PETROCINCLA ERY THROGASTRA.

Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush.

Turdus erythrogaster, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part 1, p. 171.—Gould, Cent. of Birds,
pl. 13.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 219.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm.
and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 81.

Petrocincla erythrogastra, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. pp. 189, 461; vol. xil. p. 929; vol. xvi. p. 149.
—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 164.—-Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus.
Kast Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 185.

—___—___— ¥rupwentris, Jard. and Selby, Ill Orn, vol. mi. pl. 129.

Orocetes erythrogaster, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 298.

 

erythrogastra, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 514.
Petrocossyphus ferrugineoventris, Less.

Ningri-pho, Lepch (Jerdon).

 

Every particular relating to the history and economy of this species of Rock-Thrush appears to be as much
unknown or buried in obscurity as it was when I published my ‘ Century of Birds from the Himalaya Moun-
tains,’ thirty-three years ago; even Mr. Jerdon merely states that “This Thrush has hitherto, I believe,
only been found in the Himalayas, generally at a considerable elevation. It is not rare about Darjeeling,
frequenting high forest, feeding on the ground on various insects, and, when disturbed, taking refuge in

a)

high trees.” Mr. Jerdon adds in a note, that he had lately shot it on the Khasia Hills.

The male has the crown of the head, nape, lesser wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts light blue ;
back dull dark blue, with a crescent of black near the tip of each feather; greater wing-coverts, primaries,
and secondaries dull black, washed with dark blue on the basal portions of their outer webs; the last row
of lesser wing-coverts tipped with brownish white, forming a faint line across the wing; tail dull black,
glossed with dark blue on the two centre feathers and the outer webs of the remainder; lores, ear-coverts,
and sides of the neck black; throat dark blue, each feather tipped with lighter blue; under surface of the
body, under tail-coverts, and thighs deep chestnut ; irides brownish black; bill and legs black.

The female is ashy brown above, with darker edgings to some of the feathers; lores, ear-coverts, and
sides of the neck mottled with fulvous and brown; under surface fulvous, with a crescent of dark brown at
the tip of each feather.

The young, like the members of the Saxcolne, is beautifully spangled all over with spots of buff on a
dark ground, the former being the hue of the centres, and the latter that of the margins of the feathers of
the upper and under surface and the lesser wing-coverts, while the greater coverts and secondaries are blue,
margined with deep buff at the tip, and the upper tail-coverts are rich red, tipped with dark brown.

It will be seen that I have figured a young male in this particular dress, and an adult male, both of the
size of life, with a female on a reduced scale in the distance.