24 PIEEOCLID^. 



Barnes, S. F. ix. pp. 219, 458 (1880) [Chaman, S. Afghanis- 

 tan] ; Swinhoe, Ibis, 1882, p. 118 [Maiwand] ; Tristr. Palest. 

 p. 122 (1884) ; Sharpe, Ibis, 1886, p. 166 [Muscat] ; St. John, Ibis, 

 1889, p. 174 [S. Afghanistan] ; Sharpe, Trans. Linn. Soc, 2nd ser. 

 Zool. V. pt. 3, p. 85 (1889) [Baluchistan Desei-t]. 



Adult male. Very similar in general appearance to the male of 

 ,Pteroclurus senegallus, from ■which, however, it maybe distinguished 

 at a glance by the centre pair of tail-feathers not being produced 

 into filaments, the black round the gape, and the absence of black 

 on the belly. A black band on the chin and centre of the throat 

 embraces the gape and terminates on each side in a black loral 

 patch, extending nearly to the perpendicular from the anterior of 

 the eye ; the remainder of the fore part of the face is white, 

 merging on the cheeks into the ochre-yellow of the throat and 

 neck ; top of the head dull vinaceous buff, separated from the ochre 

 parts by a grey zone. The rest of the upper parts isabelline ; 

 underparts pale buff; under tail-coverts white. Axillaries white. 

 Primaries, primary-coverts, and secondaries blackish brown ; outer 

 primaries with white shafts, inner tipped with whitish buff; 

 secondary-coverts buff ; rest of wing-coverts and scapulars vinaceous 

 buff, with a pale buff patch at the extremity edged internally with 

 dusky grey. Tail of 16 feathers : centre pair isabelline like the 

 upper tail-coverts ; rest rufous, with a subterminal black bar and 

 white tip. Total length 11 inches, wing 7*1, tail 3'2, tarsus 0"9. 



In the immature male the tips of the primaries, centre pair of 

 tail-feathers, and some of the secondary-coverts and scapulars are 

 buff, vermiculated with black. 



Adult female. Differs from the adult male in having the top of 

 the head with black shaft-stripes and marks and the whole of the 

 upper surface and the chest barred with blackish brown, the ochre 

 throat finely spotted with black, and the breast and belly spotted, 

 marked, or indistinctly barred with dark brown. 



In some African specimens the whole of the upper parts are 

 washed with vinaceous, and the black marks and bars on the upper 

 parts and chest are very much reduced, nearly absent on the 

 scapulars, while the throat, breast, and belly are immaculate. 



In a specimen from the Eric Hills the barring is quite unusually 

 heavy, some of the scapulars are nearly uniform blackish brown, 

 toothed with buff on the margins and barred at the extremity. 



All these specimens appear to be perfectly adult, but our limited 

 series is insufficient to enable .me to form any definite opinion as to 

 the reason of these differences. 



Total length 10"3 inches, wing 6*6, tail 3, tarsus 0"9. 



Hah. N.E. Africa; S.W. Asia, ranging from S. Sahara to the 

 extreme N.W. of India. 



"-c. 6 5 ad. sk. Mhow District, Feb. Lieut.-Col. Swinhoe 



[P.]. 

 d-g. 6 2 ad. sk. Eric Hills, Sindh, Feb., Dec. Hume Coll. 

 h. 2 ad. sk. West of Shikarpur, March Hume Coll. 



( W. T. Blanford). 



