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.