I unfortunately very much injured iu the wing. Ou au examination of the specimen, 1 a to n e e perceived
that it was a second British example of the BegaloUes sup'rdliosm. The b.rd is now tn the possesston of
Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart., of Calke Abbey, Derbyshire.
The above comprises all that is known respecting the bird in connexion with pur,islands.
Mr. Swinhoe states that it summers in North China and Japan, and is abundant during the cold season
throughout Southern China, and in winter it is not uncommon about woods and groves in Formosa, i
loud single call-note R 9 always attracting attention to its presence. It is very rarely g company wit!
others, ?s lively, and constantly in motion in pursuit of its insect-food, and seems to be entirely happy
m m m S M says Mr. Jerdon, I so rare in Europe, is tolerably common in most parts of India
during the cold weather, and at all times on the Himalayas. I have obtained g at Nellore, on the Malabar
coast in Central India, and at Darjeeling. Mr. Blytb observes, -This bird ,s solitary; and its song-note
is nearly similar to that of Pfylloscopm sibilalrh: of Europe, but considerably weaker. He also describ
nest which was brought to him as that of this bird ; but I cannot help thinking that the person who brongh
it was mistaken or wished to deceive.' It is very like the nest of a .Vectari»«. ; and it ,s certainly unusual
for any of the tribe to remain in the plains to breed.”
The sexes are precisely alike in colour, and Mr. Jerdon’s description, being taken from freshly killed
examples, mav be regarded as correct:— , , . . . • 1 r „
••Above olive-green, brightest on the rump, wings, and ta il; crown dusky, with a pale mesial line not
always very distinct; two conspicuous yellowish-white bars on the wings the hinder one the broader
the two; behind this a dark patch ; tertiaries conspicuously margined with whitish ; secondaries and some
of the primaries slightly tipped with the same; axillaries with the fore part of the wing underneath pale
yellow; supercilia and plumage beneath albescent; bill dusky above, yellow beneath; legs pale brown;
’r T h e lg n re s in the accompanying Plate are of the natural size. The plant is the common Birch, with
its catkins.