426 FRINGILLID.ffl. 



the mantle and upper back are almost obsolete, those on the lower 

 back very broad ; the light edges to the secondaries and greater 

 coverts are nearly lost from abrasion, and from the same cause much 

 of the pearly lustre on the head and throat has disappeared. 



Adult female. Different from the male. General colour above 

 brown, all the feathers broadly centred with black ; rump golden 

 yellow, streaked with black centres to the feathers ; upper tail- 

 coverts dark brown in the centre, edged with whity brown, tinged 

 with golden yellow ; lesser wing-coverts dull golden yellow with 

 black centres ; median and greater coverts blackish, edged with 

 brown like the back, with whity-brown ends, forming a double wing- 

 band ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown, 

 edged with paler brown, the inner secondaries externally whity 

 brown, like the greater coverts ; tail-feathers blackish, edged with 

 paler brown ; crown of head like the back, and streaked with black 

 in the same way ; base of forehead brownish white, streaked with 

 black ; lores ashy whitish, as well as the feathers below the eye and 

 the lower edge of eyelid ; a distinct eyebrow of pale rufous, narrowly 

 streaked with black ; feathers round eye, remainder of eyelid, and 

 ear-coverts blackish brown ; cheeks buffy whitish, tinged with rufous 

 and streaked with black ; throat, fore neck, and chest rufous, nar- 

 rowly streaked with black ; breast whiter, with a slight tawny tinge, 

 streaked with black ; abdomen purer white and with narrower black 

 streaks ; sides of body and flanks brown, tinged with rufous and 

 streaked with black ; thighs ashy brown ; under tail-coverts yel- 

 lowish buff with black centres ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 white, the edge of the wing pale rufous ; quills below dusky, ashy 

 along the inner edge. Total length 6"5 inches, culmen 0*5, wing 

 3-25, tail 2-85, tarsus 0-9. 



Very little variation occurs in the plumage of the female birds ; 

 but in summer they are rather whiter on the sides of the face and 

 underparts. The depth of colour on the rump is more intense in 

 some specimens ; and in one from Native Sikhim, procured in March, 

 the rump has a shade of glossy vinous. Although marked as a 

 " female,'' it is not improbably a young male. Two young males, 

 shot in October, are of a paler rose-colour below than the fully adult 

 birds, and still retain traces of the striped breast, showing that the 

 first stage of the male is like that of the old hen birds, as might 

 have been expected. A young bird in the Gould Collection also has 

 bright-coloured upper tail-coverts, like the specimen above men- 

 tioned, and has at the same time some rosy colour on the throat. 



Hah. Himalayas, from Nepal to Sikhim and Thibet, extending 

 into Western China. 



a, b. J 2 ad. sk. Nepal. Hodgson Coll. 



c, d, e,f. 3 ad. ; Dolaka, Nepal, Jan. 1876 (Z. Man- Hume Coll t 



<;, h, i, k. 2 ad. ek. delli). 



I, in. 3 ad. sk. Dolaka, Nepal, Aug. 1876 (L. 31.). Hume Coll. 



n > °> V> Q> r - <J a< i- 8 ^- Native Sikhim, Mar. 1874 (L. 31.). Hume Coll. 



s, t, u, v. J ad. sk. Native Sikhim, Mar. 1874 (L. 31). Hume Coll. 



to, t. 3 2 ad.sk. Native Sikhim, May 1875 (L. 31.). Hume Coll. 



