winged Siva recommends itself to our notice by the neatness and elegance of its contour, and the delicacy of its pretty markings. Blue is a colour rarely found among the smaller Indian birds; and as there is no other species of the genus Siva similarly coloured, it cannot well be mistaken. Although tolerably abundant in our collections, it is more rare than Siva strigula. Both species inhabit the same countries— Nepaul and Bhotan. Mr. Blyth states that Capt. Tickell found it about the sides of Mooleit ; it is also said to be found in Assam. I have not yet, however, seen any examples from that country, but, among the draw- ings preserved at the India Museum, there is a figure of this species said to have been taken from a speci- men obtained there.
Crown of the head and nape greyish blue, striated with bluish white ; all the upper surface, wing and tail- coverts fawn-colour ; spurious wing blue, margined on the outer edge and tipped with white ; primaries deep blue on their outer webs, brownish black on the inner; outer webs of the secondaries dull greyish blue at the base, and white to the tip; the inner webs black, bordered with white; the two nearest the body fawn- colour on the outer web, black on the inner, bordered all round with white; two centre tail-feathers slaty brown, passing into black near the extremity, and narrowly fringed with white at the tip ; the two next are blue on the outer and slaty brown on the inner webs, deepening into black near the extremity, and fringed with white at the tip; the two next are similarly coloured, but have a large blotch of white on the tip of the inner web, larger on the second than on the first ; the outer feather on each side is black on the outer web to near the tip, which with the inner web is white ; lores, space over the eye, and all the under surface white washed with vinaceous; irides dark brown; bill orange-brown ; legs apparently light-yellowish brown, although in Capt. Boys’s notes they were stated to be grey.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Rhododendron glaucum.
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| | | | | | I] f FY
MYZORNIS PYRRHOURA, Aoags.
Red-tailed Myzornis.
Myzornis pyrrhowra, Hodgs. Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. xii. p. 984, and vol. xiv. p. 561.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to the Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 74.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 101.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp. vol. i. p. 263.
Yuhina pyrrhoura, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 199. pl. 53, Yuhina, sp. 5.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av: 397, Yuhina, sp. 3.
Tuar so beautiful a bird as the one here represented will become a general favourite with collectors there can be but little doubt, and one would fain hope that the time may arrive when some native Nepaulese, inspired with a love for ornithology, may give to the world a description of the habits and economy of this and the many other rare species which adorn his luxuriant country, or that some European may be favourably located for obtainmg this desirable information: at present all that has been recorded respecting it is comprised in a lme by Mr. Hodgson, who states that “‘ this bird inhabits the northern and central hills of Nepaul.”
I believe that the accompanying Plate represents both sexes ; if so, it will be seen that they very nearly resemble each other ; the only difference being in the smaller: amount of red on the throat of the female and the lesser brilliancy of the red of her outer tail-feathers. ,
In the male the feathers of the crown are black, broadly margined with green; all the upper surface and wing-coverts dark green, becoming paler on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; spurious wing orange-yellow ; quills black, the apical half of the primaries margined with grey and tipped with white; the basal half of the secondaries margined with red, passing into greyish white on the apical portion and largely tipped with white; two central tail-feathers dark green tipped with black, the remainder fine crimson-red tipped with black ; lores black ; under surface green with a patch of dull red on the breast ; vent and under tail-coverts paler red ; bill black ; feet fleshy.
The female is similar in colour, but the hues are not so bright, and she has merely an indication of the red on the breast and under tail-coverts.
The figures are of the natural size, and the plant is the Cirrhopetalum cornutum.
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CINCLUS ASIATICUS, Swans. i
Asiatic Water-Ouzel.
Cinclus Asiaticus, Swains. Faun. Bor. Mer. VOLe isp. 174. H Pallas, Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. i. p. 177.—Gould, Cent. of Birds, pl. xxiv.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and | Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 78. | tenutrostris, Gould, MSS.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p- 252, Cinelus, sp. 5. asiaticus, Adams in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvu. p. 180. | maculatus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83, young. Ml Hydrobata Asiatica, Gray and Mitch., Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 215, Hydrobata, sp. 4.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in i) Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 158.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. | p. 185.
More than a quarter of a century has now elapsed since the subject of the present memoir occupied my attention while engaged upon my first work, <A Century of Birds from the Himalayan Mountains.’ Therein I published a figure of the bird under the specific appellation of Pal/asii, a term I was induced to adopt in consequence of the specimen from which my figure was taken accurately agreeing with the description given by M. Temminck in the first volume of his ‘Manuel d’Ornithologie,’ published in 1820, where he says :— ‘“‘Cinclus Pallas: formes de notre cincle; tout le plumage, sans exception, d’une seule nuance brune, couleur de chocolat,’—a description answering so precisely to that of the present bird that no more appropriate terms could have been selected. Subsequently, in the third volume of the ‘ Manuel,’ published fifteen years later (1835), he modified this description as follows :—
‘““Crncius Patiasm (Mihi).—Un peu plus grand que le Cincle plongeur, mais les formes totales exacte- ment memes. Toutes les parties, tant inférieures que supérieures, toute la téte et le cou dune seule nuance brune enfumée, ou couleur de suie; les seules plumes du dos lisérées de noir; les ailes et la queue d’un noir grisatre, mais les couvertures des ailes lisérées de couleur de suie; douze pennes a la queue ; iris bleu, bec noir, pieds gris. Longueur, huit pouces. Les deux sexes.”
Now the question is, did M. Temminck take his description from a specimen said to have been brought by Pallas from the Crimea, or from an Indian example? If from an Indian bird, then the term Pallasi- i should be retained for the present species, and not applied to the bird inhabiting Japan; ornithologists, |
however, generally incline to consider the Japanese bird to be the one to which the term Pallasi should be applied, and I yield to their opinion, to prevent any further confusion.
The Cinclus Asiaticus enjoys a wide range of habitat, extending over the southern slopes of the great Himalayan range of mountains from Bhotan on the east to Affghanistan on the west. Specimens from the latter country were sent to the Hon. East India Company's Museum by Mr. Griffiths, and others were forwarded by Mr. Pemberton from Bhotan. I have never seen examples from any part of the Peninsula of | India. It is said to frequent rocky glens and mountain streams, and to offer in its habits and economy a 1) great resemblance to those of our well-known Cinclus aquaticus. Its food consists of aquatic insects and | their larvee, the fry and ova of fishes, &c., which it takes beneath the water. | | 1
The colouring of the young birds for the first two or three months after their leaving the nest offers a i 1 considerable contrast to that of the adults, in which a uniform style of colouring pervades the entire body | of both sexes. As I have figured this youthful state, a glance at the accompanying plate will at once convey a correct idea of the appearance the bird presents at this age. In this speckled style of plumage it very closely resembles many members of the Saaicoline, to which it also offers an alliance in the number and colouring of its eggs; I do not, however, assert that it is with this group of birds that it ought to be associated ; at the same time I cannot fail to perceive that it is perhaps more nearly allied to that group than to any other.
The adults of both sexes have the upper and under surface uniform light chocolate-brown ; or if there be any exception to the uniformity, it occurs in some of the feathers of the back appearing in certain lights to be faintly margined with dark brown ; the wings and tail also are of a rather darker or purer brown; above and below the eye a small crescent-shaped mark of white ; bill olive black; legs and feet olive brown, except in front, where they incline to white.
The young are clothed in greyish brown, with an irregular spot of white near the tip of each feather; the two colours so much intermingled on the under surface as to give that part a mottled appearance, while | that of the upper surface has a more spotted character ; down the chin a stripe of white; wing-feathers i | narrowly margined with white, showing most conspicuously at the tips; tail brown. : |
The plate represents a male, a female, and a young bird, about the natural size. il
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CINCLUS PALLAST, Temm.
Pallas’s Water-Ouzel.
Sturnus cinclus, var., Pallas. .
Cinclus Pallasii, Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. iii. p. 107.—Gould, Birds of Europe, vol. ii. pl. 85.—Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap. p. 68, tab. xxxi. B.
Hydrobata Pallasii, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 215, Hydrobata, sp. 3.
Cinclus pallasi, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 252, Cinclus, sp. 4.
Tux discovery of this species is said to be due to the researches of Professor Pallas ; and it is well that one who did so much for natural history should have his name perpetuated by having so interesting a bird named in honour of him. To myself the Water-ouzels have at all times been a group of birds of especial interest ; and there are many associations connected with them which must be pleasing to every one, especially when we consider how romantic are the situations they affect,—situations which the poets love to write about, and of which more anon, should I ever again undertake to describe the habits and whereabouts of our own Water-ouzel, or Dipper.
Although I really have nothing to communicate respecting the habits and economy of this bird, I feel that,
without overstepping the bounds of truth, I might easily describe how it lives, the situations it frequents,
&c., masmuch as I feel assured that in all these respects it very closely resembles our own well-known bird ;
but, in the absence of any positive information on these points, I will only affirm that, like that species, it il obtains its food by diving to the bottoms of rocky streams and pebbly rivers.
I am also unable to say whether this bird inhabits Siberia or the continent of Asia, or if it be an island species ; and if the latter, whether Japan be or be not its exclusive habitat; certain it is that it is in that island that all the specimens which have reached this country have been collected; but it may also inhabit : | the island of Formosa, Mr. Swinhoe having just described a Water-ouzel from thence under the name of Alydrobata maria, which I think is likely to be identical with the present species.
There appears to be no difference in the colouring of the sexes, both being clothed in a uniform but darker style of plumage than the C. Ascaticus, the darker hue being especially noticeable on the head, throat, and centre of the breast, which parts are of the same hue as the other parts of the body in its near ally.
I am indebted to the Trustees of the Derby Museum at Liverpool for the loan of the fine specimen of this bird from which my figure was taken. !
The entire plumage very dark chocolate-brown, becoming nearly black on the head, back, breast and under surface ; wings and tail dark chocolate washed with grey ; bill olive-black; feet blackish brown; fore part of the tarsi and toes paler.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life.
Se ee i gs Sr tc cee
. fea STE he NT et ras CEE = — Dene So ee a ene SS eee a —
LIT NR LT OP ONS TA IE TE RTE I LN ea CEI A A eS I I
DIDUS, Codd’
Sboidd and HC Fuchler del ob bith : : Hullmande & Walion,/ 7p.
CINCLUS SORDIDUS, Gowd |
Sombre-coloured Water-Ouzel.
Cinclus sordidus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 494.
Aux the information I am able to render respecting the bird figured in the accompanying plate, is that while at Banchory Ternan I paid a hurried visit to its little museum, which principally consisted of a collec- tion of birds from Western India and Thibet, formed by Dr. A. Leith Adams, of the 22nd Regt. ; and found therein, among other interesting objects, a species of Cinclus which had never before come under my notice, and which I was kindly permitted by Dr. Adams to bring to London for the purpose of comparison with the other known species, and to figure in the ‘ Birds of Asia.’ Subsequently Dr. Adams sent me the following note, respecting the locality in which he observed the bird. ‘I have fished out the true history of C. sordidus from among my masses of MS. notes, and give you, verbatim, a note made on the 26th of July, 1852, near Chimouraree, Lake Ladakh, 'Thibet :—‘ Added two new species to my collection, one of which I take to be the C. aquaticus; the other is a dark-brown ouzel, darker than the bird I have in my collection, and killed in the lesser ranges near Dagshai. Both species were together today. ‘They are distinct species, surely, and not male and female? The latter may be a variety of C. Pallasi.’” Ihave considered it best to give the fore- going note verbatim. The white-breasted bird which Dr. Adams thought might be C. aguaticus proves to be a distinct species; and I have accordingly conferred upon it a specific designation—that of C. Cashme- aii riensis. ‘The dark-brown ouzel is the bird here figured, and which, bemg also new, I have called Cinclus sordidus, in allusion to its sombre colouring. The bird observed by Dr. Adams on the lower ranges was i doubtless the C. Ascaticus. |
In the colouring of the body the C. sordidus somewhat assimilates to C. Pallas: and C. Asiaticus ; but it has a distinct throat- and chest-mark of a much lighter colour, and, did crosses occur in a state of nature, it would seem to be a cross between C. Cashmeriensis and C. Asiaticus ; but it is unlikely that such will prove to be the case; the C. sordidus must therefore, for the present at least, rank as a distinct species. The specimen has not been returned to the little town of Banchory Ternan, but has been liberally presented by Dr. Adams to the British Museum, where it may be consulted by any ornithologist desirous of examining the original from which my description was taken. 3 |
Crown of the head, back of the neck, throat, and chest chocolate-brown, the throat and breast lighter than the back of the head; back, abdomen, and tail deep brownish black, the abdomen somewhat the darkest ; wing's nearly the same colour as the back; tarsi brown, lighter on the front and on the upper part of the | | toes. :
The birds are represented in the plate of the natural size. ; ||
| | | | | | | | | | | ‘|
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CINCLUS LEUCOGASTER, Eiversm. White-bellied Water-Ouzel.
Cinclus leucogaster, Eversm. Add. Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 252, Cinelus, sp. 3.
Wene I to say that this is the only species of Water-ouzel with an entirely white under-surface, I should be stating what is not the case; for, strange to say, there are two Cincli inhabiting the mountain-streams of the Andes both of which have the under-surface white, but which are smaller birds than the other members || of the genus, and, as they differ somewhat in form, might perhaps be with propriety separated into a a distinct genus: but in the Old World the present is the only species of true Cinclus with a white breast and abdomen; and hence the term /eucogaster is very appropriate. | The White-bellied Water-ouzel is another of the birds noticed by Pallas, but which has been left for Evers- i) . mann to give it a specific appellation. In point of rarity, this bird surpasses the C. Pallas; and, as was | the case with that species, I am indebted to the Trustees of the Derby Museum at Liverpool for the loan of the specimen I have figured from. Not having access in this country to any work in which the bird was described, I was induced to write to Dr. Hartlaub, of Bremen (a gentleman intimately acquainted with the Russian Ornithological discoveries), and to solicit his assistance in the matter; and he has kindly furnished me with the following reply :— “What I have to say about Cinclus leucogaster is very little. The bird was originally described by Evers- mann in his ‘ Addenda ad Pallasti Zoographiam Rosso-Asiaticam,’ a work of which nearly all the copies were destroyed by fire, consequently very few remain. I have never seen it, but there was a copy in the library | of the late Mr. Oken. The bird is very probably the ‘ Sturnus Cinclus, var. ‘ad Teniseam, et in orientali | Siberia’ of Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat., tom. i. p. 426. Muiddendorf says (p. 163) that ‘a specimen of Cinclus | Wi leucogaster was shot at Udskoi-Ostrog.’ All the specimens received at St. Petersburg came from Semipa- latinsk, where the bird seems to be very common. I have seen numbers from that locality ; and two speci- mens from thence are contained in our collection. Mr. Brandt has given a notice of the bird in Tchithatskoff, ‘Voy. Scientif. Altai,’ p. 418.” The present bird is the sixth species of the genus with which I am acquainted as inhabiting the Old World: to these must be added the Cinclus Americanus, of the north-west parts of North America, and the mh - two little species found in the Andes, and the group will then be raised to nine. What important additions, then, have lately been made to a genus formerly so limited in extent ! and how greatly has our knowledge | of ornithology been increased in this as well as in every other direction ! | Crown of the head ashy-brown, becoming paler on the sides and nape of the neck; back brown; wings a and tail greyish brown; chin, throat, and abdomen white; flanks and vent brown; under tail-coverts grey, | tipped with white; bill olive-black ; feet brown; lighter on the front of the tarsi and toes. | The figures are about the natural size. |
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CINCLUS CASHMERIENSIS, Gowa. | Cashmerian Water-Ouzel. |
Hydrobata cinclus, Adams in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 180. | Cinclus cashmeriensis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvii. p. 494. |
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I am indebted to Dr. A. Leith Adams for a knowledge of the fine species of Water-Ouzel figured on the accompanying Plate, an example of which was killed by him in Cashmere. This bird is only one of the ae numerous interesting species discovered and brought to England by this gentleman. To the ornithologist no country can possibly be more interesting than Cashmere, its fauna being very peculiar, and many of the species of which it is composed closely assimilating to others of the same form found in Europe. After a ' | careful comparison of the bird here figured with examples of C. aquaticus procured in Wales, Scotland, | Norway, Switzerland, and the Pyrenees, I have no hesitation in affirming that it is a distinct species, as, independently of the difference in the colouring of the abdomen, it is considerably larger in the size of the body and im the relative admeasurements of its wings ; it also differs in the brown colouring of the head extending far over the mantle; the crescentic markings of the upper surface, too, are less numerous than ni in its European prototype. I have also compared it with the bird named C. melanogaster, which is now | supposed, and perhaps rightly, to be merely a local variety of C. aguaticus, and find that it only assimilates a to that bird in the dark colouring of the under surface. | i The Cinclus Cashmeriensis appears to inhabit Thibet as well as Cashmere, as the following extract from Dr. Adams’s note-book will testify :—* 26th July, 1852. Near Chimouraree, Lake Ladakh, Thibet: Added | a new species to my Collection. Saw it in the Duchinpara, Cashmere, a month ago, but could not get | specimens. Its belly is darker than that of the British species, and perhaps it is the C. melanogaster.” | | Beyond this, I regret to say there is nothing to publish respecting this little-known bird. i Crown of the head, ear-coverts, and mantle brown, passing into deeper brown on the upper part of the back and wing-coverts; lower part of the back and tail-coverts grey, with a darker central mark on each | feather ; wings and tail blackish grey; throat and breast white; upper part of the abdomen brown, passing into dark greyish brown on the flanks and vent; under tail-coverts uniform dark grey; tarsi brown, lighter on the front and on the upper part of the toes. 3 | Total length, 7 inches; bill, ; wing, 3%; tail, 24; tarsi, 14.
The figures are about the natural SIZe.
|
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DROMOLAA PICATA. Pied Stone-Chat.
Saxicola picata, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 131.—Id., Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p- 167.—Gray & Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. App. p. 8, pp. to p. 179.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 304, Sawicola, sp. 17.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 287.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 131.
Tuis is one of the largest and most conspicuously marked of the Stone-Chats inhabiting the peninsula of India. It belongs to that section of the group to which the generic name of Dromolea has been applied, and differs from most of the other species in the whiteness of its abdomen. It is said to be an inhabitant of the Upper Provinces of India, Scinde, and Afghanistan ; from one of the two last-mentioned countries, I possess examples which were collected at Ghuznee by my son, the late Dr. J. H. Gould.
While I have little doubt that the two hinder figures in the accompanying Plate, one with a black and the other with a clouded throat, have reference to the same species, I am not so certain about the figure in the brown dress; it may be a female or a young bird of either sex, or the female of another species ; and if so, the figure with a clouded throat is that of a young male.
“The Pied Stone-Chat,” says Mr. Jerdon, “‘has been found in the Upper Provinces of India, in Sindh, and in Afghanistan. Adams observed it in Sindh, frequenting gardens, and also in the Punjab. It is pro- bably only a winter visitant. He did not meet with it in the Western Himalayas.”
The male has the abdomen, upper and under tail-coverts, the base of the two central and the basal four- fifths of the lateral tail-feathers white, the remainder of the plumage being black; irides dark brown; bill and feet black.
The young male or female differs in having those parts brown which are black in the other sex, and in having the abdomen washed with vinous.
In another state, represented in the front figure of the Plate, which may be characteristic of the true female, or perhaps of another bird, the whole of the parts described as black in the male are of a lively brown, and the under parts of a pale greyish brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
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DROMOLAA OPISTHOLEUCA. i White-tailed Stone-Chat.
Samicola opistholeuca, Strickl. in Jard. Cont. to Orn., 1849, p. 60. 10, fig.
———— leucura, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, vol. xvi. p. 137.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soe. Calcutta, p. 167. ——— leucuroides, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. 11. pt. i. p. 130.
I rainxk Mr. Strickland was right in considering this bird to be different from M. Guerin’s Sawicola | aii Jeucuroides, and Mr. Jerdon mistaken in considering it identical with that species. I have at this moment il examples of the Indian, the Nubian, and the Algerian birds before me; and although they bear a general resemblance in their colouring, still there are points of difference which I think would induce most | ornithologists to regard them as distinct: these consist in the very feeble character of the bill of the an Indian, compared with that of the Nubian and Algerian birds, and m the colouring of the tail, the apical three-fifths of the two central feathers and the tips of the lateral ones in the former bemg black, while in both the others the tips of the same feathers are pure white or merely clouded with blackish brown. | Mr. Strickland was also of opinion that Mr. Blyth was in error in considering the present bird to be identical | with the S. /eucura; and his remarks on the subject are so judicious that I need make no apology for transcribing them.
‘This is evidently the bird referred to as Sawicola leucura by Mr. Blyth, as he states it to differ from his | iil S. picata only in having the breast and belly black, while in the latter species those parts are white. As I have before me specimens of S. picata, I can confirm Mr. Blyth’s statement of the close agreement in size and coloration of these two birds. They form, in fact, a parallel case to that of the Saaicola aurita and S. stapazina of Southern Europe, which only differ in the presence or absence of black on the throat, and whose specific distinctness is still a matter of controversy among naturalists. It is very possible that some
species of Sawicola may, at certain periods of life, assume additional portions of black or white into their
plumage, just as many of the rufous Zchitree acquire more or less of a white coloration in old age. This
} may perhaps account for the immense number of species of Saacola described by Ruppell, Ehrenberg, and |
7 others as inhabiting the deserts of Africa and Western Asia. Conformably with this view, we find that, in a
specimen of S, opistholeuca before us, some of the black abdominal feathers are narrowly tipped with white,
as if in the act of changing colour. Further researches, however, are required to decide this question,
and meanwhile we have no choice but to regard S. opestholeuca as distinct from S. pecata until their identity , |
be proved. | “< Saxicola opistholeuca agrees closely in coloration with S. /eucura of Europe, but is considerably inferior
in size. It also differs in having the lateral rectrices tipped with a continuous patch of black, while in a |
specimen of S. /ewcura, now before me, they have merely a longitudinal black spot on each side, separated | | by a white space, which extends to the extreme tips.”
‘This fine Stone-Chat,” says Mr. Jerdon, “is not uncommon about Mhow, in Central India, in the cold weather; and I have seen it on the banks of the Nerbudda, near Mundleysur, but nowhere else. Its range | probably extends throughout the North-western Provinces, having been killed near Agra and in Sindh. In | summer it doubtless migrates to Tibet and Central Asia.” Captain Boys procured specimens in Northern India; and Mr. Blyth states that it is common about Agra. It frequents bushes on the plains, but also comes into cantonments, and may be seen seated on the hedges or on the low trees bordering the roads. | : It descends to the ground to feed on insects, returning to its perches.
So little has been recorded respecting the differences, if any, between the sexes and between the adults i and young of this species, that I am unable to say whether the brown bird represented in my Plate is a | true female or not. |
The male has the whole of the plumage of the body, both above and beneath, to the vent, and the wing- |
tail-coverts white; two central tail-feathers white at the base, and black for the remainder of their length ; a the lateral feathers white, tipped with black ; irides dark brown ; bill and feet black. : |
The figures are of the size of life.
coverts deep black ; primaries black on their external webs, greyish brown on the inner 5; upper and under
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SAXICOLA CAPISTRATA, Goud. | Grey-capped Stone-Chat. |
Saxicola leucomela, Jerdon, Birds of India, vol. i. part ii. p. 131 (mec Pallas).
Unrin very recently the group of birds known by the trivial names of Stone-Chats and Wheatears had not received that close attention which had been paid to many others ; the knowledge, however, which has recently been gained respecting them renders it evident that there are many more species than was formerly supposed. I have stated elsewhere that the Indian members of this form are all, or nearly all, specifically distinct from those which inhabit Europe, North Africa, and Nubia. Without, doubtless, having had the opportunity of instituting a careful comparison between the present bird and the Saxicola leucomela of Pallas, Mr. Jerdon has treated them as identical, whereas they are quite distinct, not only from each other, but from a third I nearly allied species, the S. /ugens of Algeria. . I
Having said thus much with regard to the distinctness of the Indian bird, I would fain have given some | information respecting its habits and economy; but of this little or nothing is known. Mr. Jerdon merely says that it “has been found in the Upper Provinces of Hindostan during the cold weather only, and is common in Afghanistan.” \
The Sawicola caupistrata is a very well-marked species, and is readily distinguishable from S. deucomela in being somewhat larger in size, in having a grey cap, the under tail-coverts buff, and a broader band of black on the tips of the lateral tail-feathers; the spurious feather on the under surface of the edge of the wing, moreover, is much broader and longer.
I am unable to say if there be any difference in the outward appearance of the sexes; but Mr. Jerdon states that young birds have the cap more or less tinged with dusky brown, in lieu of the greyish white
of the adult. Among the MS. notes on Indian birds by the late Captain Boys, I find the following in reference to the
present species :— | | | ! ‘¢Shot several specimens on the road to Sukkur, at a place called Mhuta-jeedo, and met with others at , nearly every stage lower down towards Sukkur. The bird affects old walls, sits upon the top of any raised / | place, and pounces on the flying insects as they pass; frequently a pair were seen on the ridges formed to i retain the water in irrigated grounds.” i The male may thus be described :—Line across the forehead, lores, a line above the eye, chin, throat, | sides of the neck, back, wings, under wing-coverts, axillaries, two central tail-feathers, and a broad band at the tips of the lateral tail-feathers black ; crown of the head and nape ashy grey, margined on the sides with white, and with a faint streak of dark grey down the centre of each feather; lower part of the back, upper tail-coverts, and basal portions of the lateral tail-feathers white ; breast and abdomen greyish white ; under tail-coverts buffy white ; irides dark brown ; bill and legs black. Total length 6+ inches; bill +3; wing 3; tail 23; tarsi 1. : bi The figures are of the natural size.
5 ey ee eT eee | eRe Ee
OS —
SAXICOLA LEUCOMELA. Black and White Stone-Chat.
Motacilla leucomela, Pall. Zoog. Ross. Asiat., tom. i. p: 479.
Auruouex there is no positive evidence that this bird is .an inhabitant of Asia, I think there is very little doubt of its being entitled to a place in the present work. It is believed to enliven the deserts of Persia, and it is very probable that it also frequents some parts of Asia Minor. The specimens from which my figures were taken were killed in the Crimea, which country, with Oriental Russia, is its true habitat. If it be not found within the precincts of Asia, I think the cause of science will be advanced by my devoting a Plate to this species, since by this means the distinctions between the true S. /eucomela and the Indian bird, S. capestrata, with which it has been confounded, will be seen at a glance. In my description of the latter bird, I have mentioned the various particulars in which they differ from each other; it will therefore not be necessary to recapitulate them; I may, however, call attention to the more delicate form of the bird here represented, as compared with those of its Indian and North African allies, as well as to the total absence of any buff colouring on the under tail-coverts—a character by which it may be
readily recognized.
I regret to say, so little is known respecting the 8. Jeucomela that I have not found anything respecting it worthy of transcribing.
A very narrow line across the forehead, lores, space above the eye, ear-coverts, chin, throat, sides of the neck, back, scapularies, upper and under wing-coverts, axillaries, apical three-fifths of the two central, and the tips of the lateral tail-feathers jet-black ; primaries and secondaries brownish black; the remainder of
the plumage pure white; irides dark brown ; bill and feet black.
The figures are of the natural size.
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SAXICOLA MONTANA, Gouda.
Mountain Stone-Chat.
Two specimens of this very fine Wheatear, brought to England, with some other rare birds, by Major W. E. Hay, are now in my collection. The labels attached to them are simply inscribed Thibet ; and as, unfortu- nately, that gentleman is no longer among us, I am unable to ascertain the precise locality in which they were killed. Their nearest ally is the Seaicola atrogularis; but they differ from that bird in their much larger size and in the colouring of the under surface of the wings, which is snow-white, except at the shoulder, which, with the axillaries, is of the deepest black.
I consider this species to be not only the very finest of the Indian Sewicole, but second to none of the form inhabiting other countries. It is doubtless very sprightly in all its actions, and the plumage of speci- mens fresh from moulting must be very beautiful, before the feathers have become abraded by contact with the stony sides of the cavities among the rocks, to which these birds resort, like our own Wheatear, for the purpose of breeding.
I regret that no information whatever has been recorded respecting its habits and economy.
The Saatcola montana is rendered most conspicuous by the strong contrast of the black under wing- coverts and axilla with the snow-white of the bases of the primaries and secondaries.
Across the forehead and over each eye a narrow line of white; crown of the head pale cinnamon-brown, passing into the deeper isabelline brown of the back and scapularies ; lores, chin, throat, under wing-coverts, axillaries, wing-coverts, and apical half of the tail jet black ; a line of white along the outermost scapularies separates those feathers from the black of the wing-coverts ; lower part of the back, upper tail-coverts, and basal portion of the tail-feathers white; breast delicate isabelline brown, fading into buffy white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts; primaries and secondaries blackish brown on their outer webs, the inner webs being white at the base and light brown for the remainder of their length; irides dark brown; bill and feet black.
Total length 6; inches ; bill ;; wing 4; tail 25; tarsi 1.
The figures are of the natural size; the supposed female taken from an Afghan specimen.
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SAXICOLA ATROGULARIS, Byta.
Black-throated Stone-Chat.
Sawicola atrogularis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. pp. 130, 131.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 167.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. App. p. 8, app. to p. 179.—Horsf. i and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 287.—Adams in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xxvii. 1859, p. 180.
atrigularis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 304, Saxicola, sp. 18.
——— deserti, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 132.
Tue numerous species of Sazicola are so very nearly allied that I deem it an impossibility for any ornitho-
logist to distingush one from the other by written descriptions or even by comparison with the most carefully
made delineations ; to effect this satisfactorily it will be essential that an extensive series of specimens from ii) every part of the world in which they are found should be before him at one and the same time; he would ( then be enabled to perceive the minute characters by which each bird is distinguished, and which are | usually constant in the examples from any given locality. All those who have paid attention to the birds Mi of Europe are aware that the only difference between the Sawicola aurita and S. Stapazina consists in the throat of the one being black, and the other white; while the Nubian species of the genus Dromolea,
which are precisely alike in their admeasurements and general colouring, have the crown of the head white in one, and black in the other. After a careful examination of most of the known species of the genera 1 Saxicola and Dromolea, 1 have come to the conclusion that, although most nearly allied, all the Indian and African ones are really distinct from each other ; were we otherwise to regard them, the species of both | must be greatly curtailed. Mr. Jerdon considers the S. atrogularis of Blyth and the S. deserti of Rtippell | to be identical ; but while I find them to be very similarly coloured, I do not fail to observe that the specimens | | of §. deserti, in my collection at least, have rather longer tarsi, somewhat shorter wings, and smaller bills than the S. atrogularis, that a great difference exists in the colourmg of the under surface of their shoulders, that part being nearly white in the former and jet-black in the latter, and that this black colouring of the under shoulder is the best character by which the Indian bird may be distinguished from its African ally. i
Of the habits of S. atrogularis, I regret to say, but little has been recorded. Mr. Jerdon states that it Hl ‘¢is common at Mhow in the cold weather, frequenting stones and bushes in the open plains. It is also Hi tolerably common in the Upper Provinces of India, in Sindh, the Punjab, and Afghanistan,” “frequenting,” says Dr. Adams, “the arid plains of those countries; and not uncommon in the Valley of Cashmere. _ Its : favourite food is a sort of wire-worm, abundant in dry sandy places.” Captain Boys, who procured ex- i amples at Sultanpore in December 1839, and Futtehpore in March 1842, merely remarks, “ affects sandy : plains, and seldom flies to any great distance.” :
The male has a line which crosses the forehead, passes over each eye, and extends down the sides of the neck |
white ; head, back, and scapularies cinnamon, deepest on the back ; lores, chin, throat, and ear-coverts jet- black ; wings black; the lesser coverts slightly, and the greater conspicuously tipped with white; primaries | slightly edged with greyish white ; secondaries margined with pale cinnamon; under surface of the shoulder i and axillaries deep black ; inner webs of the primaries and secondaries greyish white for the greater part of | their length from the base, showing conspicuously on the under surface ; breast, abdomen, vent, and under | tail-coverts pale cinnamon, darkest on the breast; upper tail-coverts white, tinged with cinnamon ; basal half of the tail white, apical half black ; bill and legs black; irides brown.
The female differs in having the general plumage dull cinnamon-brown, no black on the throat, and the
wing-feathers margined with cinnamon instead of white. | The Plate represents the two sexes, of the size of life. :
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RHODOPHILA MELANOLEUGCA, vera. Black and White Bush-Chat.
Rhodophila melanoleuca, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part i. p. 128, and vol. ii. part 1. p. 872.
Ir affords me great pleasure to give the first figures of an adult male and female of this recently described bird, to which Mr. Jerdon has given the name of Rhodophila melanoleuca. No ornithologist will, I feel assured, question the propriety of instituting a genus for this form; for, at least in my opinion, it is sufficiently distinct from every other to warrant such a step; I aver this because Mr. Jerdon states that ‘‘ It is possible that some of the Oceanic Swricole of Prince Bonaparte, which he named Orecola, may belong to the same type. One of these is Sax. melanoleuca, Mill., black above and white beneath, but has a white wing-spot and ear-spot. Another is S. /uctuosa, Miull., black above and white beneath, but the wings varied with white; and S. pyrrhonota, Mall., has the back rufous. All three are from Timor.” I believe, however, that the Indian bird differs in form from these, and that the genus Rhodophila will not be consigned to the list of rejected genera. In his characters Mr. Jerdon says, ‘“‘ Much as in Pratincola, but the bill longer, deeper, barely depressed at the base; nostrils longitudinal, slightly impended by some nareal tufts ; rictus strongly bristled ; wing moderate, or rather short, rounded ; first quill short, second, third, and fourth gra- duated, fourth longest, fifth and sixth nearly equal to it; tail moderate, distinctly rounded ; tarsus moderate ; feet moderately long, toes slender, hind toe and claw lengthened. |
«This form approaches that of Prat. ferrea, but the bill is still less depressed, and the tail more distinctly rounded. The coloration, too, is peculiar, as are its thicket-loving habits.
“J first procured this bird,” continues Mr. Jerdon, “ when beating for game in the dense swampy rose- thickets near the banks of the Ganges in Purneah, and subsequently observed it along the reedy edges of some of the rivers in Eastern Bengal and Cachar. Mr. W. Blandford obtained it in Burmah, in long elephant grass, and I doubt not it will be found in similar situations throughout Lower Bengal and the countries to the eastward. It is with difficulty dislodged from the thick coverts it frequents, and quickly returns to its shelter. Judging from the structure of its feet, it is probably a ground feeder like the rest of its family.”
The male has the head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail deep glossy bluish black; the entire under surface pure white ; irides dark brown; bill and feet black. :
The female has the head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail reddish brown ; the under surface dull white, washed with buff on the flanks ; irides dark brown ; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Berberis concinna, Hook. fil., in
fruit.
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PRATINCOLA LEUCURA, Buti. White-tailed Bush-Chat.
Pratincola leucura, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 474.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p- 170.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part i. p. 162. Khar-pidda, Hindoos at Monghyr.
Tuts is one of the most conspicuously marked Bush-Chats inhabiting India, where there are at least six species, one or two of which are very similar to our own members of the genus Pratincola—a form strictly confined to the old world, being found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but not in America. These little birds affect sterile and scrubby districts rather than woods and forests, and do not resort to the ground so much as the true Saxicole or Wheatears, to which they are very nearly allied, but whose province is open wastes, the crowns of hills, and rocky districts ; they are also more stationary in their habits, seldom quitting the countries they respectively frequent.
Of the habits and disposition of the White-tailed Bush-Chat little appears to be known; but it may be inferred that they are very similar to those of the other members of the genus. Its most intimate allies in India are Pratincola indica and P. insignis. As is the case with most of the species, the female differs considerably from the male; for, although she presents a similar style of plumage, her tints are much less gay and decided.
The following note is extracted from Mr. Jerdon’s valuable ‘ Birds of India.’
«The White-tailed Bush-Chat till lately had only been procured in Sindh, whence it was sent by Sir A. Burnes to the Museum of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta. I found it far from rare in Thyet-myo in Upper Burmah, frequenting grassy chirrs on the the Irrawaddy, but never the low jungles that lined the banks. Somewhat to my surprise, I observed it to be most abundant in the Gangetic valley from Rajmehal to Monghyr, frequenting fields and low grasses. It is a permanent resident and breeds here ; for I.found the young birds just flown in April, but did not succeed in procuring the nest.”
The male has the head, neck, throat, back, and wing-coverts deep black; bases of the secondaries and a few of the innermost larger coverts white, forming a conspicuous patch on the wing, in the centre of the breast a patch of bright rufous; sides of the neck and breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts white ; primaries and secondaries very dark brown, edged with pale brown; two centre tail-feathers black; the remainder white with the exception of the apical portion of the outer and the tips of both webs, which are dark brown, becoming pale brown on the extreme edge; bill and feet black.
The whole of the upper surface, wings, and tail of the female are brown, with a light edging to each feather; her white wing-spot is less conspicuous; and the under surface is creamy white, tinged with rufous on the breast; bill and feet black: thus it will be seen that the female is very similar to the female of P. indica, and exhibits no trace of the white marking of the tail so conspicuous in the opposite sex.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. The plant is the Berberis concinna, Hook. fil., in flower. |
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PRATINCOLA INDICA, Byea.
Indian Furze-Chat.
Saxicola saturatior, Hodgs., in Gray’s Zool. Miscell., 1844, p. 83. rubicola of India, Auct.
Pratincola indica, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 129.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc., Calcutta, p. 170.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 305. saturatior, Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 285. Sawicola indica, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. app. p. 8 (app. to p. 179).
Tue present species is an interesting illustration of the law of representation, inasmuch as it takes the place in the fauna of India which is occupied by the common Furze-Chat (Pratincola rubicola) im that of Europe ; but it will be observed that the Indian bird, besides being of a somewhat smaller size than its Western ally, differs from it also in the uniform black colouring of the head, back, and tail, and in the scapulary patch being of less extent and of a purer white. The female presents the same variation from the colouring of her mate that is seen in our own bird the P. rudbicola. It is distributed over the whole of the peninsula, wherever sterile waste lands and scrubby districts congenial to its habits are found. Its clacking note, like that of the European bird, is uttered while it is sitting on the topmost sprig of a low bush, which it leaves on the approach of an intruder, flits off to a neighbouring shrub, and jerks up its little tail on alighting.
The brief notes given below, from the pens of Colonel Sykes, Mr. Jerdon, and the late Captain Boys, are, I regret to say, all that has been recorded respecting this pretty species.
Mr. Jerdon states that ‘it is found in all parts of India during the cold weather, making its first appear- ance in the beginning of October. It frequents bushes on the plains, hedges, and grain-fields, and feeds on the ground, on ants and various other insects.”
Colonel Sykes says that, in the Dukhun, “these birds were met with only in low scattered bushes. Cater- pillars, flies, and ants found in the stomach.”
Captain Boys states that it ‘flies in sudden jerks, and sometimes hovers up and down in a fluttering manner previous to alighting. It is generally seen sitting on the topmost sprig of a low bush in a corn- field. One, shot on the 7th of March 1842, was sitting on an ear of ripe corn ; its crop was filled with insects. Its note is melodious, but of no great variety.”
The male has the head, throat, back, wing-coverts, interior half of the scapularies, thighs, and _ tail deep black; sides of the neck and chest, exterior half of the scapularies, upper and under tail-coverts pure white; primaries brown, with paler edges ; secondaries blackish brown ; chest rich deep rusty red, becoming gradually paler and passing into buffy white on the abdomen and vent; irides dark brown; bill, legs, and feet black.
The feathers of the upper surface of the female are brownish black, largely fringed with tawny ; those of the wings are similarly coloured, but are more narrowly margined; the white scapulary patch is not so pure; the chin is light greyish brown, bounded below by a patch of brownish black feathers, fringed with greyish brown ; all the under surface pale rufous; tail-feathers blackish brown, margined with tawny; eyes, bill, and feet as in the male.
The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size, on a branch of Juniper.
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GRANDALA CQCELICOLOR, Ades.
Celestial Grandala.
Grandala celicolor, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 447, pl. at p. 450.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 69.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. 1. p. 184, pl. 50.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xxi. p. 132.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 166.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 289.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 281,
———— schistacea, Hodgs. (young).
Tuar all the operations of nature are governed by certain fixed laws is so evident, that few persons, I believe, will venture to gainsay it. Thus the birds of the sandy deserts assume the colouring of the soil, the brilliant- plumaged birds and gaily coloured insects of the tropics are surrounded with plants and flowers equally gorgeous in their hues, and the spotless Ptarmigan is a denizen of the snow-clad hills. At the same time we
| , do not fail to observe that these laws, like all others, have their exceptions; and thus we occasionally find
brilliantly coloured birds inhabiting regions so elevated that they are almost perpetually clothed with snow.
As cases in point, we may cite the bird here represented; the Lophuphorus Impeyanus, among the Gallinacee ; and the Oreotrochil, among the Trochide. Who for a moment would suppose that this beautiful bird is an inhabitant of the lofty snow-clad ranges of the Himalayas, and that it never leaves these icy regions,
neither the temperate valleys nor the hot terri having any temptation for it? In its habits it is truly Saxi- coline, and, like the Rock Thrushes (Petrocincline) and Stone Chats (Savicoline), frequents the most rocky
and sterile places ; consequently it is never seen in a state of nature, except by those who traverse the lofty passes, or ascend the alpine districts, of the magnificent range of mountains which afford it a congenial habitat. The sexes present a marked difference in their colouring, in which respect they also resemble the Rock Thrushes and Stone Chats: these differences will be readily seen on reference to the accompanying
drawing ; I need not, therefore, trouble my readers with a lengthened description of what the eye will at once detect. Iam indebted to the brothers Robert and Hermann de Schlagintweit (whose scientific reputation,
acquired among the lofty alpine regions of Europe and Asia, is too well known to need any comment from
me) for the fine specimens from which my figures were taken. Mr. Hodgson states that ‘this most remarkable and (the male) most splendidly coloured bird inhabits the northern region, or Cachar, of Nepaul, in under-spots near snows, is solitary; insects and gravel
found in the stomach.” Mr. Blyth states that it occurs in Simla, and probably frequents the whole of the elevated portions of the Himalayas, from east to west.
I find a figure of this bird among the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, and the following brief note respecting it :—‘* Taken from a specimen killed at Kidarnath, on the borders of the perpetual snow of the
Himalaya, in June 1827, when the snow was still on the ground. Kidarnath is covered with impenetrable
snow for six months of the year.”
The whole of the body-plumage of the male is rich, shining, lazuline blue; the wings, tail, bill and feet being black, and the eyes dark or blackish brown.
In the female the entire plumage is brown, striated with white on the head, neck, upper part of the back, chin, throat, and under surface; a broad band of white crosses the primaries and secondaries, near their bases ; the bill, legs, and eyes are the same as in the male.
The Plate represents the two sexes, of the size of life.
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RUTICILLA ERYTHROGASTRA. Great White-capped Redstart.
Motacilla erythrogastra, Giild. Nov. Comm. Petr. 1785, tom. xix. p. 469, tabs. xvi. & xvii—Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 975.
Sylvia erythrogastra, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 503.
Chestnut-bellied Warbler, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 424.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 672.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vil. p. 27.
Motacilla cerauma, Pall. Zoog., tom. i. p. 478.
Ruticilla grandis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1849, p. 112. erythrogastra, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 296. tricolor, Ib., p. 296.
Tue bird here represented is in every respect a typical Rutic7//a, and is, moreover, so much finer than any other member of the genus, that I was induced to consider it to be new to science, and to characterize it as such in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1849, under the name of Ruticilla grandis (not tricolor as quoted by the Prince of Canino); more recent research has, however, informed me that it was long since described by M. Giildenstaedt with the appellation of Motacilla erythrogastra, under which title it will be found in the works of Latham, Shaw and others; it affords me much pleasure therefore to correct the error into which I had fallen, and into which I had been led by finding a fine specimen in the Museum at Berlin, labelled aurorea of Pallas, which I knew to be a very different bird.
The Ruticilla erythrogastra is still extremely rare in all our collections ; the specimens in my possession were obtained in the valley of Cashmere, in which locality it was frequently seen, and examples were also procured by Mr. Vigne. M. Giildenstaedt informs us that it frequents the gravelly hollows of the Caucasian Torrents during the whole of the summer, and migrates southward in search of food on the approach of winter; that it runs along the banks of rivers ; is restless, but not fearful ; often moves its tail while sitting on the low shrubs ; and makes its nest among the branches of the sea buckthorn, of the berries of which
it is very fond.
Crown of the head and the basal portion of the primaries and secondaries white ; forehead, cheeks, chin, throat, back, wing-coverts, and the apical portion of the primaries and secondaries black ; abdomen, lower part of the back, upper and under tail-coverts and tail rich rufous ; bill and feet black.
The Plate represents a male and a female, or young male of the natural size.
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RUTICILLA ERYTHROPROCTA, Gouid. | Coal-black Redstart.
Ruticilla erythroprocta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part xxiii. p. 78.
Tue Ruticilla erythroprocta is specifically distinct from every other known member of its well-defined genus ; it is most nearly allied to the Ruticilla Tithys of Europe, but differs from that species in several particulars : in the first place, it is somewhat smaller in size ; and in the next, the black colouring of the body both on the upper and under surface is much more intense, besides which the lower part of the abdomen is red instead of greyish white.
The existence of this bird having but recently become known to us, it does not occur in Mr. Moore’s valuable Monograph of the Ruticille ; and I may remark that, after a careful comparison, I find it is quite distinct from every species described therein.
The specimen from which my figure of the male in the accompanying Plate was taken was procured on the shores of the Black Sea. It was sent direct from Erzeroum; of its habits and economy, and of the extent of its range, nothing has yet been recorded; the former doubtless closely resemble those of the other members of the genus, and, in all probability, Asia Minor and Persia will hereafter be found to be its true habitat.
Forehead black; crown of the head clouded silvery grey; back, shoulders, throat, chest and the upper part of the abdomen jet-black ; lower part of the abdomen, upper and under tail-coverts dull red ; tail-feathers dull red, except the two middle ones which are brownish black ; wings both above and beneath brownish black ; some of the secondaries slightly fringed with silvery grey; bill and feet black.
The figures are of the natural size.
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CALLIOPE CAMTSCHATKENSIS.
Siberian Ruby-throat.
Motacilla calliope, Pallas, Reise Russ. Reichs, iii. p. 697.—Id. Zoogr. Rosso-As. i. p. 483. °
Kamtschatka Thrush, Latham, Gen. Synopsis, ii. p. 28.—Id. tom. cit. Suppl. p. 140, pl. frontisp.
Turdus camtschatkensis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 817.
Turdus caliope, Latham, Index Orn. i. p. 331.
Accentor calliope, 'Temminck, Man. d’Orn. ili. p. 172.
Calliope lathami, Gould, B. Europe, ii. p. 144.—Bonap. Comp. List B. Eur. & N. Amer. p. 15.
Lusciola (Melodes) calliope, Keys. & Blasius, Wirbelth. Europa’s, p. lviii.
Calliope camtschatkensis, Strickland, Ann. Nat. Hist. vi. (1841) p. 422.—Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. Beng. p. 169.—Bonap. Conspectus Gen. Av. i. p. 295.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. East-India Co. i. p. 313.—Jaub. & Barth.-Lapomm. Rich. Orn. p. 236.—Jerdon, Birds of India, ii. p. 150.—Deegl. & Gerbe, Orn. Europe, i. p. 464.—Swinhoe, P. Z.S. 1871, p. 359.—Dresser, Birds of Europe, pt. 46.— Taczanowski, Bulletin Soc. Zool. France, i. p. 143.—Prjev. Birds of Mongolia, in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. i. p. 180.—David & Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 235.—Blakiston & Pryer, Ibis, 1878, p. 239.— Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, p. 7.
Cyanecula calliope, Gray, Genera of Birds, 1. p. 182.—Id. Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 224.
Erithacus calhope, Degland, Orn. Eur. 1. p. 154.
Sylvia (Calliope) kamtschatkensis, Middend. Sibir. Reise, p. 174, Taf. 15. fig. 2.
Calliope kamtschacensis, Hartl. J. f. Orn. 1859, p. 50. |
Lusciola (Calhope) kamtschatkensis, Schrenck, Reisen Amurlande, p. 359.—Radde, Reisen Sibir. p. 248.
Calhope yeatmant, Tristram, Ibis, 1870, p. 444.—Brooks, Stray Feathers, 1879, p. 475.
Ir is not my purpose in the present article to give an exhaustive account of this well-known bird, which has been so recently treated of by Mr. Dresser and other authors. My object in figuring it has been to place side by side with the figures of the other known species of Cadliope better figures than it has before been in my power to produce, as the species has, until recently, been rarely procured in full breeding-plumage. My friend Mr, Seebohm has very kindly placed at my disposal the beautiful specimens procured by him during his recent expedition to Siberia. He writes :—‘‘ I only met with this very handsome bird once within the Arctic circle. This was on the 14th of June, whilst the ice was still straggling down the river. Early in the morning, before breakfast, Blue-throats were singing lustily. One bird struck me as having a wonderfully fine song, richer and more melodious than that of the Blue-throat, and scarcely inferior to that of a Nightingale. I shot him to be quite sure he was only a Blue-throat, and was astonished to pick up a fine male Ruby-throated Warbler. I did not meet with this bird again until I reached Yen-e-saisk’, on my return journey. It was then the 16th of August, and I was exploring the reedy swamps near the river. My attention was attracted to a bird hidden among the Carices, which was uttering a very loud harsh cry like tie, fe, tre. After waiting some time I got a shot at it in a tall bunch of rushes. I felt quite sure that the bird was a large Acrocephalus, and was astonished to find a second male Ruby- throat.”
The range of the present species may be briefly stated to be from the Ural Mountains m Europe, across Siberia, to Japan, migrating through China, in winter, and extending at the same season of the year into Central India. It has twice occurred in France; so that it may be looked upon as an occasional straggler to Western Europe; and its range in a south-easterly direction is said to extend even to the Philippine Islands. An account of its habits is given in Mr. Dresser’s ‘ Birds of Europe,’ from the writings of Dybowski, which I here transcribe :—* In Dauria this is a common bird, arriving late in May. Throughout June its soft, quiet, somewhat unvaried song is heard; and it is one of the pleasantest of our songsters. So soon as the sun has left the horizon this bird begins to sing,
first one or two commencing ; and gradually more join in, until in the dusk of the evening all the males are in full song; and I have often heard from three to five singing close to our tent. They sing more or less, according to the weather ; for during rain they seldom sing, being only heard now and again. During the daytime they frequent the thickets. The present species inhabits the wooded plains near rivers and streams, and is met with as far as the boundary of tree- growth, thus at a much greater altitude than Larvivora cyane. It nests on the ground in out-of-the-way places, either in heaps of boughs swept together by the floods, or else in bush thickets or dense grass, or
The nest is only found by accident ; we only found a few, although the bird
under the shade of hillocks.
It is constructed of dried marsh-
The nest is domed and has an opening in the side.
is SO numerous.
Although artistically built, the structure is weak, and it is difficult to take
Late in June the female deposits five oval-shaped eggs ;
5
it away without destroying its original shape.
grass, and lined with fine bents.
The female
and they have a slight gloss. When frightened off, she escapes through the dense thicket,
, others shorter and stouter ;
some, however, are rather elongated
sits very close, and may be taken on her eggs.
and will not soon return to the nest.
Whilst the female is sitting,
the male sings all night ‘through in the
99
vicinity of the nest.
The Plate represents two males and a female, of the natural size (one of the former having the red throat
very pale), copied from a specimen in my own collection.
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CALLIOPE PECTORALIS, Gowa.
Himalayan Ruby-throat.
Calhope pectoralis, Gould, Icones Avium, pl. 4 (1837).—Gray, Cat. Mamm. &c. Nepal, coll. Hodgs. p. 69 (1846).—Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xii. p. 934 (1843); xvi. .p. 135 (1847).—Id. Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. Beng. p. 169 (1849).—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 295 (1850).—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E.I. Co. i. p. 313 (1854).—Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 492; 1859, p. 180.—Blyth, Ibis, 1862, p. 303.— Jerd. Birds of India, ii. p. 151 (1863).—Beavan, Ibis, 1867, p. 453.—Pelzeln, Ibis, 1868, p. 310.— Hume, Nests & Eggs Ind. B. p. 325 (1875).—Brooks, Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 241.—Dresser, Ibis, 1876, p. 78.—Godw.-Austen, J. As. Soc. B. 1876, p. 79.—David & Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 236 (1877). |
Bradybates pectoralis, Gray, Gen. of Birds, i. p. 181 (1846).
Cyanecula pectorahs, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 224, no. 3203 (1869).
Calliope bailloniu, Severtzoff, Turkest. Jevotn. pp. 65, 122 (1872).—Id. in Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 429.
— at me.
More than forty years have elapsed since I first described this pretty Ruby-throat ; and at that time the type
specimen in my collection was the only one known in Europe. During those past forty years, however, a
complete revolution has taken place in the science of zoology; and in no branch of that science has progress
| been more complete than in ornithology. Thus we are now enabled to give full details of the life-history of
many Indian birds, thanks to the labours of the excellent field-naturalists in India, whereas at the time that I described the first Himalayan birds they were looked upon as some of the rarest species procurable.
Dr. Jerdon states that the White-tailed Ruby-throat is “found throughout the Himalayas, from Cashmere
to Sikhim. He adds :—<I saw it at Daryjiling, where not common, frequenting thick brushwood, and
coming to the road to feed on insects. Adams found it at high elevations, among rocks and precipices in
the N.W. Himalayas. I quite recently procured one specimen, and saw others, frequenting long grass jungle, not far from the banks of the Ganges at Caragola Ghat. It came to the small footpaths, especially near the edge of the water, to feed. It is only a cold-winter visitor at Darjeeling, but may probably breed in the interior.” Since the above was written by Dr. Jerdon, the range of the species has been considerably increased, Dr. Severtzoff having found it breeding in Turkestan, and Colonel Godwin-Austen records it from the Dafla hills in Assam, while Pére David met with it further to the eastward in Moupin.
Mr. Hume, in his ‘ Nests and Eges of Indian Birds,’ writes as follows :—* Of the nidification of the White-
tailed Ruby-throat nothing very authentic is known. A nest, said to belong to this species, was sent me from native Sikhim, where it was found in June in a deep crevice in a rock, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet. The nest is only a warm saucer-shaped pad of very fine moss and fern-roots closely felted together. The eggs, of which it contained two, are regular ovals, slightly compressed towards the small end. The shell is fine, but exhibits scarcely any gloss. In colour the eggs are a uniform pale salmon-buff. As these were
i
brought in by native collectors, much reliance cannot be placed on them. At the same time all the eges brought in by the same men with which we were previously acquainted were correct; and it is
quite as likely as not that these may be so also, though Pallas says that those of the nearer-allied C. camtschatkensis are greenish. The eggs measure 0°9 and 0:91 inch in length, and 0°67 and 0°66 in breadth, respectively.”
There is perhaps nd genus of insessorial birds where beauty of markings and elegance of structure are more completely combined than in the present group of terrestrial warblers. The Robins, Blue- throats, and the present appropriately called Ruby-throats are all birds where the bill, wings, and tail
are fairly balanced. The Plate represents a male, a female, and three young, all of the natural size. The two latter stages
of plumage were figured from specimens in Mr. Seebohm’s collection.
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CALLIOPE TSCHEBAIEWI,
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CALLIOPE TSCHEBAIEWIL, Prev.
| Mongolian. Ruby-throat.
Calliope ischebaiewi, Prjevalsky, in Rowley’s Orn. Misc. ii. p. 180, pl. 54. fig. 1.
Tus species which is one of the many interesting discoveries made by Colonel Prjevalsky during his travels in Mongolia, is very nearly allied to Calliope pectoralis, but is easily recognized by the much greater extent of the ruby-coloured throat, and by the conspicuous white cheeks, the bird resembling C. kamtschatkensis in the latter character. Colonel Prjevalsky writes, in his paper on the Birds of Mongolia, the Tangut Country, and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet :-—* This species, called by me after my travelling companion, was found by us only in the Kan-su Mountains, and is much rarer than C. kamtschatkensis; it most probably inhabits only the bushes of the alpine region, and there principally the neighbourhood of brooks and rivulets. We did not succeed in finding a nest; but in the latter part of May I killed a female bird in which I found a completely developed greenish egg, which, however, was broken by the shot and could not be measured correctly. In its habits it very much resembles C. Aaméschatkensis, and does not occur north of Kan-su.” The following is the description of the species given by Colonel Prjevalsky in the work quoted above :— ‘* Male. Crown, back, and rump dark olive; and the same shade is perceptible on the back and sides of
Se
the neck, and also on the ear-coverts ; the small and median upper wing-coverts are dark grey. Moustachial stripes and eyebrows white; chin and centre of throat bright silky crimson; the edge separating the latter
colour from the white moustachial stripe, lores, and crop are black ; breast, stomach, and vent white ; sides olive-grey. Quills and large wing-coverts brownish, with wide edges of the colour of the back; under wing-coverts grey. Two central tail-feathers blackish brown; the others are black with a white base and white spots on the ends ; the upper tail-coverts are blackish grey.
‘Female. Dark olive-colour above, dirty white underneath; sides of neck and crop dirty grey; flanks olive-grey ; eyebrows white; ear-coverts brown; lores black. Quills and their large upper coverts brown ; widely edged with the colour of the back; lesser coverts dirty grey; under wing-coverts yellowish. The two central tail-feathers dark olive-colour, the others black, with a white spot on the end, but without a
white base; only small white spots are perceivable on the base of the second and third quills.
greene :
“ Quills, 4=5 longest, 6=3 somewhat shorter, 2= (almost) 9; first twice as long as its coverts. In the sharply rounded tail of twelve feathers, the outer ones are 0°35 shorter than the central. Culmen black ;
tarsus in front black, behind horn-coloured; toes blackish ; claws black; iris dark brown. Total length 6°5 inches, bill from gape 0°75, wing 3°02, tail 2.63, tarsus 2°25.” The figures in the Plate represent a male bird in two different positions, and a female. I must state that
I have never seen the latter bird; but I have carefully compared the female of Calhope pectoralis in my
possession with the description which Colonel Prjevalsky has given of the hen bird of his C. ¢schebacewi; and | I believe that the representation which I have given, founded as it is upon Prjevalsky’s own description, will be discovered to be a faithful portrait of the female of the present species, which, after all, cannot be very different in appearance from the same sex of C. pectoralis. For the loan of the male bird figured by me I have to thank my friend Mr. Henry Seebohm, of whose rich collection it now forms part, and by whom it was received in exchange from the St.-Petersburg Museum. It should be noticed that in Prjevalsky’s figure he does not indicate the white at the base of the tail, which forms such a conspicuous feature of this species, although it is duly noticed by him in his description.
The figures in the accompanying Plate are of the natural size.
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ACCENTOR MONTANELLUS.
Mountain Accentor.
Motacilla montanellus, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., tom. i. p. 471, pl.—Id. Itin., tom. iii. p. 695. no. 12. montanella, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 968. no. 99. Sylvia montanella, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 526. Accentor montanellus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit., tom. i. p. 251, tom. iii. p. 174, and Atlas, pl. of male-—Bree’s Hist. of Birds of Eur. not obs. in Brit. Isl., vol. ii. p. 115.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 305, Accentor, sp. 8.—Midd. Sib. Reise, tom. ii. p. 172.—Gould, Birds of Eur., vol. ii. pl. 101.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 187, Accentor, sp. 6. Temmincki, Brandt, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 306, Accentor, sp. 9. ———— (Spermolegus) Temminckii, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 230. ( ) montanellus, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 230. Spermolegus montanellus, Kaup. Siberian Warbler, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iv. p. 456.—Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 626.—Lath. Gen. Hist.,vol. vii. p. 90.
Tue figures of this bird on the opposite Plate were taken from Lake-Baikal specimens, which appear to have been killed in their full nuptial dress, since they differ considerably from examples obtained in other districts, yet not more than might be expected from individuals killed after the plumage had been exposed to the light and temperature of the lofty regions in which they dwell.
The Accentor montanellus is most nearly allied to the bird named 4. atrogularis by M. Brandt, of which a figure will be found in the present work; but the latter is somewhat larger in size and has a black throat, which the former never has. |
The following brief notes comprise all the information that has been recorded respecting this interesting species :—
Temminck states that it inhabits Siberia, European Russia, the eastern parts of the middle of Europe, and the same latitudes in Asia, that it is common in the Crimea in winter, and that it occurs in Dalmatia, Hungary, and, less frequently, in the centre of Italy. He adds :—‘* The individuals procured by Pallas do not differ from those killed near Naples. It always lives among the mountains, and does not visit the
- plains, even in winter.”
‘ All the adult specimens received by me from Lake Baikal,” says Mr. Swinhoe, ‘ are in full summer dress ; it would appear, therefore, that the bird breeds in that neighbourhood, and migrates southward in winter ; for, according to Pére David (‘ Nouvelles Archives,’ tom. iil. p. 32), it only occurs at Peking during the season of the great cold. It has not been found elsewhere in China. Von Schrenck does not mention it in his ‘Vogel des Amur-Landes ;’ Radde procured it in Mongolia; Middendorff obtained a single specimen in the Stanowoj mountains, and says that it agrees with Pallas’s description and Gould’s Plate in the ‘ Birds of Europe.’ He does not believe Accentor Temmincki, Brandt, to be distinct, but declares that it is the winter plumage of the ordinary bird.”
Dr. Bree states that the egg of this species, figured in his ‘ History of the Birds of Europe not observed in the British Isles,’ was kindly sent to him ‘“‘ by Professor Moquin-Tandon, with the following remarks :-— ‘My two eggs of this bird are exactly alike in shape and colour; they are twenty-three millims. in long diameter, and sixteen in the short. The colour pale and uniform azure blue. They were were taken in the south of Hungary, and sent to me by my friend, M. Raoul de Barace d’Angers.’ ”
Crown of the head brownish black, somewhat lighter in the centre ; over each eye a broad stripe of sandy buff; lores, lines under the eye, and ear-coverts brownish black, a few of the feathers covering the ears tipped with buff, forming a spot within the black ; on each side of the neck a patch of grey ; all the upper surface reddish brown, with a stripe of brownish black down the centre of each feather ; wing-coverts reddish brown, deepening into brownish black near the end and tipped with white ; remainder of the wing and the tail dark brown with lighter margins, and a few of the innermost secondaries tipped with white; under surface deep buff, becoming gradually paler towards the vent, and str eaked on the flanks with deep brown ; bill blackish
brown, tip yellow at the base ; legs buff. The lower figure in my Plate would appear to be that of a female ; the upper one probably represents a
adult male ; both of the natural size.
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ACCENTOR RUBI DUS, Sieb., Temm. et Schleg. Ruddy Accentor.
Accentor rubidus, Sieb., Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap., tab. xxxii.—Whitely, Ibis, 1867, p. 198.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 305, Accentor, sp. 7.
——— modularis rubidus, Sieb., Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap., p. 69. ——— (Tharrhaleus) rubidus, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, Parca w2o te
Tue islands of Japan stand at the eastern extremity of Asia, as the British Islands do at the western ; for Asia and Europe may be regarded as a continuous mass of land, stretching across the temperate region of the Old World ; but why the avifaunas of those opposite regions should closely assimilate, is a problem which naturalists have not been able to solve. In some instances the British and Japanese species are identical, such as the Hawfinch (Coccothraustes vulgaris) and the Tree-creeper (Certhia familiaris) ; while the Hedge Accentor (Aeccentor moduluris) and the Robin (Zrythacus rubecula), and many others, are represented by closely allied but distinct species. At the same time, there are many birds, and very fine ones, too, which are peculiar to Japan.
The bird here figured is closely allied to the Common Hedge Accentor (4ccentor modularis) of Britain, and, judging from its structure and coloration and from what we know of the situations to which it resorts, takes the place in northern Japan of our well-known species; indeed, at a first glance, the two birds might be considered identical; but on comparing the examples shot at Hakodadi, by Mr. Henry Whitely, with British-killed specimens, certain marked differences are observable, which induces the ornithologist to regard them as distinct, the redder hue of the upper surface of the Japanese bird, its shorter tail, and the deep grey of its breast being the main points by which it is distinguished from its British ally. While speaking of these differences I must remark that, upon comparing the figure of the bird published in the ‘ Fauna Japonica,’
nth
I find it to differ somewhat from the one here given; and if the drawing in that work is correct, there must -
_ be two species in Japan, in which case the bird I have represented will require a distinctive specific appel-
lation. I hesitate, however, to propose one at present, thinking it probable that the figure in the ‘ Fauna Japonica’ may have been taken from an imperfect specimen, there being no indication of longitudinal striz on the flanks, while in the specimens in my collection, procured by Mr. Whitely, they are as conspicuous as in our own Accentor modularis. 1 must not omit to mention that Schlegel has remarked on the absence of the strie from his bird, respecting which he says :—
“Japan is inhabited by an Accentor which resembles the ordmary species .4. modularis so closely that. it would seem to be merely a local race of the European bird. ‘The only differences I have been able to detect between them are that the Japanese bird has a shorter tail and certain modifications in its colouring: namely, the brown of the back and wings has a purple tint, and the head and neck, which are of a dusky reddish- brown, approaching a deep grey, are destitute of spots ; all the under surface, too, is of a nearly uniform tint, and does not present the longitudinal streaks which ornament the flanks of the European species. In every other respect they are alike.”
Mr. Henry Whitely, in his ‘ Notes on the Birds collected by him in Northern Japan,’ says :—
‘Two specimens only of this rare bird were obtained by me at Hakodadi,—the first on the 28th of October, 1865, from a native birdcatcher, of whom I had endeavoured to purchase it some time before when it was alive; but the price asked, two boos (4s.), was too much. The man told me it was the first he had ever obtained. The second, a male, was shot on the 14th of November, in the same year, on a bramble-bush, near the pine-wood at the foot of Hakodadi Head. In its habits it is evidently very shy and retiring, and it was only by patiently watching the bramble-bush that I was at last able to get a clear shot Alte ihe”
The general tint of the entire plumage of the upper surface rusty-red, with a dark brown centre to each feather; the tips of the wing-coverts and some of the innermost secondaries somewhat paler; the head, also, is somewhat lighter than the back; wings and tail dark brown, margined with rusty ; chin, throat, breast, and upper part of the abdomen dark reddish grey ; posterior part of the flanks rusty, with an obscure streak of dark brown down the centre of each feather; vent and under tail-coverts pale rusty ; bill brownish black ; irides light hazel ; legs, toes, and claws pale brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
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ACCENTOR ERYTHROPYGIUS, swina.
Red-backed Acecentor.
Accentor erythropygius, Swinh. Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1870, pp. 124, 447, pl. ix. alpinus, Schrenck, Vog. des, Amur-L. p. 355 ?
Ir will be seen that in this work neither the subgeneric term Spermolegus, proposed for the Accentor
montanellus, nor Tharrhaleus, for our common Hedge-Sparrow, has been employed, but that all the birds of this
; group have been retained in the genus Accentor, of which the A. alpinus is the type ; it is more immediately to this latter section that the very fine bird here represented belongs.
Of the history of the Red-backed Accentor I know nothing more than has been placed on record by
Mr. Swinhoe in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,’ and in some MS. notes with which
he has favoured me since the former account was published :—
“On a journey from Mongolia to Peking, in the Prefecture of Seuen-hwafoo, a tract of country enclosed by two portions of the Great Wall, we halted on the 26th of September, 1868, at a place called Kemeih, and . climbed up the sides of a high mountain, on the top of which stood a monastery. We were in pursuit of the
—
Rock-Partridge (Caccabis chukar), when a party of red-tailed birds whisked past us and, perching near, kept flying from rock to rock, uttermg loud cries. We secured one, and then continued our chase after the Par- tridges. A few days later I saw another small flock of the same species among the rocks of the fine mountain- pass that leads through the Nankow Gate to the Peking plain. The bird proved to be an Accentor of the
A. alpinus form, most nearly allied to the Accentor nipalensis of Hodgson; but from this the handsome
A. erythropygius may be at once distinguished by the chestnut colouring of its rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, by its greyer head and neck, and by the markings of the flanks and belly. -Accentor altaicus and
A. alpinus are also members of the same group of mottled-throated ecentors.”
«Pere David,” says Mr. Swinhoe, in the MS. notes above acknowledged, “ does not include this species in his ‘ Catalogue of the Birds of Peking ; ’ parts of Eastern Siberia ; but Middendorff found a bird which, from his description, is evidently this species (though identified by him with 4. alpinus), in Amoorland, and saw the young in July, flying about in parties on the steepest cliffs of the south shore of the sea of Okhotsk. Von Schrenck also met with it in Amoorland, but failed to distinguish it from 4. alpinus. It must also breed in the neighbourhood of Lake Baikal; for I have seen young specimens which M. Jules Verreaux had received thence. | ?
“The general plumage before the first moult is of a mottled yellowish grey; but the bright cinnamon colouring of the rump and the margins of the tail-feathers mark at once the species, even at this early age.”
The following is Mr. Swinhoe’s description of this fine bird :—
‘Head, neek, and breast smoke-grey; lores, and beneath the eye mottled with white; throat, for nearly an inch downwards white, crossed with narrow bars of black; lesser and greater wing-coverts and winglet black, with a large spot of white at the tip of each feather ; secondary quills black, margined for the greater part of their length with yellowish brown, and broadly tipped with light chestnut, terminating with white ; on the tertiaries the chestnut brightens and increases in extent, and the terminal white spots are conspicuous ; primaries blackish brown, edged with light yellowish brown, browner near their bases, and slightly tipped with white; back light yellowish brown with broad brown centres to the feathers; scapularies brownish chestnut, with a median streak of blackish brown and a small white tip to each feather ; the yellowish brown of the back soon brightens mto brownish chestnut, which is rich and conspicuous on the upper tail-coverts, the longest of which have black centres ; tail brownish black, the external rectrix with the greater part of its outer web brownish chestnut, and a broad white tip to the inner web; the rest of the rectrices, except the two centrals, have their outer webs tipped with chestnut, their inner webs with white, and they are narrowly
edged with light yellowish brown ; the two centrals are more broadly edged, and have broad eres marks on both their outer and inner webs towards the tips ; axillaries dusky, the carpal edge barred with black and white like the throat ; under surface light yellowish brown ; many of the flank-feathers deep chestnut- brown, with white margins; and the abdominal feathers have blackish V-shaped bars and white margins ; ander tail-coverts blackish chestnut, with broad white margins and tips ; bill blackish brown, ochreous yellow on the sides of the basal half of the lower mandible ; irides chestnut ; legs and toes ochreous ; claws light
and Gustav Radde did not meet with it in his travels in the southern
Se
a — Rarer ee eee
brown.” The figures are of the natural size.
j ) {
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I
——
ae
as
A
CCENTO
A
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Hiullmanidid &4
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Sould and Hl Richter ded ot lithy
1
ACCENTOR NIPALENSIS, Toles.
Nepaul Accentor.
Accentor Nipalensis, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 958.—Ib. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xiii. p. 34.— Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 71.— Moore in Proc. of Zool Soc. 1854, p. | .—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i.
p. 361.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 187, Accentor, sp. 3.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. of Calcutta, p. 130.
Cacharensis, Hodgs. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xiii. p. 34. nepalensis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 305.
Tue great Himalayan range is evidently the head-quarters of the Accentors, a tribe of birds represented in Europe by the 4. a/pinus of the continent, and 4. modularis, the well-known Hedge Accentor of England.
The members of this group have been subjected to three subgeneric divisions; the term Accentor being retained for the 4. a/pinus, with long wings and a short tail, and which appears to be confined to rocky and alpine distriets ; while for the British 4. modularis, with shorter wing's, a longer tail, a more graceful form and more uniform plumage, and which frequents underwood, hedge-rows and humid situations, the term Tharrhaleus, and for the eastern European species, 4. montanellus, (a form intermediate between the others,) that of Spermolegus, have been proposed by Dr. Kaup ; but although species of each of these forms are found in the Himalayas, and there seem to be some good reasons for their separation, I prefer retammg them all in the genus Accentor. -
The species here figured, which is a native of Nepaul, is the largest and finest species of the genus yet discovered, and at present is extremely rare in the collections of Europe.
When speaking of the Indian Accentors generally, Mr. Hodgson states that they are found in the central and northern regions of the hills only, and chiefly in the northern; that they avoid houses and cultivation ; that they breed on the ground, where they construct a well-compacted saucer-shaped nest of moss; and that they pass much of their time on the ground, and have an ambulatory structure of the legs and feet.
The male has the head, nape, sides of the neck and breast olive-brown; down the centre of the throat a series of white feathers with a black spot at the tip of each, giving it a barred appearance; upper surface reddish-olive, with a broad streak of black down the centrevof each feather, very conspicuous on the centre of the back, but less apparent on the rump; upper tail-coverts blackish-brown, broadly margined with reddish-olive, fading into greyish on the extreme edge ; wing-coverts and spurious wing black, with a small triangular mark of white at the tip of each feather; primaries and aueDHURI es blackish-brown, narrowly edged with rufous ; tertiaries similar, but more broadly edged and tipped avn SHON tail brown, with a large mark at the tip of each feather, which on the three outer ones is white, slightly sae with buff at the base, and entirely buff on the centre ones; a small mark of buff is also observable ou ue tip of the external web ; flanks rich chestnut, some of the feathers slightly margined with greyish-white ; under tail-coverts
dark reddish-brown, margined at the base with chestnut, and at the tip with white ; upper mandible black,
with a narrow mark of pale yellow at the base of the tomia; tip of the under mandible pale yellow; sides
and base pale yellow; legs dull flesh-colour.
In another state, which may be that of the female, the head, sides of the neck, breast and upper surface are olive-brown, with a streak of dark brown down the centre of each feather, showing most conspicuously on the centre of the back ; the lores and ear-coverts are minutely speckled with greyish-white; the throat-mark is similar to that of the male, but is not so strongly defined; the wings and tail are also similar, but the colours are not so bright, blend more into each other, and the chestnut edgings are nearly absent; and the
abdomen is reddish-chestnut.
The figures are of the natural size.
e.. *
;
ee Oe a e a a ee =e a ee a — — - --
pe
Watton Lin.
Hillmunde &
TOR IMMACULATUS, hays
AL
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ACCUK
SGould andl hidder bel c& litle
ACCENTOR IMMACULATUS, Hodgs.
Blue-shouldered Accentor.
Accentor immaculatus, Hodgs. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xi. p. 34.—Gray, and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 71, and App. p. 153. mollis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 581.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Caleutta,
p- 131.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. App. p. 8, App. to p. 187.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 306.
A CAREFUL examination of the figure of this bird, comprised in Mr. Hodgson’s original and named drawings, now at the British Museum, as well as of the numerous specimens in the national collection, and in the Museum of the East India Company, has convinced me that the Accentor mollis of Mr. Blyth is identical with the 4. «maculatus of Mr. Hodgson ; I am therefore obliged to reduce Mr. Blyth’s name to the rank of a synonym. Mr. Blyth considers this species to be the beauty of the genus, and I coincide in this opinion, since it really is one of the most pleasingly coloured members of the genus yet discovered. As regards its structure and contour, it more nearly assimilates to our Hedge Accentor than to any other ; and if we may judge from its thick clothing and the silky feel of its plumage, forest lands, thick underwood, and humid places are the situations it frequents ; but, on this pot, nothing has as yet been recorded. I believe that all the specimens sent to our museums have been collected in Nepaul, a country the natural productions of which are rich in the extreme.
Head and back of the neck dark slate-grey, the feathers of the forehead narrowly fringed with silvery- grey; lores black; wing-coverts pale grey; back chestnut-brown, gradually blending with the grey of the back of the neck, and becoming of a paler hue on the upper tail-coverts ; spurious wing black ; primaries brown, narrowly edged with silvery-grey; secondaries and tertiaries more chestnut externally, internally brown; tail slaty-brown; chin, throat, chest and upper part of the abdomen pale slate-grey ; lower portion of the flanks, vent, and under tail-coverts dark rusty-red ; bill black; feet fleshy-brown.
In other specimens, supposed to be females, a similar style of colouring prevails, but the tints are more blended and of a lighter hue. The plant is a species of Gentiana.
=
Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm.
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is
Moore
9
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» ACCENTOR RUBECULOIDES, moore.
Red-breasted Accentor.
Accentor rubeculodes, Moore in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1854, p- -—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 361.
ss
Tuts is another of the many rare species which have been transmitted to this country from Nepaul by Mr. Hodgson: in applying the term “rare” to this bird, I consider I am justified, when I state that the two examples in the Museum of the Hon. East India Company are all that we have yet seen. It differs remarkably in the colouring of its plumage from every other known species, and belongs to that section of the Accentors to which the term Zharrhaleus has been given by Dr. Kaup, with the Hedge Accentor as the type. Of its habits and manners nothing is at present known, but I may venture to predicate that whenever we become acquainted with them, they will yery closely resemble those of its near ally.
The markings of the two Specimens above mentioned are very similar, but the rufous colouring of the breast is much deeper in one than in the other: this may be due to age, sex, or the seasons at which they were respectively killed.
Forehead and crown brown; throat and sides of the neck brownish-grey ; lores speckled with greyish- whites upper surface reddish-brown, with a streak of blackish-brown down the centre of each feather ; wings brown, margined with reddish-brown, and faintly spotted with greyish-brown at the tips of the coverts, forming two obscure broken bands across the wing; tail brown with lighter margins; across the breast a broad band of rusty-red, which colour extends over the flanks; centre of the abdomen buffy-white, the buffy tint increasing in depth towards the under tail-coverts, which are buff with a dark central streak ; bill blackish- brown ; feet reddish flesh-colour. |
The figures are of the natural size.
| | | |
m0, Lngp.
alt
Se N = oN S nN = S S iS SS
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2
JS Gould und HC Rieptes
ACCENTOR STROPHIATUS, dodges.
Banded Accentor.
. Accentor strophiatus, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 959.—Gray, Zool. Misc. (1844) p. 83.—Hodgs. ~ in Proe. of Zool. Soc., part xiii. p. 34.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 72.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 187, Accentor, ° sp. 5. pl. li—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. of Calcutta, p. 131.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p- 305.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 360.
Tuts species is the commonest of the Indian Accentors, and also one of the most widely diffused ; it is, more- over, subject to greater variations in the colouring of its plumage than any other, and it has become doubtful to me whether there be not two species confounded under the term s¢rophiatus, or whether the Nepalese birds, with a darker style of plumage, and with larger, blacker and more numerous striz on the throat and abdomen, are not different from the lighter-coloured birds which inhabit the western Sub-Himalayan ranges.
In the absence of any positive information respecting them, I consider these birds to be merely varieties dependent upon locality, and I would call the attention of Indian ornithologists to the subject. The light- coloured birds in my collection were procured by Captain Boys.
There appears to be considerable difference in the size of the sexes, some of the specimens being very much smaller than others ; 1n all probability the smaller birds, which, moreover, have the rufous band of the breast of a paler hue, are females.
Crown of the head and all the upper surface olive-grey, with a streak of dark or blackish-brown down the . centre of each feather; over each eye a streak of buffy-white, expanding into a patch of rich buff behind the ] eye, above this buffy-white streak a broader one of brownish-black ; wings brown, margined, and the coverts
tipped, with greyish-buff; lores and ear-coverts dark brown; throat white, speckled with black; across the breast a large gorget of light rusty-red, which colour extends on to the flanks, but here there is a small central streak of brown down each feather; centre of the abdomen whitish ; under tail-coverts light brown,
margined with buffy-white ; upper tail-coverts and tail brown ; bill dark brown ; feet fleshy-brown. In other examples from Nepaul the general tint is much darker; the mark behind the eye and the margins of the feathers of the upper surface are more rufous ; the throat is broadly striated with brown, and the
under surface is also conspicuously striated in a similar manner. This may be the dress of the female or young. The figures represent the lighter-coloured birds of the natural size. The pretty little plant is the Andro-
) sace sarmentosa, Wall.
ee
Mon lin
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Wy
Linllnandel E
S , Brandt.
WS d
(
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A ba
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ACCENTOR ATROGULARIS, Brandt.
Black-throated Accentor.
Accentor atrogularis, Brandt, Bull. des Acad. des Sci. de St. Pétersb., i. no. 23.-—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 187, Accentor, sp. 7.—Hutton, Journ. Asiat Soc. Beng., vol. xviii. p. 811.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 131.
———— atrigularis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 305, Accentor, sp. 5. ——— Hutton, Moore in Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 360.
I wap long suspected that the descriptions of Aecentor atrogularis, given by M. Brandt at St. Petersburg and Capt. Hutton in India, had reference to one and the same bird, and I therefore delayed figuring it until I was enabled to form a decided opinion upon the subject; I also questioned whether the bird from the Vienna Collection, figured by me in my “ Birds of Europe ” under the name of Accentor montanellus, might not be
either a female or young of the same species; some of my specimens from the Himalaya having brown feathers interspersed here and there over the throat, suggesting that that part is not always black. I am satisfied that the Siberian and Himalayan birds described by Brandt and Hutton, together with the Accentor Huttoni of Moore, constitute but one and the same species; and this view of the subject is confirmed by Sir William Jardine, in a note received from him on the 22nd of December, 1854 :— “Your specimen of <dccentor is identical with the Siberian bird I have, which was sent by Brandt, and
agrees with his description in the ‘Bulletin’ of the St. Petersburg Academy. Your specimen has the under parts of a deeper yellowish sienna tint than ours, which is nearly white in the centre of the belly: the same difference appears in the colour of the superciliary streak, which is nearly white in the Siberian bird. These differences are noticed by Brandt im his description. Your skin looks a little larger, but the wing is
of the same length in both: the bill in your specimen is about the twentieth of an inch longer. I cannot
separate them as species, either from each other or from Brandt’s description. Your specimen is also identical with Hutton’s 4. atrogularis, in which the deeper tint of the under parts and the superciliary streak are mentioned.” I ought perhaps to mention that Professor Brandt is inclined to believe that the 4. monta- nellus of Temminck is not the bird to which Pallas gave the specific appellation of montanellus, but is either a variety of it or a distinct species, and in the belief that it would prove to.be the latter, proposed for it the name of 4. Temmincki; but Professor Blasius states that the 4. Temmincki is not distinct from 4. montanellus.
It is evident then that this bird is widely spread over the countries extending from the Himalayas to Siberia; all my specimens are from the subalpme districts of those lofty mountains, while Mr. Blyth states that those in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta were from the Tyne range beyond Simla ; those in the Museum of the Honourable East India Company are from Affghanistan, and those in the Museum of the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg are from Semipalatinsk in Siberia.
Crown of the head dark greyish brown ; face and throat black ; above the eye, commencing at the nostrils, a narrow streak of buff, above which is another streak of black ; upper surface greyish brown, with a streak of dark brown down the centre of each feather; wing-coverts greyish brown, with a mark of dark brown near the extremity, and tipped with buffy white ; primaries and secondaries dark brown, the former narrowly and the latter broadly margined with light brown ; tail light brown ; under surface buff, streaked with brown on the flanks; irides dark brown ; bill brown, lighter at the base ; legs light brown.
The figures are the size of life.
alton Jap
imandel & Wi
7 b
Hu
3S SS eS » = 2S : 8 eS 3 S as) 8 8 x S SS S
f
i NE OT LN A A I A Re: POT EI TN ANI ANI YN A HA aH
ACCENTOR ALTAICUS, Brandt.
Altaian Accentor.
Accentor aliaicus, Brandt, Bull. des Acad. des Sci. de St. Pétersb., i. no. 23.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 187, Accentor, sp. 9.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 306, Accentor, sp. 10.
——— Himalayanus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 187.
—— variegaius, Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 958.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc.
| Calcutta, p. 131.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 305, Accentor, sp. 3.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds n Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 359.
Tuar the bird here represented—the Accentor variegatus of Mr. Blyth—is identical with the 4. altaicus of M. Brandt I have little doubt, since the description given by the latter naturalist precisely accords with the Indian bird. Like the 4. atrogularis, this species ranges over the high and sterile countries extending from the Himalaya to the Altai. It is from the former of these that all the specimens in my collection have been received; those in the Honourable East India Company's Museum are from Nepal, while those in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta are from Sikkim.
In its general contour and in the disposition of its markings the present and the European species,
A. alpinus, are very much alike; differences, however, of sufficient importance occur to establish its specific value ; the Eastern bird being much smaller than the European one, having the dark markings of the back more conspicuous, and the feathers of the breast distinctly bordered with greyish white.
The following is Professor Brandt’s description :—
‘‘Le Musée de l’Académie contient une espéce, tirée dans l’Altai, voisine en quelque sorte de |’ Accentor alpimus, mais qui offre aussi quelques marques communes avec |’ Accentor modularis, auquel elle ressemble par rapport 4 la grandeur. Je nommerai cette HI espéce Accentor altaicus.
«* Accentor altaicus, mihi.—Rostrum nigrum. Caput supra cum cervice griseum. Genz ejusdem coloris, sed albo fuscoque lon- gitudinaliter striolate. Gula alba, sparsim nigro fasciolata. Pectoris superioris partis penne medio ferruginee, albo limbate, inferioris cum pennis hypochondriorum, crissi et tectricibus caudze medio fusce, ferrugineo parum imbute albo limbate. Abdomen medio album. ‘Tectrices alz inferiores albo et griseo fasciolate. Dorsi superior pars ferruginea fusco-nigro maculata, ob pennas medio fusco-nigras margine ferrugineas. Dorsi posterior pars grisea. Remiges primariz et rectrices fusco-nigricantes, margine externo albo limbate. A rostri apice ad caudee apicem 5" 3". Rostri longitudo ad frontem 6”. Tarsi longitudo 1". Alze lon-
gitudo ab angulo humerali 33”.”
Head and back of the neck grey, with a brown streak down each feather; cheeks grey, longitudinally striped with dusky white ; throat white, thinly fasciated with black ; feathers of the upper part of the breast ferruginous, margined with white; lower part of the body and flanks dusky, washed with ferrugimous, and edged with whitish ; centre of the abdomen white ; upper part of the body ferruginous, spotted with dusky, or the feathers dusky black, bordered with ferruginous ; lower part of the back grey; primaries and second- aries brown, edged with pale brown ; tail dark brown, with a mark of buffy white at the tip of each feather ; under tail-coverts dark brown, broadly margined with white ; bill brown, lighter at the base; irides dark brown; legs light brown. |
The figures are of the natural size. | , |
SYLVIA NANA.
J Gould & HC Richter. deb t/ tith/
—S
ee
SYLVIA NANA. Desert Whitethroat.
Curruca nana, Hempr. & Ehr. Symb. Phys. Aves, fol. cc (1828).
Salicaria aralensis, Eversm. Bull. Soc. Nat. Mosc., xxiii, pt. 2, p. 565, pl. viii. fig. 1 (1850).
Sylvia delicatula, Hartl. Ibis, 1859, p. 340, pl. x. fig. 1.—Salvad. Atti R. Acc. Sc. Torin., iii. p. 290 (1868).— Blyth, Ibis, 1869, p. 29.—Hume, tom. cit. p. 355, et 1871, p. 32.—Id. Stray F., i. p. 199 (1873).
—_— Dorie, De Filippi, Viagg. Pers., p. 348 (1865).—Tristr. Ibis, 1867, p. 84.
nana, Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr., i. p. 306 (1870).—Finsch u..Hartl. Vog. Ostafr., p. 244 (1870). Atraphorms aralensis, Severtz. Turkest. Jevotn., p. 124 (1873).
PLAIN-COLOURED as this little Warbler really is, it is nevertheless a species of great interest, as it is nearly allied to our own familiar Whitethroats and to the Spectacled Warbler (CS. conspicillata). It is evidently a species suited for inhabiting a desert country, whence its colour. |
The present species has a very extended range, being found from Central Asia and North-western India right across to North-eastern Africa, as will be seen by the excellent note furnished me by Mr. Blanford, who has solved its rather confused synonymy by a careful comparison of types. I am likewise indebted to the same gentleman for the following account, which he had prepared for his work on the natural history of Persia :—
“‘T have examined the types of Curruca nana, Hemp & Ehr., at Berlin, and of §. Dorie, De Fil., at Genoa, and have confirmed the identification of these species with S. delicatula, Hartlaub, suggested by Von Heuglin and Salvadori. Specimens sent from Russia to the museums of London and Berlin as Salicaria aralensis also belong to this species ; and the only difference I can find in the description of S. aralensis by Eversmann is that the feet are said to be light bluish (¢hell blaulich’) instead of dull yellow, a difference due possibly to Eversmann’s description being taken from dried specimens.
‘‘T have shot Sy/via nana in Southern Persia and in Baluchistan—in the former in summer on a rather barren plam sparingly covered with small bushes; in the latter in winter amongst tamarisk-bushes near a water- course, the whole of the surrounding country being desert. The usual haunt of this little Warbler throughout its rather wide range appears to be either semidesert plains or bushes near water in desert countries. Von Heuglin found it ‘in dense salt-plant copses’ on the African coast of the Red Sea, near Berbera &c. The types of S. aralensis were said to be from reeds on the shores of the Sea of Aral and the Syr Daria (or Jaxartes) River. Tristram met with this species on a salt plain near the south end of the Dead Sea; Doria | on a similar salt plain near Yezd in Persia; Jerdon and Hume in dry semidesert parts of North-western India, near Delhi, in western Rajpootana, and in Sind.
“Usually S. nana may be seen hunting about bushes and occasionally searching the ground about their roots. De Filippi, quoting Doria, says that it always remains on the ground, and that it has a habit of raising its tail. Its movements in general are somewhat Drymeca-like, as was observed by Von Heuglin ;
‘its flight is very weak and somewhat like that of the Willow-Wren. I did not notice its voice, which,
however, has been described by Von Heuglin and Hume to be feeble, resembling that of a Drymeca.
‘‘My notes on the coloration of the soft parts and on the measurements agree with the details given by Von Heuglin and Hume. The iris is golden yellow; bill dusky on the culmen, pale (almost flesh-coloured) below ; legs dull yellow. The following are the measurements of a male taken when the bird was just shot :— Length 4°75 inches, expanse 7:25, wing 2°] (in another specimen 2°4), tail 2, tarsus 0°8, bill from the gape 0°46.”
General colour sandy isabelline, slightly more rufous on the wing-coverts ; rump and upper tail-coverts rufous fawn-colour, the middle tail-feathers also of this colour, with dark brown shaft-stripes ; the remainder of the tail-feathers dark brown, margined with fawn, the penultimate one edged and tipped with white, the outermost-feather entirely white; quills very pale brown, with light sandy coloured margins slightly mixed with rufous; inner secondaries with sandy white margins, paler than on the primaries ; lores and circlet of feathers round eye white, as also the cheeks ; ear-coverts sandy rufous ; entire under surface of body, including the under wing- and tail-coverts, sandy white, inclining to isabelline on the flanks. Total length Az inches, culmen 3, wing 23, tail 1%, tarsus 7. be
There appears to be little or no difference in the colouring of the sexes, in which respects it assimilates to its Kuropean prototypes.
The figures in the accompanying Plate are supposed to represent each sex, of the natural size.
Bdlimandel b Walton, L272.
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TROGLODYTES NIPALENSIS, Ades
Nepaulese Wren.
Troglodytes Nipalensis, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 589.—Blyth, Cat: of Birds in Mus. of Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 158.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 222, Troglodytes, sp. 3.
subhemalayanus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., p. 82.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pr. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., pp. 62—151.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 158, Troglodytes, sp. 2.
Ss
Hzre we have a representative in the Himalayas and Nepaul of the Common European Wren ( 7roglodytes Europeus), the forms of the two birds being as similar as they well can be, but the Indian species has characters by which it may at all times be distinguished from the European one; it is rather smaller in size, has shorter wings and tail, is of a much darker colour, and has both the upper and under surface of nearly the same hue,—a dark reddish brown, transversely rayed with black.
In the whole of its habits and economy it doubtless as closely assimilates to its European ally as it does in its outward form. Among Mr. Hodgson’s Drawings in the British Museum, this bird is figured under
' the MS. name of 7. subhemalayanus, but I believe this appellation was never published by him, and I have
therefore adopted the term of Mpadensis, which both Mr. Blyth and the Prince of Canino considered to be Mr. Hodgson’s first name for the species.
The sexes do not present any difference whatever in colour or markings, but the female is a trifle less than the male in size.
I am indebted to H. E. Strickland, Esq., for the loan of examples of this bird, which with others in my own possession enables me to give correct delineations of this pretty representative of the European Wren.
The whole of the plumage dark chocolate-brown, transversely rayed with black, the rays showing conspi- cuously on the primaries, secondaries, tail-feathers and abdomen, where the chocolate hue is somewhat paler than on the other portions of the plumage: at the tip of each of the wing-coverts a minute spot of white ; bill blackish brown ; feet fleshy brown.
The figures are of the natural size.
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ANORTHURA FORMOSA.
Spotted Wren.
Troglodytes punctatus, Blyth (nec Boie), Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xiv. p. 589 (1845).—Id. Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc. p. 158 (1849).—Bp. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 222 (1850).—Jerd. Birds of India, i. p. 492 (1862).—Gray, Hand-l. Birds, i. p. 188, no. 2565 (1869).—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1874, p. 525, 1877, p. 238, 1879, p- 93.
Troglodytes formosus, Walden, Ibis, 1874, p- 91.—Ramsay, Orn. Mem. Tweed. p. 253 (1881).
Anorthura formosa, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. of Birds, vi. p. 279 (1881).
Turis would appear to be an extremely rare species; for Dr. Jerdon in his ‘Birds of India’ states that he had only procured one specimen at Darjiling, so that up to the year 1862 this appears to have been the only one obtained since Mr. Blyth’s typical example. Mr. Hume’s collection doubtless contains examples ; but as far as this country is concerned, I believe that only a single individual is known; and that one is in the collection of the late Marquis of Tweeddale.
Some little controversy has arisen as to the name which this species should bear. It would seem that before Mr. Blyth described the species the name punctatus had already been bestowed by Boie; but this title has always been considered a synonym of Anorthura troglodytes ; the Common Wren of Europe. Under these circumstances the late Lord Tweeddale proposed the name of Troglodytes formosus for the Darjiling species ; and to this Mr. Hume has taken exception. He writes:—* In this I am quite unable to concur; and as it involves, to my notion, a fundamental error in principle, I feel bound to protest against it. Had Brehm’s name stood for the species to which it was applied, the proposed change would be correct; but, as a fact, the name does not stand, it has become a mere synonym, is dead for our purposes, and therefore the adjective punctatus is again available to characterize some other species of the genus. Blyth did thus utilize it, and his name punctatus should, in my opinion, most assuredly stand.” I am sorry I cannot follow Mr. Hume in his conclusions, backed up as they are by his argument in ‘Stray Feathers’ for 1877, p. 238; for I think that if a name has been given to any species before, it is better not to employ it again under any circumstances; and I have therefore adopted Lord Walden’s correction.
The present species stands quite alone in its coloration, and is much more like a true Timeliine bird than a Wren. ‘The following description is copied from Mr. Sharpe’s ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’—
Adult. General colour above smoky brown, inclining to dull rufous-brown on the lower back and rump, and verging to more decided rufous on the upper tail-coverts; on all the upper parts there are tiny rounded subterminal spots of whitish or pale fulvous, margined with dusky blackish, these spots being absent only on the crown of the head; wing-coverts dusky brown, with rather larger spots of buffy whitish; the greater coverts rufous, mottled on the outer web and having a buffy-white spot at the tip; quills blackish, externally rufous, with five broad bands of black, the inner secondaries more narrowly barred and having a few terminal spots of white; tail rufous, barred with blackish, about nine narrow bars being perceptible on the centre feathers ; lores and sides of face smoky brown, mottled with fulvous spots, mdistinct on the lores but plainer on the cheeks; the ear-coverts streaked narrowly with fulvous; throat light sandy buff, deepening in colour on the breast and abdomen; the whole under surface mottled with triangular whitish spots, which are brought into relief by dusky central spots, all the feathers bordered by a thin dusky line and freckled with minute dots of dusky blackish; the flanks rather browner than the abdomen; under wing-coverts ace axillaries reddish brown, slightly mottled with dusky bars ; quills dusky brown below, ashy along the margin of the inner web, and showing some fulvous bars towards the ends; “ Puonny brown; legs pale brown; iris brown” (Jerdon). Total length 4°6 inches, culmen 0°6, wing 1°75, vail ae: ous 0:7. aS
Iam indebted to Captain Wardlaw Ramsay for the loan of the specimen in the T weeddale collection, from which Mr. Sharpe’s description was also taken. The figures in the Plate are drawn from this specimen, and
represent the species of the natural size.
[R. B. 8.]
UROCICHLA LONGICAUDATA.
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Ltrotdls
UROCICHLA LONGICAUDATA.
Long-tailed Hill-Wren.
Pnoepyga longicaudata, Moore, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854, p. 74.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. East-India Co. Mus. i. p. 398 (1854).—Jerd. Birds of India, i. p. 490 (1862).—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 188, no. 2561 (1869).—Jerd. Ibis, 1872, p. 130.—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1879, p. 93.
chocolatina, Godwin-Austen & Walden, Ibis, 1875, p. 252.—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1876, p. 218; 1878, p. 235; 1879, p. 93.
caudata (lapsu), Godwin-Austen in Jerd. Birds of India, 2nd ed. p. xxviii (1877).
Urocichla longicaudata, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. of Birds, vol. vi. p. 263 (1881).
Tue original specimen of this interesting little species was obtained by the late Dr. Samuel Griffith during one of his natural-history expeditions in the East. It passed into the Museum of the East-India Company, and was then described, from ‘North India,’ by Mr. F. Moore. In the Catalogue of the East-India Company’s Museum, the home of this species was given as ‘‘ Afghanistan,” along with several other birds whose habitat should have been the Khasia hills. The mistake is well explained by the late Mr. Blyth, who writes as follows m ‘The Ibis’ for 1872 (p. 89) :—‘* The late distinguished botanist, Samuel Griffith, as is well known, made zoological collections in Sindh and Afghanistan, and afterwards in the Khasia hills ; and those collections having got mixed up, not a few of the Khasia species are erroneously set down as having been obtained in Afghanistan in the Catalogues of the specimens of Mammalia and Birds contained in the London East-India Museum, prepared by Messrs. Horsfield and Moore.”
Nothing is known of the habits of this little Hill-Wren; but they doubtless assimilate closely to those of Pnoepyga, which Urocichla much resembles in style of plumage. Mr. Sharpe has referred the P. chocolatina of Colonel Godwin-Austen and Lord Walden to this species, having examined a specimen in the collection of the former gentleman. He has now examined a further series in Colonel Godwin- Austen’s cabinet, and believes that P. chocolatina is the young bird, or at least one of the phases of plumage of P. longicaudata.
As far as we know at present, the Long-tailed Hill-Wren is an inhabitant of the Khasia and Munipur hills only. On the stand on which the type specimen was mounted, Mr. Sharpe found the locality entered as Darjiling; but there can be no doubt, as pointed out above, that it was procured by Griffith in the Khasia hills, where it would appear to be tolerably abundant.
The following description of the type specimen was given by Mr. Bowdler Sharpe in his recently published sixth volume of the ‘ Catalogue of Birds :’—
« Adult. General colour above dark olive-brown, all the feathers edged with dusky brown, producing a some- what scaly appearance everywhere, except those on the lower back, rump, and the upper tail-coverts, which are uniform; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back, the greater series and the quills rather more reddish brown; tail-feathers dull reddish brown; lores dusky; cheeks and ear-coverts uniform dark olive- brown; under surface of body light ochraceous buff, the flanks olive-brown; the sides of the upper breast slightly mottled with dusky brown tips to the feathers, and more or less distinct whitish shaft-streaks ; chin slightly whiter than the throat and the breast, with a few white feathers in the centre ; vent and under tail- coverts rather more reddish buff than the rest of the under surface; under wing-coverts like the breast, the edge of the wing brown ; quills sepia-brown below, narrowly edged with ashy along the inner web. Total length 4°5 inches, culmen 0:5, wing 1:95, tail 1°95, tarsus 0°85.”
The figures in the Plate represent an adult bird in two positions, of the size of life; they are drawn from
a skin lent to me by Colonel Godwin-Austen.
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SPHENOCICHLA ROBERTI, Godw-Aust. & Wald. Robert’s Wedge-billed Wren.
Sphenocichla roberti, Godwin-Austen & Wald., Ibis, 1875, p. 250.—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1876, p. 217.—Id. Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xlv. p. 2, pl. vi. (1877).—Id. Str. F. 1879, p. 95.
Stachyrirhynchus roberti, Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 217, note.—Id. Str. F. 1879, p. 95.
Sphenocichla humi, pt., Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. B. vi. p. 283 (1881: ¢).
Tue present species replaces the Sphenocichla humii in the hills of Northern Cachar and Manipur, where it was discovered by Mr. William Robert, who has also collected many interesting new species in these little- known localities. When I talk of this bird as being a representative of S. humi, I must state that I am following the opmion of my friend Colonel Godwin-Austen ; for I must confess that it seems to me very doubtful if the Sikbim bird and S. roderé are really distinct from one another. There is a certain difference in the size of the bills, but not sufficient to found a species upon; and I believe that future research will confirm the identity of S. hum and S. robert, the latter, as figured by me, being the female.
The identical specimen from which my Plate was drawn was described by Mr. Sharpe in the ‘ Catalogue of Birds ;’ and I append his description.
“Female. Differs from the male in being of a reddish brown above, the feathers edged with black and subterminally spotted with ashy, producing a scaly appearance; the ashy spots absent on the head, and more rufescent on the lower back and rump; the upper tail-coverts numerously barred with dusky ; wing- coverts like the back and spotted with ashy in the same manner, the greater coverts with numerous dusky cross bars ; quills dark brown, the secondaries rufous brown externally, the innermost lighter brown and barred across with dusky ; primaries externally barred with fulvous and more narrowly with blackish; tail-feathers dull brown with numerous bars of dusky blackish, about twenty-two bars being perceptible on the central feathers; forehead a little clearer than the crown, the lores dusky ; upper edge of eyelid white ; ear-coverts blackish, with nearly obsolete whitish shaft-lines ; cheeks ashy whitish, the feathers with dark brown centres, and blackish margins, producing a scaly appearance; throat and chest scaly, the feathers being olive-brown in the centre, blackish on the margin, with a subterminal line of white ; the feathers in the centre of the breast ashy, with less-pronounced blackish edges ; sides of body reddish brown, slightly washed with olive, and mottled by the presence of a few feathers which are edged with blackish and subterminally marked with dull white ; under tail-coverts rufous brown, subterminally marked with a line of dull white ; under wing-coverts brown, those near the edge of the wing ashy 5 quills dusky brown below, pale ashy rufous along the edge of the inner web. ‘Total length 6°5 inches, culmen 1:15, wing 2:95, tail 2°7, tarsus 1-1.” |
I have depicted the bird in two positions, of the natural size. Both figures have been drawn from a
specimen of §. roderti kindly lent to me by Colonel Godwin-Austen. 7 [R. B. 8.]
SPHENOCICHLA HUMII.
Hume’s Wedge-billed Wren.
Heterorhynchus hum, Mandelli, Str. F. 1873, p. 415. Stachyrirhynchus humu, Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 95. Sphenocichla humti, Sharpe, Brit. Mus. Cat. vi. p. 283 (1881: ¢).
Tuis extraordinary bird was described by Mr. Mandelli from specimens procured in Native Sikhim, and was named by him Heterorhynchus. This title, however, had already been employed by Lafresnaye, and Mr. Hume’s name of Stachyrirhynchus would have had to be used; but before the latter was published, Colonel Godwin-Austen and Lord Tweeddale had described a second species from Munipur, which they had called Sphenocichla ; and there can be no doubt that this is the correct generic name to be employed.
Mr. Hume’s proposed title is a very good one for expressing the affinities of the genus; for the wedge- shaped bill is very similar to that of Stachyris; and at the same time the absence of bristles to the gape proves that it is a true Wren, and its place in the family is probably close to Pnoepyga.
As the birds were lent me by Colonel Godwin-Austen as two distinct species, I have figured S. roberé as different from S. Aum; but I must express great doubts as to their being really two species, and Mr. Sharpe considers them undoubtedly identical.
The following is a description of S. hwmi, taken from the British Museum ‘ Catalogue of Birds,’ where Mr. Sharpe has described it as the male of the species.
‘© Adult male. General colour above scaly, the feathers being brown in the centre, edged with black, the feathers on the head and mantle with buffy-white shaft-lines, less distinct on the lower back and rump, the dorsal feathers indistinctly waved with narrow blackish cross-bars; upper tail-coverts reddish brown, narrowly barred with indistinct blackish cross lines ; wing-coverts like the back, edged and obscurely barred in the same manner; some of the greater coverts more ochraceous brown towards the tips; quills blackish brown, obscurely barred with lighter brown and black externally, the bars a little more distinct towards the end of the secondaries; upper tail-coverts and tail rather more reddish brown, numerously barred with blackish brown, the bars about twenty-one in number; forehead blacker than the head, with very distinct white shaft-streaks, the lores and sides of the crown similarly coloured; an eyebrow of light-ashy feathers tipped with white, drawn from above the eye to the sides of the neck, which is also mottled with the same ashy-spotted feathers ; ear-coverts and cheeks blackish, narrowly streaked with white shaft-lines, as also the fore part of the cheeks; under surface of body blackish brown, the feathers of the throat and breast obsoletely margined with dull ashy, producing a scaly appearance ; chin with distinct white shaft-lines ; centre of breast ashy, the lateral feathers blackish, tipped with ashy ; flank-feathers and vent blackish, tipped with fulvous brown; under tail-coverts entirely fulvous brown ; under wing-coverts light fulvous brown, edged with blackish, the outer ones more ashy ; quills brown below, asby fulvous along the edge of the inner web. Total length 6°3 inches, culmen 1-0, wing 2:7, tail 2°6, tarsus 1:05.” .
The Plate represent a male bird in two positions ; and the figures are drawn from a fine specimen obtained in Native Sikhim by Mr. Mandelli and lent to me by Colonel Godwin-Austen, in whose collection it now 1s.
The figures are of about the natural size. [R. B. S.J
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SALPORNIS SPILONOTA. Spotted Creeper.
Certhia spilonota, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., pt. 1. p. 121. Salpornis spilonotus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 338.
——— spilonota, Gray, Gen, of Birds, vol. i. pl. xliv, upp. fig —Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 382.—Blanf. in Ibis, 1867, p. 461.
Tue singular bird figured on the accompanying Plate has many characters in common with the Climacteres of Australia, and is not very far removed from the single member of the genus Zichodroma. Hitherto it has been ranked among the rarities of Indian ornithology, and its true locality was almost unknown. Franklin’s solitary specimen was all the material at the disposal of the late D. W. Mitchell for his figure of the species in Mr. G. R. Gray’s ‘Genera of Birds ;’ but I have been more fortunate, having had several fine examples lent to me by Mr. W. T. Blanford (from the Rev. S. Fairbank) and by my friends Captains Stackhous, Pinwill, and Julian. One belonging to the last-named gentleman was collected in Oude; and Captain Pinwill writes me the following note :—<* I shot a specimen in a grove of mangoe trees. It had the manners of an ordinary creeper ; it was in a large migrating party of Sitta castaneoventris and Yungipicus Hardwickii, no doubt at the time moving from the more central jungle into the Oude terai, or low hills.” Fortunately other interesting notes relating to the habits and economy of this species have appeared in ‘The Ibis’ and elsewhere; and these I take the liberty of transcribing.
Mr. Jerdon states that ‘this bird inhabits the hilly parts of Behar and probably similar regions in Central India, Bundelkund, &c. It does not appear to have been again discovered since Franklin procured it, now more than thirty years ago, except by Hodgson, who received it from Behar ; but the exact locality in which it was obtained is still unknown. It was probably the hilly and jungly tract which extends from Mount Parisnath, where it is very likely to be found, through Chota Nagporee, towards the source of the Nerbudda.”
In a letter to the Editor of ‘The Ibis,’ dated ‘ Geological Survey Office, Calcutta, July 17, 1867,” Mr. W. T. Blanford says :—
“JT think all who have paid attention to the ornithology of India will be interested in hearing of the rediscovery of Franklin’s long-lost Certhia spilonota (Salpornis spilonota, Gray). I have collected birds during the past year around Nagpoor, and in the country to the south, about Chanda and Siroucha; and amongst other rarities I had the good fortune to obtain eight or nine specimens of Sa/porns, most of them in good condition. They agree perfectly with the somewhat meagre original description given by Major Franklin in the ‘ Proceedings ’ of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society for 1831, p. 121, and with Mr. Blyth’s fuller account in ‘The Ibis’ for 1865, p. 48. My first specimen was killed about twenty miles south of Chanda; but the birds there appeared to be very rare. It was much less so, though still very far indeed from common, in the great forests upon the Pranhita and Godavery rivers, about Sironcha. This is five hundred miles south of Franklin’s supposed original locality, and still further from Behar, whence Mr. Hodgson is said to have obtained specimens. It is very probable that the neighbourhood of the Godavery is the principal locality of this bird, and that the specimens obtained to the northward were stragglers. It is curious that Mr. Jerdon did not meet with it in Bustar, which is not very far from Siroucha, and is a portion of the same great forest-tract, which, indeed, stretches from the Godavery to Midnapoor, and is the largest extent of ‘jungle’ in India.
“< Salpornis is not very wary. It has much the appearance of a Sitta, clinging to the largest trees, running round and round their trunks in all directions, and searching for insects. I found Coleoptera in their stomachs. In April the sexes were paired, and evidently breeding ; but I had not the good fortune to obtain any of their eggs.”
Stripe over the eye greyish white ; upper surface dull black, streaked on the head and spoued all over the body with greyish white; wings dark grey, crossed by broad bars of dul black ane greyish white ; Bre centre tail-feathers grey, with spots of black along their edges; the remainder greyish brown, crossed yee well-defined bars of white; chin and throat whitish ; chest, flanks, abdomen, and under tanlscovents brownish grey, barred with dull black and grey ; bill horny brown, lightest on the base of the under mandible, where it appears to have been flesh-coloured ; feet apparently light STO
The figures represent the bird in two positions, of the size of life.
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CERTHIA NIPALENSIS, Modes.
Nepaulese Creeper.
Certhia Nipalensis, Hodgs.—Blyth, Mon. of Indian Certhiade.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. Appendix, p. 7.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soe. Calcutta, p. 188.
Certhia discolor, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiv. p. 580?—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Beng., p. 188?
Mr. Buiyrn has published several short notices of a Creeper which he considers to be distinct from both the C. Mpalensis and C. Himalayana; and which he says is “distinguished by having the entire under parts uniform dingy brown, or very much sullied albescent; whereas in the preceding species the under parts are pure white tinged with ferruginous on the sides of the breast, and the flanks as well as the lower tail-coverts are deep ferruginous. Upon a first view it might be thought that the under parts of C. discolor are merely dirty, but the colour is not to be washed out, and five specimens before me are all quite similar; while in the three Nepaul specimens of the other (C. Mpalensis), the white is alike pure, and the flanks deep ferruginous.” I have had an opportunity of making a careful comparison of the bird, to which Mr. Blyth has assigned the appellation of dscolor, with the true C. Mipalensis of Mr. Hodgson: in size, and in the general markings of their upper surface they are precisely similar ; on the other hand, as Mr. Blyth states, the whole of the under surface of his C. discolor is of a sordid greyish brown. I do not wish to detract from the value of Mr. Blyth’s opinion, which future research may prove to be well-founded ; but I have thought it better to figure both on one plate, rather than give separate repre- sentations of birds in which so slight a difference is found to exist. Mr. Blyth states im one of his papers, that the @. discolor is common at Darjeeling, and in another that it replaces C. Mpalenses in Sikim.
As will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, this is in every respect a typical Certhia. No account, so far as I am aware, has yet been given of its habits, actions or economy; but we may reasonably suppose they are very similar to those of the other members of the genus.
General plumage dark brown with areddish tinge; the feathers of the crown with a reddish brown stripe down the centre; over each eye a broad buffy stripe; ear-coverts and upper part of the back dark brown, edged with black and with a mark of buff down the centre; wing-coverts tipped with sandy buff; primaries and secondaries crossed by a band of buff, the former also margined with buff, and the latter with a narrow line down the centre and a spot at the tip of the same colour; throat and abdomen white; flanks, upper and under tail-coverts rufous; tail reddish brown; irides dark brown; bill and feet pale brown.
The figures are of the natural size; the upper one being a representation of the C. Mpalensis, and the
lower of the bird which Mr. Blyth names C. discolor.
Haimnnde & Waltow fi Tif
een meaty,
S Gould. and HC hachder deb a With.
CERTHIA HIMALAYANA, Fig.
Himalayan Creeper.
Certhia Himalayana, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. Sci. of Zool. Soc., Part I. p. 174.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.
Soc. Calcutta, p. 118.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 143. Certhia Asiatica, Swains. Anim. in Menag., p. 353.
Tux describing and figuring of additional species of certain well-known European genera is not the least interesting portion of a work on the Birds of Asia; indeed when we remember that the two continents are inseparably connected, we may without any degree of surprise expect to find additional species of such forms to exist in countries further eastward, and in the present instance, among many others, we have a case in point. The Common Creeper of our own island is a bird familiar to every observer of nature, and here we have a species inhabiting the temperate and higher regions of India closely allied to it, but which may be distinguished at a glance by the numerous narrow bars on the wing and tail-feathers, and by
‘its somewhat larger size.
The Certhia Himalayana was first described by the late Mr. Vigors, from specimens forming part of my early collections from the Himalayas; over the greater portion of which, judging from the numerous examples which have from time to time been sent from thence, it appears to be dispersed : Capt. Boys collected many examples, but unfortunately does not say where they were obtained ; Mr. Blyth states that it is found in Deyra Doon ; and the late Hon. F. J. Shore procured it at Chum-coa Gurree.
As is the case with the Common Creeper, the sexes assimilate so closely in their plumage that it is impossible to distinguish the one from the other. Both Mr. Shore and Capt. Boys state that it feeds on insects, but neither of those gentlemen has given any account of its habits and actions ; without taking any undue liberty with nature’s laws, I may assert that it procures its food from the interstices of the bark of the holes and branches of the trees precisely after the manner of our own species.
General plumage very dark brown, with a few paler stripes down the crown ; the remainder of the feathers of the upper surface with an oblong mark of pale brown or reddish white ; primaries and secondaries crossed near their base by an oblique, broad band of buff, and near the tip by another of pale brown, and with a small spot of the same hue at the tip; scapularies and tail-feathers pale greyish brown crossed by numerous narrow bars of dark brown; over each eye a narrow line of whitish; throat whitish gradually deepening into pale brown on the under surface; eye dark brown; bill brown, with the exception of the basal three-fourths of the under mandible, which are yellowish brown; legs light brown.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
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PHYLLOPNEUSTE TRISTIS.
Phylloscopus tristis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 996, and vol. xvi. p. 591; Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p-178; Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 185.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 336.—Adams in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xxvi. 1858, p. 493, and part xxvii. 1859, p. 182.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. p. 190.
Regulus tristis, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 175, Regulus, sp. 8.
Abrornis tristis, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 290, Abrornis, sp. 5.
Sylvia trochilis, Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 6.
Au, or nearly all, the members of the genus Phyllopneuste inhabiting India differ from those frequenting Europe and Northern Africa. The present bird, of which four examples are now before me, possesses specific characters which, if closely attended to, will materially assist ornithologists in their investigation of this intricate group of little birds, to which so many trivial names have been applied —Willow-Wrens, Leaf- Wrens, Tree-Wrens, &c.
The Phyllopneuste tristis is termediate in size between the Chiff-chaff and Willow-Wren of our island, and differs from both in the brown colouring of the upper surface and the scarcely less deep brown of its ear-coverts, sides of the neck, and flanks; this brown colour also pervades the eye-streak ; and there is in fact no trace of yellow over any portion of the body, except on the under surface of the shoulders and on the tips of the axillaries, where, as will be seen on reference to the accompanying Plate, it is perceptible even when the wing is closed.
Since my drawing was made I have observed that Mr. Blyth considers this bird and the Sylva brevirostris of Strickland, which is a native of the country around Smyrna, to be identical ; but on comparison of specimens from Smyrna, I find that they do not agree with the Indian one, and, with all due deference to Mr. Blyth’s opinion, I believe that he is in this instance mistaken, and that his name of P. ¢ristis should be retained for the Indian bird.
Mr. Blyth says this species is “common in swampy places wherever there is Jungle, and diffused generally over India.” He “also found it abundant in a mango-tope, near Hooghly, where there was no marshy ground in the immediate vicinity.” |
Mr. Jerdon obtained a specimen in Southern India, “in a wooded valley along the edge of the Northern range of Ghauts. It is lively and active in its habits, occasionally flying from among the reeds, on which it was perched, and alighting on a stone in the water, whence it made short sallies after insects in the air, or seizing one in the sand of the rivulet.”
Dr. Adams states that it is common in the Deccan, Scinde, and North-west Bengal, and_tolerably abundant on the lesser ranges in the jungles, and in all wooded situations in Cashmere.
The following is Mr. Jerdon’s accurate description of this species :—
“« Above uniform dull brown ; below albescent ; with a faint ruddy tinge on the pale supercilia; the sides of the neck, of the breast, and flanks, axillaries, and fore part of the wing beneath, pure light yellow ; irides brown; bill blackish yellow beneath and at the gape ; legs brownish black.”
The figures are of the natural size.
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REGULUS HIMALAYENSIS, Buyin. Himalayan Golderest.
Regulus cristatus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 186.—v. Pelz. Ibis, 1868, p. 308. “Regulus Himalayensis, Blyth,” Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part 1. p. 206.
Tar the avifauna of India should be destitute of a member of the genus Regulus could not have been even suspected, since the form occurs in Asia Minor on the west, and in Amoorland and Japan on the east. It is strictly a northern genus, no species being found to the southward of the equator. In the New World two species occur, one, 2. satrapa, in North America, and the other, R. (Reguloides) calendula, in Mexico. In the Old World we find R. tgnicapillus, R. cristatus, and R. Maderensis, the two former of which are spread over Europe and North Africa, while the third appears to be confined to the island of Madeira. The five birds above mentioned are regarded as true and distinct species by every ornithologist, while that repre- sented on the opposite Plate (22. Himalayensis) and the R. Japonicus of Bonaparte are considered to be of questionable specific value. Now, as I have before me specimens of R. cristatus collected in England and France, of /. Japonicus from the island whence it derives its name, and a fine male specimen from the Himalayas, I will point out the differences, slight or otherwise, which I find to exist among these distantly located examples. As is the case with many other nearly allied species of Europe and Japan, the Reguli inhabiting those countries very closely assimilate, while they differ from the bird found in the Himalayas, the latter being considerably larger in size, having longer wings, and the centre of the crest of a paler hue, or not so intensely orange as in either of its congeners ; in every other part of their plumage all three are very similar. After this brief notice of the little difference which really exists between R. cristatus, Rh. Japonicus, and R. Himalayensis, ornithologists must form their own opinion as to whether they are really three distinct, or only one and the same species. Those who take the latter view will hold that the A. crstatus ranges over the greater part of the Old World, from Ireland to Japan; and this may be the true state of the case: whether it be or be not, it becomes my duty to give a place to the Himalayan Goldcrest in ‘The Birds of Asia.” I close these remarks with stating my belief that rf a number of European, Himalayan, and
Japanese specimens were mingled together, a competent ornithologist would have no difficulty in deciding
to which country each belonged. The admeasurements of birds cannot be depended upon ; but I repeat that I find the Himalayan bird to be larger than that of Japan, which, again, somewhat exceeds the size of the favourite little Goldcrest of Europe.
Of the R. Himalayensis very little is known; Mr. Jerdon merely mentions that it is “‘ very like the Regulus cristatus, but larger, and the flame-coloured interior of the crest more developed.
“The Himalayan Fire-crested Wren has only been found in the N. W. Himalayas, and, even there, appa- rently not very common.”
Von Pelzeln in his paper on ‘‘ Birds from Thibet and the Himalayas,” after mentioning that Dr. Stoliczka met with the bird at Kotegurh in winter, remarks, “‘ most careful comparison has convinced me of the specific identity of the European and Asiatic birds.”
General colour olive-green, becoming somewhat yellow on the rump, and more grey on the under surface ; lores grey; superciliary stripe brown, above which is a streak of black; centre of the crown yellowish orange, bordered externally with paler yellow; lesser and greater wing-coverts yellowish white, forming two bands across the wing ; primaries dark brown, margined externally with olive, and with a black spot at the base of the sixth, seventh, and eighth; bill black; feet brownish flesh-colour.
Total length 3% inches, bill +, wing 24, tail 144, tarsi 2.
The figures are somewhat less than the natural size.
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MOTACILLA MADERASPATENSIS, Ge. Great Pied Wagtail.
Motacilla Maderaspatensis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 961.—Lath. Ind. Orn., tom. ii. p. 502.—Jerd. . in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 10.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 203, Motacilla, sp. 5. Maderas, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 548. variegata, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 234.—Sykes, im Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part ii. p. 91. picata, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 119. Maderaspatana, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 1387.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 251, Motacilla, sp. 6.—Blyth, Mem. on Fam. Motacillidee, p. 2. Pied Wagitail, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 320. pl. civ. Mhamoola, of the Hindoos.
Tue elegant contour and graceful actions of the Pied Wagtail, so commonly distributed over every part of the British Islands, cannot but be familiar to every one who has paid the slightest attention to our native birds; all, however, are not aware that this semi-domesticated favourite is only one of the many species of the genus Motacilla which are dispersed over the whole of the northern portion of the Old World, or that there exist in India several species very similar in general appearance, and whose habits and economy precisely resemble those of our own pretty favourite. The subject of the present memoir and of the accom- panying Plate, which is the largest species of the entire genus, is a native of India, to which country it appears to be strictly confined. With the exception of Lower Bengal, where Mr. Blyth states it is not found, it is distributed over the whole of the Indian peninsula, from the base of the Himalaya Mountains to Travancore; and Mr. Layard also includes it in his ‘‘ List of the Birds of Ceylon.” Colonel Sykes com- prises it in the ‘‘ List of the Birds of the Dukhun.” Major Franklin obtained specimens on the banks of the Ganges and in the mountain chain of Upper Hindostan; and Mr. Blyth has seen examples from Darjeling and from the district of Rajmahl.
With respect to its habits, Captain Boys states that it ‘is very nimble on its legs, and runs with great facility, constantly jerking its tail, and, like the other members of the genus, making occasional jumps after flies and other sects. It is not so common as the other Indian species, and differs much in weight, according to the season, but generally averages between nine and ten drachms.” Mr. Jerdon mentions that it is found throughout the peninsula, but only in the neighbourhood of rivers. I find a figure and descrip- tion of this species among the Drawings and MS. notes of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, who states that he shot both sexes together at Hutwas near Aurungabad, on the 23rd of January 1836, while they were engaged in picking up insects by the side of a stream ; that he also found the bird in the Sagur and Dumoh districts ; that it is only seen during the cold weather, and removes, like the other Wagtails, on the approach of the hot season. ;
The plumage of the sexes varies only in the colour of the upper surface of the female being brown instead of black; and we learn from Mr. Blyth’s memoir on the Motacilhde that the winter dress merely differs from that of summer in the feathers immediately below the eye, and those of the chin and throat being white instead of black. The conspicuous white superciliary stripe at once distinguishes this bird from all the other members of the genus. |
Head, neck, cheeks, chin, throat, back wings and eight middle tail-feathers black ; a conspicuous stripe, commencing at the nostrils and passing over each eye, the margins of the secondaries, greater wing-coverts and lateral tail-coverts, breast, abdomen and under tail-coverts white; two outer tail-feathers on each side white, margined internally, for nearly their whole length, with black ; irides dark brown; bill and legs black. 3
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
Ludirrarde, & Walion, Lr.
MOTACILLA DUKHUNENSIS, Sykes
del. et bith.
Tecchder,
J Gould wnd HC.
MOTACILLA DUKHUNENSIS, Sykes. Deccan Wagtail.
Motacilla Dukhunensis, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part u. p. 91.—Blyth, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 137 2—Adams in Proce. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 486? ———— alba, Burgess, MSS. Dhobin of the Hindoos, Jerdon.
Tur Wagtail represented in the accompanying Plate is very common in the Deccan and in the western parts of the peninsula of India. It is certainly the bird described under the name of Dukhunensis by Col. Sykes, and is moreover identical with the specimens brought to this country by Captain Burgess, on which point Tam able to speak with certainty, as I possess several of the examples, both in summer and winter plumage, which were procured by that gentleman, who, in some MS. notes kindly presented to me by him, in furtherance of the present work, says, ‘‘ Since 1847 I have seen plenty of the Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)—not the Pied Wagtail of England, but that which apparently is only found on the Continent. They appear to arrive in the cold season, as I never observed them during the monsoon.” It is not, however, the bird referred to by Mr. Blyth, in his paper on the Motacillida, under the name of Dukhunensis, imasmuch as he describes the bird as having the neck black all round in the summer dress; his description, in fact, has reference, not to this species, but to a very different one, to which I have given the name of personata, and of which I have never seen examples, either from the Deccan, or from any other of the western parts of India. It may be the bird referred to by Dr. Adams as an inhabitant of Cashmere ; but of this I have no positive evidence, not having seen his specimens; and, in all probability, is the one mentioned by Mr. Blyth under the name of MZ. aléa as inhabiting Western Asia. The M. Dukhunensis and M. alba are indeed most nearly allied, and by some persons may be considered as mere local varieties ; still there are differences by which they may readily be distinguished. The Indian bird is rather larger in size, and has much more white on the secondaries and greater wing-coverts than its European prototype, which differences are so constant that the practised ornithologist can at once distinguish them. Whether distinct or not, a bird so common, and playing so conspicuous a part in the Fauna of Western India, must have a place in a work on the ‘ Birds of Asia.’
In the summer, the forehead, the sides of the head and the sides of the neck are white ; the occiput and back of the neck, chin, throat and breast are deep velvety black ; all the upper surface grey, deepening into black on the apical portions of the tail-coverts; wings ashy brown, the coverts and secondaries margined with white; two outer tail-feathers white, margined on the basal half of their internal webs with black ; remainder of the tail-feathers black ; under surface white, washed with grey on the flanks; irides brown ; bill and feet blackish brown.
In the winter the black of the throat is reduced to a crescentic mark across the breast, the points ex- tending upwards towards the ear-coverts.
The principal figures in the accompanying Plate, which are a trifle smaller than life, represent the full
summer dress ; the upper figure that of winter.
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MOTACILLA PERSONATA, Col’
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MOTACILLA PERSONATA, Gowda. Masked Waetail.
Motacilla Dukhunensis, Blyth, on the Family Motacillide, p. 3.
_ Tue drawing on the accompanying Plate represents a very distinct species of Wagtail, whose native country - I believe to be Bengal and the central and northern parts of Hindostan ; its range may also extend to Ceylon,
but of this I have no positive evidence. I have never seen it from the Deccan or the western parts of the Indian peninsula, its place there being apparently supplied by the Motacilla Maderaspatana and M. Dukhunensis.
In its full summer dress the Motacilla personata has the throat, chest, ear-coverts, sides and back of the neck jet-black, while the back is clear ash-grey, and both the greater and lesser wing-coverts are so broadly margined with white as to give that part of the wing the appearance of being wholly of that hue; as winter approaches the black of the throat becomes speckled with white, and when the change has been completed, a crescentic mark of black across the chest almost alone remains.
In its summer dress it is at once distinguished from its congeners by the black colouring of the sides of
the neck, and by the forehead and space surrounding the eye being alone white, whence the specific name of personata, or masked.
I have but little doubt of this being the bird which Mr. Blyth, in his paper on the Motacillide, has con- sidered to be identical with the JZ. Dukhunensis of Sykes, inasmuch as he describes it to have “the neck black all round ;” and it may be the bird which Mr. Jerdon states “is very common over most of the table-land [of the Indian peninsula] during the cold weather only, migrating to the north at the com- mencement of the hot season. It frequents rivers, open fields, gardens, villages, stable-yards, &c., and occasionally even enters houses, feeding on a great variety of insects.”
In summer the forehead and a space surrounding each eye is pure white; the chin, throat, breast, sides of the neck, occiput and back-of the neck black; all the upper surface and scapularies grey, deepening into black on the apical portion of the upper tail-coverts ; wings dark brown, the coverts and secondaries broadly margined with white, and the primaries very narrowly edged with white; two outer tail-feathers on each side white, margined on the basal portion of their inner webs with black; the remainder black, with the
exception of the margins of the external webs of two centre ones, which in fresh-moulted feathers are white ;
under surface white, washed with grey on the flanks; irides brown; bill and feet blackish brown.
As winter approaches the black of the throat becomes mottled with white, and when the change is perfected, a crescentic mark of black across the chest probably alone remains.
The accompanying Plate gives a correct representation of both these states; the upper figure that of the full summer dress, the lower the bird undergoing the change. 3
The figures are of the size of life.
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BUDYTES CITREOLOIDES, Hodes. Yellow-headed Wagtail.
Budytes citreoloides, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 83.
calcaratus, Hodgs. Asiat. Res., vol. xix. p. 190 ?—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 76 ?
citreola, Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 9.—Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part ii. p. 90.—Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 429.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p-138.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 280, Budytes, sp. 6.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of. Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp. vol. ii. p. 352.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 225, and vol. i. pt. ii. p. 873.—Adams in Proc. of Zool. Soc., pt. xxvi. 1858, p. 486.
Motacilla citreola, Gould, Birds of Europe, vol. ii. pl. 144.
Zurcha, Cabul (Blyth).
Dr. von Mippenporr has ventured an opinion that the bird I have figured on the 144th Plate of my ‘Birds of Europe’ as the female of Budytes citreola is different from that described by Pallas under the
name of Motacilla citreola. 1 regret to say that, as there are no Russian specimens in this country, I am —
unable to institute a comparison and determine whether this be really the case or not. Mr. Jerdon, in his recently published ‘ Birds of India,’ has treated the Indian bird as identical with the Siberian, but, in a note at the end of the concluding volume, says, the former, “ writes Mr. Blyth, is distinct from Budytes citreola vera, and will stand as B. citreoloides, Hodgs.” If this be the true state of the case, I was in error in employing the specific term citreola for the birds represented in the ‘ Birds of Europe,’ my figures having been taken from Indian examples.
The Plate which I now publish contains a correct representation of two fully adult birds, in summer plumage, which were killed on the peninsula of India, and for which I have retained Mr. Hodgson’s name of B. cetreoloides. 1 may remark that all the specimens from India with bright yellow heads do not at the same time possess such jet-black backs as shown in the lower figure in my Plate: this latter hue seems to be seasonal, and is doubtless characteristic of the male in the nuptial dress ; for I have specimens with rich-yellow heads in which the back is grey, while in others it is partly grey and partly black. Little has been recorded respecting the habits and economy of this beautiful bird. Col. Sykes informs us that it has the habits, manners, aspect, and size of B. melanocephala, and that, like that species, it is solitary, and only found in the vicinity of rivers; but he never saw the two birds in company. Larve of insects and greenish mud were found in the stomachs of those he examined. He believes that this species, together with B. melanocephala and B. Beema, all possessing the long hind claw, do not habitually perch, but, like other birds furnished with a similar claw, nocturnate on the ground. |
b)
“This migratory species,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘‘ which is remarkable for the great length of its hind claw, is found over all parts of India, during the cold weather. It is not very abundant, and is never found in dry places, like the Budytes veredis, but on the banks of rivers and lakes, and more particularly in swampy ground or in inundated rice-fields, apparently affecting concealment more than the other species of this group. It has been seen in its breeding-plumage at Mussooree, and is then a very beautiful bird.”
Dr. Leith Adams observes that this bird is common in the Deccan, Punjab, and Scinde, and is equally numerous in marshes and wet situations in the Valley of Cashmere, and in all similar places in Ladakh.
In the full breeding-plumage, the head, neck, breast, and under surface is rich yellow, with a wash of olivaceous on the flanks ; back jet-black ; wings dull black ; the primaries edged with grey, and the began margined with white ; wing-coverts black, broadly tipped with white, forming two Dats ACTOS the wing ; under. tail-coverts yellowish white; tail black, with the outermost feathers on cach! side white, excepting a portion of their inner web and the extreme base of the outer ; bill and feet black ; irides brown. .
The female has the head, and those parts which are black in the male, of a dark grey hue, a stripe of yellow over the eye, and the white margins to the wing-feathers less defined. ; |
Young birds have the upper surface brownish grey; under suniace dingy white, with a tinge of yellow in some specimens, and a gorget of dusky spots; less white on the wing ; and a streak above the eye, forehead,
chin, and ear-coverts yellow. oe The Plate represents the two sexes, of the size of life.
K y r . Rtch ice > y - - | 5 Mf . an »} . n + wr) % » a Os. is SS =" SS » ? 3 f' f 4 me “ > ae . Cis mit Fy r 7 A A , ¢ 14 on a " om Se 7 Cs t } e ; I oR te . i > , feet ca, he eo p . “4 ~ 4 aay . ( » ( y 4 ft 5 Co » 5 OD YS 6 rey ° . » 6 ‘ ; ID PL @ i ‘Gon wee et» VC at , 6 ¢ Gt ‘ uo & i} Dine grin ns 1) 18 4 TR 5 TG Ris Gxt ABO RAARS GOS 2 os 28) a > Lt a3; & be PrOSe C3! ; f ¢ y 4, SE 8 Hf “ GB EO OB Ome Ge SE GeO GaN ge BO EEE ERE ¢ F Ce F ERt ERG E hy , : Y . f / \ rN 4 ¢ p \ ; F Y f ’ f ’ map iA { 4 y { ‘ C / A / vans fw ko / i , , , \ \ = \ Ge . f \ j / i . , \, ix: | ' Hv { f { \ fam han) &, | n fA j y yy 4 j oy 72 fam hd f EX fey £X ¢ f / ) Ar ¢ Es (i “x xX me f j 4» ¢ \ (i j \ 4 j WAY j (es) 4 { ] ) \ Ly (3) i j a Ae a ae i 4 " : ( 9 i | » A 4 A . i Ce) a “SS aw, 4 fa f » OY ey fi \ 4 (ea, \ f ty a} "y \ y , aD OP j; 4% a ao er OF (| » fe Py ay (7 ey yy gd 1 ny | Ps 4 Gy | 1 ij \ Gn OF wh be ty , 3 ‘UP a ‘ y F le é { } ( \s ) , \ P ‘ ‘ we) am , — = - = — ——-__—_- 2 a il H Ah { 4 H } } { I | | ¢ q ! i i i e ! q 7 | . s
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PIPASTES AGILIS. Indian 'Tree-Pipit.
Anthus agihs, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., pt. ii. p. 91.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 354.—Adams in Proc. Zool. Soc., part xxvi. 1858, p. 485. —Swinh. in ‘Ibis,’ vol. v. p. 310, and in Proc. Zool. Soc., 1863, pp. 273, 334.
maculatus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 83.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 248, Anthus, sp. 17.
Dendronanthus maculatus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 135.
Anthus brevirostris, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 83.
arboreus, Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 11.—Gray, List. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 76.
trivialis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 482.—(Horsfield & Moore.)
Pipastes agihs, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 228. .
Musarichi, Hindoos, Jerdon.
Khorasam churi of some falconers, Jerdon.
Liku-jita, Telegus, (2. e. Blind bird) Jerdon.
x
Tue present bird and the Tree-Pipit of England (the Anthus arboreus of authors) are so very similar that it requires the discriminating eye of the ornithologist to distinguish one from the other ; some persons, and among them Mr. Swinhoe, consider that it can scarcely be regarded as more than a race of the European bird, while Mr. Jerdon and Mr. Blyth treat it as a separate species. The differences are certainly very trivial, but they are as constant as those which are found between many other European and Indian birds which were formerly believed to be identical, but which are now admitted to be distinct. The Indian bird is always rather larger than its European ally, and moreover differs from it in having the back of a greener hue, and less strongly striated with dark brown, while the throat is decidedly of a deeper fulvous, and the markings of the breast more conspicuous.
The Pipastes agilis enjoys a very extensive range in the eastern parts of the Old World, being very generally distributed over the peninsula of India, China, Formosa, and, according to Mr. Swinhoe, Japan. As is the case with our own Tree-Pipit, but little difference occurs in the colouring of the two sexes. Of the nidification scarcely anything appears to be known.
Mr. Blyth informs us that “this bird abounds in Bengal during the cold season, and, it would seem, in suitable localities throughout the country, frequenting groves and gardens, with a disposition to be social, if not gregarious, and, where an extent of thin tree-jungle harbours them, in considerable numbers. I have noticed that, towards evening, they commonly fly to and fro over their haunts in scattered parties, now perhaps two or three, then several, and then perchance a solitary bird, each frequently uttering a slight chirp, and often several descending to alight for a while near together on the same tree; this restlessness they will
continue to evince till it is getting dark ; and it would scarcely be guessed what bird it was, till one had been
brought down. I never heard this species sing. Its flesh is used as a restorative to the Bhyree (falco pere-
grinus), and is said to be very delicate.”
“The Indian Tree-Pipit,” says Mr. Jerdon, “1s very similar to, but appears to differ slightly from, its European congener. It is found over all India in the cold season; for it is a winter visitant only, arriving early in October, and departing about the end of April. It frequents gardens, groves, and thin tree-jungle, and occasionally grain-fields, the beds of woody streams, the edges of tanks, and other moist places. It usually feeds on the ground, upon various insects and seeds, but upon being disturbed flies up at once to the ‘t now and then, however, feeds on trees, hopping about the upper branches and occasionally It is said by the natives to kill many mosquitoes; hence some of its he table at Calcutta and elsewhere in Bengal, and sold as
nearest tree ; snapping at an insect on the wing.
native names. It is taken in great numbers for t
Ortolan.” Dr. Leith Adams states that this species 1s common around Poonah, in the Deccan, and the Northern
Punjab; that it is gregarious during winter in the latter country, and less abundant on the lower Himalayan
range.
Saeaking of the P. agilis as observed by him in China, Mr. Swinhoe says, “ This Tree-Pipit stays the winter in the south of China, and summers in the north, Amoorland, and Japan.” In his Notes on For- he remarks that it “is abundant in winter in all the groves and copses, feeding about It leaves for the north in spring, few, if any, remaining to breed. ‘The age they might almost be mis-
mosan Ornithology,
under the shadow of the trees. younger birds are greener on the back, and distinctly spotted ; in this plum In the adults the upper parts become more sombre, and the spots
taken for the European A. arboreus.
In summer a rufous tinge diffuses itself over the entire bird, but more especially over the lores, , and under surface, leaving, however, the centre of the belly nearly white.” In winter the upper surface is of a greenish olive, with strongly marked streaks of blackish brown on the
head, and slight streaks of the same hue on the feather
with fulvous; the feathers of the sides
brown in the centre;
Go o F mS so oc —] Pr Oo wo
s of the back; under surface white, faintly tinged
of the neck, the breast, and flanks with an oblong spot of blackish
d with yellowish white, and the
ined with olive ; central tail-feathers olive-brown,
ippe
wing-coverts brownish black, the middle ones t
greater broadly edged with olive
s brown, marg
; primarie
ive; the inner web brown at the base and along
external web of the outer feather on each side pale ol three-fourths of the margin, the remainder white; the
5)
ive margins
th ol
i
termediate feathers brown, w f the
In
b; bill
inner we
Ip 0
irides dark brown ; legs pale fleshy brown.
the one next the outermost on each side with an oblong spot of white at the t The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size.
blackish brown above, flesh-colour beneath ;
es
i qj 1
EN FO ENO PPTL OTR POD [
Wd “SONTASHO S OUALNV
a ani gm re ny ee |
ANTHUS CERVINUS. Red-throated Pipit.
Motacilla cervina, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom, i. Dp: alt.
Alauda Ceecilu, Aud. Hist. de ’Egypte, Ois. tab. v. fie. 6.
Anthus rufogularis, Brehm, Lehrb., vol. ii. p. 963.—Id. Vog. Deutschl., p. 320.
——— Cecil, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 324.
cervinus, Keys. et Blas. Wirb. Eur., p. 172.—Midd. Sib. Reise, Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 248, Anthus,
vol. ii. p. 165, pl. xiv. figs. 1-3.—Bonap. sp. 4.—Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 14.—Swinh. Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, pp. 273, 334.—Id. Ibis, 1863, p. 311.—Sperl. Ibis, 1864, p. 279.—Trist. Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1864, p. 435.—Id. Ibis, 1866, p. 290.—Bree, Hist. of Eur. Birds not obs. in Brit. Isl., vol. ii. p. 155, and fig.
pratensis rufigularis, Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., Pp. XXXVi.
ConsIDERABLE confusion exists respecting the synonymy, the correct specific appellation, and the specific value of this pretty Pipit, some ornithologists believing it to be merely a variety of Anthus pratensis.
With regard to the synonymy, Professor Newton, in a letter to me, says, ‘* The right name to be used for this species is a point on which I cannot exactly satisfy myself. Brehm’s rufogularis appeared in his ‘ Lehr- buch’ (vol. ii. p. 963) in 1824, while Pallas’s cereing was only published in 1831 (Zoogr. Ross.-Asiat., vol. i. p- O11), though it had been in type since 1811. But I suspect the Anthus Cecilii of Audouin to be the same species; and if so, [ imagine that name will have unquestionable priority. I have not, however, been able to refer to the letterpress of the ‘ Description de l’Egypte’ to see if the bird is therein properly described.”
Professor Newton, however, in his interesting account of his discovery of the breeding bird, published in Dr. Bree’s ‘ History of the Birds of Europe not found in the British Isles’ (vol. ii. p. 155), uses Pallas’s name of cervina ; and so also do Bonaparte, Dr. Blasius, Dr. Bree, Mr. G. R. Gray, and Dr. Cabanis; while Dr. Schlegel and others either regard the bird as identical with 4. pratensis, as a variety of that species, or adopt Pastor Brehm’s name of rufogularis. With regard to its specific distinctness, I have no more doubt than, from the paragraph hereafter quoted, will be found to exist in the mind of Professor Newton.
I cannot agree with Dr. Bree that it “ belongs to the Rock-Pipit branch of the family, its claws being much curved,” and that ‘there has been much confusion about the bird in consequence of this fact being over- looked ;” in point of fact, it is as slender in form, and as delicate in the structure of its legs and hind toe as our own Titlark, and, moreover, has the hinder claw of the same lengthened and slender form as in that bird.
With regard to the parts of the Old World inhabited by this species, the testimony. of those who have ob- served it in a state of nature gives Eastern Europe in winter, and Lapland, Finmark, Northern Russia, and Siberia as the countries frequented by it in summer, in all of which it probably breeds. That it also frequents the Crimea at the same season is certain, since the specimens from which my figures were taken were obtained there at that period of the year. Dr. Jerdon considers the Indian bird of this form, to which Mr. Hodgson assigned the specific term rosaceus, to be identical with 4. cerwnus; but I have never seen an individual of the latter from any part of India, and have no doubt that Mr. Hodgson was correct in charac- terizing the Indian bird as distinct.
The recorded information respecting the history of this species is but scanty, little having been written on the subject except by Professor Newton ; I shall therefore take the liberty of extracting the greater part of his notes from Dr. Bree’s work above quoted.
Dr. Bree, after remarking that the bird is found plentifully in Egypt, Nubia, Greeee, Turkey, and Barbary during the winter, says, ‘I have been favoured with the following imteresting account of its duscovery in East Finmark by Alfred Newton, Esq.” :—‘On the 22nd of June, 1859, a few days after our arrival at Ww ads6, Mr. W. H. Simpson and I, in the course of a bird’s-nesting walk to the nonieast of the town, to the distance perhaps of a couple of English miles, came upon a bog, the appearance of which held out greater promise to our ornithological appetites than we had hitherto met with in Norway. We had crossed the meadows a the houses, where Temminck’s Stint and the Shore-Lark were trilling out their glad notes, and were traversing a low ridge of barren moor, when the solicitude of a pair of Golden Plovers plainly told us that their eggs or young were near us... . A little while after, as J mas cautiously picking my way over the treacherous ground, I saw a Pipit dart out from beneath my feet, and alight again ules by, in . manner that I TER SILT could only be that of a sitting hen. I had but to step off the grass-grown hillock on which I was standing, to see ne eat ensconced in alittle nook, half covered by herbage. But the appearance of the eggs took me by surprise ; for they were unlike any I knew—of a brown colour, indeed, but a a brown so warm that I cou only liken it to that of old mahogany-wood, and compare them, in my mind, with those of the Lapland Bunting. ee there was the bird, running about so close to me that, with my glass, I could see her almost as well as if she had
been in my hand. I replaced the eggs without disturbing the nest, and, carefully marking the spot, we retired. In half an hour or so we returned, going softly to the place, and Mr. Simpson, reaching his arm over the protecting hassock of grass, dexterously secured the bird in bis hand as she was taking flight. I then at. once knew, from her pale fawn-coloured throat, that the nest we had found belonged to a species which, up to that time, I believed had been known in Europe only as an accidental visitant—the Motacilla cervina of Pallas, the Anthus rufogularis of Brehm.
“Tn a week’s time we were quartered at Nyborg, a small settlement at the head of the Waranger Fjord. Here willows and birches grew with far greater luxuriance, even at the water’s edge, than lower down the inlet. Some even attained to nearly twice the height of a man, and formed thickets which, the intervening spaces being exceedingly boggy, were not easily explored. In this secluded spot we found our red-throated friend not unplentiful. We could scarcely go out of the house without seemg one ; and in the immediate neighbourhood we procured several more identified nests, making a total of five, and a fine series of nine birds, all of course in their breeding-plumage. We had also abundant opportunities of watching their habits, and, above all, of contrasting them with those of the Titlark (A. pratensis), which was not uncommon in the district, and to which this species has been so unjustly annexed as a variety. The two birds had, according to our observation, an entirely different range, 4. pratensis haunting a station less wooded (saving the expres- sion) than that of 4. cervinus, which latter we found at times feeding on the sea-shore, a habit we did not notice the former to indulge in. No one with ears, either, could for a moment be in doubt about their respec- tive notes. It is true that the full song of 4. cervinus did not differ so strikingly from the more feeble performance of A. pratensis as does, for instance, the joyous burst of 4. arboreus ; but it bad an unmistakable resemblance to the louder and perhaps harsher strains of 4. odscurus, and in all cases was sufficiently charae- teristic for one to be quite certain as to the nature of the performer, even when the individual was not in sight. Ina word, none of our party had any hesitation as to regarding 4. cervinus as a perfectly good species.
«A young bird was obtained at Mortensnes, between Wads6 and Nyborg, on the 16th of July; and as it was attended by its parents (both of which were well seen by Mr. Wolley and myself), it could ouly have just left the nest; it appeared to differ from the young of the Titlark merely in being of a ruddier com- plexion. . . . I have already mentioned what the eggs looked like; and it would be difficult, in words, to convey a better idea of them. All the nests I saw were simply built of dry bents, without any liming of fea- thers or hair.
‘IT may, however, add that it was only in this restricted locality, in Kast Finmark—between Wads6 and Nyborg—that we saw this bird, and I believe Mr. Wolley never met with it elsewhere. ... At Stockholm, I saw, in the possession of Conservator Meves, the ingenious discoverer of the cause of the bleating noise made by the Common Snipe, a living Red-throated Pipit, which had been taken in a garden near that town, where, I believe, it not unfrequently occurs in its autumnal migration.”
Middendorff, who considers 4. rufogularis and A. cervinus to be identical, says of the latter, «This bird was found in both north and south Siberia. I shot a female in the Stanowoj mountains, on the 26th of May, consequently not on the passage. ‘The rust-yellow of the Siberian specimen has a somewhat violet tint, very similar to the colour on the breast of the Turtle Dove; it covers the cheeks near the eyes, the breast, flanks, neck, and upper part of the breast. It is only found in this plumage from May to July.”
The Rev. H. B. Tristram obtained a single specimen only on the coast of the plain of Sharon in winter —that is, in the month of February.
Mr. Swinhoe states that it is “a winter bird in South China and Formosa, which passes the summer in Kamtschatka and the northern regions. Flocks pass over Amoy as late as the first week in May. Before leaving China the bird undergoes an entire moult, when the eyebrows, throat, and breast show a pale vinaceous mixed with more or less ochreous, but unspotted. As the nuptial season comes on, the silvery tinge intensifies into a uniform dusky vinaceous, which encroaches further on the lower parts. I have a fine series, showing every gradation between the pale-spotted winter and the fine nuptial dress.”
The male has the head, neck, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts olive, with a broad stripe of dark brown down the centre of each feather, even on those of the rump; wing-coverts dark brown, tipped with creamy white; primaries brown, with paler edges; tertiaries very dark brown, bordered with light greyish brown ; tail brown, the two centre feathers edged with tawny, and the outer one white, with a streak of brown down the margin of the inner web ; the next with a triangular spot of white at the tip; throat, cheeks, and breast rufous, with a gorget formed by longitudinal streaks of brown across the latter; abdomen and under tail- coverts pale fawn-colour, streaked on the flanks with dark brown.
In the female the rufous colouring is confined to the throat and cheeks, and the breast is more thickly streaked with dark brown ; in other respects the plumage resembles that of the male.
The figures are of the natural size. The plant 1s the Primula Scotica.
| F |
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i en ne
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ee en i A ITE TE IO I Tn pee a on nt PN ——— : ¢ 1 ; ’ y | | | | |
oS ss ss _ E es
LY 8 Vp LYLE I Pe PPL
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"SMOIGNI SHAWOUCIN OW Il
ergata:
LIMONIDROMUS INDICUS. Variegated Wagtail.
Motacilla indica, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 203. Nemoricola indica,
p- 962.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 334.—Gray and Mitch. —Layard in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xii. p. 268. Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 429.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 136.—Id. Fam. Motacillide, p. 4.—Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xiii. p. 132.— Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 251.—-Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p: 353. ;
Motacilla variegata, Vieill. Ency. Méth., Orn., p. 408.—Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., v Nget Rahat of the Arracanese (Blyth).
Gomarita (“ Dungspreader ”), Ceylon, Layard.
Rode- Rode, Malay (Blyth).
ol. xi. p. 10.
Ir has always appeared to me that a close affinity exists between the Yellow Wagtails, forming the genus Budytes, and the Titlarks, genus Anthus; and this impression is strengthened by the existence of the bird forming the subject of the present memoir, the affinity of which, it must however be admitted, leans to the side of Budytes rather than to that of dnthus. I have been constrained to propose a new generic name for this singular little bird, that of Nemoricola (assigned to it by Mr. Blyth) having been previously employed by Mr. Hodgson for a very different group of birds.
Of this form only one species has yet been discovered. That it ranges rather widely over India and the islands, is evident from the following notes by Mr. Blyth and Mr. Layard. Mr. Blyth states that the sexes are alike in colouring, in which respect it offers an alliance to the Pipits, and differs from the Yellow Wagtails.
‘This species,” says Mr. Blyth, ‘“‘appears to be common along the whole eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal, from Arakan to the Malayan Peninsula and also Sumatra, where it was observed by the late Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. In Lower Bengal it is not rare; but it would seem to be scarce in the Peninsula of India, where Mr. Jerdon had never personally met with it at the time he wrote his excellent and useful Catalogue of the birds of that part of the country. In the vicinity of Calcutta I have procured it at all seasons: it inhabits groves and gardens, mango-topes, and the neighbourhood of bambo-clumps, feeding on the ground, and perching much like the Tree Pipits. I do not remember to have seen it from the Himalayas, nor from any part of the Upper Provinces of Hindustan; and I am not aware that it has any proper song.”
“In Ceylon,” says Mr. Layard, ‘this elegant little bird is met with in shady places where cattle have been. It scratches among the ordure, in search of the larve of insects; hence its native name. It is migratory in its habits.”
The following is Mr. Blyth’s description of this species :—
«« Above, greenish olive-brown ; below, white or yellowish white, tinged with brown on the flanks ; a whitish supercilium, and a black gorget across the upper part of the breast, giving out a mesial black line below; a second and imperfect black gorget on the lower part of the breast, united laterally upwards with the first, and in front not continued to the middle so as to meet the mesial line given off by the first ; wings blackish, marked with two broad whitish bands formed by the tips of the coverts, a third at the base of the primaries, and a fourth near the tips of the secondaries and continued along the edge of the longest tertiary ; medial tail-feathers brown, the next dusky, the outermost white, with generally a brown outer margin and black base extending nearly half the length of the inner web, and the penultimate with white only on its terminal half; bill dusky above, the lower mandible whitish; legs whitish, tinged with purplish brown; the toes darker.
‘‘ Sexes alike, and no seasonal difference of colouring.”
The figures are of the natural size.
a ar a NR RE A PA ENTS
iit
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ENICURUS MACULATUS, rigors
Lunated Forktail.
Encurus maculatus, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. 1830-1831, p. 9.—Gould, Cent. of Birds, pl. 27.—Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Mise. 1844, p. 83.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds, pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 76.—Jameson, in Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. vil. p. 363.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 204, Enicurus, sp. 2.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. 2 p. 156.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 159.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. tom. 1. p. 251, Hnicurus, sp. 2.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 346.
—Adams, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. 1858, p. 489, and part xxvii. 1859, p. 179.—Jerdon, Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 212. 7
fuliginosus, Hodgs. in Asiat. Res., vol. xix. 190, young. Khanjan, in the N.W. Himalayas. Oong-sam ching-pho of the Lepchins. Chubia leka of the Bhotans.
cd
Tue figures in the accompanying Plate were taken from specimens precisely like the bird which formed the subject of one of the illustrations in my ‘Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains ;’ I deem it necessary to state this because I believe that another, but very nearly allied, species from the same range of hills has hitherto been confounded with it. The bird referred to is the one characterized by me in the ‘ Pro- ceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1865, under the name of Enicurus guttatus, a representation of which will be found on the succeeding Plate. Where the two birds inosculate in the great Himalayan range has not yet been ascertained; but I believe that both are found in Nepaul, and that from thence the range ot E. maculatus extends as far to the westward as the country of Afghanistan, while the E. guttatus frequents Sikhim, Bhotan, and probably proceeds even still further to the eastward.
The birds constituting the genus Enicurus must form a conspicuous feature in the landscape among the rocky gullies of the elevated regions they inhabit. |
Dr. Leith Adams remarks that the Z. maculatus is “common on the mountain-streams southwards of the valley of Cashmere. Among the tangled jungles by the sides of the mountain-torrents this beautiful creature sports from rock to rock ; it‘ flutters like a huge butterfly, intently searching after its winged prey, now and then uttering a harsh scream as it runs along the water’s edge with its tail expanded like a fan.”
«This beautiful Wagtail,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘‘ may be said to be one of the adjuncts of Himalayan scenery ; if you come suddenly on a mountain-stream crossing the road or path, and still more certainly if there be a waterfall, you are sure to see one of these birds, either on the road or in a rock in the stream. If on the former, it will at times fly before you to the next stream that crosses the path, and repeat the movement for a dozen times in succession ; but more. commonly as you approach it flies rapidly into the jungle and disappears up the stream, but, owing to the density of the jungle, does not go far. I cannot say that I have seen it perch, but on one or two occasions thought I did. In the larger streams it may be seen running on the shingle at the edge of the river, but still more frequently on rocks, especially on those in rapids that are washed over by the spray. There it picks up the various small insects and their larvee which constitute it chief food.
“In general it is a solitary bird ; occasionally two or three may be seen near each other, but in that case one usually drives away the rest. The nest is made of roots, fibres, and a little moss; the eggs, which are three or four in number, are of a greenish white, with a few rusty-brown spots.” |
The adults of both sexes differ but little in size and colouring; the dress of the young during the first autumn is very dissimilar, the head and back being olive brown and the throat and breast light olivaceous brown, with a stripe of grey down each feather; and present no appearance of the black, studded with white, which characterizes the older birds, and which, when once acquired, is not again changed.
The adult birds have the forehead and frontal half of the crown, greater wing-coverts, lower half of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts pure white ; hinder half of the crown, sides of the head and neck, throat, and breast black; a few of the feathers on the lower edge of’ the latter with a lunate mark of white at the tip; upper half of the back black, lunated with white, the lunations increasing into large spots and forming a conspicuous mark on od side of the nape ; spurious wing and secondaries black, with the exception of an oblique line of white on the tips of the latter ; primaries dark brown ; lateral tail-feathers and the tips of the inner ones white, the basal portion of the latter being black ; irides dark brown ; bill black ; legs and feet fleshy white. .
The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life, and with a reduced figure of a young bird.
Kucter delet lith,
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ENICURUS GUTTATUS, Gow. Spotted Forktail.
Enicurus guttatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 664.
4
In my account of Enicurus maculatus 1 have stated that two species of this genus had been confounded, but I ought, perhaps, to have said that one had been characterized, instead of two. In the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ above referred to I have pointed out the principal differences by which these two nearly allied birds may be distinguished; and as they cannot be more clearly defined, it will be as well to reproduce the paragraph here. | .
‘This species must not be confounded with the Lnicurus maculatus, to which it is very nearly allied; for it differs from that bird in having a much shorter and smaller tail, in having a round spot instead of a crescentic mark of white at the tip of each of the feathers of the mantle, in the white mark on the forehead being of lesser size, in having the crown suffused with brown, and in the absence of any white markings on the lower part of the chest. ee
“The E. guttatus may be regarded as the eastern representative of the ZZ. maculatus of the great Himalayan range.”
Three skins of each species are now before me, and nothing can be more apparent than the distinctions above pointed out, and which will readily be perceived on a comparison of the figures of the two species. In none of the specimens of Z. guttatus is there any appearance of the lunate markings seen in £. maculatus, each spot being perfectly round and about the size of a number six shot. A few lunate white marks appear on the lower edge of the black feathers of the breast of . maculatus; but there are no corresponding. marks on the same part in EL. guttatus. ‘That these round-spotted birds cannot be immature examples of £. maculatus is certain, since the hue of the black portions of their plumage is still more intense.
Forehead white; crown of the head black, suffused with brown, remainder of the head, neck, throat, and breast deep black ; down the sides of the neck a series of silky white feathers narrowly bordered with black 5 upper half of the back black, with a round spot of white at the tip of each feather; lower half of the back and upper tail-coverts white; wings black, the tips of the greater coverts and the bases of the secondaries white, forming a band across the wing, the innermost secondaries are also tipped with white; primaries dark brown; two lateral tail-feathers white, the remainder black, tipped with white; lower half of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white; bill black; tarsi and toes fleshy-white. .
The figures are of the natural size. The plant is one of the varieties of Pteris quadriaurita.
Gould.
CHUNENSIS ,
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ENICURUS CHINENSIS, Gould. Chinese Forktail.
Enicurus sinensis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1865, p- 665.
I apmir that I have but slender grounds for describing the large Enicurus from China as distinct from the L. Leschenault: of Java. “In size they are very similar, but all the Chinese examples that have come under my notice have only the forehead white, while in the skins from Java the entire crown is of this colour, and, in some instances, the silky white feathers extend almost to the nape and approach to lengthened plumes ; in other respects the specimens from those distant localities are as similar in colour as they are in size: however the case may be, I deem it desirable to give a name to the Chinese bird and to figure it ; time and a greater amount of materials than we at present possess will alone enable the ornithologist satis- factorily to determine whether the continental and insular birds be the same or not.
The £. Chinensis and E. Leschenaulti, whether two or one and the same bird, are the largest species of the genus yet discovered. It is interesting to observe how closely similar in structure and style of colouring are the whole of the members of this well-marked form; certain modifications of structure occur it is true in the little #. Scoudert, but, on comparison, a general sameness will be found to pervade the whole.
It may not be out of place to insert here Dr. Horsfield’s notes on the Javan bird; for any information, however scanty, is worthy of record respecting the species of so singular a form as Enicurus.
‘This bird is exclusively found near small rivulets; in the beds of these, particularly where they abound with rocks and gravel, it is seen running along with alacrity, moving its tail incessantly, and picking up worms and insects. It is very locally distributed, and uniformly deserts the neighbourhood of populous villages. The southern coast of Java abounds in small streams, descending rapidly from the southern hills and shaded by luxuriant shrubs. Here I first discovered this bird, in the district of Pajittan, in the year 1809; I afterwards met with it again, along this coast, in the district of Karang-ballong and in the provinces south of Kediri. Among more central regions it frequents the banks of an elevated lake near the declivites of the mountain Prahu, where I found it more numerous than in any other part of Java. In the extensive forests of Pugar and Blambangan I never noticed it, although I devoted a considerable time to their examination.”
Chinese examples of this bird are contained in the collection at the British Museum and in my own; judging from which I do not perceive any difference in the size or markings of the two sexes.
Forehead to the middle of the crown, lower part of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, tips of the greater wing-coverts, bases of the secondaries, two outer tail-feathers, the tips of all the others, the under coverts of the shoulder, the abdomen, and under tail-coverts pure white; primaries blackish brown; the remainder of the plumage deep black ; bill black ; feet fleshy white.
The figures are of the size of life.
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Vigors.
SCOULERI,
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ENICURUS SCOULERI, Vigors.
Scouler’s Forktail.
Enicurus Scouleri, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. 1830-1831, p. 174.—Gould, Cent. of Birds, pl. 28.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 204, Enicurus, sp. 8.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Ksq., p. 76.—Jameson in Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. vii. p. 363.—Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 157.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 159.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p-. 251, Enicurus, sp. 8. —Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East. Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 347.—Adams, in Proc. Zool. Soc.,
part xxvi. 1858, p. 489, and part xxvii. 1859, p. 179.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 214. Scoulert v. heterurus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83.
—-—— nigrifrons, Hodgs., G. R. Gray, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part xxvii. 1859, p. 102, young ?—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. part i. p. 215, young ? Oong-sumbrek-pho of the Lepchins.
Tue southern side of the great Himalayan range is believed to be exclusively the habitat of the Eneurus Scoulert, the smallest species of a genus all the members of which are lovers of the beds of streams, turbulent waters, and cataracts, over which their delicately-formed feet enable them to trip with the utmost facility, and where, in the midst of a chaotic mass of stones, drift, and gravel, apparently unfitted for any bird’s existence, they obtain their food.
“This little Enicurus,” says Mr. Jerdon, “appears to be found throughout the whole extent of the Hima- layas, but to be more numerous in their eastern portion; for Jameson says that it is rare in the north-west, and Adams, who observed it in Cashmere, states that it is not nearly so common as E. maculatus. About Darjeeling it is far from rare, but it does not ascend the streams so high as the spotted Forktail, being most abundant between 2000 and 5000 feet of elevation. It does not affect the smaller brooks, but chiefly good-sized rapid streams, and it may often be seen seated on a rock in the midst of a boiling torrent which is now and then partially submerged by a wave; and it feeds almost exclusively on rocks that are so washed over, following the retreating wave or climbing up a slippery rock with great ease. It often contends with the plumbeous water Redstart (Ruticilla fuliginosa) for a choice piece of rock, but is generally vanquished by its more spirited antagonist. It feeds on various water-insects, chiefly on the larvae of Neuroptere, that frequent the wet rocks and the edges of rapids.
‘A nest brought to me as of this species was found on a ledge of rock near a stream; it contained three eges very similar to, but smaller than, those of /. maculatus.”
The late Captam Boys, who met with the bird at Hawalbaugh in December, notes that it “ frequents the sides of mountain-streams, and seems to delight in being washed by the spray of the torrent; it may be seen almost immersed in water, or at least so covered that I have lost sight of it for seconds together. Food, insects.”
In his notes on ‘The Birds of Cashmere and Ladakh,’ Dr. Leith Adams states that the 2. Scouleri is ‘‘ often seen on the Chenab river near Kishtewar.”
I suspect that the bird characterized in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1859 by Mr. G. R. Gray as Enicurus nigrifrons, Hodgs., is merely an immature example of the present species—an opinion to which Mr. Jerdon appears to incline; for, although he has described it separately, he remarks that the brown mottling of the breast “is rather a mark of nonage.”
Band across the forehead pure white; head, neck, throat, and upper part of the back deep black; a few of the black feathers on the lower part of the breast tipped with white; wings black, the greater coverts largely tipped with white, forming a conspicuous band across the wing; shafts of all but the first two pri- maries white at the base ; outer margins of the secondaries very narrowly edged with white; lower part of the back and upper-tail coverts white, the former crossed by an indistinct band of black; centre of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; flanks mottled with slaty black; outer tail-feather white, two central tail-feathers black with white bases, the intermediate feathers white, tipped with black, the extent of the black increasing as the feathers approach the central ones; irides brown; bill black; legs and feet delicate fleshy white. )
The immature bird has the forehead black and the throat white, mottled with brownish black ; in other respects it is similar to the adult.
The Plate represents the two sexes and the supposed young (E. ngrifrons, Hodgs.) of the natural size.
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MELANOCORYPHA MAXIMA, Goud, Long-billed Calandre.
Melanocorypha maxima, Gould.—Blyth in Ibis, 1867, p. 46, note.
Ix a small collection of birds submitted to my inspection by Mr. Ward, of Vere Street, London, I found a single specimen of this large and strange species.of Lark. The collection was said to have been formed in Afghanistan, but the precise locality was not ascertained. At first sight it appeared to me to differ so much from all the Larks previously described as to warrant its being regarded as the type of a new genus ; but on carefully comparing it with the Common Calandre and the three or four allied species, I came to the conclusion that, notwithstanding the more prolonged form of its bill, it really belongs to the same genus, every part of its structure, with the exception of the bill, as well as the colouring and markings of its plumage, bemg precisely similar. Mr. Blyth, to whom I submitted it, coincided in this view, and, writing on the Melanocoryphe, in his “‘ Commentary on Dr. Jerdon’s Birds of India,” published in the ¢ Ibis’ for 1867, states that the Asiatic species of the genus “are four in number:—l. MM. tatarica (Pallas). 2. M. mongolicus (Pallas); Radde, Reisen, &c., taf. ili. fig. 1; Alauda sinensis, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1839, p- 60. 3. ML. calandra (L.) ; Alauda torquata, Gmelin. 4. JM. torquata, nobis.” To these Mr. Blyth adds ina note:—* A large species with a remarkably slender bill Mr. Gould designates MZ. maxima.”
Head, neck, all the upper surface and wings dark brown, each feather conspicuously bordered with lighter brown; primaries dark brown, the outer one margined externally to near the tip with white, the remainder with brownish white; the outer tail-feather on each side white, except on the basal portion of the inner web, where it is light brown; the remaining tail-feathers dark brown (except the two central which are light brown), margined externally and tipped with white, the extent of which decreases as the feathers approach the centre; stripe over the eye dull white, continued in a browner tint behind the ear-coverts to the sides of the neck, where it unites with the dull fawn-colour of the flanks; line from the nostrils to the eye and the ear-coverts brown, the feathers of the latter with darker centres ; from the angle of the mouth within the brown a small moustache-like streak of greyish white; on each side of the neck, in front of the shoulder, a few dark-brown feathers, bordered with sandy buff, show somewhat conspicuously, but not so much so as in Melanocorypha calandra; throat and under surface very pale brown or creamy white; Dill bluish flesh-colour, passing into pale buff on the basal portion of the lower mandible; legs and feet light brown, very stout and strong; nails black, that of the hinder toe unusually stout and straight.
The figures are of the natural size.
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