Genus PARADOXORNIS, Gould.

CHARACTERES GENERICI.

Rostrum altitudine longitudinem superans, ad basin vibrissis instructum : mandibulé superiore valde compressa ; culmune

acuto, valde arcuato ; tomio edentulo, apicem versus valde incurvo, ad basin producto : mandibuld inferiore ad basin
lata, robusta ; tomio emarginato. Nares parve, rotundate, pone rostrum site. Ale. breves, rotundate ; remigibus
quartd, quintd, et seatd longioribus. Cauda mediocris, gradata. Tarsi robusti, laves.

Pedes magni, subtis lati :
digitis magnis ; halluce ungueque postico maximis. Ptilosis ampla, laxa.

PARADOXORNIS FLAVIROSTRIS, Gouid.

Yellow-billed Paradoxornis.

Par. arenaceo-brunneus, subtis pallidior ; capite nuchdque rufo-brunneis ; auribus partim aterrimis; facie guttureque
albis nigro variis, pectore nigro 5 rostris splendidé aurantiaco-flanis ; pedibus corulescentibus.

Long. tot. 8 une. ; rostri, £; ale, 34; caude, 43; tarsi, 11.

Crown of the head, and back of the neck rich rufous brown; all the upper surface, wings, and tail sandy brown ;
face and throat white, mottled with black ; part of the ear-coverts jet black ; upper part of the chest greyish
white clouded with black ; under surface pale sandy brown ; bill rich orange yellow; tarsi and feet bluish.

Paradoxornis flavirostris, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part IV. 1836. p. 17; and Magazine of Zool. and Bot. vol.
eGo

In the year 1836 I procured a single example of this anomalous bird, together with the Eurylaimus Dalhousie,
and several other rare Himalayan species of a person who was not aware of the precise locality they were from.
I believe that my specimen, which bas been since added to the collection of the Zoological Society, is quite
unique, and that no other bird even approaching it in form has yet been discovered : in its soft lax plumage,
rounded wing, and tail, and powerful foot and tarsi, it offers a striking resemblance to the members of the
genus Pomatorhinus ; its arched and compressed bill, however, at once distinguishes it from that form: the
situation of the nostrils, which are behind the bill, together with the stiff hairs which spring from the base
of this organ, also serve to distinguish it from the Pomatorhini ; but a knowledge of its habits and the
examination of other allied species, which in all probability are yet to be discovered, will alone enable
the ornithologist to determine its real situation in the natural system.
The figures are of the natural size.

RST TTL