Capt. Beavan on various Indian Birds. 323 



is, as remarked by Mr. BIyth (Ibis, 1866, p. 374), essentially a 

 forest-lover, and frequents the tops of the highest trees, from 

 which, when disturbed, it utters a harsh scraping call, somewhat 

 like that of the Mistletoe Thrush. 



Of the last, a fully fledged young bird, the general appearance 

 is mottled, each feather being light cinnamon edged with dark- 

 brown ; the upper tail-coverts are somewhat rufous, the wings 

 and tail brown, the forehead and throat lighter than the rest. 

 This is, I think, without doubt Petrocincla castaneocollis, Lesson 

 (Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 166), as Dr. Jerdon has suggested with 

 reserve (B. Ind. i. p. 514). 



353. Oreoc^tes cinclorhynchus. Blue-headed Chat- 

 Thrush. 



Tolerably common at Simla, where I procured several speci- 

 mens in 1866. The female deserves particular description. The 

 upper parts are generally brown, except the upper tail-coverts, 

 which are rufous, with a few feathers on the lower back of an 

 olive-yellow, barred and tipped with black. The lower parts are 

 white barred with dark brown, the throat and ear-coverts some- 

 what rufous ; the under wing-coverts cinnamon-yellow, slightly 

 barred ; the thighs brown ; the bill dark-brown, nearly black 

 — the gape yellowish ; legs fleshy leaden, their soles bright 

 yellow. 



The young male differs from the adults of both sexes. The 

 head, neck, back, and upper wing-coverts are light cinnamon 

 edged with black, giving them a speckled appearance, which is 

 also found on the lower parts, but fainter, and on the belly the 

 black edgings almost disappear. The rump and under wing- 

 coverts are light cinnamon, of a little lighter hue on the under 

 tail-coverts. There is a bright patch of blue on the shoulders ; 

 the outer webs of the primaries, and the tail, are blue, as in the 

 adult male, the wing itself being nearly black, with a conspi- 

 cuous band of white across the middle, and on the outer webs of 



