SALPOKNIS SPILOÍTOIA
SALPORNIS SPILONOTA.
Spotted Creeper.
Certhia spilonota, Frankl. in Proc. of Comm, of Sei. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., pt. i. p. 121.
Salpomis spilonotus, Blyth, Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Calcutta, p. 338.
-----------spilonota, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. pi. xliv, upp. fig.—Jerd. Birds of Ind., vol. i. p. 382.—Blanf. in Ibis,
1867, p. 461.
T h e singular bird figured on the accompanying Plate has many characters in common with the Climacteres
of Australia, and is not very far removed from the single member of the genus Ticliodroma. Hitherto it has
been ranked among the rarities of Indian ornithology, and its true locality was almost unknown. Franklin’s
solitary specimen was all the material at the disposal of the late D. W. Mitchell for his figure of the species
in Mr. G. R. Gray’s ‘ G enera of B ird s ; ’ but 1 have been more fortunate, having had several fine examples
lent to me by Mr. W. T. Blanford (from the Rev. S. Fairbank) and by my friends Captains Stackhous,
Pinwill, and Julian. One belonging to the last-named gentleman was collected in Oude; and Captain
Pinwill writes me the following n o t e s h o t a specimen in a grove of mangoe trees. It had the manners
of an ordinary creeper; it was in a large migrating party of Sitta castaneooentris and Yungipicus Hardwic/cii,
no doubt at the time moving from the more central jungle into the Oude terai, or low hills.” Fortunately
other interesting notes relating to the habits and economy of this species have appeared in ‘ The Ibis ’
and elsewhere; and these I take the liberty of transcribing.
Mr. Jerdon states that “ this bird inhabits the hilly parts of B ehar and probably similar regions in Central
India, Bundelkund, &c. It does not appear to have been again discovered since Franklin procured it, now
more than thirty years ago, except by Hodgson, who received it from B e h a r; but the exact locality in which
it was obtained is still unknown. It was probably the hilly and jungly tract which extends from Mount
Parisnath, where it is very likely to be found, through Chota Nagporee, towards the source of the Nerbudda.”
In a letter to the Editor of ‘ The Ibis,’ dated “ Geological Survey Office, Calcutta, July 17, 1867,”
Mr. W. T. Blanford says : -B H |
“ I think all who have paid attention to the ornithology of India will be interested in hearing of the
rediscovery of Franklin’s long-lost Certlúa spilonota (Salpornis spilonota, Gray). I have collected birds
during the past year around Nagpoor, and in the country to the south, about Chanda and Siroucha; and
amongst other rarities I had the good fortune to obtain eight or nine specimens of Salpornis, most of them
in good condition. They agree perfectly with the somewhat meagre original description given by Major
Franklin in the ‘ Proceedings ’ of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society
for 1831, p. 121, and with Mr. Blyth’s fuller account in ‘The Ibis ’ for 1865, p. 48. My first specimen was
killed about twenty miles south of Chanda; but the birds there appeared to be very rare. It was much
less so, though still very far indeed from common, in the great forests upon the Pranhita and Godavery
rivers, about Siroucha. This is five hundred miles south o f Franklin’s supposed original locality, and still
further from Behar, whence Mr. Hodgson is said to have obtained specimens. It is very probable that the
neighbourhood of the Godavery is the principal locality of this bird, and that the specimens obtained to the
northward were stragglers. I t is curious that Mr. Jerdon did not meet with it in Bustar, which is not very
far from Siroucha, and is a portion of the same great forest-tract, which, indeed, stretches from the Godavery
to Midnapoor, and is the largest extent of ‘jungle ’ in India.
“ Salpornis is not very wary. It has much the appearance of a Sitta, clinging to the largest trees, running
round and round their trunks in all directions, and searching for insects. I found Coleóptera in their
stomachs. In April the sexes were paired, and evidently breeding; but I had not the good fortune to obtain
any of their eggs.”
Stripe over the eye greyish wh ite ; upper surface dull black, streaked on the head and spotted all over the
body with greyish white; wings dark grey, crossed by broad bars of dull black and greyish white; two
centre tail-feathers grey, with spots of black along their edges; the remainder greyish brown, crossed with
well-defined .bars of w hite; chin and throat whitish ; chest, flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts brownish
grey, barred with dull black and g re y ; bill horny brown, lightest on the base of the under mandible, where
it appears to have been flesh-coloured ; feet apparently light brown.
The figures represent the bird in two positions, of the size of life.