262 Dr. J. Murie on the Genus Colius. 



backward in separating supposed species when any appreciable 

 difference could be discovered between two birds. 



As, however, I have been able, without looking at the labels, 

 to separate a considerable number of specimens of these repre- 

 sentative forms when mixed together, I feel hardly justified in 

 refusing specific rank to H. guttatus. I have observed it in 

 Sikim at elevations of from 3000 to 7000 feet in the outer 

 ranges of hills only, and found it paired on the 17th of May, 

 when, from the appearance of the sexual organs, breeding must 

 have commenced. Dr. Jerdon's account of the habits of H. 

 maculatits applies equally well to this species. 



XXXII. — On the Genus Colius, its Structure and Systematic 



Place. By Dr. James Murie, F.L.S. &c. ^Py^o^, 



M^, 19 or 

 (Plate X.) r-^^V ' 



By whatever motive we are impelled to study ornithology in 

 its ciassific aspect, when first the characters of two species are 

 pointed out to us, they appear clear and readily discernible. 

 Proceeding to genera, they too dwell in our mind's eye as 

 axioms, and so on to larger groups. 



But soon the time comes when we acknowledge distinctions 

 which are not so obvious. Instead of that sharp definition which 

 we had believed was the attribute of birds in their relations to 

 each other, we are compelled to admit that there is often an 

 interweaving of form, difficult to disentangle and hard to express 

 in words. 



The subject of this paper is representative of a group of 

 birds (the Colics) requiring nicety of reasoning to appreciate 

 the value of its characters and their degree of relation ship to 

 those of other forms. 



I. Position assigned by various writers to the 



COLIES. 



The birds in question are by no means showy, so far as their 

 dress is concerned. The familiar name of " Mousebii'ds," which 

 the Dutch colonists of the Cape and others have bestowed on 



