Mr. W. T. Blanford on Indian and Persian Birds. 79 



mayer^ has a rather broader bill^ and is a somewhat larger 

 form than H. caligata, Jj\c\it., =rama, Sykes, whilst H. 

 agricolensis, Hume, is a still smaller race ; but all pass, I 

 think, into each other so thoroughly that I cannot distinguish 

 the different forms. The type specimen of Sylvia caligata 

 has, I believe, the bill distorted or altered. 



8. Acrocephalus brunnescens, Jerdon, is identical with Cur- 



rUCa STENTOREA, H. & E. 



9. EaiTHACus HYRCANUS, sp. nov. 



E. aflSnis E. rubecula, sed pectore ru/o saturatiore, supracau- 

 dalibus ferrugineis, fronte rufa latiore et rostro longiore 

 distinguendus. 

 Hab. in provincia Persica hodierna Ghilan dicta (antice Hyr- 

 canise parte) ad littus meridionale maris Caspii. 

 Colour above umber-brown, more or less tinged with oli- 

 vaceous ; upper tail-coverts dull ferruginous ; tail-feathers 

 rufous- brown, the outer webs having a strong rusty tinge to- 

 wards the base ; quills and wing-coverts umber, the margins 

 rather paler and more rufous ; forehead, with the anterior 

 portion of the region above the eyes, sides of neck below the 

 ear-coverts, throat, and breast rich ferruginous red, deeper 

 than in E. rubecula ; lower breast and abdomen white ; under 

 tail-coverts isabelline ; sides of abdomen, flanks, and thigh- 

 coverts pale rufescent olive. 



This is a well-marked race of the Common Redbreast, pe- 

 culiar, so far as I know, to the forest country on the southern 

 shores of the Caspian. E. hyrcanus is easily distinguished 

 from E, rubecula by its more deeply coloured breast, and es- 

 pecially by the upper tail-coverts and edges of the tail-feathers 

 near their base being deep ferruginous instead of olive. 



10. I quite agree with Mr. Hume (' Stray Feathers,^ i. 

 p. 189) that Ruticilla phoenicuroides, Moore, is identical with 

 R. RUFivENTRis, ViciU. j but R. erythroprocta, Gould, which 

 Mr. Hume also unites with R. rufiventris, appears to be dis- 

 tinct, as in the former the black colour comes lower down 

 the breast, and all the under wing-coverts are black, whilst 

 in R. rufiventris they are chiefly red. R. semirufa, H, &. E., 

 is a small race of R. rufiventris. 



