218 Viscount Walden on new Species of Birds 



Viewed in this light, the affinity of tlie Spongiadaj to the 

 Protozoa rather than to the Coclenterata makes itself eminently 

 conspicuous. Compared with the latter subkingdom, it is 

 evident that the sponges possess a very much lower degree of 

 organization and an essentially different type of structure, 

 while at the same time their occasionally differentiated and 

 consolidated dermal membrane, their development, in some 

 instances, of primitive fibrous tissue, and tlieir com])lex inter- 

 stitial canal-system entitle them, in a natural and morpho- 

 logical system of classification, to be ranked as the higliest 

 representatives of the Protozoa. 



XXII. — Descriptions of some new Species of Birds from 

 Southern Asia. By Arthuk, Viscount Walden, P.Z.S. &c. 



Sitta negJecta, n. sp. 



Above pale slate-colour. Stripe from nostrils, through the 

 eyes to nape, black. Lores, supercilium, cheeks, chin, and 

 base of primaries white. Throat tawny white. Breast pale 

 rufous, deepening into dark rusty on remainder of lower 

 surface. Under tail-coverts white, with narrow rusty edgings. 

 Middle rectrices uniform slate-colour. Wing 3 inches ; bill 

 -4- inch. 



Three examples of this Nuthatch were obtained from the 

 Karen Hills of the Toungoo district, Burma. It differs from 

 its nearest ally, S. hi)/iala>/e))sis, J. & S., by its much stouter and 

 longer bill, by the deep ferruginous tint of the under surface, 

 and by the absence of a white spot on the basal half of the 

 middle rectrices. 



Passer assimilis, n. sp. 



Resembles P. cinnamomeris^ Gould, but differs by being- 

 smaller, by having a slenderer and smaller bill, and by having 

 the clieeks and sides of the neck pure white, and the breast, 

 flanks, and ventral region ashy grey. Wing 2f inches ; tail 

 1|-, or nearly half an inch shorter than in P. cinnamomeus. 



From Toungoo. 



Olaucomyias sordida^ n, sp. 



General colour ashy grey, washed with a faint tinge of blue 

 or greenish blue. Forehead, supercilium, chin, and lesser 

 shoulder-coverts deep pure blue. Under shoulder-coverts, 

 axillaries, vent, and under tail-coverts white. Tail brown, 

 Avith a dingy gloss of dark green. Bill, legs, and claws black. 

 Loves black. Wing nearly 3 inches ; tail 2-g- ; tarsus -f ; fourth 

 and fifth quills equal ; third nearly as long ; second still shorter 



