17. uRocissA. 73 



Avith a shade of blue ; rest of the under .surface ashy grey, paler on 

 tlie abdomen and under tail-coverts; under wing-coverts yellowish, 

 the edge of the wing washed with lavender, like the upper wing- 

 coverts ; bill yellow ; legs orange-yellew ; iris brownish red. Total 

 length 20 inches, eulmen l-4o, wing 7'3, tail 16, tarsus 1-9. 



Obs. Mr. Hume writes concerning the present bird: — "I do not 

 consider that Gould's species U. cucuUata can stand, as specimens 

 are to bo obtained throughout the Himalayas, from Darjiling to 

 Murree, presenting the characteristics of both supposed species, as 

 well as all possible intermediate forms " (Lahore to Tark. p. 242). 

 I am fortunate in having the type of Mr. Gould's Vrocissa cucul- 

 Jata before me, as well as a very fair series of U. Jlavirostt-is and 

 U. occipitalis ; and I must say that it is very difficult to distinguish 

 U. cuculJata specifically from U. jlavirostris, while the former bird 

 would seem to grade into U. occipitalis. 



The differences between U. occipitalis onA U. Jiavirostnshsixe been 

 summarized by Dr. Jerdon as consisting in the " generally duller 

 hue, yellow bill, and small occipital mark" of the latter bird, whose 

 dimensions also are much smaller. To these characters may be 

 added, that the crown and upper part of the mantle in U.Jlavirostris 

 are both of them jet-black, the nuchal patch being somewhat cres- 

 centic in shape, well defined and separating the black crown from 

 the intei'scapulary region. In U. occipitalis the black does not 

 occupy so much of the mantle, the white occipital patch descends on 

 the hinder neck longitudinally and divides the black ; the feathers 

 of the crown also show some bluish white apical spots. In this 

 species, which has usually the bill distinctly coral-red, there is also 

 a shade of lighter blue preceding the black tip to the upper tail- 

 coverts ; but in true U. Jlavirostris these are generally uniform bluish 

 with a black tip, though I admit that this is a character which varies 

 considerably. 



Uroa'ssa cuctdlata resembles U. Jlavirostris in its yellow bill and in 

 having a blackish collar round the hind neck, though this black does 

 not extend so low down on the mantle as it does in U. Jlavirostris, 

 The way in which the white of the occipital patch descends nearly 

 to the edge of the black on the hinder neck is almost similar to the 

 form of this same patch in U. occi^^italis ; and U. cucuUata further 

 resembles the latter bird in its light under surface : true U. Jlavi- 

 rostris is very dark and grey in shade below. Altogether (J. cucuUata 

 seems to me to be an intermediate form of doubtful specific value ; 

 and 1 therefore prefer to keep it united for the present to U. Jlavi- 

 rostris, merely separating in the list of specimens those examples 

 which ought probably to be referred to it. 



The Museum contains from Cashmere three specimens, probably 

 representing the young of U. cucuUata, which differ from the adult 

 in being of a fine yellow underneath, and in having the tail-feathers 

 tipped with the same ; the tail is shaded with bright cobalt instead 

 of purplish blue ; and the subterminal line on the upper tail-coverts 

 is also yellow. The upper surface of the body has a slight yellowish 

 cast ; but it appears, from admixture of black in the yellow colour 



VOL. III. G 



