648 TIMELllDJi. 



Group X. ACCENTOBES. 



The position of the Accentors in the Order Passeriformes is by no 

 means easy to define ; they certainly have no relations with the 

 Timelikke, as they possess a very small first primary. Mr. Seebohm, 

 however, has not admitted them into his volnme of the Turclklce, and 

 in his latest work, the ' History of British Birds,' he has placed them 

 with the Paridce, from which family they are excluded by Dr. 

 Gadow. I have been compelled, therefore, to place them in the 

 present volume, although, like the Bradypteri and Thamnohicp, they 

 should, in my opinion, have been associated with other families. 



I follow Mr. Salvin (Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. fiO) in placing Ephtlua- 

 nura with Accentor, to which it is most closely allied in external 

 form, although the habits of the birds and the colour of their eggs 

 differ in toto. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Bill rather broad at base, broader than high 



at nostrils 1. Accentor, p. 648. 



h. BiU more slender, about equal in height and 



breadth at nostrils 2. Ephthianura, p. 66G. 



1. ACCENTOR. 



Type. 



Accentor, Bech'^f. Orn. Taschenh. i. p. 191 (1802) A. alpinus. 



Prunella, Vieill. Analyse, p. 4-'', (1816) A. modularis. 



Tharrhaleus, Kmip, Skizz. Katiirl. Syst. p. 137 (1829) A. modularis. 



Spermolegus, Kemp, t. c. p. 152 (1829) A. montanellus. 



Laiscopus, Gloyer, Hundb. Naturg. p. 267 (1842) .... A. alpinus. 



Eange. The whole of the Palsearctic Ilegion including the countries 

 to the south of the Mediterranean, eastwards through Palestine and 

 Asia Min(Jr to Persia. Himalayas and mountains of Western and 

 Southern China, but not found in the peninsula of India nor in any 

 of the Burmese countries. 



Key to the Species. 



a. With no white spots at the end of the tail- 

 feathers. 

 a'. With no pectoral band of rufous. 

 a". Throat grey or fulvous, not black. 

 a'". Back streaked. 



a*. W^ith no creamy buff eyebrow ; ear- 

 coverts streaked. 

 a\ Throat and breast grey; abdomen . ,„,^«;„,.^ 649. 

 white ; head greyer than back . . j „.,-,„^^^,-,,;p^ 662. 



