JGoaJdand&CRukUr. d d eC lith.
EHICURTTS MA.CÜLAÏUS., Vigors. WatCer.Tntp.
ENICURUS MACULATUS, Vigors.
Lunated Fork tail.
Enicurus maculatus, Vig. in Proc. of Comm, of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. 1830-1831, p. 9.—Gould, Cent.
of Birds, pi. 27.—Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83.—Gray, Cat. of Spec, and Draw, of Mamm.
and Birds, pres, to Brit. Mus. by B. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 76.—Jameson, in Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist.,
vol. vii. p. 363.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 204, Enicurus, sp. 2.—Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng.,
vol. xvi. p. 156.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc- Calcutta, p. 159.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av.
tom. i. p. 251, Enicurus, sp. 2.—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 346.
—Adams, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. 1858, p. 489, and part xxvii. 1859, p. 179.—Jerdon, Birds of
India, voL ii. pt. i. p. 212.
----------- fuliffinosus, Hodgs. in Asiat. Res., vol. xix. 190, young.
Khanjan, in the N.W. Himalayas. Oong-sam ching-pho of the Lepchins. Chubia leka of the Bhotans.
T h e figurés in the accompanying Plate were taken from specimens precisely like the bird which formed the
subject o f one of the illustrations in my ‘ Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains;’ I deem it
necessary to state this because I believe that another, but very nearly allied, species from the same range of hills
has hitherto been confounded with it. The bird referred to is the one characterized by me in the ‘ Proceedings
of the Zoological Society ’ for 1865, under the name of Enicurus guttatus, a representation of
which will be found on the succeeding Plate. Where the two birds inosculate in the great Himalayan range
has not yet been ascertained ; but I believe that both are found in Nepaul, and that from thence the range
of E . maculatus extends as far to the westward as the country of Afghanistan, while the E . guttatus frequents
Sikhim, Bhotan, and probably proceeds even still further to the eastward.
The birds constituting the genus Enicurus must form a conspicuous feature in the landscape among the
rocky gullies of the elevated regions they inhabit.
Dr. Leith Adams remarks that the E . maculatus is “ common on the mountain-streams southwards of
the valley of Cashmere. Among the tangled jungles by the sides of the mountain-torrents this beautiful
creature sports from rock to rock ; it flutters like a huge butterfly, intently searching after its winged prey,
now and then uttering a harsh scream as it runs along the water’s edge with its tail expanded like a fan.”
“ This beautiful W agtail,” says M r. Jerdon, “ may be said to be one of the adjuncts of Himalayan scenery ;
if you come suddenly on a mountain-stream crossing the road o r path, and still more certainly if there be a
waterfall, you are sure to see one of these birds, either on the road or in a rock in the stream. I f on the
former, it will at times fly before you to the next stream that crosses the path, and repeat the movement
for a dozen times in succession ; but more commonly as you approach it flies rapidly into the jungle and
disappears up the stream, but, owing to the density of the jungle, does not go far. I cannot say that I have
seen it perch, but on one or two occasions thought I did. In the larger streams it may be seen running on
the shingle at the edge of the river, but still more frequently on rocks, especially on those in rapids that are
washed Over by the spray. There it picks up the various small insects and their larvæ which constitute it
chief food.
“ In general it is a solitary bird ; occasionally two or three may be seen near each other, but in that case
one usually drives away the rest. The nest is made of roots, fibres, and a little moss ; the eggs, which are
three or four in number, are of a greenish white, with a few rusty-brown spots.”
The adults of both sexes differ but little in size and colouring ; the dress of the young during the first
autumn is very dissimilar, the head and back being olive brown and the throat and breast light olivaceous
brown, with a stripe of grey down each feather; and present no appearance o f the black, studded with white,
which characterizes the older birds, and which, when once acquired, is not again changed.
The adult birds have the forehead and frontal half of the crown, greater wing-coverts, lower half of the
back, rump, upper tail-coverts, abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts pure white ; hinder half of the
crown, sides of the head and neck, throat, and breast black ; a few of the feathers on the lower edge of
the. latter with a lunate mark o f white at the tip ; upper half of the back black, lunated with white, the
lunations increasing into large spots and forming a conspicuous mark on each side of the nape ; spurious
wing and secondaries black, with the exception of an oblique line of white on the tips of the latter;
primaries dark brown ; lateral tail-feathers and the tips of the inner ones white, the basal portion o f the
latter being black ; irides dark brown ; bill black ; legs and feet fleshy white.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the size o f life, and with a reduced figure of a young bird.