ae, renee | 4 ITSINHJI VIE Dp ae a — ea SS S a) ae TN > Nea CAD ‘CS Fis eee i Ls , > | ‘ian ; 5 re 3 ie 3 | j i 4 / | as , , “ ‘ 7 J ‘ ‘ : P| o , 1 a ’ (te r | iY . 9 “ ‘ i. . a ‘ vy i ~ aos. — f , ‘ > > ~ : TAS aL . ; ie, AP ~\> rays * — + = < ‘ a py P ~ F ' tS i Ss > = _— Th “ » @) To THE BIRDS OF ASTA. BY JOHN GOULD, F.RS, F.LS., V.P. AND F.Z.S., M.ES., F.R.GEOGRS., M.RAY 8., 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 II. LONDON: PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE. 1850—1883. ae Sins enttindgeeneitn tes ~ 2. — --——— _ o ” - - ee _ —_— ~~ eee re -_— —_— eae Se —_"* \) Ler Wr, ; Foe : ry ° a r P if 4 A P ie tie I ‘ { , 7 ; rafal a , oe} : F ai : r ri : ae P| ! f 4 ' P, / ie r ; fi) 7 5 f } f i] ae i ‘ : ae H ] a0 } 4 a i 7. | yt Er ‘ ri Ae S | P ; 2 f i - ’ i. Ve. } tS ' . \' ; 7 ie Cs ¥ e ne | 7 J > an, ‘ ] \ - fe . ' ’ Fei . ¢ >t, A. it \ ‘ J \ ‘ , nN >| ’ 4 te io 4 = ; a. pi >) \) \¥ a a PAS AS ee < rs) aa > a an ~_ > , . — >) - . a oS, er - . fa’ ee j € . = f » “od. — _ 7 ce et eo . ey oa \) De OPA ib Fj ~ , STOO) ww we ; ty Norr.—As the arrangement of the Plates in the course of publication was impracticable, the PLATE ie 2 Td. 32, 33. 34. 35. 36. oh: 39. 40. 441. 42. 44. LIST OF VOLUME II. PLATES. Numbers here given will refer to them when arranged, and the Plates may be quoted by them. Cochoa viridis > . pulpuned Pericrocotus griseogularis : cantonensis s solaris ‘s erythropygius speciosus ” flammeus : peregrinus . roseus . cinereus Hylopterpe philippinensis Pteruthius eralatus i. erythropterus - rufiventer Allotrius melanotis xanthochloris Muscipeta Paradisi . Incei Niltava grandis . Sundara » MacGregorie Nectarinia Osea i Zelonica - insignis : Gouldiz a saturata i. lgnicauda : Goalpariensis o Vigorsii “ Nipalensis Ss Asiatica Lotenia 3) Zosterops simplex ; erythropleura. Diceum retrocinctum dorsale 99 Fe Cruentum . is Pryeri Myzanthe ignipectus Prionochilus vincens Sitta nagaensis formosa clnnamomeoventris . 99 a € Green Cochoa Purple Cochoa : Grey-throated Pericrocotus Canton Pericrocotus . Yellow-throated Pericrocotus Cawnpore Pericrocotus Great Pericrocotus Orange Pericrocotus Little Pericrocotus Rosy Pericrocotus Grey Pericrocotus Philippine-Island Thickhead Grey-headed Pteruthius Himalayan Pteruthius Rufous-bellied Pteruthius Black-eared Allotrius Yellow-green Allotrius Paradise Flycatcher . Ince’s Paradise Flycatcher Grand Niltava Sundara Niltava MacGregor’s Niltava Jericho Sun-bird Ceylonese Sun-bird Penang Sun-bird Mrs. Gould’s Sun-bird Black-breasted Sun-bird Fiery-tailed Sun-bird Goulpourah Sun-bird Vigors’ Sun-bird Nepaulese Sun-bird . Asiatic Sun-bird Loten’s Sun-bird Plain Zosterops Chestnut-sided Zosterops Red-collared Diceum Yellow-throated Diceum Red-backed Dicezeeum Pryer’s Diceeum Fire-breasted Myzanthe Legge’s Flower-pecker Naga Nuthatch Beautiful Nuthatch . Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch Part 1 XVI. KXVI XOX XT XX VILL. Vin VIL XXL XXVII. ok, VI. SKY. VI <0d) ANVIL I. 23 Date. January 1850. 99 99 April 1864. August 1874. January 1850. 29 99 May 1857 93 39 99 39 99 99 3) 3) February 1882. July 1876. May 1856. 39 9 Nov. 1852. 9 5)5) 919 July 1850. 99 29) 3% 99 May 1867. 39 39> 99 9) 39 99 39 33 July 1850. 39 99 3) 2 39 9? May 1856. 9 39 March 1, 1871. March 1875. October 1877. July 1854, January 1883. July 1854. July 1879, March 1875. January 1850. 99 99 List OF PLATES - Part Darr. : PLATE . . r 45, Sitta castaneoventris . _ Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch January 1850. a5. ,, — lewcopsic White-faced Nuthatch . . » ” » 17°, Hlamalayensis. Himalayan Nuthatch : : ae » » 48. Parus venustulus White-naped Tit. XXIII. March 1873) 49, » castaneoventris . . Chestnut-bellied Tit — April 1864. 50. » elegans , Elesant Tit : XXX. October 1877, 51. Mala aoehiora Sultanea Sultan ‘Tit : : : : XX. April 1868. 52. Parus xanthogenys . Yellow-cheeked Tit . IX. May 1857. | 58. spilonotus Spotted hi : ; : ” » » ; 54. ., . verdonl : : » Jerdone lit. : ; 3 99 ” ” 5D. » clnereus Ash-coloured Tit. : : X. June 1858. 56. mumor Chinese Fit ~. : : ” ” ” 57 i. monticolus . : . Mountain-Tit 5 : a 58. > dichrous , Garey Tit. : XI. May 1ea5 59. » rubidiventris : ' Rutous-belied Lit. : : , . ‘: 60. ,, rufonuchalis . Rufous-naped Tit. : : e woe G1. , melanolophus . Black-crested Tit : ms on s 62. Leptopcecile Sophie ; Varkand Jit. ; oy July 1876. 63. Psaltria exilis. » icile Vit : VAT April 1855. 64. 3 erythrocephala . . Red-headed Tit : i -. 65. . concinna. Slegant Wit... : : a a . 66. - ? leucogenys : eaten dig 72 : ‘ : am . ” ( 67. Acanthiparus niveogularis . White-throated Tit . 8 . . | 68. 5, ?Jouschistos . Chestnut-breasted Tit . A . < 69. Mecistura glaucogularis . olvememroaccd Tit. _ - : : 70. Aigithalus consobrinus . . Chinese Penduline Tit. : XXVI. August 1874. aA; s flammiceps . . Flame-fronted Flower-pecker . XOX October 1877. 72. Oriolus chinensis . . Philippine Oriole : s - i | By ;, } broderipi-—<. ‘ ~ Broderips Oriole... : ; XXXI. - 1878. % ) 74. Psaropholus Trailli . . Maroon Oriole : : 2 OE March 1871. 7. . ardens , . Red Oriole : : : : - ‘ | 4 FIO OO OTs uu i ttststi‘“‘“‘i<‘(‘—(istisC Poon en | A wee PM eC en ee Co bora N rr ag ‘ae i eS Re Pee Wel) Bee “ . a $ fe j 7 Bake . | SA o Vs A oo“ ° 72 ¥ ‘ > T- 2 {fe | as a] “evn : a ; a A . : Se s 4 4 AY e : if ZB eA a = ef aA ei , Mag p. a5 eee) ed VaR / a mS 4 } a ee Fc > ‘ ati +N Poe ale 5 I BR, ony a) NY? ai NI ; y Fae ad » n iP” a 5} rT i, at iF, / f ) Sy mE ’ ,’ ; Gould and \ \ i ray (f \ Al. C Richt. . pies j \ voi | Atl eb hth a we, J eG _ - oe ett we = 4 é ry i s ‘ s % ¢ . Sy . Non. eG 2 Ay) Pas ae ie zN a AD { < I8 tb ciate is s is a wex x Aes isu s % ? Sy Cee mY ») My) Bee MRR 7 5 ER 2 os ~ ~S Yi YS a ay | 3 Pe ae y 1 ae i Pe: Seles hak 9". Cede Ce g i ARE r 14 ay var 1% 9 RS % cs 5 wa Ei Lote bid Rie ae OU be RAL rr a s B 2 om y _ a, (AK. ¢ COCHOA VIRIDIS, Hodgs. Green Cochoa. Cochoa viridis, Hodgs. in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 359.—Blyth in Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 194.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. to Brit. Mus., p. 96.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 280, Cochoa, sp. 1. pl. Ixvin. Prosorinia (Cochoa) viridis, Hodgs., Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 84. Amone the numerous ornithological rarities made known to us by the researches of Mr. Hodgson in Nepaul, few are of greater interest than the present species, and its near ally the C. purpurea ; inasmuch as they constitute an entirely new form to the fauna of Continental India, the situation of which in the natural system we have not as yet sufficient evidence to determine. Mr. Hodgson regards them as belonging to the Meruline, while Mr. G. R. Gray and Mr. Blyth place them with the Ampeline: to whichever group they may belong, they will ever be objects of interest from their graceful form and beautiful colouring. Mr. Hodgson states that, ‘“ Like most of the Nipalese Thrushes, these birds are common to the three regions of the kingdom. They are shy in their manners, confine themselves exclusively to the woods, live solitarily or in pairs, breed and moult but once a year, and nidificate on trees. I have taken from their stomachs several sorts of stony berries, small univalve mollusca, and several kinds of aquatic insects. These birds are not generally or familiarly known to the Nipalese, but the foresters, whom I have met with, denominate them Cocho. «This species is apt to vary considerably before it has reached maturity, as well as under moult, when the back is sometimes lunated with black, and the soft blue portion of the wings is smeared with brownish yellow.” : As Mr. Hodgson has stated to be the case, I find this species to vary much in colour. I have seen a spe- cimen with the under surface green, washed with rich yellowish buff on the centre of the abdomen, and with the Iunated marks on the back very conspicuous: this may, as Mr. Hodgson remarks, be indicative of imma- turity; and in all probability birds with stains of brown on the secondaries may be still younger examples, if this style of colouring be not that of the adult female. Fine examples of this species have been presented to the collection at the British Museum, and are I believe the originals of Mr. Hodgson’s description, which is as follows :— « Brilliant parrot green, paler and changing into verditer blue on the belly and thighs; crest, cheeks and neck posteally, brilliant blue; upper part of the wings and tail the same, but paler and with a grey cast, and both black internally and apertly towards the ends; through the eye to the nostrils black; bar of the same hue across the pale portion of the wings, caused by the long coverts and bastard wing being tipt with that colour; legs fleshy brown; iris brown; sexes alike.” The figures are the size of life. Oe ee a ee ea s SS ~~ XS a ~ 6o0utad and Srriz Walton ranted & IZ u A { UH 5 4 2 inc 4 I IIINY HI 3 rX ”2,S ane id A Gr ? ot oye ‘ faces Saas | or yi COCHOA PURPUREA, Hodges. Purple Cochoa. Cochoa purpurea, Hodgs. in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 359 ; vol. xii. part 1. p. 450, with a plate.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 195.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. to Brit. Mus., p. 96.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 280, Cochoa, sp. 2. Prosorma (Cochoa) purpurea, Hodgs., Gray, Zool. Misc., p. 84, 577. Prosorinia (Cochoa) Hodgsonii ? Blyth in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. pt. 1. p. 182. Aurxoue this species is still rarely seen in the cabinets of Europe, it appears, from the numerous examples that have come under my notice, to be much more common than the Cochoa wirids ; like that species, it was first discovered by Mr. Hodgson in Nepaul; several examples were also contained in the collections made by Mr. Grace and Captain Boys; I have seen others from Bhotan and Sikim, and it is said to be common at Darjeeling ; whereby we learn that it enjoys a tolerably wide range over the regions of Upper India. The Cochoa purpurea is very nearly allied to, but is readily distinguished from, the C. viridis by the general hue of its plumage, which has obtained for it the specific appellation of purpurea; its habits, actions, places of resort, food, and mode of nidification, are so similar to those of the preceding species, that an account of the one is equally descriptive of the other. The sexes of the C. viridis are stated by Mr. Hodgson to be alike, while in the present species a marked difference is observable, the female being brown where the male is purple. ‘¢Male dark purple; cheeks black; crest, tail, and upper apert portion of the wings, soft grey-blue more or less purpurascent; lower part of the wings and tip of tail black, and both black internally; a white speculum on the wing, just below the false wing; bill and legs black ; iris brown. «Female brown where the male is purple; and the upper part of the wings also brown. “Young rufous below with black bars; brown above with rufescent white drops; head blue as in maturity, but barred.” The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. 4s , a VAS c = Jj ~ este Gould. Sbould andl Pichier cel ot bt? Walter & Cohire Sap. PERICROCOTUS GRISEOGULARIS, Gowd. Grey-throated Pericrocotus. Pericrocotus griseogularis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 282. griseigularis, Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p. 263. Hee-ah (Little Gem), aborigines of Formosa. Tue presence of numerous species of this highly interesting group of birds, all of which are confined to the warmer parts of Asia and the Indian Islands, must constitute a very conspicuous feature in the ornithology of those countries. Most of them are clothed in surpassingly brilliant colours, scarlet and yellow relieved by black of the deepest hue. It has not been my good fortune to see any of these glorious birds in a state of nature; had such an opportunity been afforded me, I might have been able to give some account of their habits and economy. That they are chiefly insectivorous, and that they seek the principal part of their food among the leafy branches of the trees, we learn from the notes on this species published by Mr. Swinhoe in the ‘ Ibis,’ and which I take the liberty of transcribing :— “In the hilly country of N.W. Formosa the Hee-ah is an abundant species, and found all the year through. In the winter it associates in large flocks, many of these consisting almost entirely of males, and ranges about from wood to wood and tree to tree in the lower country. The females generally prefer remaining in the denser shelter of the mountain jungle, and do not evince such roving spirits as their lords; hence the small number of this sex that I was enabled to procure as compared with males. When on the wing, and in fact wherever they are, the Pericroco¢i soon make their presence known by their peculiar trilling note, which has some resemblance to that of a Canary, but yet differs from that of any bird I know. All the species that I have met with in a wild state have the same style of note, though disagreeing in many minor respects, and by practice can easily be distinguished. On a bright sunny day, to witness a party of these birds fly across a wooded glen is a magnificent sight, the brilliancy of their tints contrasting well with the sombre hue of the surrounding foliage. But it is a still more beautiful sight to watch a group of these pretty creatures examining an evergreen tree for insects. They frisk and flutter about the leaves, throwing themselves into all sorts of positions, and assuming the most difficult attitudes, as if delighting, m the ordinary business of feeding, to show to the greatest advantage those charms with which nature has so amply endowed them. In summer they retire into the depths of the highest forests, whither it was impossible for me to follow them. «The nearest ally to this species is the Pertcrocotus solaris of Blyth, from Nepaul and Bootan. I have compared our bird with a skin of that species in my possession. The P. sodaris is much browner on the upper parts, and has the flammeous tints much less bright; but the chief distinctions are its bright orange throat and its orange thighs, which are differently coloured in the present species. The two birds, however, run close, and, with numerous other birds, as well as mammals, prove the affinity that the Formosan fauna bears to the Himalayan, rather than to that of the lower mountains of the Chinese coast.” The male has the forehead, crown of the head, back of the neck, back, shoulders, and two central tail- feathers sooty black; wings black, with an oblique bar of scarlet across the primaries and secondaries, near their bases; throat and ear-coverts light grey; chest, abdomen, flanks, under tail-coverts, and rump rich scarlet ; tibial feathers black externally, ochreous internally; lateral tail-feathers black at their bases, and scarlet for the remainder of their length; thighs blackish brown ; irides hazel; bill and legs black. “Tn the adult males,” says Mr. Swinhoe, “the throat is quite grey; but in the majority of the skins m my possession it is whitish, with an indication of yellow. I have one male in the transition plumage, where the yellow and greenish garb of the female is brightening into the more highly tinted dress of the male. This gives us the plumage of the young bird, which is similar to that of the female, but more dully coloured, and at a younger stage probably mottled. This state teaches us that the yellow of the tail is the first to undergo a change, being here almost entirely red.” The female has the throat light grey, as in the male; crown, ear-coverts, back, and shoulders deep leaden grey; rump sulphur-yellow ; chest, abdomen, under tail-coverts, the oblique band across the wing, and the tips of the outer tail-feathers rich Indian yellow; tibial feathers grey externally, yellow internally ; bill and legs black. The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Cadhandra hematocephala. + 4 ss Lt ‘ a) oe Ar ©) . 5 . 7 Te ee - — Se ee ke oe ae a ——— . , ae ~ - . aS ~ “ 94 J x - — > “wwe . _ " ST - " 5 w* , S it . a? ? . , rou atep wy cep 2 i . . " ~ a . . — = = . " - sa . . wows os . : 4 fs eo ' | by” ” - Af’ a * . : i . - 7s , : . 5 e% , . a AF . ; ’ ‘ os ary E ay RAP AN Ge 7 bs f ‘ r As . . , =F : P , y ‘ S . 8 8 S II) 5 eee | SAR | ui PERICROCOTUS CANTONENSIS, Swina. Canton Pericrocotus. Pericrocotus cantonensis, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1861, p. 42.—Id. P.Z.5., 1863, p. 284.—Id. P.Z. S., 1871, p..378. sordidus, Swinhoe, P. Z.S., 1863, p. 284 ( juv.). Or the well-defined groups of Pericrocoti or Minivets there are two very distinct sections, some species being, as in the present instance, of sober hue, whilst the others are unequalled in the brilliancy of their flame-coloured plumage. The birds must play an important part in nature, in keeping down insects and their larve. Of Pericrocotus cantonensis (of which the nearest ally is P. cinereus) Mr. Swinhoe gives the following account in his first list of the birds of China (P. Z. S. 1863) :—* This species, forming so happy a link between the grey and some of the crocus-tinted forms of this group, I have as yet only seen from Canton, where it was pretty common. The tendency of the female to develop the yellow tints is in this much more strongly shown than in P. cinereus ; so much so that Dr. Sclater declined to accept my identification of the sexes. But apart from any special examination of the sexual organs, the skins carry in their plumage their sexual stamp ; for, analogous to what obtains in the foregoing species, the male of this has a white forehead and a dark head. I have no young specimen ; but, judging from the last, I should say that the young would be as strongly tinged with yellow as the female.” On the same occasion Mr. Swinhoe described a second species as P. sordidus, which he has more recently (P. Z. S. 1871, p. 378) determined to be the young of P. cantonensis. He remarks :— ‘All these species have very similar call-notes, and feed chiefly on tree-bugs (Cimicide) and their eges, in search of which they creep and hang about among the leaves and branches of large trees, ranging the country in flocks.” I am indebted to Mr. Swinhoe for the following note on the species :—‘ On the 20th of May, 1869, during our expedition up the river Yangtze, I took a ramble behind the great temple Ta-foo-sze, where before the large gilt idol boatmen offer thanksgiving for safe voyages before finishing their cruise at the city of Chungkingfoo (Szechuen), which is within sight. I was walking about a country-gentleman’s garden, followed by his whole family, to watch the curious monster, whose like they had never seen before, when I noticed a pair of this small grey Minivet flying backwards and forwards anxiously, and uttering twittering notes as if in great distress. I guessed the cause and peered about for the nest. A pear-tree had its top snapped away, and on the stump was a knot looking like an accumulation of moss and lichens; and this turned out to be the pretty Chaffinch-like nest of the pair. A lout of a lad climbed up and threw the nest down. It was not quite finished ; but there was enough of it to make a nice picture, and I was therefore glad to place it in your hands. I was cruel enough to secure the pretty pair who owned the nest.” The following are the descriptions given by Mr. Swinhoe of the male and female. Adult male.—Bill and legs black ; irides deep brown; forehead, throat, sides of nape and vent white; the rest of the underparts dingy ; head, back, and scapulars deep brown, with a wash of grey, blacker on the former ; rump and upper tail-coverts light yellowish brown ; wings and tail rich hair-brown, the former edged paler, the latter with the stems brownish white, and more or less white on all but the two central rectrices ; white of under wing and wing-bone with a wash of pale saffron, the yellow being rather bright on some of the axillaries ; wing-spot dingy yellow. Adult female—Rump more of a colour with the back than in the male; upper parts lighter and browner ; wing-spot bright yellow ; quills edged with yellow; the light part of the rectrices rather bright yellow ; axillaries and wing-bar fine primrose yellow ; forehead narrow, dingy white; in other respects like the male. Length 7%, wing 32, expanse 93, tail 38. P. sordidus, which Mr. Swinhoe now identifies as the young bird, was described originally by him as follows :— Upper parts greyish brown, paler on the forehead, and darker blue-grey on the head and hind neck ; wings and tail hair-brown ; greater wing-coverts tipped with white, but no wing-spot outwardly visible ; two middle rectrices unicolorous, the rest more or less white; the throat and vent white, the former tinged with brown ; a black spot in front of the eye ; under plumage greyish brown ; a dingy white bar runs across the under wing, with a faint tinge of primrose yellow. Length 73 inches, wing 33, tail 3,2. The Plate represents both sexes of the bird, with the nest, all of the natural size. II 4 UH 1 NUT PERICROCOTUS SOLARIS, Biya. Yellow-throated Pericrocotus. Pericrocotus solaris, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xv. p. 310.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 193.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. Appendix, p. 13 (App. to p. 282). Tis species is about the size of, or may perhaps be a trifle smaller than, the P. drevirostris, but has a shorter and more depressed bill than that species ; it also differs in the red portion of the plumage being of an orange rather than a scarlet hue; in the crown of the head and back being of a leaden instead of a deep black; and in having a much shorter tail: the greatest difference, however, between the two species consists in the throat of the P. drevirostris being black, while in the present bird it is yellow, a circumstance which induced Mr. Blyth to append the appellation of /flavgularis to some specimens named by him prior to their being sent to Europe: another difference consists in the greater development of the feathers of the crown, which, being also slightly darker in colour than the remainder of the upper surface, assume the appearance of a hood. ‘The females of the two species assimilate in colour much more nearly than the males: the female of P. solaris, from which the figure in the accompanying Plate was taken, accords very closely with Mr. Blyth’s original description, except that the sides of the throat, which he states to be whitish, are nearly of the same yellow tint as the other parts of the under surface. Like the other species of the genus, this bird feeds upon insects, which it captures both on the wing and among the branches. The greater portion of the specimens which have been sent to Europe were procured in the provinces of Sikim and Bhotan in Upper India: Darjeeling is the locality attached to most of those that have come under my notice. The male has the head, the back, and the wing-coverts leaden black, deepening on the head into nearly pure black ; the bases of the secondaries, the bases of all but the first three primaries, the rump, the upper tail-coverts, the apical half of the two outer tail-feathers, two-thirds of the outer web and the apical third of the inner web of the next tail-feather on each side, the apical third of the outer web of the fourth tail- feather on each side, the under surface of the shoulder and all the under surface of the body, rich orange- red ; the remainder of the wings and tail dull brownish black ; the chin whitish ; the throat orange-yellow ; and the bill and feet black. The female has the forehead and all the parts which are red in the male of a pale yellow, except the rump, which is wax-yellow ; head and back olive-green. The figures represent the two sexes the size of life, on the branch of Z’schynanthus ramosissimus. i iil 4 il il ITH 2 PERICROCOTUS ERYTHROPYGIUS. Cawnpore Pericrocotus. Turdus speciosus, var. B. Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. v. p. 97? Cawnpore Flycatcher, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. vi. p. 176. pl. xcviii*. Muscicapa erythropygia, Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 17. Pericrocotus erythropygius, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xv. p. 310.—Jard. Contrib. Orn., 1848, pl. 1.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 193.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 282, Pericrocotus, sp. 10. For the original description of this bird we must refer to the ‘General History” of Latham, where it is described and figured under the name of Cawnpore Flycatcher. The merit of assigning to it a distinctive appellation is due to Mr. T. C. Jerdon of Madras, in whose paper on the ‘Birds of the Peninsula of India” it is characterized as Muscicapa erythropyyia. ‘The descriptions and figure above referred to were the only evidence on record of the existence of the species until the year 1847, when several specimens were brought to this country in the fine collection of Indian Birds formed by Captain W. J. Boys of the Madras Light Cavalry, in the Upper Gangetic provinces of India; which specimens now form part of the collection of Dr. T. B. Wilson, at Philadelphia, that of H. E. Strickland, Ksq., and of my own. It is in every respect a true Pervcrocotus, but differs from the other members of the genus in its colouring ; a difference however which can only be regarded as specific, since in form it is precisely similar. Latham states that it is found at Cawnpore in July; Mr. Jerdon met with it once only, “in the low and thick jungle on the top of the ghauts near Ajunteh ;” and Captain Boys procured examples in the Nerbudda Valley below Jaum Ghat and among the hills on the table-land near Mhow, also at Suckteys-ghur on the Ath of June. It is very sprightly in its manners, frequents bushes and copse wood, utters a little pink-pink when taking flight and occasionally when hopping among the trees, an isd generally seen in small flocks of three or four pairs. Mr. Blyth gives Hindostan as its habitat, but adds that it does not frequent Lower Bengal. The male has the whole of the head, throat, back, wing and upper tail-coverts, glossy blue-black ; under surface and the tips of the lateral tail-feathers white; band crossing the lower part of the back and a large spot on the breast pale vermilion; the coverts of the secondaries and the outer portion of the tertiaries white, forming a longitudinal mark down the wing; primaries and secondaries black, becoming paler at the tip, the fifth and sixth primaries and the secondaries largely marked with white at the base; bill and legs black ; irides light brown. The female has the throat and all the under parts white; upper surface brown where the male is black ; tail as in the male, but brown instead of black; a band of scarlet across the rump, but not so bright as in the other sex. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size, on the branch of Cyrtotropis carnea. oe mek Je ue se bw ~ aS SS Se S S S = el Te Wig = Cae ae aD cS oS es S >) N ie ~ J : oO go Pe —- . x os ag ‘a a c « & s PG =. e R >" S , 3 < S . s S S =— : = = ) Pre 7S seaea a 7 : a | R = = eae : aan — ~ J ~ | w = | scene > ve : —— Ss 3% 3 Pe ra) bao as : re a Ben Ti ae + org ew be ce a, me es P7] . PHIL 4 —y = © ACUI TIO NVAU VAI TE | HITT HYLOTERPE PHILIPPINENSIS, paren, Philippine-Islands Thickhead. Hyloterpe philippinensis, Wald. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. x. p. 252 (1872).—Id. Trans. Zool. Soe. ix. pp. 179, 250, pl. 31. fig. 2 (1875).—Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soe. ser. 2, Zoology, i. p. 351.—Tweedd. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 109.—Wardlaw Ramsay, Ornith. Works of Marquis of Tweeddale, pp. 234, 344, 568, 656 (1881), Caprain Warpiaw Ramsay has been so good as to lend me several birds from the celebrated collection formed by his late uncle the Marquis of Tweeddale; and I have great pleasure in introducing to the notice of my readers the very interesting species here figured. It is principally interesting as being an intrusion of a thoroughly Australian form within the limits of the Indo-Malayan region ; for although I follow Lord Tweeddale in keeping the genus Hyloterpe distinct from the Australian Pachycephala, 1 must confess that I have very grave doubts as to the probability of this separation being upheld. In the genus fHyloterpe, however, the sexes are alike in plumage, whereas in the bulk of the members of the genus Pachycephala the males far exceed the females in brilliancy of plumage; in fact, both sexes of Hyloterpe are very like the females of some of the Pachycephala. I cannot do better than quote Lord Tweeddale’s remarks on the species in his paper on the Birds of the Philippine Archipelago, to which the bird appears to be confined. It was first discovered by Die A B. Meyer in the island of Luzon, and more recently in Dinagat by Mr. Alfred Everett. ‘Dr. Meyer’s researches in the Philippines have added an additional member of a genus hitherto not known to be there represented. The small group of Pachycephaline birds to which the title of Hyloterpe is restricted is now known to contain six species. They are entitled to subgeneric distinction. The sexes are, I believe, alike; and they possess the further peculiarity that they wear, in adult plumage, a sombre garb recalling the adolescent and the female plumage of the true black-and-yellow Pachycephale. This Philippine species is a representative form of Z. sulphurwentris, Walden, ex Celebes. Above, it differs by its plumage being olive-green, and not brown, and underneath by the yellow extending higher and being much brighter. The bill is likewise more powerful. Seen from above, H. Philippinensis is difficult to distinguish from HZ. fulvotincta, Wallace, ex F lores; while, in the same way, H. sulphuriventris closely resembles HZ. griseiceps ex N. Guinea. Seen from below, however, the affinities are reversed, the Flores Hyloterpe showing a great resemblance to that of Timor, ZH. orpheus (Jard.), and the Celebean and Philippine species but differing slightly.” The following is a copy of Lord Tweeddale’s original description of the male bird sent by Dr. Meyer :— ‘Feathers of the chin, cheeks, throat, and upper breast silky white, edged more or less with cinereous, a dingy sordid aspect being thus given to those parts; an indistinct obscure zone crossing the breast and bordering the upper breast-plumage, consisting of feathers which are dark ashy at their base, then pure white, tipped with dirty yellow; the remainder of the under plumage, with the flanks and under tail-coverts, sulphur-yellow, each feather, however, being iron-grey at the base and then white; entire head dark smoke- brown, lighter on the ear-coverts; remainder of upper plumage olive-green, rather darker on the outer edges of the quills and on the rectrices ; under carpals and axillaries pale lemon-white ; tail slightly forked ; bill horn-brown. Bill from nostrils 0°32 inch, wing 3°25, tail 3-12, tarsus 0°75.” Mr. Alfred Everett, as before noticed, procured both sexes of this Hyloterpe on Dinagat, and states that the iris is dark brown, the bill black, and the legs bluish grey. My figures are drawn from a pair of skins from Dinagat, for the loan of which I have to thank Captain Wardlaw Ramsay. The sexes are represented as of the size of life. [R. B. 8.] | ; : : ers & § S S iS x PTERUTHIUS ARALATUS, Tickeil. Grey-breasted Pteruthius. Pteruthius eralatus, Tickell, J. A. S. B. 1855, p. 267.—Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 32.—Gray, Hand-l. B. i. p. 314 (1869).—Blyth & Wald., B. Burm. p. 109 (1875). Allotrius eralatus, Hume, Str. F. 1874, p. 479. Four species of true Pteruthius are now known to naturalists; and of these the bird here figured is much the rarest in collections. It is nearly allied to P. erythropterus, but is distinguished at once by the yellow bases of the secondary quills, and by the throat and cheeks being grey as well as the breast. In P. erythropterus the cheeks and throat are pure white like the rest of the under surface, and the inner secondaries are uniform light chestnut. The species was first discovered by Colonel Tickell, who met with it in the Tenasserim mountains ; and it has also been obtained in Burmah by Lieutenant Wardlaw Ramsay, in the hills of Karen-nee, from 4000 to 5000 ft., as we learn from Lord Walden. A female specimen in Lieutenant Ramsay’s collection had the soft parts as follows :—“ Iris deep lavender ; bill above black, below lavender; legs dull white; claws dark brown.” Dr. Anderson obtained two specimens durmg the Yunnan expedition in the Kakhyen hills. Adult male.—General colour above grey, with concealed spots of white near the base of the feathers ; the upper tail-coverts with a greenish black barat the tip; head glossy greenish black ; from above the eye to the sides of the nape a broad white streak ; lores and ear-coverts greyish black ; cheeks and throat grey, becoming paler on the breast and sides of the body; centre of abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; the sides of the abdomen pale rose-colour ; under wing-coverts pure white—except the outermost of the lower series, which are black and form a spot near the edge of the wing ; wing-coverts above grey, inclining to greenish black on their outer webs; the greater series black, the outer webs greenish black, as also the quills—which are black, externally glossed with greenish black, and distinctly tipped with white at the extremity of the inner web of the primaries ; inner secondaries chestnut, inclining to yellow near their bases, this colour occupying the greater part of the innermost, which are chestnut only on the inner web; on all of these chestnut secondaries there is a narrow tip or external margin of greenish black, the black secondaries (next following) showing more or less chestnut near the base of the outer web ; all the quills white for the greater part of the inner web. Total length 6°6 inches, culmen 0°65, wing 3:3, tail 2°65, tarsus 1-1. The description and figures have been taken from a specimen kindly lent to me by Dr. Anderson; and the birds are represented in the Plate of the natural size. ait NY Yo). QA. so ais Le Mitel Fhallarra by Ul WNdEC Richter. del. ct lth l G07 J PTERUTHIUS ERYTHROPTERUS. Himalayan Pteruthius. Lanius erythropterus, Vigors in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part i. p. 22.—Gould, Century of Birds, pl. 11. Pieruthius erythropterus, Swains. Faun. Bor. Amer. App. p. 491.—Ib. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 249.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. xi. pp. 106 and 183.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 99.— Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 270, Pteruthius, sp. 1.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 95.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 362, Pteruthius, sp. 1.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp. vol. % p. 172. Stvce the first introduction of this bird into Europe in 1830, so many examples have been transmitted in collections from the Himalayas, that I presume there are few museums of natural history in which one or more are not to be seen. The long interval, however, which has elapsed between our first knowledge of the species and the present time has not, I regret to say, produced any account of its habits and economy, which is the more to be regretted, inasmuch as its structure would lead us to believe that they are somewhat peculiar. That its food is partly insectivorous and partly frugivorous may be fairly inferred from the forma- tion of the bill; in all probability berries and the softer kinds of insects constitute its principal subsistence. The Péeruthius erythropterus appears to enjoy an extensive range over the southern slopes of the great Himalayan range, as it is-from thence that I have received numerous examples; and I observe that the Honourable East India Company’s Museum contains specimens from Bootan, Kumaon, and Assam. The male has the head black, with a lengthened patch of white posterior to the eye; back and upper surface grey ; wing-coverts, primaries and secondaries black ; the primaries tipped with white ; tertiaries fine chestnut-red ; tail black; all the under surface greyish white with a vinaceous tinge, especially on the flanks and the lower part of the abdomen; under tail-coverts white ; upper mandible black ; lower mandible leaden grey; legs and feet flesh-colour. The female has the head dark grey, gradually blending with the olive-brown of the upper surface of the body; lores and ear-coverts brown ; all the under surface dull white, with a brownish tinge on the flanks ; lesser wing-coverts black, fringed with grey; greater coverts olive-yellow on their outer webs, black on the inner; primaries and secondaries black, margined externally for nearly their entire length with olive-yellow, and the former tipped with white ; tertiaries chestnut-red ; tail olive-yellow, deepening into black, and the lateral feathers largely tipped with yellow; bill and feet as in the male. The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life. f i | acne — — bs __— — - - _- —_— —_—— —_—_— —_—_— -- - - = - — - ~ —_-+- — - —— — on — —— - -- = a — —— - = - aia a ‘ ‘ . - - a. em pnmemenli ~ nn ieee — — sane onal ————— — ie = = = — - : ————— Ser eg : —— -+-—- 4 . SSS a ee Wation, ina el & and Hulim 1 yt) > * , ; >} <-> OF OD ‘OR é Oy’ : OO i/o} TAOR FSS FPae Y av: SUE Seicnrnenio s Ss S S Cs aL Tau gi dh & HC 2 COWL 7 on qe NECTARINIA OSEA, Bonap. Jericho Sun-bird. Cynnyris Osea, Bonap. Compt. Rend. de l’Acad. Sci., tom. xlii. p. 765. Nectarinia Osea, Trist. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 445.—Id. in Ibis, New Ser. vol. i. (1860) p. 72, pl. a. I am indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Amburst, of Didlington Park, Norfolk, for several examples of this beautiful but hitherto little-known Sun-bird for illustration in the Birds of Asia,’ and also for a specimen of the plant on which I have figured it, all of which were obtained during their visit to Syria. Science is not less indebted to the Rev. H. B. Tristram for the very interesting account of this bird published by him in the ‘Ibis’ for 1865, from which I take the liberty of extracting some interesting passages :— ‘Our acquaintance with the Sun-bird commenced at Jericho, on the last day of the year, when six specimens were obtained close to our camp at Ain Sultan. The oases of the plains of Jericho appear to be its metropolis. We never met with it except in the neighbourhood of water; but wherever a few tamarisks, zizyphus bushes, or graceful ‘retem’ shade a fountain or straggling pool in some deep glen Opening on the Dead Sea, there a few occur. The larger oases, however, of Jericho at the north-west and Safieh at the south-east end of the Dead Sea are the resorts of great numbers, which, though there to be found in almost every tree, are nowhere gregarious. They are noisy and pugnacious, the males chasing each other with loud cries, and being as tenacious of their respective freeholds as the Robin of Europe. The note is clear and monotonous, very much like the call of the Willow-Wren, but sharper, and often reminding one of that of the Blue Tit, yet with a more hissing sound. It is incessantly repeated from sunrise to evening, and the whereabouts of the male bird can at once be detected ; but to see him is not so easy, as he ceaselessly hops in the centre of the thickest and most impenetrable scrub, and darts very quickly and suddenly across the open from tree to tree. The male is extremely restless, and, as it twists and clings to one twig after another in search of insects, its actions remind one of those of the Tits much more than of those of the Creeper. Like Zrichodroma muraria it opens and closes its wings with a curious jerking flap. Occasionally I have seen two rivals for the favours of a female singing on the top of a tree, and puffing out their brilliant orange and red axillary tufts, which only at such times are at all conspicuous. ‘“We found these Sun-birds plentiful by the wooded banks of the Jordan, but never far removed from the stream, and ascertained that their summer range is more extensive than we had expected ; for one day in the month of March while shooting on the south side of Mount Carmel, on the slopes which run down to the Plain of Sharon, I secured a pair close to the edge of the plain, and not far from the sea. This was the only occasion on which we met with the bird far away from the Jordan valley; but I have reason to believe it has been obtained in Asia Minor, as a French collector at Smyrna described to me a bird he had once received from the interior, which could only, I think, have been a female of this species. ‘In April I returned to our old quarters at Ain Sultan, near Jericho, and in the afternoon of the 13th I discovered no less than seven nests—one with three eggs in it, another with two hard-set, a third in the course of construction, and four containing young birds. All were in precisely similar situations, suspended from the extremity of a small twig hanging down in the centre of a ‘nubk’ tree, the thorny branches of which spread in a circle so close to the ground that I had in every instance to creep on all fours to get under them. These nests were perfectly inaccessible to the attacks of the serpents and lizards which there abound,—and were very neatly made and compact internally, with a small hole in the side, long straws and fibres being attached to the extremity of the drooping branch, and on these the bag is woven; when finished, a few leaves and straggling straws are loosely fastened all round, to elude observation and remove the appearance of art. ‘In form and size Nectarinia Osea resembles N. Asiatica, but has the upper portion of the axillary tufts rich red instead of orange, and the metallic reflexions of the back and throat bright green im lieu of dark purple, which colour only appears on the forehead and the lower _ of the breast. It Hee allied to N. affinis from Abyssinia, but differs in the greater extent of the green instead of purple reflexions. “The male varies much in colour, and does not appear to attain the nuptial dress till after Christmas, and loses it again in the summer. Not more than one in four of the melo oe shot in January was in full plumage, the brilliant metallic reflexions of the back, throat, and Hy sas interropted by many brown feathers ; and I have several times taken paired and breeding birds in this incomplete very. ‘The female plumage is always brown grey above and lightish olive grey beneath, with palish-yellow vent and under tail-coverts ; and the tail black, with metallic-green reflexions.” The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size. The plant is Psoralea bituminosa. peta ' i a "< y ~ 4 \ya KOs yy “A A, — « CYO CW. ' P ) NF. 8 CPaNPY Ee Was = 0) 5 4| ES SS 3 aw) i S f= Ry & S 3 & = ae | 2 ITI | aul NECTARINIA ZEYLONICA. Ceylonese Sun-bird. Certhia zeylonica, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 188.—Id. Gmel. edit., tom. i. p. 482.Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 285. Philippensis olivacea, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 623, pl. xxxiv. fig. 4. Ceylonese creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 712.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 203.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. We 227. Nectarinia zeylonica, Jard. Nat. Lib. Nect., pp. 213 and 261, pl. 20.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p- 976.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 226.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98 Nectarinia, sp. 47.—Tytler in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. vol. xiii. 1854, p. 373. Cinnyris zeylonica, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 409, Cinnyris, sp. 46. ceylonica, Sundev. in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xviii. p. 256. Cynnyris zeylonica, Bonn. et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 594. sola, Bonn. et Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part ii. p. 597.—Jerd. Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xii. p. 226. Cinnyris nigralbus, Less. lepida, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part ii. 1832, p. 98. Certhia dubia, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 204 ? quadricolor, Scop. in Sonn. Voy., tab. 30? Leptocoma Zeylonica, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 104.—Horsf. & Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp. vol. ii. p. 740.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 368. Sukkur Khora, Hindoos. Maee Chungee, Bengalese. ’ As indicated by the length of the list of synonyms given above, this little Sun-bird has received a more than ordinary degree of attention both from ornithologists and travellers—a circumstance which is due to the fact of its being very generally diffused over that portion of India which has been resorted to by Europeans, and particularly by natives of the British Islands. It is to India what the Ruby-throated Humming-bird is to the United States of America, and, like the latter, in its own country 1s a favourite with all, from the polished Hindoo to the delicate lady who has followed her husband from Albion’s soil to the gorgeous East; in a word, it is the Sun-bird par excellence, and the one which, from the brilliancy of its hues and a fancied resemblance in its actions and a part of its economy to those of the Zrochihde, has given rise to the assertion that there are Humming-birds in India, whereas it is only in the New World and the adjacent islands that those lovely ornithological gems are to be found. Mr. Jerdon states that the WV. Zeylonica “is spread throughout India from the extreme south to Bengal, not reaching the Himalayas. It is rare in Central India, is apparently not found in the North-west Provinces, extends through Dacca to Assam, is exceedingly abundant in Madras, more so, I think, than in Lower Bengal, and appears to be more numerous in the Carnatic than in any other part of the peninsula. In that district it may be seen in almost every garden, flitting about from flower to flower, its brilliant hues every now and then displayed to the eye as it catches their reflexion by the sun. ‘‘It does not change its plumage at the breeding-season, the males always retaining their brilliant plumage. The eggs are usually two in number, of a pale greenish tinge with dusky spots.” *«'This bird,” says Mr. Blyth, ‘‘is very abundant in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, and appears also to be the commonest species of the genus in peninsular India; but I have never seen it in collections from the Himalaya, nor is it included among the Nepalese species by Mr. Hodgson. It utters a weak shrill chant, delivered in the same key as the song of the British Adecentor modularis, and frequently emits a low weak chirp that recalls to mind the analogous note of 4. regulus, or Certhia famiiaris. The natives in the neighbourhood of Calcutta take them with bird-lime, and, after plucking out the wing-primaries to prevent their fluttering, tie them to a stick and carry rows of them about for sale. They may be kept alive for several days on sugar and water, and I have heard one sing that had had no other diet for some days ; but raspberry or other fruit-jam is a better kind of food on which to keep these nectar-feeding birds. The Nectarinie, however, by no means confine themselves to a regimen of this kind; and I have taken so large a spider from the stomach of J. aséatica, that I wondered how it could have been swallowed. ‘‘ According to Mr. Walter Elliot, the present species ‘ builds a hanging nest with an entrance near the top, opening downwards ;’ and such is the form of a beautiful fabric before me, which I am assured is the production of this bird. It is attached, nearly throughout its length, to a small thorny twig, and is of an elongated pear shape, composed chiefly of soft vegetable fibres, very densely and neatly interwoven; on the outside are some coarser strips of grass, leaves, scalings of bark, &c.; but the substance and internal lining i \ nnttncnnancninnatnsstnsnt eee eee Tene are constructed of the softest fibres only, which are reflected over the lower portion of the entrance, so as to fasten down its rim, imparting thus a neatness of finish to this part of the structure ; above the floor of the entrance is an overhanging roof or canopy, formed by the lining of the upper third or more of the nest being made to project semicircularly over the orifice, and then finished externally, like the rest, with coarser material, and some bits of leaves and the like, to disguise the nature of the fabric.” Capt. Tytler says, “The little Sun-bird,” as the charming Nectarinia zeylonica is called, is very common, and forms a beautiful addition to the fauna of Barrackpoore. Early in the morning are these busy little creatures seen sucking the nectar from flowers. I had several of their nests; they are elegantly constructed, and are suspended to the branch of a creeper or other bush; I found a very pretty one suspended to some creepers inside a bower over my bedroom-window. The eggs vary in size and colour as well as in number.” Mr. Layard states that it is very abundant in the southern part of Ceylon, and very pugnacious. As will be seen by the accompanying Plate, the sexes differ greatly in colour, the female being devoid of the brilliant hue which renders the male so beautiful and conspicuous. The male has the crown of the head and shoulders deep glossy metallic bronzy purple; throat equally rich deep steel-blue; lower part of the back and upper tail-coverts fine metallic blue ; sides of the neck, a band across the lower part of the throat, back of the neck, back, and wing-coverts very deep maroon-red ; wings very dark brown, with light cinnamon-brown margins; tail black; under wing-coverts white ; abdomen sulphur-yellow, fading nearly into white on the under tail-coverts ; bill and legs black. The female has the upper surface and wings olive, tinged with rufous ; throat and flanks grey; abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts pale sulphur-yellow. The Plate represents two males and a female, of the natural size. The name of the beautiful orchid is Dendrobium pulchellum. Walter, imp - 4 / 7 t ; i i aaa > re S YA S 1 2 H S i S f ioe 4 RS : ‘NS 5 < ( Ss ~ ' - © | R | SS ” ~~ S q SS ' S 4 QR == i = i es WAS NECTARINIA INSIGNIS, Gowa. Penang Sun-bird. Nectarinia insignis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 663. Every ornithologist who has turned his attention to the birds of the Old World is aware that the Sun-birds are exceedingly numerous. Tropical Africa abounds with them ; they are equally abundant in India from the Himalayas to the most southern point of the peninsula ; many inhabit Malasia, Java, Sumatra, and the islands generally to New Guinea and even to Northern Australia. In each of those countries the woods are tenanted and the flora visited by these nectar-loving little birds. As may be readily imagined, considerable diversity of form is found to exist among them, and consequently they have been subdivided into various genera; in the present work, however, I have retained all the species under the term Nectarinia, but have at the same time generally indicated the section or genus to which each has been respectively assigned. The present bird, which is here figured for the first time, belongs to Arachnechthra, the members of which are distinguished for having a beautiful flame- or yellow-coloured spot on each side of the chest. WV. Osea, N. Asiatica, and N. Lotenia are other examples of this form. I regret to say that nothing is known respecting the present very distinct species. The specimen from which my figure was taken was received direct from Penang by a gentleman in Glasgow, who sent it, together with fine skins of Polyplectron, Harpactes, Cymbirhynchus, &c., to a fishing-tackle maker in London, to be made into Salmon-flies ; and I consider myself fortunate that they came under my notice, as I was thereby enabled to rescue the solitary specimen of this lovely bird from such an ignoble fate. In size the XW. insignis is intermediate between NV. Lotenia and N. Asiatica, from both of which it differs in the green colouring of its crown, and in the beautiful purple tint of the breast and abdomen. Crown of the head deep shining green; shoulders, wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts shining green, tinged with purple; a narrow line down each side of the throat ; breast and abdomen rich glossy blue, tinged with purple; chin and centre of the throat rich purplish red ; on each side of the breast a tuft of rich gamboge-yellow feathers; nape and back deep velvety black; primaries and secondaries glossy brownish black; tail rounded at the end, of a deep bluish black, some of the outer feathers narrowly margined externally with shining green; lower part of the abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts deep black ; flanks smoke-grey ; bill and feet black. The figures are of the size of life, on the Celogyne Parishii. Since the drawing of this species was printed and the above was written, I have become aware that the term esignis had been previously assigned by Sir William Jardine to another member of this family. Under these circumstances I propose the name of Julgida for the present bird. 3 =4 iil an | 2| 3 omy TTI NECTARINIA GOULDIA. Mrs. Gould’s Sun-bird. Cinnyris Gouldie, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr, of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 44.—Gould, Cent. of Birds from Himal. Mount., pl. 56. Nectarima Gouldia, Jard. Nat. Lib. Nect., pp. 238-269.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p- 974.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 233.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98, Nectarinia, sp. 65.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p- 405, Nectarinia, sp. 10. Aithopyga Gouldie, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil. i. p- 103 (note).—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. ii. p. 733.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 364. "Pus beautiful species,” says Sir William Jardine, in bis «Natural History of the Sun-birds,’ “ will stand as the ornithologist’s record of an accomplished artist. It was dedicated to Mrs. Gould by the friend of her husband, at a time when she had shown how much could be effected by the union of taste and skill, and had produced a series of ornithological figures which could vie with the best that had preceded them, and were excelled only by those which appeared in her later works.” Although nearly forty years have passed away since Mr. Vigors characterized this species, so few specimens have been obtained, and so little information recorded respecting it, that its history is still almost a blank. In my ‘ Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains,’ published in 1832, I wrote as follows :—* This very elegant little bird was received from the Himalayas, to which it is supposed to be principally confined. The delicately formed tribe to which it belongs represent in India that equally beautiful group the Humming-birds of America. Like the Zhochilide, the Cinnyride subsist much upon insects of small size, which they seek for in the centre of expanded flowers, or among the leaves of plants. Little else of their habits can be stated with certainty. The Cinnyris Gouldie is an exceedingly rare species, and, as far as is yet known, the specimens now figured from are a unique addition to the treasures of science.” Since the above passage was published, Messrs. Horsfield and Moore have issued their Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the East-India Company,’ and Mr. Jerdon his ‘ Birds of India,’ in both which works detailed notices of the habits of the various species, where known, are given ; but even here, I regret to say, the information respecting the Nectarinia Gouldi@ is extremely scanty. Still they do add a little to our knowledge of the subject ; and I therefore transcribe their remarks :— ‘‘ Examples of this beautiful species were procured by Capt. Strachey, in Kumaon; and it also inhabits Sikim, Sylhet, and Arracan, and is rare at Darjeeling, where, says Mr. Blyth, it is much sought after by collectors, who have currently styled it the ‘ Beauty of the Hills.’ ” “This Honey-sucker,” says Mr. Jerdon, ‘is found throughout the Himalayas, from Kumaon to Sikhim, and extends to Assam, Sylhet, and Arracan. I know not at what height it occurs, as I did not procure it myself at Darjeeling ; but I imagine it does not ascend to a great elevation.” Captain Stackhouse Pinwill informs me that he found the Nectarinia Gouldié somewhat numerous during the month of September near Koteghur, a few marches out of Simla, and observed them to be feeding from the tubular flowers of a parasite growing in abundance on one of the Himalayan species of Quercus. The females and young males were by far the most numerous, the latter frequently showing a feather or two of the more brilliant parts of the plumage, while many of the old males had lost their long tail-feathers. Their food consisted chiefly of honey, with the addition of a few very minute insects. Although my Plate bears the generic name of Nectarinia, the bird wld: belongs to that section of the family to which the term A’thopyga has been assigned, and, together eh AY, ignicauda, AL. nipalensis, and a few other species, constitutes, in my opinion, a very natural division, the members of which oo“ considerably from the flame-spotted Arachnechthre, and equally so from those of the other genera into which the old genus Nectarinia is now subdivided. The male has the crown of the head and nape, the centre of the throat, a spot on each side of the chest near the shoulder, upper tail-coverts, and the basal half of the oo central tail-feathers glossy steel-blue with purple reflexions ; back and sides of the neck, back: and lesser ee deep sanguineous red; lower part of the back and under surface of the body brimstone-yellow, with He small streaks of orange on the breast ; wings pale brown, the primaries narrowly edged with yellow ; tips of phe central tail-feathers dark brown; lateral tail-feathers brown, with a spot of dusky white on the tip of the inner web; irides brown ; bill black; legs brown. The female is pale olive-green above ; has the wings brown, margined with pale olive-green; across se lower part of the back a band of yellow as in the male, but less brilliant au not so well defined ; tail dark brown, the lateral feathers tipped with dull white; under ae pale — : The Plate represents the two sexes, of the size of life. The plant 1s the Nepenthes ampullaria. Led. ¢ Uhr. | ee 1B IN AT ATT L 4 wd & HC 3 a ¢ 2 lini om t TIAN NECTARINIA SATURATA. Black-breasted Sun-bird. Cinnyrts saturata, Hodgs. Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 273.—Id. Gray, Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 82. Nectarinia saturata, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. p. 276.—Id. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xx. p. 316. —Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 224.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 405, Nectarima, sp. 14, Cinnyris Assamensis, McClell. Proc. Zool. Soc., part. vii. (1839) p. 167. Nectarinia Hodgsonu, Jard. Nat. Lib. Nect., pp. 240-269, pl. 29.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98, Nectarinia, sp. 66.—Id. Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 59. Aithopyga saturata, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil. i. p. 103 (note).—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p..735.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. 1. p.- 367. Tus Sun-bird is another of the ornithological gems which must tend to enhance the interest which attaches to the productions of the great Himalayan range of mountains; for, although it is not decorated with the rich scarlet hue of NM. Gouldie and N. ignicauda, this deficiency is amply compensated by the deep maroon- colour of the back, and the rich steel-blue of the crown, throat, rump, and upper tail-feathers, with the contrast they present to the black of the chest, the deep brown of the primaries, and the olive-green of the lengthened flank-plumes ; besides which, its adornment is rendered still more complete by the addition of a faint line of yellow across the rump, separating the maroon of the back from the steel-blue of the upper tail-coverts; this mark, however, is so slight that too little of it is apparent to break the harmony of the general colouring. ‘The present bird is in every respect a true thopyga, notwithstanding that it differs from the other species in colour. The specific term saturata, although the oldest, is not the only one that has been assigned to it, McClelland having called it Assamensis, and Sir W. Jardine Hodg soni. It appears to be alaw among the Nectarine for the females to be dull green and destitute of any markings to relieve their uniformity; while the males, as will be seen on reference to the several illustrations, are as constantly clothed in some rich livery, have a much more elegant contour, and much longer tails. The N. saturata appears to prefer regions of an equable temperature; for it neither ascends to the bleak elevations of the ranges, nor descends to the heated forests of the Terrai, which skirt the vast chain of mountains knownas the Himalayas. Mr. Moore states that it inhabits Bhotan, and Dr. Jerdon that it extends its range into Assam and Sikhim, where he found it abundant at an elevation of from three to 5000 feet. The male has the crown of the head, and nape, and a narrow stripe down each side of the throat brilliant violet-blue; lores, ear-coverts, sides of the neck, wings, rump, throat, and centre of the belly black; back and wing-coverts deep maroon-red ; across the rump a faint line of yellow; upper tail-coverts and basal portion of the two centre tail-feathers fine glossy steel-blue ; wings brown; apical portion of the two central and the lateral tail-feathers dull black ; lengthened flank-feathers, lower part of the abdomen, and under tail-coverts very pale olive-green ; irides brown ; bill black ; legs brown. The female is dull olive-green on the upper surface, with the throat and breast greyish olive ; abdomen and under tail-coverts greenish yellow. The figures represent the two sexes, of the natural size. The plant is the Luvunga scandens. Sse ee ub ) ® mS pa l nu Len Walk lonande & Lhe) < 4 Ps S & Ss 8 Re ~ ~ & ~~ ™ S S S ~ B53 S ae INIA ee ITA UTTNITT NECTARINIA IGNICAUDA. Fiery-tailed Sun-Bird. Cinnyris ignicauda, Hodgs. Ind. Rey. 1837, p. 273.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xu. p. 972. rubricaudata, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 192. Nectarima phenicura, Jard. Nat. Lib. Sun-Birds, pp. 242, 270. pl. 29. ignicauda, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i.-p. 98.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p..223. Cinnyris epimecurus, Hodgs., G. R. Gray. Tue almost interminable forests skirting the southern base of the Himalayas, and especially those of Nepaul and Sikim, are the native habitat of this lovely species, of which a fine specimen, procured in Sylhet, and probably the first sent to Europe, was presented to the Zoological Society of London by Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, Bart., M.P., as far back as the year 1836; since that period others have found their way into several of the museums and private collections of this country; among these may be especially noticed some remarkably fine examples with middle tail-feathers of unusual length, which form part of the extensive collection presented to the British Museum by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. The female offers a striking contrast to the male, not only in her much smaller size, but in the extreme plainness of her colouring ; and Mr. Hodgson speaks of a post-nuptial dress assumed by the male, a kind of plumage which I had considered to be characteristic of the young male of the year. The male has the forehead and throat glossy steel-blue; ear-coverts brown; back of the neck, back and upper tail-coverts vermilion; across the rump a triangular mark of sulphur-yellow ; two central tail- feathers vermilion; lateral tail-feathers brown margined with vermilion ; wings brown margined with olive; breast fine yellow with a wash of scarlet in the centre; under surface sulphur or greenish yellow ; irides dark brown ; bill blackish brown; feet brown. Much difference exists in the length of the two middle plumes of the tail, some being three and others five inches in length. . The young male has the general plumage olive, with a slight trace of red on the back; the rump, upper tail-coverts and tail as in the adult, except that the central feathers are not so long, and no trace of red on the dull yellow of the breast. The female is uniform olive above and greenish yellow beneath, with a slight trace of the rich colouring of the opposite sex at the base of the tail. The Plate represents two males and a female, on the Engelhardtia Colebrookeana. Js bt f A : a \ vw Fins. ]i Hullinanded & We NECTARINIA GOALPARIENSIS. Goulpourah Sun-Bird. Goulpourah Creeper, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 221. pl. Ixxiv. Cumnyris miles, Hodgs. Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 273. labecula, McClell. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VII. p. 167. Nectarina Seheria, Tickell, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. ii. Be ode. Goalpariensis, Royle, Il. Him. Bot., vol. ii. pl. 7. fig. 1.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vel. xii: p- 969.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 223.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Sun-Birds, pp. 230, 267, pl. 27. No one of the beautiful long-tailed Nectarine appears to be more widely dispersed over the northern and eastern portions of India than the . Goalpariensis, which, as its name implies, and as is stated by Latham, is to be found at Goulpourah ; it has also been obtained by Captain Tickell near Seheria in Borabhim ; by Captain Boys at Bumourie; figured by Dr. Royle as an example of a tropical form from Deyra Doon; and Mr. Blyth states that it inhabits the sub-Himalayan regions generally, Central and Southern India, Sylhet, Aracan, and the Tenasserim provinces. Of its habits and economy very little has been recorded; Captain Tickell states that he observed it flitting about the low willow bushes in the dried bed of a stream, and that it has no song, but a loud chirp. Captain Boys says its food consists of honey and insects ; and Dr. Royle figures the nest of a pendulous form, but unfortunately has given no account whatever respecting the bird or its habits. The male has the forehead and crown dark metallic greenish purple; on the nape a broad band of dark olive-green; back and wing-coverts very dark blood-red; wings brown margined with olive; across the rump a fan-shaped mark of pure yellow; upper tail-coverts glossy green; two central tail-feathers very dark glossy purplish green; lateral tail-feathers brown, glossed with rich purple on the basal three- fourths of their outer webs; throat and breast fine light blood-red, within which, proceeding from beneath the lower angle of the bill down either side, is a narrow line of beautiful steel-blue; abdomen pale olive- ereen, darkest where it meets the scarlet; irides dark brown; upper mandible black; lower mandible brown ; legs and feet greyish black. The female has the upper surface olive-green, becoming much paler beneath; under surface of the shoulder white ; central tail-feathers olive-yellow ; lateral tail-feathers blackish brown, tipped with white and margined externally with olive-yellow. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size, on the Clematis montana. Henan Bs a NECTARINIA VIGORSII. Vigors’ Sun-Bird. Cinnyris Vigorsii, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. Sci. of Zool. Soc., Part II. p. 98, male. ———— concolor, Sykes in Ib., p. 99, female. Wnuen writing on the ornithology of Australia, I had frequent occasion to remark the occurrence of species, the habitat of which was restricted to the eastern or to the western portions of that continent, as the case might be; and I find that a similar law exists with regard to many of the birds inhabiting the great Peninsula of India. As far as I am aware, the habitat of the Nectarinia Vigorsu is confined to the western parts of India, where it represents the Mectarinia Goalpariensis, so generally dispersed over the eastern and north-eastern parts of that great country. The credit of the discovery, and of first bringing this fine species before the scientific world, is due to Colonel Sykes, whose valuable Catalogue of the birds observed by him in the Dukhun, published in the Second Part of the Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society, has contributed so largely to our knowledge of Indian ornithology; therein he has dedicated this magnificent bird to the late N. A. Vigors, Esq., the first Secretary of the Society, whose enlarged views of natural affinities in Zoology, as exhibited in his many valuable papers in the “ Transactions of the Linnean Society,” the “ Zoological Journal,” and the “Proceedings of the Zoological Society,” have contributed so essentially to enhance the importance of science and to facilitate the labours of every zoologist. From that period to the present time, few other specimens have either reached this country or been added to the native museums at Calcutta and elsewhere; otherwise, so fine and distinct a species could not have been confounded by Mr. Blyth and others with the Nectarinia Goalpariensis, differing as it does in many important particulars, some of which are well detailed in Colonel Sykes’s specific characters. Although really belonging to the long-tailed section of the Nectarinie, the tail of this species is not so lengthened as in NV. Goalpariensis and its near allies ; indeed in the female it is almost square. It is altogether a larger and more robust bird than WV. Goalpariensis, and moreover may always be distinguished from that species by the light yellow striz which intersect the scarlet of the breast, and by the small crescent of brilliant metallic blue on the ear-coverts. With regard to the bird to which Colonel Sykes provisionally assigned the name of JV. concolor, with the remark, that as all the specimens he obtained were females, and met with in the same locality as V. Vigorsi, it may prove to be the female of that splendid species, I find, on a careful examination of his original specimens, that the opinion he then entertained is correct; consequently the term concolor must sink into a synonym. Colonel Sykes states that the V. Vigorsi inhabits only the lofty trees of the dense woods of the Ghauts, and that the larvee of flies, spiders, ants and minute insects were found in the stomachs of those he dissected. Forehead and crown dark shining green; cheeks, sides and back of the neck, upper part of the back and lesser wing-coverts, wings and lower part of the back olive-brown ; upper tail-coverts and the basal three- fourths of the central tail-feathers dark glossy green; remainder of the tail-feathers brown, glossed on the basal portion of their outer webs with purple; on the rump a fan-shaped mark of pale yellow ; throat and breast blood-red, striated down the centre with sulphur-yellow ; on the ear-coverts a small crescent-shaped mark of brilliant steel-blue, and on either side of the throat within the red a narrow line of the same brilliant hue; under surface of the shoulder whitish; under surface dark brownish grey; bill black, with the exception of the base of the lower mandible, which is buff; irides dark brown; feet blackish brown. The female has the entire plumage of a uniform greenish olive, except the under surface of the shoulder, which is greenish white, and that the tail is of a darker or brownish hue. The Plate represents two males and a female of the size of lite. has * Hidbnande & Walton bp x S NS Xs MR NS S S Ss eS Am NSN > WS SN SS = ~ = he SS » = SB C a ace TNTETAIIAGIUNT THT 2 TTI ay = NECTARINIA NIPALENSIS. Nepaulese Sun-Bird. Cinnyris Nipalensis, Hodgs. Ind. Rev. 1837, Dp: 27a. Horsfieldi, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. of Beng., vol. xi. p. 107. Nectarinia Nipalensis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc of Beng, vol. mir p. 974-— — Jard. Nat. Lib. Sun Birds, pp. 236, 268. pl. 27.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 224. ——-— HAhrsfieldi, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. of Beng., vol. xii. p. 975.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 224. From the numerous specimens of this bird which are obtained in the south-eastern and north-western por- tions of the Himalayas, it must be exceedingly common in all those districts: it also inhabits Nepaul and Sikim, and is very abundant about Darjeeling. The \. Horsfeldi of Mr. Blyth is in my opinion identical with the present species ; the differences he points out are too trivial to be regarded as specific, and he himself asks, “Can it be a variety of V. Mipa- lensis?” he describes the upper parts as “very similar to those of WV. Mpatensis, only without the red, a slight trace of which, however, appears on the lower part of the sides of the neck; the scale-like nuchal feathers, also, are not so broadly glossed and have more of a purplish shine; the under parts, too, differ only in having merely the slightest trace of flame colour.” Upon a careful examination of specimens in my collection to which this description is applicable, with adult examples of the true NV. Niopatensis, I have little hesitation in affirming that Mr. Blyth’s VV. Horsfeld is an immature example of that species. The female offers the usual disparity in size and marked difference in colour: and Mr. Hodgson states that the young males are earthy-brown on all the glossed parts of the mature males, The male has the head and back of the neck metallic blackish green, with, in some lights, a purple gloss ; throat very dark metallic green; upper part of the back and sides of the neck dark rusty red; wings brown margined with olive; on the rump a triangular mark of yellow; upper tail-coverts and basal three- fourths of the two central tail-feathers dark shining green; the apical fourth dark brown ; the lateral tail- feathers dark brown, margined on the basal portion of the outer webs with dark shining green ; breast very beautiful yellow, streaked with fine scarlet; abdomen and under tail-coverts greenish yellow; irides dark brown ; bill black; feet brown. The female is uniform olive-green, becoming much paler on the under surface; and the lateral tail- feathers tipped with greyish white ; bill and feet as in the male. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size, on the Mucuna anguina. KOKO AKO A ARN Ed VSN 3 NONE . © Md je . . - { ‘ v (o7e@) Tr <> : NY 4 = he fae 8 hy Pt, Z ; " ; roe ' ‘ JS - : . Ae had O 4a <> 0. 2 NM er Le ; . 4 Ta 7 - ; ' ‘ tas ' " . wes t - et a a 41D ~~ pennants ai NSD cate cpanel RE A kimi TIAA i pon " pa NECTARINIA ASIATICA. Asiatic Sun-Bird. Certhia asiatica, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p. 288.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 238. ———. Mahrattensis, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. xxxvi. -—— chrysoptera, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p. 299. Grimpereau gris des Philippines, Buff. Pl. Enl. 572. fig. 2.—Ib. Hist. Nat. des Ois. tom. v. p. 508. Certhia cirrhata, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p. 299. ———— Philippensis grisea, Briss. Orn. tom. iii. p- 615. pl. xxx. fig. 1.—Ib. 8vo, tom. ii. p. 5. ~~ eurrucaria, Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. i. p. 185.—Ib. Gmel. Edit. tom. i. part i. p. 474.—Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p. 285. ——— saccharina, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p:. 268. Cunnyris currucaria, Sykes, Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part il. p. 98. orientalis, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part i. p. 122. ———— Mahrattensis, Sykes in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc. part il. p. 99. -—— Epauletia, Hodgs. in Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 272. Strigula, Ib. in Ind. Rev. 1837, p. 272. Cyinnyris cyaneus, Vieill. 2de Edit. du Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. tom. xxxi. p. 494.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn. part ii. p. 598. Nectarima currucaria, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn. part ii. p. 586. ———— Mahratiensis, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn. part ii. p. 595.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98, Nectarinia, sp. 51.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. xii. p. 978.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 59. asiatica, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 224.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Orn. vol. xiii. Sun- birds, pl. 24. Le Soui-manga azuré, Vieill. Ois. Dor. tom. ii. p. 210. The Purple Indian Creeper, Edw. Gleanings, p. 116. pl. 265, low. fig. Sugar Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. vol. ii. p. 150.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 258. Mahratia Creeper, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. vol. ii. p. 164. Certhia asiatica, var. A, Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 238. Le Soui-manga aux ailes jaunes, Vieill. Ois. Dor. tom. ii. p. 64. Yellow-winged Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. p. 133.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 270.—Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 250. Le Soui-manga d touffes jaunes, Vieill. Ois. Dor. tom. ii. p. 65. Tufted Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. p. 132.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 271.—Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 251. Le Soui-manga @ cravatte violette, Vieill. Ois. Dor. tom. ii. p. 35. pl. 15. Grey Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. i. p. 714.—Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 221.—Lath. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p- 231. Tus beautiful little bird is so generally dispersed over India proper, that to enumerate localities wherein it may be found would be quite superfluous. I may state, however, that my son, the late Dr. J. H. Gould, met with it, among other places, in Scinde, and that that country is probably the limit of its range in a westerly direction. The long list of synonyms given above will show how generally it has been noticed by scientific writers on natural history, and the followimg notes will prove that it has received equal attention from the observers of Indian ornithology. The synonymy has been largely increased by the great difference in the colouring of the sexes, and by the plumage of the young males varying at different periods of their existence prior to assuming the livery of maturity, and by these differences having caused the older writers to regard the sexes and the young in their different stages as so many distinct species. The late Hon. F. J. Shore killed examples of this species at Hurdwar in April, and under the date of June 19 remarks,—‘ I find this species is common in the warmer parts of Ghurwal, and that it is also met with in the warm valleys of the Himalayas, in the Western provinces, and in the Sagur and Nerbudda territories. It hovers over flowers like a Humming-bird while sucking their nectar; I have also observed it on twigs destitute of flowers, engaged apparently in capturing small insects. The yellow and orange patch on the sides of the chest is scarcely perceptible when the wing is closed,” but with every movement of the ry conspicuously. ] eee a this a “visits the neighbourhood of Calcutta only in the cold ot ea it is not uncommon. On its arrival both sexes are clad in the plumage reomed to N. eG : By es; and before they leave, all have more or less completely assumed are nuptial dress, ae - Ai a i. 7 both sexes. In Nepaul it is probably asummer visitant only ; and it extends neers to the Indus and southward to Ceylon, but I have never seen it from the eastern side of the Bay i Bengal. The following interesting notes are from the pen of the Hite Captain Boys ae | ‘The native name of this species is Shukur-Khor, the signification of which is precisely the same as that of the generic name, being literally ‘ Sugar-eater.’ : : “The young males resemble the females during the first year of their existence, Bue assume the full plumage in the second, when the moulting commences on the breast and throat, where the iridescent colours of the adult first appear. . “This bird feeds on the nectar of flowers and the minute insects frequenting the bottoms of their corone, which it procures by inserting its long tongue into the flower-cups. Although it nos always settles while feeding, I have several times observed it extract honey from flowers while on the wing after the manner of the Zrochhde, or Humming-birds. “In 1829 I slightly wounded a male in the bastard wing, secured and brought it home: by some neglect it was unthought of for four days, when, on looking into the bag m which it had been placed, I found that it was not only alive, but that the wing had completely cicatrized : I should oe however, that the broken part of the wing had been taken off with a pair of scissors immediately after the bird was brought home. | placed it in a cage and succeeded in keeping it alive for several weeks by feeding it upon sugar and water, of which it took great quantities, but, owing perhaps to a want of variety in its food, it became thinner and thinner until it died. During its captivity it was very sprightly, and from the first day readily fed itself by dipping its tongue into the dish of syrup with which it was supplied. ‘The nest is rudely formed of dried grasses coated externally with cobwebs, and is generally difficult of access, or hidden from observation. “The song of the male, though comprising but a few notes, is very sweet. ‘Specimens were procured at Sultanpore, Benares, Jan. 22, 1840, and at Jucunie, Nov. 14, 1841.” Captain Tytler, in his ‘‘ Notes on the Fauna of Dacca,” mentions that the Nectarinia Asiatica is common, and that it breeds amongst the bushes. It will be observed that Captain Boys states that the nest of this species is rudely constructed ; Mr. Layard, on the other hand, informs us that “the nests of V. Lotenia and N. Asiatica are elegant domed structures, generally suspended from the extremity of a twig of some low bush artfully covered with cobweb, in which I have often seen the spider still weaving her toils, having extended the web to the surrounding branches, thus rendering the deception still more effective ; and it would seem that the birds were aware of it, and left their helper undisturbed. ‘“‘The entrance to the nest, which, if built in a bush, is always turned inwards, is screened from the sun and rain by a portico projecting often above an inch beyond the walls. The eggs usually are from two to four, of a whitish ground-colour, so closely speckled with minute dusky spots as to appear grey. They weigh from 9i.gr. 1. to 9i. gr.6, while the parent bird is only 311. heavier. The young males are clad in the livery of the female, but at the first moult assume the proper garb ; the brilliant metallic hues first appearing in a long line down the breast.” The male has the head, wing-coverts and upper surface shining greenish purple; wings and tail brownish black, margined externally with purple; sides of the neck shining green, with a wash of blue down the centre, and bounded below by a band of deep red; on each side of the chest a tuft of scarlet and yellow feathers ; abdomen black, glossed with deep blue; eyes brown ; bill and legs black ; roof of the mouth yellow. The female has all the upper surface pale greyish brown; under surface pale yellow ; wings brown with whitish edges ; tail brownish black, the two outer feathers tipped with white. The young male at first resembles the female, but as it advances in age gradually assumes the plumage of maturity; during the transition, the future metallic colouring of the upper surface is indicated by the appearance of a few feathers of that hue at the back of the neck, on the shoulders and other parts, and of the under surface by a broad streak of purple down the throat and a dark patch on the abdomen. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size. =r mt HnTOUT Tv aa 2 ¢ PN NECTARINIA LOTENTA. Loten’s Sun-Bird. Certhia lotenia, Linn. Syst. Nat. tom. i. p. 188.—Ib. Gmel. Edit. tom. i. pars i. p. 483.—Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p- 286. Loten’s Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. vol. ii. p. 715.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 235. Certhia polita, Sparm. Mus. Carls. tab. 59.—Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. 4. p. 287. Cymnyris politus, Vieill. 2nde edit. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. tom. xxxi. p. 502.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn. part ii. p. 586. Lotenia, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn. part i. p. 590. Certhia purpurata, Shaw, Gen. Zool. vol. viii. p. 201. pl. 28. Cinnyris purpurata, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool. vol. xiv. p. 230. Nectarina lotena, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. vol. xii. p. 978.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 224.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 98, Nectarinia, sp. 50.—Jard. Nat. Lib. Orn. vol. xiii. Sun-birds, pl. 23. The Purple Indian Creeper, Edw. Gleanings, p. 116. pl. 265. upp. fig. Le Soui-manga pourpre, Vieill. Ois. Dor. tom. ii. p. 29. pl. 11. Polished Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. vol. ii. p. 159.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 245. By those who are not in the habit of investigating the minute differences which distinguish closely allied species, the present bird might be easily confounded with Nectarinia Asiatica, from which, however, it is perfectly distinct ; the V. Lotenia being of a much larger size, having a much longer and more curved bill, and the whole of the abdomen brown instead of black. The females of the two species resemble each other more closely than the males, but as each accords with the respective sizes of their mates, they also may be readily distinguished. I do not possess examples of the young of this bird, and I am therefore unable to say if they exhibit the same parti-coloured plumage as the young of N. Asiatica: that they will do so to a certain extent I have no doubt; but I believe that the black will not extend down the centre of the abdomen as in the immature birds of that species. The range of V. Lotenia appears to be more limited than that of WV. Asiatica, the southern portions of the Indian Peninsula and the island of Ceylon being the only localities whence I have seen specimens ; but Mr. Blyth states that examples from the Carnatic have been presented to the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta by Mr. Jerdon. Mr. Layard states that ‘‘ this species is exceedingly plentiful in the southern and midland districts of Ceylon, but is not so common in the north as V. Aseatica.” The male has the head, all the upper surface and wing-coverts deep shining purple, passing into green on the lower part of the back and rump; chin and sides of the neck deep shining green, passing into purple on the breast, and bounded below by a narrow band of deep red; on each side the chest a tuft of scarlet and yellow feathers ; wings and under surface brown; tail dull black, the outer feathers margined with purple ; bill and feet black. The female has all the upper surface brown ; under surface pale yellow ; tail brownish black, the outer feathers tipped with white. The Plate represents two males and a female of the natural size. EROPS Co J Could & H. CBichter, del a lish Plain Zosterops. Zosterops japonica, Swinh. in Ibis, 1861, p. 35 (nec Temm. et Schleg.). simplex, Swinh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1862, p. 317, and 1863, p. 203.—Id. Ibis, 1863, p. 294, and 1870, p. 348.—G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part 1. p. 163. Sheong-shee of the Cantonese (Swinhoe). Accorpine to Mr. Swinhoe, this species of Zo found in the islands of Formosa and Hainan. Z. japonica, of Japan; but the Indian bird is sterops inhabits all the provinces of Southern China, and is also Its nearest allies are the Zosterops palpebrosa, of India, and the easily distinguished from it by the more lively yellow colour of the throat and upper surface, and the Japanese species by its larger size, by the duller-coloured hue of the upper surface, by the smaller amount of jet-black on the lores, and the darker hue of its flanks. In its habits, disposition, and entire economy it assimilates most closely to its near allies in Australia ;_ a discrepancy, however, occurs in the colouring of their eggs, those of the Chinese bird being described by Mr. Swinhoe as white, while those of the Australian species are delicate blue. As is the case with the other members of the genus, the sexes of Z. simplex are alike in colour; but the male slightly exceeds the female in size. For the following notes respecting this species we are indebted to the researches of Mr. Swinhoe :— ‘The Zosterops simplex ranges in China from Canton to Foochow, and perhaps a little higher, but not to Shanghai, where it is replaced by Zosterops erythropleura. Yn Formosa and in Hainan it is also an abundant resident. Like the Z. palpebrosa it is grey on the underparts. An occasional specimen or two, however, may be picked out of my Amoy series with a tinge of chestnut-brown on the underparts, showing the tendency of the species towards the Z. japonica. Some have the abdomen deeper grey than others. The yellow on the throat varies in intensity, as also does the green of the upper parts ; but these are chiefly distinc- tions of sex and age. I have one pale (almost yellow) variety, procured by Captain Blakiston at Canton. All the adults have the black lore and eye-line common to so many of this group. I have specimens from Hongkong, Macao, Canton, Amoy, Foochow, and Formosa, all agreeing in their essential characters. “It is abundant at Hongkong, where in winter it may constantly be seen, roaming from tree to tree along the roads in small parties, searching every twig for Aphides and other small insects. When engaged in pursuit of its food, it hangs in all manner of attitudes, uttering the while a peculiar call-note. In spring it emits a short sweet song. Its well-blended tints of yellow and green, and the snow-white ring that encircles its sharp black eyes, may be seen to advantage by the observer who stands under the trees whereon a number of these sprightly little fellows are exploring the twigs and leaves for small insects. On the 2nd of April I had the good fortune to discover its nest, at the end of a bough of a large-leaved tree. It was attached to several leaf-stalks about eight feet from the ground, and might at first sight have been taken for some insect’s nest. It consisted of a small cup, composed of delicate grasses, spider’s web, and moss, and much resembled the nest of a Humming-bird. This pretty little structure contained two clear-white ego's. “Tn confinement this species readily becomes tame, even when several are kept together ; and it may be seen as a cage-bird in most of the towns of South China. At feeding-time they are particularly lively—but when satiated settle on their perch, sidling up to their companions ; and after caressing one another for a short time, all ruffle their feathers and dip their heads under their wings. The siesta they take is not long. They all wake up suddenly, and feed again, the males often putting forward the head and singing their soft melodious notes. The Zosterops is very fond of bathing, and, for food, besides insects, is Very partial se fruit, showing an especial fondness for plantains and bananas, on which it may be almost entirely sustained.” I am indebted to Mr. Swinhoe for permission to copy a beautiful drawing in his possession of the nest of this species, probably of the one spoken of above. , Forehead, throat, breast, vent, and under tail-coverts sulphur-yellow ; Le TU: yellowish green, brightest or yellower on the head ; abdomen brownish grey, suffused ip some specimens with a ruddy tinge ; a ring of white feathers round the eye; axillaries white; quills and tal dark brown, margined externally with yellowish green ; under edge of the quills, the under surface of their shafts, and also those of the tail white ; bill and legs slate-colour. | The Plate represents both sexes and a nest, of the natural size. mo) \ ‘9 a HD 1 Naame & | J Gould &HCRichuer ded pou cn ZOSTEROPS ERYTHROPLEURA, Swind. Chestnut-sided Zosterops. Zosterops chloronotus, Schrenck, Vog. des Amur-Landes, p-. 365. erythropleura, Swinh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1863, p. 204, and 1870, p. 448.—G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, vol. i. p. 163. erythropleurus, Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p. 336. As in the case of Zosterops simplex, the accompanying figures were taken from specimens kindly lent to me by Mr. Swinhoe. It will be seen by this gentleman’s notes, given below, that he formerly considered the Z. erythropleura to be identical with the Japanese species, but that on reconsidering the subject he has raised the present bird to the rank of a species. For myself I can affirm that I have never seen a bird like it from Japan, that Mr. Swinhoe’s specimens differ materially from four examples of the Japanese bird now before me, and that the very distinct chestnut colouring of the flanks at once distinguishes this bird from every other species that has come under my observation. The following are Mr. Swinhoe’s notes on the subject ; and the specific value of the bird must rest entirely with him; I must not, however, omit to add that neither this nor any other Asiatic Zosterops that 1 have seen is identieal with the Z. chloronota, of Australia, as supposed by v. Schrenck :— «The distribution of this species extends from Shangai into Amoorland. I had, until lately, confounded it with the Z. japonica of Japan; but while on a visit to M. Jules Verreaux, at Paris, I had the pleasure of examining for the first time a veritable Japanese specimen, and of comparing it with North-China skins. The difference in the two birds is striking. Both, like Z. simplex, have black markings on the lore and partly round the white eye-ring. The underparts of Z. japonica are dull light brownish chestnut, while the flanks of this species are deep rusty chestnut. This bird is larger and longer-winged than the South-China species, but is exceeded in both respects by the Japanese. Of two specimens from Shangai and one from Tientsin, kindly lent me by M. Jules Verreaux, the two former are much brighter on the flanks than the latter; but, as they are both males, and the Tientsin bird is a female, the difference may be only a sexual one, and not of locality. What could have induced M. v. Schrenck, in his ‘ Vogel des Amur-Landes,’ to confuse this species with the Z. chloronota, Gould, of Australia, I cannot understand, since the shape of the bill and head of the latter, and the dull sordid colour of its plumage, show at once a marked difference from the Chinese bird. Indeed there are many species from Asia and Africa far more closely allied to the Z. erythropleura than is the Z. chloronota. \ think all practical ornithologists will agree with me in con- sidering the three species of Eastern Asia distinct inter se and from all others of this numerous group. As I have never seen the North-China species alive, except as a cage-bird, I have nothing special to relate respecting its habits. “ Pére David says it passes Peki in that city, but did not meet with it in a state of nature. It is also offered for sale in the bird-shops at be found to extend from Shangai northwards to Peking.’ ng in October, in which month I procured specimens from a birdcatcher 9 Shangai; and its range will probably Head and all the upper surface olive green; lores black ; ring round the eye white ; chin, vent, and under tail-coverts sulphur-yellow, wings and tail brown, margined with olive ; under Te grey, fading into white on the centre of the abdomen, and the flanks stained with deep chestnut red; bill light bluish grey, marked with black on the upper mandible; legs deeper bluish grey. The female is distinguished by having a less amount of chestnut on the flanks. The Plate represents both sexes, of the size of life. : : : j ; i} i 4 rar, — eter he ees hd he ee oS ee « ’ “ ~ | ~ wea = — Jems a ee eo Ci ee ee c 2 - 7 . : DS Pine ed SOLAR OL S22 MD. a FEN e ie Walter log NUL, TO SS Ud & WV Hert: del) et: bith DICAUM RETROCINCTUM, Gow. Red-collared Dicweum. Diceum retrocinctum, Gould, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1872, 4th series, vol. x. p. 114. I very much regret that I can offer to my ornithological readers no precise information respecting the habits and economy of this little bird. The specimens, apparently male and female, have been in my collection for a great number of years, and all I know about them is that I purchased them from a collection of birds said to have been obtained in the Philippine Islands. I have not been able to find any published description of the species; but if I was wrong in characterizing it as new, I shall doubtless soon be set right by some of my contemporaries, as it is a bird of such very marked coloration. I may state, however, that before describing it I showed the species to Lord Walden, our best authority on Philippine ornithology, and compared it with the series in the British Museum. I reproduce my original description; but a glance at the Plate will give the best idea of the species. Further than this I can say nothing respecting it. ‘* Male (from Manilla).—Head, neck, back, wing-coverts, tail, sides and centre of the throat, and a broad stripe down the centre of the breast steel or bluish black ; a semicollar at the base of the neck behind, a small stripe down the chin, and a broader and longer stripe down the centre of the abdomen scarlet ; under tail-coverts white ; wings slaty black; sides of the chest and the abdomen white, passing into silvery grey on the flanks ; bill black, lighter at the base; feet apparently dark brown. ‘Total length 33 inches, bill 3, wing 2, tail 2, tarsi 3. ‘* Female? (from Mindanao).—Like the male on the upper surface, but wanting the red at the base of the neck ; chin and throat white; remainder of the under surface grey, fading into white on the abdomen, down the centre of which is a stripe of scarlet, as in the opposite sex; under tail-coverts white. ‘* Size the same as that of the male.” The figures on the Plate are those of two males and a female (?), of the size of life. It is just possible that the figures on the accompanying Plate may represent two species ; if so, the name retrocinctum will apply to the collared specimens only. ) I) y * it A Poor ae me | HH HN Bi | HH aa | a Hi . ae — Walter, ln ip. eye NI ui} Hi om 4 2 3 A 5 : , | ii DICAUM DOR SA LE, Sharpe. Yellow-throated Diczweum. I); F ne eas 7 Ra é are : : ; ‘ : ‘ ° Diceum dorsale, Shar pe, ‘ Nature,’ August, 1876, p. 298.—Id. Transactions of the Linnean Society, 2nd series, Zoology, vol. i. part 5. Tur Malayan archipelago is the metropolis of the Diceide, where nearly every island seems to posses as peculiar species ; and in the Philippine Islands occur the representatives of a complete section of the above- named family. These might be called the “ black-and-white ” Flower-peckers ; and the two beautiful birds already figured in the present work on the Plate of D. retrocinctum are characteristic species of this section. Since that time Dr. Steere has discovered during his visit to the Philippines two more species—D. hemato- stictum, Sharpe, from Guimaras and Negros, and D. hypoleucum, Sharpe, from Basilan and Malamaui; so that we now know of four of these pied Diceide in the above-named archipelago. I mention these birds, as I am anxious to correct an error into which I was led when treating of D. retrocinctum in the present work. I figured on the Plate of the latter species two birds which I considered might be the sexes of one and the same species, although I hinted that there might be two birds; and this seems to be the case, as both Mr. Sharpe and Count Salvadori have examined the question, and regard the supposed female of D. retrocinetum as the species long ago described as D. papuense by Gmelin. The most characteristic representative of this group is D. trigonostigma, a species widely spread over the Indo-Malayan subregion, and occurring plentifully in Borneo; it was also found by Dr. Steere in Negros. The present species, called by Mr. Sharpe dorsale on account of the red spot on the back, is from the island of Panay, where, according to Dr. Steere, it was “shot in the highest part of the island, in the remains of the virgin forest on the highest range of the mountains west of Ilo Ilo.” It is easily distin- guished from D. trigonostigma by the orange-red colour of the back being confined to the mantle instead of the whole back being yellow, and also by its entirely yellow throat. The following is a translation of Mr. Sharpe’s original description :— Above bright slaty-grey, the head rather brighter; interscapulary region orange-red ; wing-coverts uni- form with the back, the outer ones edged with olive; quills blackish, externally margined with the same colour as the back, a few of the secondaries edged with olive, the innermost uniform with the back ; upper tail-coverts slaty grey; tail black, the feathers margined with slate-colour; lores black; sides of the face dark slate-colour ; below very bright orange, the throat and lower abdomen yellow; thighs inwardly grey, externally yellow ; bill blackish, the lower mandible paler towards the base ; feet dark brown. Total length 3°D inches, culmen ‘5, wing 1:9, tail 1-05, tarsus ‘55. The female is olive-green above, the rump rather more yellow; sides of face uniform with the head; below bright yellow, the breast and under wing-coverts more richly coloured. Total length 3°7 inches, culmen °5, wing 1:9, tail 9, tarsus *55. The figures are taken from the typical birds procured by Dr. Steere in Panay, and kindly lent to me by him before his return to America. a Ne . a ) Pe en G)* OY — ay «hea > DICAAUM CRUEN TATUM, J Could and HC Rechte. ae. et beth, Lillmandel & Watton ; Ly PUNO GAA nnn 8 Ad Raa DICHZUM CRUENTATUM. Red-backed Diczum. Certhia cruentata, Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel. Edit. tom. i. p. 478. —— Bengalensis, Briss. Orn. tom. iii. p. 663. —— coccineum, Scop. — erythronotos, Lath. Ind. Orn. vol. i. p. 290. Red-backed Creeper, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp. p. 132.—Ib. Gen. Hist. vol. iv. p. 241. Le Grimpereau a dos rouge de la Chine, Sonn. Voy. aux Indes, tom. ii. p. 209. pl. 117. fig. 1 Le Soui-manga a dos rouge, Vieill. Ois. dor. tom. ii. p. 57. pl. 35. Black, White and Red Indian Creeper, Edw. Birds, pl. 81. Diceum rubricapillum, Less. Nectarinia ignita, Begbie. Diceum coccineum, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 100, Diceum, sp. 9. —_— cruentatum, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 226. Tue Diceum cruentatum is said to be common in the vicinity of Calcutta, and to extend its range eastward to Assam, and thence southward to Tenasserim and Malacca. It is a bird which has been long known, being described and figured in some of the oldest works on ornithology, as will be seen on reference to the 99 synonyms given above. Captain Tytler, in his “‘ Observations on the Fauna of Barrackpoore,” states that “the little Dice@um cruentatum, with its scarlet back, and the little sombre D. minimum are very abundant, but at all times difficult to obtain, owing to their extreme minuteness, besides which they often keep in the upper branches of high trees.”—Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. 2nd ser. vol. xin. p. 373. This, I regret to say, is all the information I have been able to obtain respecting the habits and economy of this pretty species ; we may conjecture, however, that they are very similar to those of its near ally, the Diceum hirundinaceum of Australia, a full description of which will be found in my work on the birds of that country. The sexes differ very materially in colour, the female being almost devoid of the scarlet colouring of the upper surface, the rump only being of that hue. The male has the crown of the head, back, rump and upper tail-coverts deep scarlet ; wing-coverts greenish black ; primaries and tail dull black ; sides of the face, sides of the neck and flanks dull black ; centre of the throat and Me east, abdomen and under tail-coverts light buff; bill black; legs and feet dusky brown. The female has the head, upper surface, wings and sides of the face olive ; rump and upper tail-coverts scarlet ; under surface buff down the centre, passing into olive on the sides ; bill black, except at the base of the lower mandible, where it is much paler; feet dusky brown. The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size. “a i a ae er DICE UD WHart del. & uth. Kalter, unp. ii FTA IOT TUDE AEA te 1 __2|_3|_ 4] : es : ; ees iF Fs Ase ~o , J ‘ \~ "Aa Z, s - \ q ~~ a & ‘ \ : : 5 ‘ - ‘ : \ p 2 a . : ; i — : : 5 Ss = Sa : ais eS VO NU ars dl ofa eat CRs ALEDYS DEG, | SS OVER sr Oe JX ©) LY fe NC Was: ore DICAUM PRYERL, Sharpe. Pryer’s Diczeum. Diceum pryeri, Sharpe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881, p. 795. Mr. Pryer and his brother are both known for their labours in the cause of ornithology, both of them being excellent observers and collectors. Mr. H. Pryer has done very good work in J apan, while Mr. W. B. Pryer is now collecting in North-eastern Borneo, in a part of the country whence no previous collection has been forwarded. The province of Sandakan forms part of the territory now belonging to the North-Borneo Company; and we hear of several naturalists who have joined the staff, who are likely to make us well acquainted with the ornithology of this part of Borneo. To Mr. Pryer, however, belongs the credit of having sent home the first consignment of bird-skins from that part of the world; and the present interesting little species is one of the novelties which have rewarded his efforts. Mr. Bowdler Sharpe gives the following diagnosis of the species :— “Similar to D. nigrimentum of Salvadori, but distinguished by the whole of the throat as well as the sides of the neck and sides of body black. Total length 2-9 inches, culmen 0°4, wing 1-85, tail 1-0, tarsus 0°45.” He also gives the accompanying note :—‘‘ The first collection sent by Mr. Pryer contained a single specimen of this Diceum ; it appeared to be quite different from D. xigrimentum, which is in the collection of the British Museum. Subsequently Mr. Pryer forwarded some more adult males, in his second and third consignments ; and as all of these agree in having the whole of the throat black, I have no doubt that it is a good species.” The figure in the Plate has been drawn from the typical specimen, which is a male bird. The female is at present unknown. [R. B. S.] anit } 1 iy ' | ’ | 7 7 Ps ee ? SA , Fie * ~ a, a. q q 4 7 ' i 7 W sui | | \ } “ y iy s a Pa | ’ tty Ao rr : Se ee a Ne 2 Se Eg en EY oy ee. a — een ee) SE ES CS ey Aa Fe en ee ee panes rs on ee ee — os ses irr . / ~ ~ (ig a sg 6 “fe ae . ’ , ’ ; . : . . ; i , ° , . - . mn ti s ae PME || HT AHH i Hil i | PN PRE i 8 : / Pe bieit ‘ Pi EtE ore” N INN NY GQQare €e , : ; Sli TA NAGAENSIS, Gdezctee, L6vuli & W Hurt ded bith rae e aL p AT: SITTA N AGAENSI Ss » Godwin-Austen. Naga Nuthatch. Sttta nagaensis, Godwin- Austen, P. Z. >, 1874, p. 44 In my description of the Cinereous Bullfinch I have gone a little out of my way to say a few words on the range of the genus Pyrrhula; and I might have added the genus Svéta to the general remarks there incorporated, since it is a form equally familiar to most persons, even to those who have no great pretensions to ornithological science. Like the genus above alluded to, the Nuthatches are essentially a northern form, and they may be said to inhabit countries surrounding the temperate and northern portions of the whole world. In India and in China they are entirely confined to the north, while in Africa the genus is absent altogether ; in the New World this form does not range south of Mexico. The members of the genus St¢¢a are all birds of moderate size, very few of them exceeding in this respect our common Great Titmouse (Parus major). The number of species now known to science approaches twenty, and they are all characterized by a great similarity in habits and economy. Their chief food consists of insects gathered from the bark of trees, the boles of which they are able to traverse in all directions—that is to say, they run down the trunk as easily as they do up it; this is not the case with the Woodpeckers, which are also bark feeders. Although during the course of the last few years several new species of Sitta have been characterized, the present is one of the most interesting recently brought to light, nor is it the least pretty of the new birds discovered by Major Godwin-Austen during his researches in the Naga Hills. The following is the original description of the bird from the pen of the last-named gentleman :— “Above slaty blue, palest on the neck and head; two centre tail-feathers, shoulder of wing, and secondaries same colour, rather brighter; quills brown-black ; outer tail-feathers black, with a white patch on the inner web of the four outer, increasing outwards and in the outermost extending diagonally to the other web, all tipped with grey and terminating in black ; a black streak from lores through eye to ear- coverts and down side of neck. Beneath dull sordid white, purer on chin and throat, with a few white feathers bounding the ear-coverts ; flanks, thighs, and under tail-coverts rusty chestnut, all the latter with a terminal white spot. Bill black above, grey below; legs greenish black; irides dark brown. Length 4-9 inches, wing 3, tail 1-75, tarsus 0-68, bill at front 0°68, extent of foot 1°2. ‘‘ Inhabits the Naga Hill-ranges, and was not uncommon.” I have to thank Major Godwin-Austen for the loan of the typical specimen, from which the figures in the Plate have been drawn. They are life-size. a x |! ft and HC Richter del et “ith IT \ \ | ( ) QS A ; Dlyth. Hallnancte [A Walton in IOI ON NUTT AEA mi 62] 63) gl SITTA FORMOSA, Blyth. Beautiful Nuthatch. Sitta formosa, Blyth in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xii. pp. 938, 1007.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asi Calcutta, p. 189.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 148, Stéta, sp. 13. at. Soc. Great as have been the discoveries in our Indian possessions during the last twenty years in every de- partment of science, few can have exceeded in interest the beautiful Nuthatch figured in the accompanying Plate; I (and doubtless other ornithologists) was quite unprepared to find a species pertaining to this little group of creeping birds, so gorgeously attired, and consequently so conspicuously different from its near allies as seemingly to warrant its separation from them; on examination, however, we find that its gay colouring is unaccompanied by any structural difference of sufficient importance to justify such a division. For the discovery of this new bird I am unable to say whether we are indebted to a Hodgson, a Charleton, or a Grace, all of whose collections were sent nearly simultaneously to this country, and all of which contained examples. Mr. Blyth of Calcutta appears to be the only person who has assigned to it a specific name, and he has judiciously selected that of formosa as indicative of its rich and beautiful colouring. All the specimens I have seen do not amount to half a dozen in number, and these are distributed far and wide ; one in the British Museum, which is probably a female, as it differs in being of a somewhat greener hue, and in having the crescentic white markings somewhat less distinct; another in the collection of the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Derby; a third in Dr. Wilson’s celebrated collection at Philadelphia; and a fourth, from which my figures were taken, in the fine collection of Indian Birds at Apperley Castle, Salop; and here I must not fail to record the kindness of Mrs. Charleton, who permitted the bird to be removed from the case and forwarded to me in London, for the purpose of figuring in the present work. All the speci- mens alluded to formed part of collections made in Nepaul, Sikim, or Bhotan, and the local name of Darjeeling was attached to one or more of them. | In Mr. Blyth’s Monthly Report to the Asiatic Society at Bengal for December 1842, he says, ‘ This very beautiful bird appears to present no sufficient distinction upon which it coun be a from oe ordinary Nuthatches, though the style of colouring of its upper parts is peculiar, and its size also is comparatively large. oe “Colour of the upper parts black, beautifully variegated with different shades of uléramarine blue’; the scapularies and rump verdigris; and the wing-coverts and tertiaries elegantly margined with white at their tips; under parts bright rusty-fulvous, somewhat paler on the breast and ee whitish on the throat; the frontal feathers are tipped with white, and around the eye also is whitish continued backward as an ill-defined supercilium tinged with fulvous posterior to the eye; crown and back deep black, each feather tipped with brilliant ultramarine, forming large and pointed triangular spots; on the back these incline more to verdigris, and are dilute and whitish over the shoulder; wing- coverts black, with strongly contrasting terminal white margins, and more or less laterally edged, as are also the large alars, with bright lavender-blue, which likewise appears within the white margin of the tertiaries, and tips their inner webs ; middle tail-feathers lavender-blue, with a da — rest black, edged externally with blue and tipped with duller blue, the oo. me . a Sean at the extremity of its inner web; and the next a smaller termutal spot of of ee o es dark; bi blackish, the lower mandible pale underneath ; and legs greenish horny, with yellow soles. The figures are of the natural size. er Pek re we U aad ~ g ite) III 3 “ ia gc PENN un SETA CINNAMOVENTRIS, Blyth. Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch. Sita cnnamoventris, Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 459.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 189.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 148, Sitta, sp. 9. —-— castaneoventris, Hodgs. Ir could scarcely have been expected that the discriminating eye of Mr. Blyth would have failed to detect the differences which exist in the two Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches of India, and accordingly we find that he has distinguished them by their size and the intensity of their colouring. To the largest bird with the paler- coloured breast, accurately represented on the accompanying Plate, he has assigned the name of cinnamo- ventris, and he remarks that it “is altogether a stouter bird, with the bill especially much broader, and not, as in the other GS. castaneoventris), distinctly and conspicuously compressed for the basal two-thirds . . . : The generte markings and coloration are so similar, that really I do not see how they can be further characterized apart, yet a glance suffices to show their non-identity as species. With respect to colour, the hues of castaneoventris are altogether softer and more delicate, and in both sexes the grey of the upper part of the head and neck is conspicuously paler than that of the back ; whereas in cinnamoventris, although the head and nape are seen, on particular inspection, to be somewhat lighter than the back, this would scarcely be noticed, unless attention were expressly directed to the observation. In castaneoventris the upper tertiaries are uniformly bluish grey, and in the rest there is no strongly marked distinction between the dusky of the inner web and the grey external margin; but in the other species the external blue-grey contrasts abruptly with the black of the internal portion of the feather, which last too extends over a considerable part of the outer web, as is not the case in castancoventris : this distinction may perhaps vary somewhat in amount of development in different specimens, but I suspect will always be found to prevail more or less decidedly. In the male S. castaneoventris the colour of the whole under-parts, from the white throat to the mottled under tail-coverts, is of a deep dark ferruginous ; while in the female it is not very much darker than in a British Nuthatch ; in the new species, the fore neck, breast, and lower parts are uniformly coloured, and much paler than in the male castaneoventris, but deeper than in the female, being of a dull rusty cinnamon tint, which suggests the term cimnamoventris as a specific appellation.” This species is an inhabitant of the South-Eastern Himalayas, and its range must extend far and wide over the districts of India, since specimens occur in nearly every collection brought from thence to this conntry. | | Upper surface dark blue-grey, paler on the head and back of the neck ; lores and stripe running from behind the eye down the sides of the neck black; chin and cheeks white ; pananee ie webs, and the portion of the outer webs of the secondaries next the shaft, slaty black; two cee tail-feathers blue-grey ; lateral tail-feathers black, margined with grey, with a spot of white on their inner webs near the tip, gradually decreasing in extent as the feathers approach the centre ; the external feather has also a marks of white at the base of the external web; under surface of the shoulder black; at the base of the under side of the primaries a mark of white, which is continued along the margins of. their inner webs; under surface deep rusty cinnamon; under tail-coverts dark brown, mottled with white; eye brown; bill blue- grey at the base; front of tarsi and toes blue-grey. | The female only differs from the male, in having the under surface of a very much paler or reddish brown hue. : The figures represent two males and a female of the size of life. a ; ‘ , ' ul : ‘ [yp op LH “it tra a 4 3 oni APN FTTH =. s De A ; =N : : ok c N SITTA CAST ANE OVEN TRI Ss, Frank. Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch. Ferrugmous-bellied Nuthatch, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 74. , VOY "7° Ve z 2 » ~ RGN ee a ~ ‘ r ~ : Sitta castaneoventris, Frankl. Proc. of Comm. of Sel. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., Part I. p. 121.—Jard. and Selby, II. Orn, vol. i. pl. 145.— Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 148, Sitta, sp. 8.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 190. Sitta castanea, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 316. —— ferrugineoventris, Gould, proposed at Meeting of Zool. Soc.. Nov. 13, 1849, and reported in Athenzeum, 1849, p. 1183. Tur bird here represented agrees with Major Franklin’s description of Stta castaneoventris in every respect, except in being of a somewhat smaller size; which difference induced me in the first instance to believe it to be a distinct species ; but upon further consideration of the subject, after having carefully compared it with examples in the Museum of the East India Company which agree more nearly in size with Major Franklin’s description, I am inclined to consider them to be merely local varieties of each other: should, however, future research prove them to be distinct, the term of ferrugineoventris, proposed by me at a late Meeting of the Zoological Society, may be applied to the smaller bird ; at present it must be regarded merely as a synonym of castaneoventris. The specimens at the East India House were obtained in Bhotan : the smaller bird here represented was procured by Captain Boys, at Gorruckpoor : they all have the com- pressed and attenuated bill, pointed out by Mr. Blyth as a character by which they may be distinguished from the 8. e¢nnamoventris, in which the bill is much stronger and of a broader form. Mr. Blyth states that the 8. castaneoventris inhabits the Himalayas and hilly regions of India generally ; that Mr. Jerdon has shot it at Goomsoor, in high forest jungle, and has seen specimens shot at the top of the Gazalhatti Pass in Mysore; that Captain Tickell obtained it at Chyebassa, and that he has himself seen it in collections from Rajmahl in Bengal, and from Darjeeling. It will certainly be necessary to institute a careful comparison of specimens from localities so widely apart, before we can affirm that they are all referable to one and the same species. All the upper surface blue-grey, conspicuously lighter on the head and back of the neck; lores and a line from the eye down the sides of the neck black ; primaries and secondaries black, margined with grey ; mo centre tail-feathers grey; lateral tail-feathers black, margined with grey; the two outer ones on each side with a spot of white on their inner web near the tip; chin and cheeks white; under surface of the shoulder black; at the base of the under side of the primaries a mark of white; all the under surface very deep chestnut ; under tail-coverts grey, margined with rufous; irides brown; legs and base of the bill blue- grey. : The female differs from the male in having the chin and cheeks grey, instead of white, and the under surface pale rusty brown, instead of dark chestnut. — The above descriptions are taken from specimens collected by Captain Boys, the admeasurements of which are as follows :-— Total length, 44 inches ; bill, 12; wing, 2%; tail, 13; ete The figures represent two males and a female of the size of life. PN dee Dos BION “ i 1 ee ee ' , ‘ a 7 et » OF a yo «9 nnn a I) SLM so | cl SITTA LEUCOPS]I S, Gould. White-faced Nuthatch. Sitta leucopsis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., November 13, 1849. Tur White-faced Nuthatch is more nearly allied to the Sitta Carolinensis than to any other known species, but differs from that bird in having a much shorter wing, in the rufous colouring of its flanks and under tail-coverts, and in the much smaller amount of white on the outer tail-feathers. Of all the Asiatic Nut- hatches this is the rarest in the collections of Europe, no example, so far as I am aware, being contained in any public Museum: Captain Hay’s collection of Indian birds lately brought to this country comprised examples, which are now in my own cabinet. Lord Arthur Hay, who diligently studied the birds of India while resident in that country, informs me that it is an inhabitant of the Himalaya, and that he often met with it during his rambles; but I believe his Lordship did not collect specimens. Mr. Blyth, in his obser- vations on the subfamily Si¢tine (Nuthatches), has given a short description of a species without assigning to it a specific name, which is doubtless identical with the present bird; his words are ** §. ———? Size about that of 8. cesia, with long and slender bill, a black cap, white breast and throat, and dark chestnut belly. ‘‘ Hab. Interior of N.W. Himalaya.” Crown of the head and back of neck jet-black ; all the upper surface deep blue-grey; primaries black edged with grey; centre tail-feathers blue-grey ; lateral feathers black tipped with blue-grey, the two outer ones on each side with a small spot of white on the inner web near the tip; face, chin, throat, breast, and centre of the abdomen white, the latter slightly washed with buff; flanks and under tail-coverts bright chestnut ; bill black, with a blue-grey base ; legs grey. The figures are of the natural size. + dda 1 . u on , 17, f Wilton 2" }, 1.7 7 pf Hilbmandet d SETA HI MALAYEN SIS, Sard. and Selby. Mimalayan Nuthatch. Indian Nuthatch, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. De oe Sitta Himalayensis, Jard. and eclby, Il. Orn, vol, i pl. 144.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. 1, p. 144, Sitta, sp. 10. Mpalensis, Hodgs. in Journ. Asiat, Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 779.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 148, Sitta, sp. 11. —— Himalayana, Blyth in Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 190. vittacauda, Jam. Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. vii. p. 490. Luis little Nuthatch is very nearly allied to its European prototype Sitta cesia, but is of a much smaller size, and moreover possesses a character in the white marks on the central portion of the two middle tail- feathers, by which it may be readily distinguished from every other at present known species of the genus. We have abundant evidence that it enjoys a wide range over the high lands of Central India, particularly the southern slopes of the Himalayas, examples having been contained in the collections obtained by Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Grace, and Capt. Boys. Mr. Grace shot his specimens near Darjeeling ; Capt. Boys procured his on the north side of the Gogra Hill, near the pass; and Mr. Hodgson states its habitat to be the central and northern regions of Nepaul. Neither of these gentlemen has given any account of its habits and ‘manners: there is, however, little doubt that they as closely assimilate to those of the European species as the two birds do to each other in form and colouring. The sexes are so nearly alike that they are scarcely distinguishable. All the upper surface blue-grey ; lores, and a stripe passing from behind the eye down the sides of the neck black ; cheeks and chin buffy white, the reddish tint gradually increasing in depth, until, on the flanks, lower part of the abdomen and under tail-coverts it becomes of a deep ferruginous hue; on the under surtace of the shoulder is a patch of black, below which is another of white; primaries dark slaty black ; two middle tail-feathers grey, with a stripe of white down the basal two-thirds of the centre of each; lateral tail-feathers black, the outer one on each side crossed by an oblique mark of white, and the next with a large spot of white near the tip of the inner web; irides dark brown; bill greyish horn-colour; legs brownish grey. The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. Pn ee eee os ee, ~ re ~~ Be —~ ae ~ ae ~ 7 VY 1 ae ALLY hed tZ { ZL OTe Ln. TINT | HHMI Hymn cm 1 ENON | 2 PARUS VENUSTULU Ss, Swink. White-naped Tit. Parus venustulus, Swinh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1870, p. 133. Tuere would appear to be no end to the species of Tits; for wherever the naturalist may travel over the surface of the Old World and the northern portions of the New, he finds the woods tenanted by some one or more species of this extensive family of birds. It is true, ther e are none in Australia or in New Zealand, neither, so far as I am aware, are there any in Polynesia or South America. In Australia the Palcunculi (of which, however, there are only two species) appear to take the place of the Pavi. For the discovery of this new species in China we are indebted to the researches of Mr. Swinhoe; and the brief notice which I have taken the liberty of extracting from the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1870 is all he has placed on record respecting it. ‘This charming species occurred throughout the precipitous mountain-gorges between which the great river Yangtsze runs, from Kweifoo, in Szechuen, to Ichang, in Hoopih. I found it at the latter place, in company with Parus minor. It is a very active little bird, and has quite a peculiar, sibilant note. Its yellow belly recalls to mind the Parus monticolus of the Himalayas ; but it is destitute of the black mesial stripe. I could scarcely believe at first that it was a distinct species, as in Formosa we find the P. mnsperatus, which is little more than a race of the P. monticolus; and I expected that a black and yellow Tit from Central China would be either that or the Himalayan bird. ‘‘ Head, throat, breast, neck, and back deep black, glossed with bluish purple ; cheeks, sides of the neck, the edges of the central occipital feathers, a large spot on the centre of the nape, and the tips of some of the upper dorsal feathers white, with a faint wash of yellow on the white of the nuchal and dorsal plumes ; lower part of the back, rump, and scapularies fine bluish grey, tinged with yellowish preen; wing-coverts cul tertiaries deep black ; the lesser coverts largely tipped with white, the greater and tertiaries with ight greenish yellow ; quills dark hair-brown ; secondaries margined with yellowish green, and slightly tipped with white ; primaries yellowish green at their basal margins, then narrowly edged with white and tipped with whitey- brown; upper tail-coverts deep black, faintly tipped with green ; ual black, deeper and richer on the basal half, edged with greenish grey on the apical portion, and tipped ae yellowish ; the fifth rectrix white on the central edge, increasing externally to the first or outermost, which = the greater part cl the outer web white ; under surface fine sulphur-yellow, becoming olivaceous on the sides and dene axillaries and carpal edge yellowish white ; inferior edges of the inner webs of the quills white ; bill indigo-black ; irides blackish brown ; legs, toes, and claws deep lead-colour.” The figures are of the natural size. a SOMO) Sa \ arta? OE, aes J a elle ot eee Walter & Cohn, Imp MIRLS, Could vr ise Lhowld andl Hl Peichter dd. et bith, { r | H { \ i i } / Ul q H ; 4 —— TY i C3 —— an —— == AN — = —— : i 4 PARUS CASTANEOVENTRIS, Gow. Chestnut-bellied Tit. Parus castaneoventris, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1862, p. 280. castanewentris, Swinh. in Ibis, 1863, p. 295. Tue present bird and the Parus varius of Japan are very nearly allied; but they differ sufficiently to be regarded as distinct species. Both are clothed in colours not usually observed among the Tits; but in structure they are precisely identical, and doubtless they are very similar in the whole of their economy. Like the other members of the genus, the sexes differ but little in outward appearance. The following are Mr. Swinhoe’s notes on this species, as published by him in the volume of ‘ The Ibis’ for 1863 above referred to :— The Parus castaneoventris is ‘a diminutive representative of the curiously coloured P. varius of Japan, but quite distinguishable enough to be noted as a local specific form of the same type. On the island of Formosa it appears to be entirely restricted to the interior mountain-chain, where it is by no means common. I have never found it on the cultivated hills, nor yet in the plantations on the plains ; and, strange to say, no species of Parus takes its place there. Never having seen the bird alive, I have no note of its habits. It may at once be distinguished from its Japanese ally not only by its much smaller size, but also by the almost entire absence of rufous colouring on the upper part of the back.” A bar across the forehead and cheeks white; crown of the head, back of the neck, throat, and chest jet- black ; on the nape a spot of pure white, bounded below bya slight mark of chestnut ; mantle, back, shoulders, upper surface, wings, and thighs very deep blue-grey ; tail similar to the back, but browner; primaries blackish brown, margined, as are also the secondaries and tertiaries, with deep blue-grey ; abdomen and under tail-coverts rich chestnut ; bill bluish black; legs and claws leaden grey. The figures are the size of life. ee oy eee ae 6 rn es ee es : ee ee ee | { i | ' WD . q ft T = at ( \ } ». ie lg J. Goukel & rrp. «POUT UTOTT TA TTT i le | 3} A} , 2 Ror : ; — FARU Ss LE GAN S, Lesson. Klegant Tit. Parus elegans, Lesson, Traité d’Orn. p. 456 (1831).—Pucheran, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 68.—Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus, xxxviii. p. 63 (1854).—-Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 34, note.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 231 (1869).—Sharpe, Transactions of the Linnean Society, 2nd series, Zool. vol. i. (1877). Parus quadrivittatus, La Fresnaye, Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 129. Machlolophus elegans, Walden, Transactions of the Zoological Society, vol. ix. p. 199 (1875). In the Plate which accompanies the present article ornithologists are presented with a portrait of a Tit which differs somewhat in style of markings from any of the other familiar genera of the Paride. There are several groups of Tits, nearly all of which have been figured in one or other of my ornithological works ; and, strange to say, nearly all these groups are represented in the species found in the British Islands. Thus :—our Marsh-Tit (P. palustris) is one of several sober-coloured species which are found in the northern parts of both the Old and the New World; our common Blue Tit (P. c@ruleus) has its representatives in the Mediterranean subregion and in Northern Asia; and the same may be said of the Coal Tit (P. ater) ; the little Bottle-Tit (P. caudatus) has several allies in the northern portions of the Old World; and, lastly, the crested species (Lophophanes cristatus) has a great many representatives in the Himalayas. It is in the last-named range of mountains that we must look for a bird which will in any way compare with the beautiful species represented in the Plate ; and it is probably on account of the characteristic white spotting on the wings that Mr. Blyth was inclined to place it in the genus Machlolophus along with some of the Himalayan species. The entire absence, however, of the enormous crest which distinguishes the Philippine bird must be our warrant for not placing it in the genus Machlolophus; and in my opinion it ought to stand alone, perhaps to be included in a separate genus, which would also contain the lately described species from Balabac, Parus amabilis, Sharpe. We know nothing of the habits of this pretty species; and until recently we had no knowledge of its exact home, beyond the fact that it was a native of the Philippine archipelago. My own specimen is from Manila; and Dr. Steere procured it in Guimaras and in Palawan. The following description is taken from my own specimen above mentioned :— Head and hind neck glossy blue-black, with a patch of sulphur-yellow feathers dividing the hind neck ; mantle blue-black, the feathers having all terminal white spots wasbed with pale greenish; scapulars light yellowish green, with black bases to the feathers ; lower back and rump light greenish, the feathers grey at the base; upper tail-coverts glossy blue-black ; tail blue-black, tipped with white, the three outer feathers with a white mark about the middle of the outer web; wings blue-black, all the wing-coverts with a large ovate spot of white occupying nearly the terminal half; primaries narrowly edged with white, and the innermost tipped with white, which increases in extent towards the secondaries, mnie the white terminal spots are as large as on the wing-coverts ; lores, region of the eye, cheeks, and entire throat blue-black, llow, continuing in a band down the sides of the neck; rest of under surface of the ear-coverts lemon-ye | ashed with greenish ; under wing-coverts white washed with yellow. body yellow, the flanks somewhat w a6 . 5 ° 3 cea ie Total length 4 inches, wing 3s, tail 14, tarsus s. The figures in the Plate are drawn from the foregoing bird, and are life-sized. i ad a) ad cs San . oy oS De ee Slt Nl CRS AGS) 9 to), y ”, a ctiedieeetdie th ae a 4 ie < - - » roe pbs Ue CWO. GYO,.®) NO NAO: i 4| 3 nly ivgii fafa on 1 { i n MELANOCHLORA SULTANEA. Sultan Tit. Parus sultaneus, Hodgs. Ind. Rev., 1836, p. 31.—Gray, Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 83.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. vol. xiii. p. 943.—G, R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 199, Parus, sp. 41. —— flavocristatus, Lafres. Mag. de Zool., 1837, Ois. pl. 80.—Horsf, in Proe of Heol coe (1839), p. 162.— Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 194, and vol. xi, p. 955.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 102.—Id. in Jard. Cont. to Orn., 1852, p. 48. Melanochlora Sumatrana, Less. Rev. Zool 5 1839) p. 42 —— sultaneus et flavocristatus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 333. Parus Sumatranus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 792. Crataronyx flava et ater, Eyt. Proc. of Zool. Soc. (1839), p. 104. Melanochlora sultanea, Jerd. Birds of Ind. vol. ii. Bon tylia pho, Lepchas (Jerdon). Soc. Beng., Or Gr { | pt. 1. p. 282.—Wald. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. (1866), p. ey OrnirHoLoaists very generally agree in placing this bird among the Paride, and Strickland went so far as to say he considered it a typical Tit; but in my opinion we ought first to define the character s of the family, and then determine whether such birds as those for ming the genera Agithalus and Calamophilus on the one hand, and Falcunculus on the other, are members of it; if so, then Melanochlora may not be too widely different to be admitted also. For myself, I am sure that a mere glance at the accompanying Plate will be sufficient for even an ordinary observer to perceive how greatly the birds figured thereon differ from the ordinary Tits. The small amount of information that has been recorded respecting their habits and economy throws but little light on the subject: they are said to frequent the tops of large trees, and to move about in flocks; the reed-loving Calamophilus is equally gregarious, yet it is by many writers excluded from the Paride. Besides this difficulty as to the affinities of Melanochlora, it is a question whether there are one or two species of this form, or if the Malaccan and Sumatran birds be identical with those from the Himalayas. It will be seen, from the synonyms given above, that I regard them as one and the same; but I must remark that my figures were taken from Himalayan specimens, which are always larger and more beautifully coloured than those from Sumatra. As is the case with the members of the genus Palcunculus, a marked difference occurs in the outward appearance of the sexes, the female having the throat green, while in the male it is steel-blue. The following short sentences, which are given with due acknowledgment of the sources whence they were obtained, comprise all that has been recorded respecting this showy bird :— ; “This magnificent Tit,” says Mr. Jerdon, “is only found in the warmer valleys of the Himalayas, extending into Assam, and through Burmah to the Malayan peninsula, and even to Sumatra. Near Darjeeling it is common in the valley of the great Runjeet, about ~~ feet, — thence ascends to about 4000. It frequents the tops of high trees, in small flocks, feeding on Hse chiefly, and emits a rather a note. The Lepchas told me that it breeds in holes in lofty trees, but did na aod me the nest and eggs. Mr. Hodgson states that ‘it is found in the northern regions of the hills, passing into ae sou Ss in winter. It explores foliage, and feeds upon the softer arboreal insects, perfect and imperfect, is exceedingly fond of caterpillars, and occasionally takes pulpy berries.” Captain Beavan, who obtained a specimen at Kyodan, Salween River, Burmah, on the 14th of ee 1865, states that the species there ‘occurs in small parties in ey eg jungle, ao very noisy. Viscount Walden, in his Notes on the Birds collected by Capt. Beavan in T enasserim and in the Andaman Islands, remarks, on the above-mentioned specimen, that it is . a young male in immature plumage, the yellow crest hardly extending beyond the nape, and the els boa of the plumage pe a dull eee brown,” and adds, ‘Specimens from Penang and Darjeeling do not differ; and a gecgral eas intermediate Tenasserim race seems to be identical with them. I adopt Mr. pele designation in preference to that of Lafresnaye, on the authority of the date cited by site : acts ea have yet to be compared with continental, and, if _ to be cone y Oe y : Wi 7 ee ne on Lafresnaye’s title of flavo-cristatus. Prince Bonaparte, i his ‘ takes nee ce 7 pe : ‘stinction than that of size, Hodgson’s species being, according to him, the separate, but gives no hs a quite reliable; for the Prince records them both from the smallest. This statement, however, 1s | ene Himalayas.” (Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 501.) ‘occ he mm -own. lenothened crest, under wing-coverts, breast, abdomen, — an¢ me orcbeads Crows) oe black, glossed with green on the throat ; irides under tail-coverts pure yellow ; the remainder of the plumage black, glosse 8 dark brown ; bill and feet greenish black. oa of like he Epigynium acuminatum. The figures represent the two sexes, of the size of life, on t pgy ee ee 7 yy, oh. A LE if O Ruchber ¢ 7 cond, i 7 J foul, ? LOW hn Y Vol ] } mand & Std: Yellow-cheeked Tit. Parus xanthogenys, Vigors in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., p. 23.—Gould, Cent. of Birds, pl. 29. fig. 1.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p- 192.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 103.—Ib. Jard. Contr. to Orn. 1852, p- 50. pl. 87. fig. 1.—Hutton, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvii. p 690.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 228.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., p. 370. apolontus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 444. Machlolophus xanthogenys, Cab. in Mus. Hein., Theil i. p. 91, note. Wuen I published my “ Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains,” in 1832, this bird was so scarce that few persons in Europe were aware of its existence, and I would fain believe, that the discovery of a Crested Tit, bearing a great similarity to the well-known Parus mayor, excited a degree of interest among ornithologists generally; the recent discovery, then, of at least three other species, similarly ornamented on the head, and each presenting good specific distinctions, must surely not only enhance the interest which attaches to the subject in no ordinary degree, but serve to show how little we have hitherto known of the natural productions of that great country, India. It is the elevated portions of this fine region which appear to be most favourable to the members of this group of birds; of which, rich as it is in species, I doubt not others will reward the researches of the naturalist who may venture to explore Burmah, Siam, the confines of China, and the countries lying still farther to the east. I believe the natural habitat of the present species to be the north-western Himalayas, as it is from thence that all the specimens I have seen have been received, and it was there that the late Hon. F. J. Shore and the late Captain Boys procured their examples. There appears to be little or no difference in the colouring of the sexes, as is the case with our own Parus major, to which, with the exception of the crest, the species bears a general resemblance. I observe that the white margins and tips of the wing-feathers are much more clearly defined in freshly moulted birds than in those which have borne their feathers for some time. Captain Hutton informs us that this bird is ‘common in the hills throughout the year. It breeds in April, in which month a nest, containing four partly-fledged young ones, was found at five thousand feet elevation; it was constructed of moss, hair and feathers, and placed at the bottom of a deep hole in a stump at the foot of an oak-tree. The colour of the eggs was not ascertained.” The late Hon. F. J. Shore “ saw a great number of both sexes on the Ist of October, 1828, on the ridge between Paoree and Oélka. It builds a nest of grass in the holes of trees, and usually lays five white eggs, blotched with dirty brownish-white patches.” The late Captain Boys procured examples on the 12th of April, 1St2, between Bhurthal and Ranghur, and observed that their eyes were dark brown, their bills black, and their legs bluish-grey. Lores, crown, crest, space behind the eye, sides of the head, chin, throat and centre of the abdomen glossy-black ; superciliary stripe, patch on the nape, cheeks, sides of the neck and breast fine yellow, becoming duller on the flanks ; upper surface olive, becoming paler on the rump ; wings black, the lesser coverts margined with olive, the greater with a nearly triangular spot of yellowish-white at the tip of each; primaries slaty-grey, with a patch of white at their base, succeeded by another of black ; vue d, = fifth and sixth edged with white; secondaries grey with darker margins, and tipped a Ww ae ae black, edged with yellowish-white, this colour spreading into a large patch on the “ be | 1s : t ; tip; tail black, margined with olive; the tips of the whole of the feathers, and the outer web of the externa one white; bill black ; feet blue-grey. The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life, on the Daphne involucrata of Dr. Wallich. - i gy Mea : y/ : . « Cc J oe. ada - oa a , Me Hi & i as | > r a | HA 4 > { SL a ~~ a } art j ee C a t ze = ichter, ded. ot bi i Ll al 3 lel and H 7 Ge OL 4 2 3 = OL — PARUS SPILONOTUS, Blyth. Spotted Tit. Parus spilonotus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 103.—Ib. Jard. Contr. to Orn. 1852, p- 49. pl. 87. fig. 2.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 228.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. ip: 371. Machlolophus spilonotus, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil i. p Ok Ir is certain that this species is a native of Nepaul, if that country be not its exclusive habitat, for it is from thence that all the specimens contained in the Collection at the British Museum, and in that of the Kast India Company, have been sent by Mr. Hodgson, and which are the only examples I have yet seen. In point of affinity this species is allied both to the P. vanthogenys and the P. Jerdoni; but it differs from both in the much deeper yellow of the cheeks and eye-streak, and in the yellow extending across the forehead and forming a band at the base of the bill; the guttations or oblong spotting of the back will, moreover, serve to distinguish it from either of the species above mentioned; the crest is also somewhat larger, and the yellow patch at the nape more conspicuous ; the secondaries are not so perceptibly fringed with greyish-white, and the series of grey spots which occur on the shoulders are not found in the other species. No marked difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes. At present this species is extremely rare in the collections of Europe. Lores, cheeks, sides of the neck, superciliary stripe and a patch at the nape rich yellow; crown, crest and remainder of the head glossy black; back and scapularies black, with a streak of dull olive-yellow down the apical portion of each feather ; rump and upper tail-coverts dark greyish-olive ; wings black, the lesser coverts tipped with grey, the greater with white; base of the primaries margined externally with white for a short distance forming a small patch, and narrowly edged from the middle to the end with white ; secondaries narrowly edged with blue-grey, and tipped with white; tail black, the apical three-fourths of the external feather on each side, and the tips of the whole white; chin, chest and centre of the abdomen black; flanks pale yellow, passing into greyish-yellow below ; bill black ; feet bluish-grey. 2 The Plate represents both sexes of the size of life on an Indian plant, the name of which is unknown to me. Tito m6 I~} cS ra . oe Im p Lton oh ke W, nan de Luk I, - j — = i a4 Pox 4 ian ( = e | ae f 3 a } j i H ? i 4 i 1 i i ( ne nS rs cs y oa = wi SS SS HI ; = = “em == N Ramgaungra, in Bengalee, Dr. F. Buchanan Hamilton. Glate-wingko of the Javanese, Dr. Horsfield. Tue Ash-coloured Tit is so different from all the other members of its genus, and has its distinctive charac- teristics so well defined, that it cannot be mistaken for any other known species. Its nearest allies are the Parus minor of China and the P. major of Europe ; the three species beautifully representing each other in the countries they respectively inhabit. Mr. Blyth, in his ‘‘ Catalogue of the Birds contained in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta,” gives the Himalayas, Central and Southern India, Ceylon, and Java as the habitats of the present species, to which I may add the Valley of Cashmere, as I possess a specimen collected therein by Lord Arthur Hay. It is evident, then, that the bird enjoys a most extensive range. I may remark that all the specimens from Java which have come under my notice are considerably smaller than those from India and Ceylon, but their markings and coloration are so extremely similar, that to regard them as mere local varieties will, in my opinion, be the most philosophic and proper view. Specimens of a Tit collected by Mr. Wallace on the far distant southern island of Lombock also resemble the Javanese specimens so closely, the only difference being a lesser amount of black on the breast, that I cannot but consider them as referable to the same species. This bird is figured in the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, as having been procured at Dheru, Nov. 5, 1828. No perceptible difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes of the P. cinereus ; but, as is the case with its western prototype, the Parus major of Kurope, the female is a trifle smaller than her mate. Dr. Francis Buchanan Hamilton informs us that “in Northern India this bird inhabits bamboo groves, forms its nest in hollow trees, and lives on insects.” remarks Mr. Jerdon, ‘I have only seen this bird on the Neilgherries, where it is lies, and feeding on various insects and seeds, to obtain ? ‘‘TIn Southern India,’ common in the woods, associating in small fami which it occasionally resorts to the gardens. I have seen it once or twice only along the range of Northern Ghauts, but it probably is to be found all along the range of Western Ghauts. , ; | Mr. Layard states that “ this Tit is not uncommon in the island of Ceylon: its habits resemble those of our own well-known bird, hunting in small parties, and flitting from tree to tree. Crown of the head, nape, throat, broad band down each side of the neck, centre of the chest, and an irregular mark down the centre of the abdomen glossy bluish black ; cheeks and ear-coverts white ; back amy tint where it meets the black of the nape, and becoming of a black, tipped with creamy white, and so broadly margined with e wing is closed; primaries and secondaries slaty black, the and towards the extremity with greyish white, the latter broadly margined and tipped with greyish white ; sides of the chest, flanks, and abdomen oe oe washed with blue towards the vent ; under surface of the shoulder white 5 four — tail- ] be _ black margined with blue-grey ; the two next on each side dull black, margined ee pe an ee with white; the next on each side white, deeply forked with black at the base, the outer one e y fy, ack: irides dark brown ; feet blackish blue. aera ff - plant is the Luriodendron grandiflora of Roxburgh, copied from one d in the Library of the Honourable East India Company. and scapularies ashy grey, assuming a cre more blue-grey on the rump ; wing-coverts blue-grey that the black is not seen when th former narrowly edged at the base with blue-grey, The figures are the size of life. of the numerous drawings of plants containe en ey one ‘ | G ui " ; ) if 1 } i ! aC: i = \ ; s ‘ 3 i ; rs i ry a ; ; ene aa | } ‘ G ‘ | r { ‘ i f ’ P ty ‘ ‘ " ) j at | . ‘ t wAN j y ‘ ee > : s . \ Tae A -— ae . ma ee 35 — foun — / — a —_—- - - - — - 7 7 < — — == — = ~ — - r »~= 4h io - , — Tey: AX : , » CAS GIR ye Lt) y CAD (Ht, N wD ~ ~~ y “.« " ae er Ry S & SS Ss TC S.6 wp J TN 5 I 4 aN | med © Spl PARUS MINO R, Temm. et Schlee. Chinese Tit. Parus nunor, Temm. and Schleg. Faun. Japonica, Aves, p. 70. pl. xxxill.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 229, Parus, ep. 9. Over what extent of habitat this well-defined species may range, will be for future ornithologists to determine, when the great country of China has become more open to scientific investigation ; at present we only know that the bird is a native of the districts in the neighbourhood of Shanghai and the Island of Japan, from both of which countries I possess examples. Although somewhat smaller in size, it is evidently the repre- sentative in China of the Parus major of Europe, from which it is distinguished by the total absence of yellow on the flanks, and the greater amount of white on the outer tail-feathers, as it is from the Parus cinereus of India by its yellow nape. MM. Temminck and Schlegel have given figures of this bird in the volume “ Aves ” of Siebold’s interesting work on the Fauna of Japan, but afford us no information as to its habits and economy; we may infer, however, that they resemble those of its near allies, which, as is well known, obtain their insect food among the branches of thickly-foliaged trees; that they are pert, restless, and active in their manners, and stationary or non-migratory. The sexes appear to assimilate most closely in their colouring, which may be thus described :— Crown of the head, nape, throat, band on the sides of the neck, chest, and an irregular mark down the centre of the abdomen glossy bluish black ; cheeks and ear-coverts white ; centre of the back yellowish olive, separated from the black of the nape by a mark of white ; scapularies, lower part of the back, and upper tail-coverts blue-grey ; wing-coverts black, tipped with white, and margined with blue-grey; primaries and secondaries slaty black, the former narrowly margined at the base with blue-grey, and towards the apex with white, the latter more broadly with dull white ; sides of the chest and flanks creamy ; tail slaty black, mar- the outer feather white, margined internally with brown, and the next on each side : bill bluish black ; irides dark brown ; feet blackish blue. Ss a species of Uvularia, copied from one of the fine collections gined with blue-grey, with a wedge-shaped mark of white at the tip The figures are the size of life. The plant 1 of botanical drawings at the East India House. 7 Ay hi AD" A> * »4 SS rh, CS ORNS } Le “a | ee Aer seen scecemgs gui 2s} gt ug = 1 IAAI) PARUS MONTICOULUS, rz. Mountain Tit. Parus monticolus, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., Part I. p. 22.—Gould, Cent. of Birds pl. xxix. fig. 2.—Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of eee and Birds presented to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 72.—Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 103.—Blyth in Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852, p. 49.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., p. 370. —— monticola, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 192, Parus, sp. 2.— Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p: 220, Parus, sp. 10. Tue Parus monticolus is one of the prettiest and most ornamental of the section of the great family of Tits to which it pertains. In the general style of its colouring it much resembles the Parus major of Europe ; but its smaller size, and the presence of a double fascia across the wings, formed by the white tipping of the greater and lesser wing-coverts, will serve to distinguish it from that species. The native habitat of the Mountain Tit is the southern slopes of the Himalayas, over which Mr. Blyth states ‘it is very generally distributed ; and to which it appears to be confined, so far as has hitherto been observed.” The late Captain Boys mentions that he met with it on the southern side of Gogra Hill, near the pass, on the 14th of June, 1842, and adds that its food consists of buds and fruit. A figure of this species occurs among the drawings of the late Hon. F. J. Shore, accompanied by the following brief note: “I saw a great number on the ridge between Pioree and Odlka, Oct. 1, 1828.” The Parus monticolus has been long known to science, being one of the species comprised in my “ Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains,” published in 1832. The sexes, as usual, do not differ in colour, and but little in size. Crown of the head, nape, stripe down the sides of the neck, throat, a large patch on the centre of the chest, and a small irregular mark down the centre of the abdomen glossy bluish black ; cheeks and ear- coverts white ; back olive-yellow, separated from the black of the nape bya patch of white ; rump and upper tail-coverts grey; wings slaty black, the lesser coverts margined with blue-grey, mith the exception of the lower row of feathers, which are tipped with white; greater coverts margined with blue-grey and tipped with white, the tipping of the last row of the lesser and | | , , wings; three outermost primaries narrowly margined with bluish velit, ae remainder with blue and slightly tipped with white; secondaries broadly margined and tipped with bluish a pe _ oe chest - flanks fine yellow, brightest where ‘t meets the black of the breast, and becoming of a greenish cast towards the vent; tail slaty black, all but the outer feather of each side margined with blue-grey, and tipped with athers, the extent increasing as the feathers recede from the centre ; and largely tipped with white; bill bluish black ; irides dark ereater coverts forming two bands across the white very slightly on the central fe outer feather on each side margined externally brown; feet blackish blue. The figures are of the natural size. 2) QI" 4 i q ; a Cr } 7 x ; S ao i S se OS f N SS ‘ s Ne o S S 9 ; eS - SS =—= = 7 = * —— , - ae t = = a —— SS = 3 Sos sy ee oe —— ‘ as =|] 4 PARUS DICHROUS, Modes. Grey Tit. p. 372, Europe” is the true Parus bicolor, probably drawn from an American specimen. Parus dichrous, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83.—Ib. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng Ib. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xv. p. 326.—Gray, List of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq, p. 73.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 192.— Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 104.—Ib. in Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852, p. 51.— Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 229.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. vol. xiii. p. 943.— Numerous in species and diversified in form are the members of the family Paride which tenant the great forests of the Himalaya. Of these, probably the most rare in our European collections is the Parus dichrous of Mr. Hodgson: examples, it is true, are to be found in the National Museum and in that at the East India House; but, besides these, I have never seen any others. At a first view, there appears to be much similarity between this bird and the Parws bcolor of North America; but they are quite distinct, and must be regarded as the true representatives of each other in the countries they respectively inhabit ; for, although I have figured the Parus bicolor in my work on the “ Birds of Europe” as a native of Russia, I freely admit that I may have figured it without sufficient caution on my part as to the certainty of its having been killed in that country. Time erases from the memory circumstances which we should be pleased to recall, and I am unable to recollect whence I received the information which induced me to give this bird a place in the European Fauna; and a doubt now arises in my mind as to the possibility of my having seen Siberian specimens of a bird either like the one here figured, or an allied species ; such might possibly have been the case. One thing, however, is certain, namely that the bird figured by me in the “ Birds of All the specimens of the Parus dichrous that have been sent to Europe were collected in Nepal by B. H. Hodgson, Esq. Crest, head, all the upper surface, wings, and tail light ashy brown; face and all the under surface buff ; bill and legs bluish grey. The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the Dendrobium Devonianum. mite SS ariel é Wu LOI Dip CTL Kink Chilis, del. ob Lith C atvih HO Le boule 7 A TINH 4) | HII mm Ill 2 | OUn nny i aie | PARUS RUBIDIVENTRIS, Bata. Rufous-bellied Tit. Parus rubidwentris, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 445.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 104.—Ib. in Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852, p. 50, pl. fig. 1—Gray and Mitch., Gen. of Birds, vol. li. App. p. 9. App. to p. 192.Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp. vol. i. Pp. 372. —— melanolophus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Ksq., p. 73. Machlolophus rubidiventris, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. Oscines, p. 91, note. Or the habits, manners, and economy of this species of Tit, nothing whatever is known; not so, however, with regard to its habitat. Like so many of the rarer birds in our museums, it is a native of Nepal and the southern face of the Himalayan range. Specimens collected by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., grace the Collections of the British Museum and of the East India House. In Sir William Jardine’s ‘ Contributions to Ornithology” for 1852 will be found a figure of this bird, from drawings made, I believe, by Mr. Blyth of Calcutta, who had the honour of giving it a name. The Parus rubidiventris may be distinguished from all its allies by the bright rusty-red colouring of its abdomen, which colour is much richer in some specimens than in others, and occasionally is almost absent, its place being supplied by a light rufous grey. It is just possible that the sexes may present some dif- ference in the colouring of the under surface, or that age may influence its hue; but at present this is unknown. At some future time we may acquire a knowledge of the causes which occasion these differences, not only in this, but in all the other numerous and rare species which tenant the regions of the Himalayas ; at present we must content ourselves with the knowledge that the species exist, and leave it for some future natural historian to record their habits, manners, and changes. Head and neck black, with the exception of the cheeks and ear-coverts and a stripe on the nape, which are white; upper surface, wings, and tail ashy grey; the primaries and secondaries narrowly edged with blue-grey; upper and under tail-coverts, under wing-coverts, and under surface of the body washed with rusty red; bill black; legs and feet leaden grey. The figures are of the natural size. Fa H . » OVO i | | Duy 7 DY th PARUS RUFONUCHALIS, sya. Rufous-naped Tit. Parus rufonuchalis, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xviii. p. 810.—Ib. in Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852, p. 50. Auruouau this species is very nearly allied to the Parus rubidiventris, it possesses several characters which clearly distinguish it from that bird: in the first place, it is much larger in size; in the next, the nuchal spot is only white on its upper part, the lower portion being strongly tinged with rufous; and thirdly, I have never seen an example with any tinge even of rufous on the abdomen. Mr. Blyth, who appears to be the only person in India who has noticed it, gives the Tyne range of mountains north of Simla as its habitat. Neither the British Museum Collection nor that at the East India House comprise examples of this bird ; but I have for many years had specimens in my own, and I find one in that of Dr. John Murray ; this latter example was procured near Agra, and my own to the northward of that locality. The bird evidently does not inhabit Nepal; for if it did, it would not have escaped the researches of Mr. Hodgson, who has made the most perfect collections possible both of the quadrupeds and birds of that country, and to whom the science of natural history is very greatly indebted. Head, throat, and breast deep black ; cheeks and ear-coverts white ; upper half of the nuchal mark white, lower half buff; axilla and under tail-coverts rufous ; remainder of the plumage ashy grey ; the primaries and secondaries margined with blue-grey ; bill black ; legs and feet leaden grey. The figures are of the size of life. —- Slt | ee of en - ~ - - ” - y we — = * : : er wr 2 s J d dd r Ty ‘ : - ‘ ; . < sear ‘ ~ S — Some ee oan meee a = —_ + ~— += ee er) | GOors L mA 20 Le. a4 Mil? Vt, Lo Up. S ‘~ ws ws S S x x S XN X A S < S boildbarad lt 19) SN PSRs ee PARUS MELANOLOPHUS, Vigors. Black-crested Tit. Parus melanolophus, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 22.—Gould, Cent. of Birds from Him. Mount., pl. 30. fig. 2.—Jerd. in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 8.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 192.—Blyth, Journ. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. Pp. 446.—Ih: Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 104.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 228.—Blyth in Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852, p. 50, pl. fig. 2.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 372.—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds pres. to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 73. Machlolophus melanolophus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. Oscines, p. 91, note. Tus is the least species yet discovered of that group of small Indian Tits to which M. Cabanis of Berlin has given the subgeneric title of MJachlolophus ; it is also one of the oldest known, having been described by the late Mr. Vigors in the ‘ Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London,” prior to its being figured in my “Century of Birds from the Himalayan Mountains,” which work was completed in the year 1832, now twenty-seven years ago. The large col- lection of birds which came into my possession in 1830, of which it formed a part, was obtained near Simla, at the foot of the Himalayas; Capt. Boys killed it at Ramnie, and Mr. Blyth has received it from Masuri; some of the specimens at the East India House are labelled ‘ Simla,” and others “ Cabul;” and Mr. Hodgson states that it inhabits ‘Nepal, Cachar, and is rare in the central region ;” consequently the Western and North-western Himalayas are the true habitats of the species. Besides the figure given in my own work above-mentioned, another will be found in Sir William Jardine’s “ Contributions to Orni- thology ” for 1852. It will be observed that the greater and lesser wing-coverts of one of my figures haye a We spot at Une tip of each, while in the other the spots are buff. It would be interesting to know if this difference in their colouring be indicative of a difference of sex, or of maturity and immaturity. Crown of the head and crest glossy black; throat and breast deep black ; cheeks and carcovervs and a spot at the nape white; upper surface and abdomen slate-grey ; Neely So dark slate-grey, with a spot of white at the tip of each; wings and tail grey, the primaries margined with paler grey, and the two innermost of the secondaries with a small spot of white at the tip of each; under wing-coverts greyish white; flanks rufous; irides dark brown; bill black; feet leaden grey. The figures are the size of life. ‘ 4 ry By o 4 R SN SS S ‘ s SS Q AS = i) KA yi SQ Fe C § 3 , ; s 8 z 8 > s f 8 iu re WAS Be ae 3 — | ee $ = S = Ms = == — ! = 4 — =» ’ =e_ll = - = ~ ~ a = = =— oo 5 _ = areas == = a == = = ——_ —————— LEPTOPQCILE SOPHIA, Severts. Yarkand Tit. Leptopecile sophie, Severtz., Turkest. Jevotn. pp. 66-135, mp i7 i Stoliczkana stoliczke, Hume, S. F. ii. p. 513 (1874), pl. viii. figs. 8, 9 (1873).—Dresser, Ibis, 1876, Tuts very curious little bird appears to be the representative of a genus peculiar to Central Asia, as it is at present known to occur only in Turkestan and Yarkand. In the former country it was discovered by Dr. Severtzoff, whose original essay having been for the most part translated into English by Mr. Dresser, to the great advantage of students, I do not think I can do better than reproduce the remarks of the celebrated Russian traveller, especially as full details of the species are given therein. For a more elaborate description I must refer my readers to Mr. Hume’s paper (4.c.). In naming it after Dr. Stoliczka, who lost his life during the last expedition to Yarkand, Mr. Hume endeavoured to perpetuate the name of this indefatigable worker in the field of science; but, as will be seen, he had been anticipated : by Severtzoff. He writes :—**The form, the coloration, and the loose fluffy plumage, together with the comparatively elongated and much-rounded or graduated tail, recall Ovites; but the bill is slenderer than in any known Tit; it is, however, entire at the tip, and very hard and very sharp-pointed. I think that ~ we must accept this as a sort of link between the Warblers and the Long-tailed Tits.” Dr. Severtzoff’s notes are are as follows :—* In form this bird approaches the Tits, but in habits and in the form of the bill, as well as in the sexes being different, it differs from these; and I have therefore deemed it best to separate it generically. The characteristics are as follows: bill slender, broader than high, compressed towards the end ; nostrils narrow ; bill half covered with a membrane; at the base of the upper mandible are a few feathers, which are downy at the base and hairy towards the point; legs stout ; tarsus long, coarsely scutellated ; hind toe large, with a long arched claw, other toes also long, but the claws are short; wings short and broad; tail long and much graduated, composed of twelve feathers ; tarsus with three long and then four short broad scales ; fourth and fifth rectrices longest, the two central ones 1" shorter, and the outer ones 3” to 32" shorter; first primary short, twice as long as the coverts ; second quill shorter than the tenth, 3=9, 4=10, 5=6, the last two the longest. dale. Crown bright brownish chestnut, glossed with violet; a broad yellowish white stripe passes over the eyes ; back greyish brown, washed with bluish ; rump rich violet-blue ; cheeks, sides of the neck and of the body, and throat bright blue, with a violet or greenish gloss; centre of the abdomen brownish yellow ; under tail-coverts short and downy, brownish, tipped with violet; wings blackish brown, with light a Sus to the feathers; rectrices nearly black, with bluish green edges, outer web of outer rectrix Whate:; iris dark brown; beak and legs black. emale. Greyish, the lower flanks and rump violet bie ; nape light He, the superciliary stripe narrower than in the male ; cheeks and shoulders greyish ped oe oe and belly light brownish yellow ; sides light brown, the feathers near the vent ee a es cae brownish ; wings blackish brown, with greyish brown margins to the feathers ; se ac , ue i i brown, the outer feathers externally margined with white. a ee ae , wee 2 ou ‘i tail-feathers 1 83”, culmen 33”. Female—total length 4" 8", extent 6" 1", wing 2’, tail 2" 1", outer tail- feathers 1" 8”. This bird was met with in the pine-woods near Issik-kul, where it was seen amongst the branches of the trees.” I have only to add my acknowledgments to Captain Biddulph for lending me the male specimen from which the figures in the Plate are drawn, these being of the size of life. M1 7 ee vy [np E a f ullmundd & Walto at lath BD Vi, He 2 A hter Should and HC Ree : TNT) 4 I 3 wi mn _2| I dl PSALTRIA EXILIS, Temm. Exile Tit. Psaltria exilis, Temm. Pl. Col. 600. fig. 4. Parus exils, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 192, Parus, sp. 47. Tuis modestly coloured little bird has hitherto been only known by the figure published by M. Temminck in his “‘ Planches Colorieés,” and referred to above, specimens being extremely rare in all our collections. Its first describer, M. Temminck, was evidently undecided as to what group it really belonged, and certainly did not conceive that it pertained to the Tits (Paride); such, however, is its true situation, since it forms one of a small and peculiar section of that family, which has, as yet, been only found in India, and of which the well-known P. erythrocephala, of the Himalaya Mountains, may be cited as an example ; I have, therefore, no alternative but to adopt M. Temminck’s early generic name of Psaééria, in lieu of that of Agithaliscus of Cabanis. I have two specimens of this little bird in my own collection, one of which was obtained in Sumatra, the other in Java; and although I have no positive evidence that the species inhabits the Malayan peninsula, I should think there is every probability of its being found there. Of its habits and economy, or its history, nothing is at present known. No material difference occurs in the colouring of my specimens, and, judging by analogy, we may presume that the sexes are very similar in plumage. Head and back of the neck light brown ; shoulders and back grey; wings and tail brown, with lighter edges ; throat bluish-grey; across the breast a faint gorget of buffy-white ; under surface cream-colour, washed with grey on the flanks; bill brown; feet fleshy-brown. ; The figures are of the natural size. The accompanying plant was copied from a drawing kindly lent to me by Dr. Horsfield, and represents one of the numerous discoveries made by him in Java. Cats "e--< em ane S S = ~N ~ NS NR ~ KS Ss 8 No ~S S S Ss S S ~» N RS a a! {4 gs ES jee eas) a= =. eM ey jae fon 7 fy N ~ < Mm + S nN S S x y — < . 3 £ as =~ oS é yg & 2B = = ~~ ips >= ae = < ‘les ' ~ 5 ~ é x > Bs 3 se == ei ‘ — = =» a Sse Er saan = =< = : == : z ae Bees. 7 == Sina = = = = = = alii S ae = = = = = = = : . tristan —— = = — = Serer : — - ———SS ee — = ass - - z = = = : = — — 2 Soe : : = — E : Sane ——— ; =e Z SS os PSALTRIA ERYTHROCEPHALA. Red-headed Tit. Parus erythrocephalus, Vigors in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part 1. p. 22.—-Gould’s Centu of Birds, pl. 30. fig. 1—Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Mamm. and Birds presented to Brit. cee by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 73.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 192, Parus, sp. ee Hutton, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvii. pt. 2. p. 689. Orites erythrocephalus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xiii. p. 943.—Ib. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 104.—Jard. Cont. to Orn. 1852, p. 51.—Horsf. Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol 1p. 374. Poecila erythrocephalus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 230, Poecila, sp. 15. Aigithaliscus erythrocephalus, Cab. Mus. Hein. Oscines, p. 90. Since the publication of my ‘‘ Century of Birds,” in which this bird was first figured, from the only specimen that had then reached this country, so many examples have been sent to Europe, that there are few collec- tions in which it may not now be found. It is a native of the Sub-Himalayan range, over which, I believe, it is very generally dispersed. _ Captain Hutton states that it is “common at Mussooree and in the hills generally throughout the year. It breeds in April and May. The situation chosen is various, as one taken in the former month at Mussooree, at seven thousand feet elevation, was placed on the side of a bank among overhanging coarse grass, while another taken in the latter month, at five thousand feet, was built among some ivy twining round a tree, and at least fourteen feet from the ground. The nest is in shape a round ball, with a small lateral entrance, and is composed of green mosses, warmly lined with feathers. The eggs are five in number, white with a pinkish tinge, and sparingly sprinkled with lilac spots or specks, and having a wide defined lilac ring at the larger end; diameter -S; in. Xe The very trifling difference observable in the colouring of the numerous specimens I have examined, induces the belief that the sexes are so similar as scarcely to be distinguished. Forehead, crown and nape dark rusty-red ; lores, space around the eye, ear-coverts and sides of the neck deep black; from the posterior upper angle of the eye a conspicuous stripe of white passes down between and the black of the side of the neck; chin and sides of the throat white; in the centre the red of the nape os of the throat a large patch of black ; lower part of the throat buffy-white, passing into the pale rufous of the abdomen ; back, wing- and tail-coverts grey 5 with buffy-white ; tail dark greyish-brown, the outer feather margined and tipped with white, the two next on each side obliquely tipped with white; bill black; legs and feet yellowish flesh-colour. The figures are of the natural size. The plant is the 4udromeda ovalifolia, Wall. primaries and secondaries greyish-brown, margined internally eee ’ bj ; : r } 5 ; \ " ; A ‘ é ‘ 7 7 r ; a ‘ ‘ a o : . Vy, / ? N Nz \ 9) (ro WMA A ‘ONT Hulbmomdet & Walton /np / Lugs Paehite ? de 7 f7 Lid wonal, ? TOV wat LIYANG TATT TINT 3 | om T) NAAT ONT TTT i } n PSALTRIA CONCINNA, Goud. Elegant 'Tit. Tue only specimen of this elegant little Tit I have seen is in the collection of T. C. Eyton, Esq., author of «? The male’s bill is darker than the female’s. Eyes black. Legs strong, deep dingy indigo-grey, former. including feet and claws. < oth 4 inches; wing 2°25, first quill diminutive, s : 8 “il 1:75, of ae feathers narrowing to a point at tips and graduated inwardly or forked, . bill, in front 0°35, to gape 0°44; tarse 0°56; hind toe 0°28, its econd and third equal and longest, fourth a trifle shorter 5 centrals 0°25 shorter than outermost ; claw 02>: at deal shorter and smaller bill than the Chinese bird; the ABs, it ) y rope has a 2Te ; thalus endulinus, of Eu Op 9 5 : | i. 2 : a is more extended and the white eyebrow and moustache are wanting. The deep russet S2%oars SORPLE RSE critter eee ’ i ' i RK mS KR Ss ~ ~ x ny ae 7 L&WHiort del 7 ULL Hn mn 5 4 i 3 | tpn 1 MGITHALUS FLAMMICEPS, Burton. Flame-fronted Flower-pecker. Aigithalus fammiceps, Burton, Proc. Zool. Soc. pt. il. p. 153.—Blyth, J. A. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. p. 444.—Id. Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc. Beng. p. 105.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, pt. i. p. 236. no. 3427. Diceum sanguinifrons, Hay, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xv. p. 44. Paroides flammiceps, Strickland in Jardine’s Contr. Orn. ISSE, p. 22. Cephalopyrus flammiceps, Jerdon, Birds of India, ii. p. 267.—Cock & Marshall, Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 356.— Hume, Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, p. 400. Tuts curious little bird, to which has been given the trivial name of Flame-fronted Flower-pecker, is a native of the North-western Himalayas, and occurs in most collections made near Murree and Simla. In structure it is so close to the genus Agithalus that I am unable to separate it; but it seems to differ somewhat in its habits from the true Penduline Tits, and, as will be seen from the notes given below, it does not construct a penduline nest like the last-named birds. Very little has been recorded concerning its life-history; and all that Mr. Jerdon states is that it “has hitherto been found only in the North-west Himalayas, extending to Cashmere.” The following notes also occur in Mr. Hume’s valuable work the ‘ Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds ?°— Writing from Murree, Captain Marshall tells us, “* On the 25th of May we found the nest of this species in a hole in a sycamore tree, about 15 feet from the ground. The nest was a neatly made, cup-shaped one, formed principally of fine grass. We were, unfortunately, too late for the eggs, as we found four nearly fledged young ones, showing that these birds lay about the 15th of April. Elevation 7000 feet.” Captain Cock says, “I found a nest in the stump of an old chestnut tree at Murree. The nest was about 13 feet from the ground, near the top of the stump, placed in a natural cavity ; it was constructed of fine grass and roots carefully woven, and was of a deep cup-shape. It contained five fully fledged young ones. The end of May was the time when I found this; and I have never yet succeeded in finding another.” The following description is given by Dr. Jerdon :—* Above yellowish green, brightest on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; forehead, top of head, and chin rich shining orange-red ; wings dusky, edged with green, and with two light bars on the wing-coverts; beneath golden yellow, paling = the lower abdomen and under tail-coverts. The female has no red, and is duller yellow underneath. Bill plumbeous ; legs leaden brown. | a “Length 4 inches ; wing 23, tail 13, tarsus not quite 2, bill at front 8 millims. The figures are taken from an example in my own collection, and are of the size of life. roe es od RY) Ss S ~ Ne ~~ Ae ; ono A J Gould & W Hart del et bith a] _'3 3 I NT TE oe (Philippine Oriole.) Le Lortot de la Cochinchine, Brisson, Ornithologie, ii. p. 326, pl. 33, fig. 1 C1760). Oriolus ane, Linn. S. N. i. p. 160 (1766, ex Briss.).—Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 232 (1845).—Blyth, Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xv. p. 46 (1845).—Id. Cat. Birds Mus. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, p. 215 (1849).— Horsfield & Moore, Cat. Birds Mus. East-India Co. i. p. 270 (1854).—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p- 292 (1869).—Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds, iii. p. 203 (1877).—Id. Transactions of the Linnean Society, 2nd series, Zool. vol. i. (1877). Le Couliavan de la Cochinchine, D’Aubent. Pl. Enl. 570. Oriolus acrorhynchus, Vigors, P. Z.S. 1831, p. 97.—Gray & Mitchell, Gen. B. i. p. 232, pl. 58 (1845).— Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 348 (1850).—Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Coraces, p. 104 (pt. 1867). —Walden & Layard, Ibis, 1872, p. 101.—Hume, Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 132. Oriolus cochinchinensis, Bonaparte, Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 348 (1850). Broderipus acrorhynchus, Walden, Transactions of the Zoological Society, ix. p. 185 (1875). Tus is byno means a common species in collections ; and yet it is one of the first Orioles known to science, having been described by Brisson more than one hundred years ago. From the account of the latter author, there can be no doubt that the species described by him as coming from China was in reality the Philippine bird; and although I follow in this instance the nomenclature adopted by Mr. Sharpe, I confess that I attach with regret the name chinensis to a bird which we now know positively never to occur in China. This is the more to be deplored, as there actually exists in China an Oriole belonging to the - same black-naped section of the genus as the present bird. When the Marquis of Tweeddale published his paper on the birds of the Philippine archipelago, the species was known to occur in the islands of Luzon, Guimaras, Negros, and Zebu, from all of which Dr. Meyer had obtained specimens. Dr. Steere, further, procured it in Mindanao and Balabac. Lord Tweed- dale gives an interesting account of the plumages in this species, which I transcribe entire :—‘‘ A large series of individuals obtained by Dr. Meyer illustrates the varying relative proportion of yellow and black on the head in different examples of this fine Oriole. Ina Luzon female, immature, the middle rectrices are tinged with green ; the enclosed yellow frontal space extends fully for seven-eighths of an inch from the base of the adult Guimaras male with jet-black middle rectrices and quills, and rich orange- is yellow, occupying a depth of only two-eighths of an inch. This example, in the distribution and proportions of its black and yellow plumage, is almost absolutely identical with a Sula-Island specimen of B. frontals (Wallace). The Sula example, however, has the middle pair of rectrices entirely black, whereas all the Philippe examples have those feathers more or less tipped with yellow 5 oreusee te Philippine is a much larger bird, with a longer wing and ut The exxent of yellow at the termination of the middle pair of rectrices varies very considerably. In a Negros male in full golden- orange plumage the tips of the middle pair are but barely fringed with le Ina mas male in similar dress the two middle rectrices have a yellow terminal band nearly half an inch in depth. | Adult.—Above bright golden yellow ; lores, feathers round the eye, hinder crown, and nape black, forming 4 broad horseshoe ; sides of face, neck, and entire under surface of body bright ao like the back: wing- coverts bright golden yellow ; bastard wing, primary-coverts, and quills black, with des 2 sien . . tip of the outer web of the inner secondaries, increasing on the innermost, where it Bele ae : tail black, broadly tipped with bright yellow, this occupying the terminal third o the outermost rectrix and gradually decreasing towards the centre of the the ne ay po : . acre sore / or), ‘ n merely tipped with yellow ; “bill pink-rose-coloured 5 feet and a Z Z ey” (Meye : 8 11°5 inches, culmen 1°45, wing 6-2, tail 4°35, tarsus 1-1 (Sharpes at. b. ee ean - Male.—Differs from the adult in being greener on the back, the quills and tail- eathers rown ail-feathers olive-greenish, the rest greenish at the base, the tps broadly head dull yellow, with a horseshoe mark on the hinder part of sides of face and under surface of body bright yellow, with a Total length 10°2 inches, culmen 1°30, wing culmen. In a perfectly golden dorsal plumage, the forehead only entire outer web ; Young ‘nstead of black ; two centre t yellow, with a subterminal blackish shade ; the crown dusky black streaked with yellow ; few narrow streaks of black on the chest. tarsus 1 (Sharpe, Cat. EB 2 c.). P \ in in my own collection, 0 the size of life. ate 1s draw from la skin i f a beautiful Mani The figure a <-- Se ™ ~N WN S44 Sts ee Se Ae a ‘ - } ee Pe ee ae 6D Be ee CS ee ie: >) . > Se- Sas . : . : : aad - 2 wore 483 ed = ate a a we cee bot Le Se rr ee ad ee en I Fo ae ae ; iy ' ORIOLUS BRODERIPIL, Bonap. Broderip’s Oriole. Oriolus broderipi, Bonap. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 279, pl. xvili—Id. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 348.—Wallace, P. Z. 3: 1863, p. 485.—Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Coraces, p- 106.—Id. Dierent. p. 179.—Finseh, Neu- Guinea, p. 173.—Gray, Hand-list of Birds, i. p. 291.—Sharpe, Catalogue of Birds Brit. Mus. p. 201. Broderipus refulgens, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, xxxviii. p. 538 (1854). Euchlorites broderipi, Heine, Journ. fiir Ornithologie, 1859, p. 402. Tu subject of the accompanying Plate is one of the most beautiful of all the Orioles. Of the latter family there are about forty species, the majority of them being birds of a brilliant plumage, in which the richest yellow is contrasted with a wing and tail of the deepest black. There are, in fact, four divisions of the true Oriole (Oriolus), without mentioning the Bare-faced Orioles of Australia and Papuasia, which belong to the genus Sphecotheres. There are, first, the Orioles with a perfectly yellow head, to which section belong our own Golden Oriole of Europe and certain allied species ; secondly, there are the Yellow-headed Orioles with a black horseshoe mark on the head; thirdly, the dull-coloured Orioles with olive-coloured or brown plumage ; and, lastly, the black-headed Orioles. Broderip’s Oriole belongs to the second section, which contains the Orioles having a black horseshoe mark on the head. Not one bird of this section is found in Africa or Australia; they are confined to the Indian Region and Malayan archipelago: and in the latter archipelago they seem to reach their utmost development both in size and in richness of colour; for a more beautiful Oriole than the one selected by me for illustration in the Plate probably does not exist. All those who knew the late Mr. Broderip will rejoice that his name is associated with so beautiful a bird, which recalls the memory of a genial and well-beloved man whose claims science has scarcely sufficiently recognized. As the owner, however, of the original specimen of the beautiful Huplectella aspergillum, his name is not likely to be forgotten by those who yO sn the interest with which this remarkable sponge was received in scientific circles when it was first described by Professor Owen. I regret that not a single word has been recorded concerning the habits of this fine bird, which is an inhabitant of the islands of Lombock, Sumbawa, and Flores, and I can only add the description of the species which is given by Mr. Sharpe in his ‘ Catalogue of Birds.’ | oT “ Adult male. General colour above and below brilliant golden yellow, deepening into orange; forehead golden; crown of head and nape, as well as the lores and feathers round the eyes, bad least wing- coverts orange like the back, the greater series bright yellow, the inner ets of this — black ; bastard wing, primary-coverts, and quills jet-black, the prunany eon tipped with Dae ae a speculum, the primaries externally edged with grey, the secondaries narrowly margined with grey near the tips, the nl most more broadly tipped with yellow on the outer web; tail black, the two centre feathers broadly tipped with yellow, the rest orange-yellow at the tip, the black bases markedly decreasing towards the outer feathers of the tail; ‘bill pink; feet black ; iris red’ (allace, MS.). Total length 12 inches, culmen 15, wing 6:2; tail 4°7, tarsus 1-15. : : 4 ai bees | Much paler and more yellow, the black on the head forming a rmg round the nape, leaving the whereas in the adult the yellow is confined to a small frontal patch, the rest of the nish, the primaries externally margined with greyish, the secondaries washed 9 & “© Young’. rest of the head yellow, ‘no black: wings brow crown being black ; wings : ae . and externally edged with yellow near the tip; two centre tail-feathers olive-greenish, tipped Cc a: € with yellow, the rest of the feathers olive-green at base, bright yellow at the ‘ip, ieee : ae less subterminal shade of black ; entire under surface of body bright yellow, ee the unc : ming: and tail-coverts ; the lower surface of the quills dark brown, buffy white - the ies : me ae we : ac The ficures in the Plate represent a richly coloured old male of the size of life, and are drawn from ? S a specimen in my own collection. with olive mp. Kalter LILI. RAL es oye IS ( l = =a = SATO P. del & Lith. ” , SGould & HC Richter PSAROPHOLUS TRAILLI. Maroon Oriole. Pastor Traillu, Vig. in Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 176.—Gould, Cent. of Birds, ple xemxy. Oriolus Traillii, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 772.—G. R. Gray, Cat. of Spec. and Draw. of Birds pres. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., to Brit. Mus., p. 87.—M ‘Clell. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part vii. 1839, p. 160.— Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. pp. 192 and 797, vol. xv. p. 45; Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 215 ; Ibis, 1867, p. 11.—G. R. Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p-. 232, Oriolus, sp. 16. —Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East- Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 272.—Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. p: 112. Psaropholus Traillii, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., 3rd ser. pl. xxvi—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. p. 345. Analeipus Trailli, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2d edit. p. 38, and Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 290. Tus, one of the finest and most attractive of the Insessorial birds of the Himalayan region, is to all intents and purposes a true Oriole ; yet it has been generically separated by some of our best ornithologists from the other members of the genus Oriolus ; and in following in their wake I must admit that I am acting incon- sistently with my conviction. The late Mr. Vigors regarded it as a Pastor, and so described it in the first part of the ‘ Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society ;’ and as such it also appeared in my ‘ Century of Birds.’ Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby made it the type of their genus Psaropholus; by Mr. Hodgson it was placed in that of Ovzolus, rightly in my opinion; while Mr. G. R. Gray includes it in the genus Analeipus, of which A. sanguinolentus is the type, a Javan form, of which, I believe, no other species is known ; if, however, as is generally admitted, Mimeta is separable from Oriolus, then, of course, Psaropholus is also. The solitary Analcipus, I consider, differs sufficiently to render a separate generic designation necessary. It is somewhat surprising that very little has been recorded respecting the habits and economy of this bird, since it must have come under the observation of many naturalists and travellers who have visited the Himalayas ; yet the following brief note by Dr. Jerdon is all I can find respecting it. “This curiously plumaged Oriole,” says this gentleman, ‘is found in the eastern part of the Himalayas, Nepaul, and Sikhim, extending into Assam, Arrakan, and Tenasserim. It is met with at about 2000 to at least 7000 feet of elevation, generally in small flocks, keeping to high trees, and has a fine loud mellow call. Those I examined had fed upon caterpillars only.” It has not yet been ascertained whether the females assume a similar but less brilliant colouring than that of the males, or whether the birds with striated breasts are young individuals or fully adult females ; in all probability the latter is the case, and my Plate represents an old bird of each sex. , The male has the head, neck, and wings of a fine glossy black ; plumage of the body, both above and dark glistening maroon-red, the basal portion of the feathers white and occasionally appearing | tail of a similar but very much lighter tint, the shafts yellowish white beneath, between the maroon-coloured tips ; for two thirds of their length from the base ; bill lively leaden blue; irides pale yellow ; legs and feet lead- colour. The female has the he the male, but less bright ; nally with brown ; the two central ones brown, with a streak of red 7 ipe of dark brown down the centre of each feather, and a slight wash of bill and feet as in the male, but not quite so clear. kest on the head, has the tail red, is of a sullied white beneath, with ad and upper surface brown, darkest on the former ; upper tail-coverts red, as in wings brownish black ; tail red, the external feathers broadly margined exter- down the middle of the basal portion ; under surface dull white, with a str maroon-red on the throat and breast ; «The young bird is brown above, dar : numerous longitudinal brown streaks ; and the iris yellowish brown.”—Jerdon. The figures are of the size of life. me ODS Ve n i i ‘ 4% %, rT UA IN yay We w “ith U Cl ichter, deb ld & HCH Mh SCout | 3| 4) 3 center ATI | | | ead 2 NOUN PSAROPHOLUS ARDENS, Swina. Red Oriole. Psaropholus ardens, Swinh. in Ibis, 1862, p. 363, pl. xili.; 1863, p 293; and 1866, pp. 297 and 398. ——— ——— var. nigellicauda, Swinh. in Ibis, 1870, p. 342. Analewpus ardens, G. R. Gray, Hand-list of Birds, part i. p. 290. I pee this lovely bird one of the most interesting of Mr. Swinhoe’s many important discoveries, since it is still more beautiful than its Himalayan ally, the Psaropholus Trailli. Its native habitat is the island of Formosa and (if the bird he has named Psaropholus ardens, var. nigellicauda, is merely a local variety, as it is now supposed to be) the island of Hainan. If there is any difference in the size of the three, the Himalayan P. Zrailli is the largest, the Formosan P. ardens somewhat smaller than that bird, and the supposed variety from Hainan still a little less in all its admeasurements. These red-coloured birds from Formosa and Hainan are intensely bright when compared with the maroon-hued species from the Himalayas, and are thereby distinguishable from it at a glance; while in every other respect they are very similar. The following notes respecting the Red Oriole are extracted from Mr. Swinhoe’s “ Notes on the Birds of the Islands of Formosa and Hainan ” :— ‘¢ This bird is an inhabitant of the mountain-ranges of Formosa, where it frequents the jungly bush of the exalted valleys, and displays its gaudy tints among the gigantic leafy boughs of the far-famed Laurus camphora, which towers at intervals among its entangled fellows of the wood. In summer it resorts to the highest ranges, some of which are perennially covered with snow. In winter it returns to the more accessible mountains bounding the Chinese territory, merely changing its residence from a lower to a higher elevation, and vice versd, according to the season. In habits, the Red Oriole nearly approaches its allies of the Yellow group, and feeds, like them, on berries, chiefly those of figs. Its notes are loud and harsh. “Tn a trip to the Formosan mountains I put up at a village, and at an early hour strolled up the hill to a clump of fine trees; on the bare branches of a large Bombaw malabaricum 1 noticed a Psaropholus ardens, its bright crimson plumage making a lovely contrast with the dull-red flowers of the ees ane the light-green bursting leaves. I rushed back for a gun, and shot him. He showed still the whitish sunlon ons and streaks of immaturity; but the great question was solved. I had accepted hearsay evidence that its iris was red; I now found that it is white, like that of its congener P. Traili. The white is encireled near the eyelids with a black rim ; the eyelids are lead-colour ; the bill bright French-blue ; tongue yellowish, wtb a broad bifid black tip. The stomach was full of small figs, either of the banyan or some allied species. When picked up, the wounded bird screeched just as Yellow Orioles do. ; « All my specimens were procured near Tamsuy in March and April 1862. ) a Respecting the bird found in Hainan, and which Mr. Swinhoe named eR nig ellicauda, he says :— «¢ On the 20th of February, 1868, at Taipingsze, in Central Hainan, I spied : Sey male Red Oriole, and, after much chasing from one wood to another, at last secured it. On taking it into wy hand, I thought, from the black hue of its tail, that I had got anew species. Its iris was yellowish EEN EOL A few days later, on my return to the same place, I was attracted by a bird singing to himself, in loud broken notes, hidden in the forked branch of a high tree. | saw a second red male in the jungle at Yulinkan, in South Hainan. and longer in the tail than the Formosan Psaropholus ardens ; I watched till I could see him, and brought down a young male. I ; necimens are shorter in the wing «¢ These specimens are z ee be end ee and in the full-plumaged example the black of the neck appez : ae : Cc YL Ss NO . . = ae “ Male.—Head, neck, wings, and tibial feathers black ; remainder of the plumage of a fine cochineal-red, ee aus 3 yaler on the tail ; bill light cobalt-blue ; skin round the eye violet-grey; iris white; legs leaden grey ; soles I Cc IC 9 ¢ and claws dingy. «The female has the head, sides, and back of the nec : pper tail-coverts 3. the under tail-coverts are also scarlet; two central k black ; wings very dark brown ; back reddish cin- broadly striated with black and dull white ; bill, legs, and feet as in the male, but not so vivid.” roa rie : ; the sexes, of the natural size. The Plate represents the two sexes, 65s ove wee SS oe be re se “ | ee titty tte pele lehehaledetetelatahe Serer rr