■/äs-
Genus PARADOXORNIS, Gould.
C h a r a c t e r e s G e n e r i c i .
Rostrum altitudine longitudinem superane, ad basin vibrissis instructum : mandibulà superiore valdè compressà ; culmine
acuto, valdè arcuato ; tornio edentulo, apicem versus valdè incurvo, ad basin producto : mandibulà inferiore ad basin
latà, robustà ; tornio emarginato. Nares parva, rotundata, pone rostrum sita. Alse breves, rotondata; remigibus
quartà, quintà, et sextà longioribus. Catida mediocris, gradata. Tarsi robusti, laves. Pedes magni, subtùs lati:
digitis magnis ; halluce ungueque postico maximis. Ptilosis ampia, laxa.
P A R A D O X O R N I S FL A VIRO STRI S , Gould.
Yellow-billed Paradoxornis.
Par. arenaceo-brumeus, mbtus pallidior; capite nurMque rufo-brunneis; awribus partim aterrimu; facie guttureque
albis n ijrn variis, pectore ntgro; rostris splendidd awantiaco-Jlavis; pedibus cccrulescenttbus.
Long. tot. 8 wac. ; rostri, -5-; alte, 3 y ; caadte, 4^ ; tarsi, 1^-.
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 w ith b lack ; p art of the ear-coverts je t black j upper p a rt of the chest greyish
white clouded with black; under sur&ce pale sandy b rown; bill rich orange yellow; tarsi and feet bluish.
Paradaxoraisfamroslris, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part IV. J836. p. 17; and Magazine of Zool. and Bot. yol.
1. p. 62.
In the year 1836 I procured a single example o f this anomalous bird, together with the Eurylaimus Dalhousice,
and several other rare Himalayan species o f a person who was not aware o f the precise locality they were from.
I believe that my specimen, which has been since added to the collection o f the Zoological Society, is quite
unique, and th at 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 o f the
genus Pomatorhinus ; its arched and compressed bill, however, a t once distinguishes it from th at form : the
situation o f the nostrils, which are behind the bill, together with the stiff hairs which spring from the base
o f this organ, also serve to distinguish it from the Pomatorhini; but a knowledge o f 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 o f the natural size.