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ENICURUS SCOUUERI, ' Vigors
ENICURUS SCOULER1, Vigors.
Scouler’s Forktail.
Enicurus Scouleri, Vig. in Proc. of Comm, of Sei. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. 1S30-1831, p. 174.—Gould,
Cent, of Birds, pi. 28.—Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 204, Enicurus, sp. 8.—Gray, Cat. of Spec, and
Draw, of Mamm. and Birds pres, to Brit. Mus.byB. H. Hodgson, Esq., p. 76.—Jameson in Calcutta
Jom-n. N a t Hist., vol. vii. p. 363,— Blyth, Joum. of Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xvi. p. 157.—Id. Cat. of
Birds in t i n . Asiat. Soc, Calcutta, p. 159.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 251, Enicurus, sp. 8.
—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of Birds in Mus. East. Ind. Comp., vol. ¡. p. 347.—Adams, in Proc. Zool. Soc.,
part xxvi 1858, p. 489, and p art xxvii. 1859, p. 179.-Jerd. Birds of India, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 214.
----------- Scouleri v. heterurus, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc. 1844, p. 83.
_______ nigrifrons, Hodgs., G. R. Gray, in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part xxvii. 1859, p. 102, young ?—Jerd. Birds of
India, vol. ii. part i. p. 215, young | [ |g |
Oong-sumbreJc-pho of the Lepchins.
T h e southern side of the great Himalayan range is believed to be exclusively the habitat of the Enicurus
Scouleri, the smallest species o f a genus all the members of which are lovers of the beds of streams, turbulent
waters, and cataracts, over which their delicately-formed feet enable them to trip with the utmost facility,
and where, in the midst of a chaotic mass of stones, drift, and gravel, apparently unfitted for any bird’s
existence, they obtain their food.
“ This little Enicurus,” says Mr. Jerdon, “ appears to be found throughout the whole extent o f the Himalayas,
but to be more numerous in their eastern portion ; for Jameson says that it is rare in the north-west,
and Adams, who observed it in Cashmere, states that it is not nearly so common as E . maculatus. About
Darjeeling it is far from rare, but it does not ascend the streams so high as the spotted Forktail, being
most abundant between 2000 and 5000 feet of elevation. I t does not affect the smaller brooks, but
chiefly good-sized rapid streams, and it may often be seen seated on a rock in the midst of a boiling torrent
which is now and then partially submerged by a wave ; and it feeds almost exclusively on rocks that are so
washed over, following the retreating wave o r climbing up a slippery rock with great ease. I t often contends
with the plumbeous water Redstart (Ruticilla/uliginosa') for a choice piece o f rock, but is generally vanquished
by its more spirited antagonist. I t feeds on various water-insects, chiefly on the larvae of Neuroptera, that
frequent the wet rocks and the edges of rapids.
“ A nest brought to me as of this species was found on a ledge of rock near a stream ; it contained three
eggs very similar to, but smaller than, those of E . maculatus"
The late Captain Boys, who met with the bird at Hawalbaugh in December, notes that it “ frequents the
sides of mountain-streams, and seems to delight in being washed by the spray of the torrent; it may be
seen almost immersed in water, or a t least so covered that I have lost sight of it for seconds together.
Food, insects.”
In his notes on ‘ The Birds of Cashmere and Ladakh,’ Dr. Leith Adams states that the E . Scouleri is
“ often seen on the Chenab river near Kishtewar.’
I suspect that the bird characterized in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1859 by Mr. G.
R. Gray as Enicurus nigrifrons, Hodgs,, is merely an immature example of the present species—an opinion
to which Mr. Jerdon appears to incline; for, although he has described it separately, he remarks that the
brown mottling of the breast “ is rather a mark of nonage.”
Band across the forehead pure white ; head, neck, throat, and upper p art o f the hack deep black ; a few
of the black feathers on the lower p art of the breast tipped with white ; wings black, the greater coverts
largely tipped until white, forming a conspicuous band across the wing ; shafts of all but the first two primaries
white at the base ; outer margins o f the secondaries very narrowly edged with white ; lower part of
the back and upper-tail coverts white, the former crossed by an indistinct band of black ; centre of the
abdomen and under tail-coverts white ; flanks mottled with slaty black ; outer tail-feather white, two central
tail-feathers black with white bases, the intermediate feathers white, tipped with black, the extent of the
black increasing as the feathers approach the central ones ; irides brown ; bill black ; legs and feet delicate
fleshy white.
The immature bird has the forehead black and the throat white, mottled with brownish black ; in other
respects it is similar to the adult.
The Plate represents the two sexes and the supposed young (E . nigrijfrons, Hodgs.) of the natural size.