JO tìu L l'S cR C Sichta-, d ïb e b lith /.
PTERORHINUS DAVIDI, Swmh.
Père David’s Pterorhinus.
Pterorhinus Davidi, Swinh. in Ibis, 1868, p. 61.
S ome time during the year 1869, Mr. Swinhoe placed in my hands a skin o f the bird which forms the subject
o f the accompanying drawing, and stated that it was an inhabitant of China and that he had dedicated it to
the Abbé Armand David, a gentleman who with much credit to himself has paid great attention to the ornithology
o f that p art of the “ Celestial Empire ” in which be is located ; and it affords me much pleasure to
extend the scientific reputation of this worthy French priest by giving a representation, in the present work,
of the highly curious bird named in his honour.
I have, of course, nothing to communicate of my own knowledge respecting Père David’s Pterorhinus, and
must therefore avail myself of what has been placed on record by Mr. Swinhoe in ‘The Ibis’ for 1868, p. 60,
which I append below. The bird appears to me to be a Crateropine form, the habits and economy of which
will probably assimilate to those of some of the species of that group which frequent the low forests and
brushy coverts o f the sterile portions of India ; but this is merely a surmise, and one which may not prove
to be correct.
“ On the 25th of June, 1867,” says Mr. Swinhoe, “ I received a letter from the Abbé David, enclosing
two bird-skins. The Abbé writes :— ‘J e profite de l’obligeance de M. Conolly pour vous envoyer deux peaux
d’oiseaux ; c’est tout ce que j ’ai maintenant de disponible. Votre Pomatorhinus stridulus est fort abondant
et sédentaire dans nos montagnes, de même l’autre oiseau que je vous envoie et dont je vous prierais de me
faire savoir le nom. Ce dernier habite les mêmes localités que le Pomatorhinus et en a les mêmes
habitudes.’
“ These two birds were quite distinct from any thing Chinese that I had seen before ; and I wrote to the
worthy priest for permission to describe them. M. David’s permission, dated Peking, 31 July, 1867, I
received on the 4th of September. The so-called Pomatorhinus belongs, in my opinion, to the limaliinee.
At a first glance you might pronounce it to be a plain-coloured Pomatorhinus ; but on second inspection you
notice its feathered and bristled nostrils. Hence, what should it be a member o f but a new genus ? which I
propose to style Pterorhinus.
“ The type of this genus in the shape of the bill approaches Pomatorhinus ; in the clothing of its nostrils
it is an exaggerated Garrulax ; in the sober uniformity of its coloration it resembles Malacocercus, and in
the comparative slenderness of its legs and feet exceeds Leucodiopterum.”
In some notes with which Mr. Swinhoe has recently favoured me, he says
“ This species forms a connecting link between the plain-coloured Crateropodince of Africa and the curvedbilled
Pomatorliini of Asia. It was discovered among the hills near Peking, by the Abbé Armand David
(after whom I have named it), Missionary of the Lazarist Mission, and is noted in his ‘ Catalogue o f Chinese
Birds ’ as Pomatorhinus stridulus, with the remark that ‘ it is common and resident in our mountains ; cries
and sings at all seasons.’ On my visit to the mountains, in the autumn of 1868, I noticed that these birds
had many of the habits of the South-China Song-Thrush, wandering in small parties from bush to hush
on the sides of the hills, hiding among the leaves and chattering to each other, a male occasionally isolating
himself and pouring forth a well-sustained song.”
The following is Mr. Swinhoe’s description of this rare species -
General plumage amber-brown ; the downy or basal half of each feather bluish grey, a short superciliary
mark o f brownish white passes over each eye, and some o f the frontal feathers are edged with the same colour ;
cheeks and under neck pale ; abdomen, tibiae, and under tail-coverts deep umber ; a ring on the tarsal edge
of the tibial feathers whitish ; chin black, giving out divergent black vibrissa; ; near the symphysis of the
lower jaw a few small whitish feathers occur, and below the black chin-spot the feathers are inclined to whitish
grey ; quills brown, edged with greyish white ; tail umber-brown, on the two middle feathers deepening
towards their tips, where faint cross bars appear ; the other rectrices blackish brown ; bill (in the dried
specimen) pale ochreous yellow, brownish on the upper mandible, except at its edges ; legs and claws (o f the
same specimen) liver-brown. On the ticket was inscribed in pencil “ 12 April, 1867 ; Pekin, fem. adult.”
Iris clear brown.
The figure is o f the natural size.