644 BIRDS FROM LIU KIU ISLANDS, JAPAN. 



nasal groove overhung by the membrane, oval and slightly oblique, 

 and removed from the feathering a considerable distance; bristles at 

 base of upper mandible tolerably well developed. 



Wings short, rounded, and very concave; distance of secondaries 

 from tip of longest primary less than the length of the exposed culmeo. 



Tail much shorter than wing, slightly rounded. 



Feet long; tarsus nearly twice as long as exposed culmen, rounded 

 behind, booted ; toes long and slender, outer toe longer than inner ; 

 hind toe long, with a strong curved claw. 



Type. — leotums namiyei Stejneger. 



The other species belongi'^g to this genus is Icoturus Jcomadori {=Tem- 

 menick's Sylvia lomadori, =Erithacus komadori of Seebohm in Cat. B. 

 Mus. v.). So far as I can see, these birds have nothing to do with the Tuy- 

 dince, Lusciniina', or wliatever that group may be called, which includes 

 the English Robin. The very concave wing apparently at once removes 

 them from that neighborhood and suggests '' Timaliine" relationship. 

 Another character by which Icoturus differs from the true robins is the 

 remoteness of the nostrils from the frontal feathering, thereby also indi- 

 cating relationship with " Timaliine" forms. True, the tarus is booted, 

 but, I think^ in a somewhat different way from that of the Turdidce, and 

 resembling that of the Enictiridw (Stejneger, in Stand. Nat. Hist., IV, p. 

 489, 1885), in being rounded behind and not sharply edged. In fact, I 

 cannot see that it differs from the "aberrant Timaliine group" Enicnri 

 (or Heuicuri, Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., VII, pp. 312-323), except 1).\ 

 the shape of the tail being slightly rounded instead of furcate. The 

 shape of the bill is identical; the wing rather 7nore "Timaliine"; and 

 the tarsus and toes indistinguishable from the corresponding parts in thr 

 Enicuri. As to the tail it should be remarked, that in the latter groni> 

 its shape varies greatly from the deeply forked and very long tail oi 

 Enicurus proper to the nearly square and short tail of 3Hcrocichla, from 

 which there is only a very short step to the slightly rounded tail of Ico- 

 turus. Even in style of coloration the difference is not very great*, a^ 

 considerable similarity will be found between Icoturus and EydrocicJda 

 rujicapilla (Temm.), especially in the coloration of the anterior part of 

 the body. Unfortunately the first plumage of the Icoturi is not known, 

 as that might go a long way in settling the question of their true rela- 

 tionship. 



Icoturus namiyei, sp. nov. 



DiAGN. — Similar to I. komadori Temm., but with the flanks and a> 

 illaries uniform ashy, and the under wing-coverts ashy and rufous ; 

 second primary equals the ninth, much shorter than the eighth; third 

 shorter than fourth, fifth, and sixth, which are longest. 



* In coloration, however, the Icoiuri very forcibly remind one of certain Fern 

 carii(la>. Shonkl color count for more than strncture, then Icoturus would come vi ! 

 close to Myrmeciza longipea, from Panama, to which it has a most astonishing super- 

 ficial resemblance. 



