NECTARIXIIDTE. ;', |:*, 



880. Pyrrhulauda melanauchen. The Black-crowned Finch-Lark. 



Coiaphites melanauchen, Cabanis, Mas. Hein. i, p. 124 (1850). 



Pyrrhulauda affiuis, Bhjth, His, 1807, p. 185; Hume, 8. F. i, p. 212. 



Pyrrhulauda melanauchen (Cab.), Hume, S. F. vii, p. G4 ; id. Cat. 

 no. 750 bis; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 277 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii, 

 p. 655 ; Gates in Hume's N. £ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 248. 



Coloration. Male. Resembles male ol' P. grisea, hut differs in 

 having the forehead broadly white, the whole crown dark chocolate- 

 brown or blackish, and (he white of the ear-coverts produced 

 narrowly round the hind neck to form a collar ; the black sides of 

 the neck are also produced as a collar over the mantle, im- 

 mediately behind the white collar. 



Female. Resembles the female of P. grisea, but is much paler and 

 more sandy ; the lower plumage is less rufous and almost pure 

 white on the abdomen, and the streaks are fewer in number. 



Bill pale whity brown, bluish on lower mandible ; legs and feet 

 pale whity brown ; iris brown (Hume). 



Length about 5-5 ; tail 2-2; wing 3-3; tarsus -65 ; bill from 

 gape -5. 



Distribution. A permanent resident in Sincl and the western half 

 of Rajputana. This species has also been obtained at Mutt ra, just 

 within the limits of the Punjab. It extends westwards to Arabia 

 and North-eastern Africa. 



Habits, $c. Breeds apparently throughout the year in Sind, 

 having three broods. The nest and eggs appear to be very similar to 

 those of P. grisea, and the eggs measure about *75 by "54. 



Family NECTARINIID^E. 



The intrinsic muscles of the syrinx fixed to the ends of the 

 bronchial semi-rings ; both mandibles finely and evenly serrated on 

 the terminal third of their edges ; tongue tubular ; bill long and 

 cylindrical ; the nestling resembling the adult female ; one moult in 

 the year; wing of ten primaries, the first small ; reetrices twelve; 

 tarsus scutellated ; rictal bristles short. 



The Nectariniidce, or Sun-birds, constitute a family of birds which 

 are found only in the Old World and chiefly within the tropics. The 

 Sun-birds are of small and delicate make and the majority are clothed 

 in resplendent plumage. They are found solitary or in pairs ; they 

 are entirely arboreal in their habits and they feed on minute insects 

 and on the nectar of flowers. This latter they secure with their 

 tongues when clinging to flower-stems, as they are unable to poise 

 themselves in the air, after the manner of Humming-birds, except 



