22 



purpureo tinctd, umhones versus albidd brunneo sparsim maculatd; 



iineis concentricis , sulcisque radiantibus decussatd ; lineis, antice 



undosis et patilo elevatis, posiice obsoletis, med'ib planulatis et sur- 



siim spectantibus ; suleis freąuentibus, profundis ; margine ven- 



trali arcuato, intusque crenato ; dorsali, antice convexo et declivi, 



postice convexo et vix declivi ; latere postico majore, obtuso ; nati- 



bus maxime curvatis ; pube, lunuldgue prominente cordiformi, 



Uvido-purpureis ; ligamento infosso ; superficie internd albidd, im- 



macvlatd ; dentibus ut in V. puerpera. Long. 5" ; lat. 5 poli. 



Hab. Ticao, on the sands ; Cuming. Mus. Cuming. 



This splendid shell is most closely allied to puerpera, but the ces- 



sation of the concentric ridges on the posterior side, the tinge of 



purple which environs the \vhole margiu, and the absence of an}' 



coloured rays, enable us at once to separate them. The concentric 



lines gradually become less elevated and more distant towards the 



lower margiu, and finally (iu the adult) entirely disappear. The ra- 



diating sulci in aged specimeus are so broad at their extremity as to 



give the interstitieil spaces the appearance of costellse. 



Abstract of a paper on Nepalese Birds, by Bryan H. Hodgson, 

 Esq., Corr. Me.Tib., late British resident at Nepal : — 



Brackypodi^je. 



Genus Stachyris, mihi (olim Cilathora). Tjrpes, S. nigriceps, pyrops 

 et chrysceus, all new. 



Bill as long as head, strong and straight, elongate-conic, much 

 compressed ; towards base much higher than broad, with its ridge 

 elevated and keeled between the large nareal fosses ; rounded for- 

 ■wards, and the tips either straight, entire and depressed, or the upper 

 one suddenlj' inclined, \vith remote notch ; gape smooth ; frontai 

 plumes rigid, and concealing the base of the bill ; nares placed at fore 

 end of the fosse, and covered by a salient arched incumbent scale, 

 which closes the aperture forwards ; tongue narrow, simple, with bifid 

 jagged tip ; wings short, bowed, perfectly rounded ; tail moderate, 

 gradated, rather cuneate than fan-shape, and either frayed or subrigid ; 

 feet suited to creeping and clinging ; tarse elevate and strong, longer 

 than centrai toe and nail, and nearly or quite smooth ; toes short, 

 depressed, unequal, basally connected ; hind large, and eąual to outer 

 fore toe ; nails repent and Parian. Exclusively monticolous and shy 

 of man ; not gregarious ; feeds on tiny hard insects and the larvae and 

 pup?e of tree-haunting species — rarely on seeds ; exclusively arboreal ; 

 builds large globuJar nests, which are fixed upon and between the 

 Crossing twigs of low thick bushes, and lays four or five eggs, of a 

 pale fawn-colour, either unmarked or spotted with brown. 



1 st species, -S. nigriceps, mihi. — 5^ inches long ; bill to gape, \^ ; 

 tail, 2^ ; tarse to sole, J-| ; centrai toe and nail, W ; hind toe and 

 nail, y^^; closed wing, 2^. 



Colour. — Above medial red-brown, deeper and purer on \vings and 

 tail ; below sordid rūsty, brightest for\vards ; top and sides of head 

 black, picked out with hoary ; chin hoary, confined by a black band 



