THE a ami: niRDS of India. i:;; 



" diHevs from inelau,onohis in having' tlie feathers of the upper 

 " surface more broadly mari;ined with greyish white ; the 

 •• middle tail feather more broadly vermiciilated, thougli not so 

 ••prominently as in alhocristatus ; the edges to the feathers of 

 '• the lower surface contrast more and the rump contrasts more 

 '• with the middle tail feathers, in this respect resembling 

 •• hortijieldi, but in no other."' 

 Colours of soft 2)Cf'>'is as in alhocristatus. 



Measurements. — Length about 20" (508 mm.) ; wing 7'8" to 

 8-7" (198-1 to 221-0 mm.) ; average of twenty birds, 8-1" (205-7 

 mm.); tail 7-3" to S-6" (185-4. to 218-4 mm.) ; tarsus aboiit 2-7" 

 (68-5 mm.) ; crest about 2-5" (Go- 7 mm.). 



Chick in down. — Head chestnut, palest on forehead and behind 

 eye ; a dark streak running from behind and below eye to neck. 

 Centre of back chocolate brown with broad lateral bands of pale 

 buff, sides dull chestnut ; chin and throat pale yellowish white, 

 remainder of lower parts pale yellowish grey. 



" Young. — A chick captured on the lOtli June, whose \\ing 

 '•measured only 2" had the feet oi'ange and the bill greenish 

 ■-yellow-horny; the head was rufous-brown, the body above 

 -• dark brown ; each feather of the wing-coverts and scapulars 

 " having a blackish subterminal bar, and a fulvous tip ; beneath 

 '• sullied fulvous. Young birds of both sexes about three 

 •- months old resemble the female, but have the bill livid at 

 " tip, the orbital skin pale fleshy red, and the feet livid 

 "brownish; at this stage the black subterminal bars on the 

 "upper feathers are still well marked The young male 

 " assumes the black plumage when about five months old 

 -• (such, at least, was the case in two specimens I had in con- 

 •' finement) ; but at this age it still shews traces of the original 

 •' brown colour about the feathers of the neck and upper 

 ^'back." (Scully). 

 Distribution. — Nepal at practically all heights between 2,000 and 

 9,000 feet. In the extreme West of Nepal across the Gogra it is 

 doubtful whether this species may not be replaced by the White- 

 crested Kalij, and again, in the extreme East of Nepal it is possible 

 that the Black-backed Kalij may be found. 



.Scully writes that the Nepal Kalij extends as far East as the 

 Arun River, and this is probably correct ; certainly birds which I 

 procured at Jalpaiguri, and which had come from the vicinity of 

 Dhamkhata were all melanonotus. Dliamkhata is a village on the 

 Tamra, a small stream running into the Arun River, and the birds 

 were collected for me by Nepalese who traded in Pankabari and 

 Jalpaiguri. li is interesting to note, also, that these birds shewed 

 no signs of grading into Uucomelanv.s. It is true that one or two 

 shewed white lines on the edges of the rump feathers, but I find 



