Actinodura nipalensis, Hodgs., Cat. Birds, Nep., p. 84, 1846 ; G. R. Gray, Gen. B., i, p; 226, 1846;
.Blyth, Cat. B. Mns., As. Soc., Bengal, p. 98, 1849; Jerdon, B. Ind., vol. ii, p. 58, 1868;
Gould, B. Asia, pt. xviii, 1866; Gray, Handl. B., vol. i, p. 288,1869; Jerdon, Ibis, 1872, p. 808.
a. Ponsee, 20th March 1868«
106. A c t in o d u r a e g e r t o n i , Gould.
Actinodura egertoni, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1886, p. 18; Gray, Cat. B., Nep., p. 84, 1846; id.,
Gen. B., vol. i, p. 226, 1846; Fraser, Zool. Typ., pi. xl, 1849; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus., As. Soc.,
Bengal, p. 98, 1849; Bonap. Consp. Av., p. 873, 1850; Horsfield & Moore, .Cat. B. Mus. E.
Ind. Co., p. 212, 1856-58; Jerdon, B. Ind., vol. ii, p. 52, 1868; Gould, B. Asia, pt. xviii,
1866; Gray, Handl. B., vol. i, p. 28S> 1869; Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. B., p. 266, 1873.
Leiocincla plumosa, Blyth, Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xii, p. 958, 1848, vol. xiv, p. 000, 1845.
Alcurus nipalensis, Hodgs., in Gray's Zool. Misc., p. 88, 1844.
Actinwa egertoni, Godwin-Austen, Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, Vol. xiv, 1876, p. 76.
a. Ponsee, 17th March 1868,
This is the only specimen I observed.
Genus P t e r t t t h i t j s , Swainson.
107. P t e r t t t h i t j s .¿e r a l a t t t s , Tickell. P I . XLYTI.
Pteruthius eeralatus, Tickell, Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, 1855, p. 267; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 82; Gray,
Handl. B., i, 314, 1869; Blyth & Walden, Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xliv, 1875, ex. No.,
p. 109; Gould, B. Asia, 1st July 1876, part xxviii.
Allotrius eeralatus, Hume, Stray Feathers, 1874, p. 479; op. cit., 1877, p. 114.
a. S Ponsee, 20th March 1868.
b. $ Sanda, 27th July 1868.
This species is quite similar to Pt. erythropterus of the Himalaya, as pointed
out by Blyth, except in that the latter has constantly the tertiaries wholly ferrum-
nous in both sexes. In the former the female has the tertiaries greenish golden
yellow, like the secondaries, with merely a tinge of ferruginous upon the shaft and
on the inner web only of each; and the male differs from that of the Himalayan
bird by having nearly the whole outer webs of the tertiaries bright golden yellow,
the first having also a black tjp and inner edge; the next a black tip to the outer
web only; the third and longest, an oblique and elongated black tip to the outer
web', and the feather succeeding this has also a mark on its outer web, of mingled
ferruginous and golden yellow.
Blyth further observes that he could not detect in the type specimen any trace
of the cameous tinge seen particularly on the flanks posteriorly of P. 'erythropterus
; these specimens, however, show this distinctly, but more in the direction of
the vent than the flanks. The female has the under parts, with the exception of the
white throat only, much more fulvescent than the under parts of the female P.
erythropterus.
The only difference between these Kakhyen hill specimens and Tickell’s is, that
the body beneath, instead of being nearly white, is markedly cinereous. I do not,
however, attach any importance to this, for a tendency to cinereous is also distinctly
visible on the under parts of P . erythropterus, which P . eeralatus also resembles in
this respect; Hume observes that this species is intermediate between P . erythropterus
and P . Jlavicapis, having the grey back of P . erythropterus and the yellow
wing of P. jlavicapis.
Total length 6'HO; wing 3 7 ; tail 2'50; tarsus 0*75 ; bill (gape) 0*53.
I obtained two specimens of this species, one at Ponsee and the other at
Sanda, and the latter I have figured.
Family—LEIOTHRICEIDJ3.
Genus L e io t h r i x , Swainson.
108. L e io t h r i x c a l l i p y g a , Hodgson.
Bahila callipyga, Hodgs., Ind. Rev., vol. ii, p. 88, 1888.
Callipyga furcata, Hodgs., Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. x, p. 29, 1841.
Leiothrix callipyga, Hodgs., Joum. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xiii, p. 934, 1844; Gray, Cat. Mamm.,&c.,
Nepal, Hodgs., p. 84, 1844; Gray, Handl. B., vol. i, p. 318, 1869; Hume, Nests and Eggs,
Ind. B., p. 890, 1-874; Gammie, Stray Feathers, 1875, p. 266.
Leiothrix jurcatus, Hodgs., in Gray's Zool. Misc., p. 84, 1844.
Leiothrix l/uteus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc., Bengal, vol. xiv, p. 552,1845; id., Cat. B. Mus., As. Soc.,
Bengal., p. 99, 1849; Gould, B. Asia, pt. iii, 1851; Horsfield, & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E . Ind.
Co., vol. i, p. 864, 1854; Jerdon, B. Ind., vol. ii, p. 250, 1868.
a. b. c. S Ponsee, March 1868.
d. e .f . „ i, . i f
There is a good deal of variation in the intensity of the yellow tint on the head
and neck, in the rich orange yellow of the neck and breast, in the yellow of the
lores, and in the depth of tint on the ear coverts. In females these parts, as a rule,
are not so brilliant as in the males, but I have males (young ?) as dull coloured as
females. The head and neck, in some males, are almost orange yellow-olive, and
dull green to yellow-olive in others. In the birds with dull coloured heads, the orange
of the breast is light, the ear coverts are almost ashy-olive, and the lores are dirty
white, and the dark line from the lower mandible is hardly discernible.
In the orange olive-green-headed birds, the lores are always tinged with yellow,
the ear coverts are much lighter, the mandible streak is well defined, and the breast
is rich orange-red. In Gould’s figure, the orange of the breast is represented much
further back than in my specimens, but this character is very variable. In one
very brightly coloured bird the chin and throat alone are brilliant yellow, the neck
and upper part of the breast are reddish orange-yellow, well marked off from the
throat, but fading below into ashy olive-green on the sides and pale yellow on the
centre of the abdomen.