Mr. H. J. Elwes on the Genus Henicurus. 261 



9. Henicurus guttatus. 



Enicurus guttatus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 664, et Birds of 

 Asia, pt. xviii.; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 29. 



H. maculatus, Godwin-Austen, J. A. S. B. 1870, p. 109 ; Jer- 

 don. Birds of India, ii. p. 212; Beavan, Ibis, 1868, p. 75 (in 

 pai't) . 



Hab. Nepal [Hodgson) ; Sikim {Elwes) ; Khasia [Godivin- 

 Austen) ; Aracan ? [Blyth); Burmah [Jerdon). 



Head, breast, and back black ; the latter marked with round 

 or oblong white spots, from the size of a No, 4 shot on the lower 

 back to that of a pea on the neck, where they are closer together, 

 and form a collar, less conspicuous than in H. maculatus ; a cir- 

 cular patch on forehead, belly, flanks, tail-coverts, and wing- 

 bar white. 



Female the same, with a tinge of brown on the back of the 

 head. Irides dark brown ; legs and feet fleshy white ; bill black. 



The young is of a dull brownish-black, and has no white on 

 the forehead or back. 



Length 9^ to 10^ inches; tail 5 to 6; bill, from gape, f ; 

 tarsus Ig; wing 4. 



This species was not distinguished from H. maculatus until 

 1865, when it was separated by Mr. Gould under the appro- 

 priate name of H. guttatus. Though several other distinctive 

 marks are given by which it is said to differ from its western 

 representative, such as its smaller size, narrower tail-feathers, 

 and smaller patch on the forehead, I am unable, after com- 

 paring a large series, to find any constant diff"erence except in 

 the shape and arrangement of the white spots on the back; 

 and I believe that when a large series is procured from diff"erent 

 parts of Nepal, it will be found impossible to define the limits 

 of the two forms. Mr. Hodgson procured both in the central 

 Himalayas ; but as his collectors travelled over the whole of 

 Nepal, which extends about 500 miles from east to west, and 

 no localities are given with any of his specimens in the British 

 Museum which I have examined, it is at present impossible to 

 say how far to the north-west H. guttatus ranges, and whether 

 it interbreeds with H. maculatus or not. Mr. Hodgson him- 

 self never distinguished the two species ; and he was by no means 



