( 479 ) 

 4S. Laniiis nigriceps. 



foUiivin iiif/ricejK Franklin, P. Z. .S'. 1k;;1. p. 1 17 (Bengal). 



Laiihix frii'ohir Ilodgs., Iiidiit. Hce. i. p. 44() (1837.) 



Cnlhdin trirohir Hodgs., in Gray's Znnl. .Vix,-. p. 84 (1844) ; i<l., /,-.,//. inn/, uo. 22[t (Xepal). 



Liiii'iKs 2)ile<iliit:Temm.fiileli]yth, Ibh, 187H. p. liU. 



Lan/ti.f niiirirepn Gadow, t. c. p. 268. 



Adult male iin<l female in Jn:\lili/ moulted plmiKKie. — Foi'L'hciiil, crown ;iud 

 hiiuliiart, of neck l)lack ; li:ick, sca|iular.-<, rninp anil nppei- tail-coverts light 

 cbestiint ; an indistinct gre)' collar intervening between the cliestnnt and the black 

 <it' the hindneck ; chin, throat, breast and middle of belly white ; sides, flanks, and 

 under tail-eoverts light chestunt ; wings black, the inner primaries with the basal 

 part white, forming a cons]ncnons s{)eculnm, inner secondaries margined with 

 rnfonsbnflP; middle tail-feathers black, narrowly tijiped with rufous buflf' ; outer 

 pairs margined on the outer web with the same colour, and the outermost pair often 

 with the greater portion of the basal part rufous-white, or sometimes entirely 

 rufous white. 



Total length ca. ll-.i in. ; wing ;V(j — ;i.s, tail 4-7 — 4-'.i, tarsus l",'. 

 'I'lie immature bird hf\& t\\e top of the head and back mixccl with rufous but!' 

 feathers, barred with black. 



XestUiufx. — Have the crown and up[ier back sandy, shading into rufous on the 

 lower back and with concentric bars of black ; the lores and ear-coverts deep black, 

 and the under parts white, tiuged with buff on the sides. 



The amount of grey on the upi)er back varies greatly in different individuals. 

 According to Hume [cf Strni/ Feathers, xi. pp. 89— iW (l.sss)], the grey on the 

 upper back indicates immaturity, and gradually disappears with age, its jilace being 

 takeu by chestnut as the bird becomes fully adnlt. We do not, however, believe 

 that this is the true explanation ; for some obviously young birds, still partially in 

 immature plumage, have almost the entire back chestnut. The amount of grey on 

 the back appears to be due to locality ; for we find all the fully adult birds froui 

 Haipur, in the Central Provinces, and from Mirzapur, in the North-West Provinces, 

 with the grey on the upper back much developed and of a pale colour, indicating, in 

 our ojiinion, an apiiroach towards L. enjthronotus. From North-Western India we 

 have also a number of birds which are obviously intermediate between L. uii/riee/is 

 and L. enjthronotus, and may be considered by some as hybrids. In the central i>arts 

 of the range of the jjreseut species, from Nepal to Assam and southwards, almost 

 all the examples have the back chestnut with an indistinct grey collar, as described 

 above ; but in the eastern parts of Burma and Western China, where L. frjthronottis 

 also occurs, we once more find examiiles with the grey of the upper back more 

 developed, but of a much darker tint than in the birds from Central and 

 North- West India. A spccinu'u from Manipur appears to be intermediate between 

 these two species. 



Ilab. North India, ranging from the North-West and Central Provinces of 

 India eastwards to Assam, thence southwards to Yuunau, the fShan States, 

 and Pegu. 



The British Museum possesses a number of specimens intermediafe between 

 L. niyrieeps and L. eri/thronotus from the following localities: North-West 

 Himalayas, Gurwhal, Abuorah, Somgurh, Kui)koti, Mirzapur, Nepal, and 

 Lohardugga ; also a, J'emide from Manipur intermediate between L. nigriceps and 

 L. tephronotus. 



