21. PYEEHULAUDA. 653 



■\vith dusk J' browu bases to the feathers; wing-coverfcs brown, with 

 pearly -grey edges, whitish on ^the greater coverts; bastard-wing, 

 primary-coverts, and quills dark brown, with ashy-greyish margins; 

 central tail-feathers pale browu, with whitish edges, the remainder 

 dark brown, edged with ashy, the external feather smoky whitish 

 along the outer web and at the end of the inner web ; crown of head 

 a little paler than the back, and incliniug to hoary whitish on the 

 forehead ; lores and a broad stripe above the eye black ; sides of 

 face and ear-coverts hoary white, the fore part of the cheeks black, 

 extending to the lores and below the eye ; throat and under surface 

 of body black ; sides of neck ashy brown like the back ; a conspicuous 

 patch on the sides of the breast hoary white ; sides of body also 

 hoary white, but slightly mixed with black on the ilanks ; thighs 

 white ; under tail-coverts black, as also the under wing-coverts and 

 axillaries ; quills below dusky, ash}- wliitish along the inner edge : 

 " bill whitish lead-colour ; feet brownish flesh-colour ; iris dark 

 brown " {E. A. Butler). Total length -i-G inches, culmen 0'4, wing 

 2-9, tail 1-6, tarsus 0-6. 



Adult female. Different from the male in having no black eyebrow 

 and no black on the under surface of the body : the lores and eye- 

 brow are sandy buff or sandy whitish ; the cheeks and sides of face 

 sandy whitish, the ear-coverts browner ; throat white ; rest of under 

 surface of body isabelline, slightly rufesceut on the chest, which has 

 some spots of dusky brown : " bill bluish flesh-colour, horny brown 

 on the culmen ; feet and iris as in male " {E. A. Butler). Total 

 length 4"3 inches, culmen 04, wing 3, tail 1-6, tarsus 065. 



I cannot find any evidence of a distinct change of plumage during 

 the cold season. The pale edges to the wing-coverts and quills are 

 broader and more distinct in the winter plumage, and by their 

 abrasion the general tone of the colour is darker in the breeding- 

 season, but the black of the uuderparts never has any pale margins. 

 Specimens from Travancore and the Nilghiris seem to me to be darker 

 than those from Central India and the North-west. This dark form 

 ranges to Khandala. 



Young, llesembles the old female, but is much paler brown, with 

 pale sandy-buff edges to the feathers ; under surface of body ashy 

 white, with pale brown centres to the feathers of the throat and 

 breast. 



Hah. Indian peninsula and Ceylon, reaching into the X.W. pro- 

 vinces of India, Cutch, and even into Sind. 



a. S ad. sk. Banks of Chenab, Sind, Dec. Hume Coll. 



(.4. O. H.). 



b,c. S 2 a*l- sk. Cutch, Jan. Hume Coll. 



d,e,f. c? ad.; (j. Deesa, April, Aug. [E. A. Hume Coll. 



$ ad. sk. Butler). 



h. (S ad. sk. Jodbpur, Sept. 12 {G.King). Hume Coll. 



i, k, I. S ; ■«'• 2 Kakrolee, Oodeypore, Feb. Hume Coll. 



ad. sk. 



n. 5 ad.sk. Ajmere, Nov. (^1. O. II.). Hume Coll. 



o-t. (S ad. et juv. ; Sambhur, Dec, Feb., April, Hume Coll. 



u, v. 5 ad. sk. June, July {R. M. Adam). 



