264 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



trunk of a large tree, not veiy far from the ground, on which it 

 had flown from a shrub near at hand. Another which I procured 

 had been shot by a pellet-bow in the station, on a shrub close to 

 the road. It apparently keeps to the higher elevations, from 

 6,500 feet and upwards. One I examined had eaten small insects. 

 It has only hitherto been found in Nepal and Sikhim. 



The next form is also a somewhat anomalous one, both as regards 

 structure and coloration, and, like the last, is founded on a single 

 species. 



Gen. Ekpornis, Hodgson. 



Char. — Bill moderate or rather long, conic, compressed, strong, 

 straight, pointed ; tip of the upper mandible longer and notched, 

 nostrils exposed ; wings moderate, round, 5tli quill longest ; the 

 first small ; tail bifurcate, simple ; legs and feet moderately strong. 



This genus is placed by Gray and Horsfleld next to Stachyris 

 among the Timalinw. Bonaparte locates it with the PycnonotincB. 

 Blyth places it where I have done, but with the remark ' incertce 

 sedis.'* In its coloration, as in the form of its bill, it is related 

 to Zosterops ; by the structure of the feathers of the head to 

 Myzornis ; and it has also some affinity or analogy to lura. 



630. Erpornis xantholeuca, Hodgson. 



J. A. S. XIII. 380— Blyth, Cat. 528— Horsf., Cat. 343-^ 

 Dang-pu-pho, Lepch. 



The White-bellied Flower-pecker. 



Descr. — Above light green, beneath dull milky-white ; coronal 

 feathers elongated and spatulate. 



Bill pale horny-brown ; legs ilesliy red ; irides light-brown. 

 Length barely 5 inches ; extent 7| ; wing 2| ; tail If ; bill at 

 front ^ ; tarsus |. 



This is not a very common bird at Darjeeling, and I had not 

 an opportunity of observing its habits. It is found from 2,000 feet 

 or less, to 5,000 feet. 



* We have here a remarkable instance both of the difficulty of arranging aberrant 

 members of any group, and at the same time of the intricate relations that appear to 

 eiist among the outlying species of allied families. 



