List of Birds from the vicinity of Calcutta. 37 



Hodgson, and Melisseus eeneus, Bly th, in which case the permanent title 

 of that species (if it deserves generic separation from Dicrurus) would 

 be Chaptia coerulcscens (Lin.). From want of a description, I cannot 

 identify the species termed ccErulescens by Mr. Blyth. The Dicrurus 

 fingah of Mr. Blyth (balicassius of Indian authors but not of Linnaeus, 

 and commonly called " King Crow,") is, I apprehend, the true Di- 

 crurus macrocercus of Vieill. (Muscicapa biloba, Licht. ; D. indicus, 

 Steph.), as that is said to inhabit India, and to have the fork of the 

 tail 2^ inches French (2^ English) deep. If this be so, the D. ma- 

 crocercus, Blyth, should be called D. annectens. Is the latter the ma- 

 crocercus of Jerdon } 



122. Ixos (more properly Pycnonotus) cafer. Two, if not three, 

 species have hitherto been confounded under this name, viz. I. the 

 true P. cafer (Lin.), 8;^ inches long, the whole head, neck and up- 

 per breast black, from South Africa. 2. P. h(emorrhousa (Gm.) 

 (Muscicapa hamorrhousa, Gm., Ixos pseudocafer,^\y\h.),iYOKi Ceylon 



and South India ; and 3. P. ? {Iwos cafer, Blyth), from North 



India, a description of which is wanting. Is this last the Hamator- 

 nis pusilla, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. x. p. 841 } 



124. Pitta brachyura ; I presume Mr. Blyth intends the species so 

 called in Gould's * Himalayan Birds,' possessing a black beak, white 

 throat, and red vent. But the true Corvus brachyurus of Linnaeus is 

 from the Moluccas, and is described with a brown beak, black throat, 

 and fulvous vent, so that the Indian bird wants a specific name. A 

 third allied species is the P. abdominalis, Wagl. (Edwards, pi. 324), 

 with yellowish beak, white throat, a white line over the eye, and 

 red vent, otherwise like the other two, said to inhabit Ceylon, and 

 perhaps also Southern India. This last seems to be the same with 

 the Pitta malaccensis (Scop.), superciliaris, Wagl., Sonn. Voy. Ind. 

 pi. 110. 



125. Mr. Swainson describes his Oriolus hodgsoni as smaller than 

 O. melanocephalus of India, which agrees with my own observations 

 of the latter species. I would ask — 1st, does any such bird as Oriolus 

 melanocephalus (distinct from 0. monachus, Gm. (0. capensis, Sw.) 

 and 0. brachyrhynchus, Sw. W. Af., in both which, the primary co- 

 vers are tipped with white,) really inhabit Africa ? and 2ndly, if so, 

 is it distinct from O. melanocephalus of India ? If both these ques- 

 tions be answered in the affirmative, this African species must have 

 a new name, for the name melanocephalus was originally given to the 

 black-headed oriole of Bengal. 



126. Col. Sykes's name Oriolus kundoo was prior to 0. aureus, 

 Jerdon, and though applied to the female only, yet it does not 

 thereby lose its claim to be retained for the species. Moreover the 

 name aureus is pre-engaged by Linnseus for another species of true 

 Oriolus. 



128. Motacilla lucopsis is the M. leuzoniensis of Scopoli. 



139. Pyrrhulauda crucigera is the Alauda grisea of Scopoli, and 

 should retain the latter specific name. 



143. The correct designation of the Amaduvat would be Estrilda 

 (not Amadina) amandava (Lin.). It is a desideratum to ascertain 



