M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 175 



This little charming bird I saw solitary several times in Fe- 

 bruary, skulking unobserved through thick bushes. In March 

 and April it is met with oftener, several together, close to the 

 ground, in places very shaded, mostly in low bamboo-groves. 

 The male spread and raised its tail, jumped about the hen-bird 

 with its wings hanging down along the horizontal branches or 

 bamboo-roots, and they looked very active. One often sees the 

 parabolic-shaped white-edged tail moving about without obser- 

 ving the bird itself, until it announces its presence by a clear note, 

 or turns to menace a rival in its vicinity. Its stomach is uncom- 

 monly thin, almost like a skin ; it was always filled with soft in- 

 sects — flies, Hymenoptera, and others. The Bengalese name 

 given to me was Sa-boolbool, which in Lath. f Gen. Hist/ is 

 brought under Muse, paradisi, where the present bird is called 

 Check-Dyal, a name which I have not heard*. 



15. Muscicapa parva, Bechst., Temm. Man. ; Gloger, Eur. p. 401. 



Grisea, subtus sordide alba ; cauda cum tectricibus nigris, rectri- 

 cibus utrinque 4, basi ultra medium albis, limite irregulari subtrans- 

 verso. 



^(Subsestivalis ? testiculis parvis. Serampore 5 Apr.) colore sa- 

 turatiore, capite fusciore, lateribus non canescente. Macula guise 

 magna, fulva (paullo pallidior quam in Sylv. rubecula), undique albo- 

 cincta, pectus non attingens. Ala 68 mill., tarsus 17. 



Junior ( $ $ Febr.), caput superne colore dorsi, lateribus obsolete 

 pallescenti maculatum. Collum antice album immaculatum. Ala 

 65—68 mill., tarsus 16}. 



Rectrices laterales imo basi nigrse, latius in interioribus. Remiges 

 fusca?, intus rufescenti albidse extus grisescenti marginatse. Pedes 

 et rostrum nigra. Iris obscure rufescens. Alse et rostri forma om- 

 nino ut in Muscicapa atricapilla, sed ala brevior, tarsi longiores. ' Vi- 

 brissa? parvae, nares membrana fornicata tectse. Lingua brevis, inte- 

 gerrima, sinuato-triangularis, apice angulisque posticis subrotundatis, 

 non membranaceo-marginatis ! 



This bird, which is seldom seen in Europe, seems to belong to 

 the south of Asia. It was very common in February and March 

 in the vicinity of Calcutta, where they lived in the same way as 

 our Regulus cristatus. They came forth in large scattered flocks, 

 hopping and climbing about the branches of trees, where they 

 industriously collected insects, and uttered almost the very same 

 sounds as the Regulus. I saw none with a yellow throat among 

 them ; they were all of the same colour. The above-described 

 male with red yellow spots on its throat was quite alone (5th of 

 April). For a long time I had seen none of this species, nor did 

 I see any after that ; it is therefore likely that they go to the 



* This seems to be the Rhipidura fuscoventris, Blyth, and R. pect oralis, 

 Jerdon.— H. E. S. 



