Species of Nectarinia, Sitta, and Parus. 89 



and the median and greater wing-coverts tipped with rather 

 small whitish spots, forming a double wing-bar; chin and 

 throat black ; breast white, not very pure, and passing gra- 

 dually into the fulvous or isabelline tint of the flanks and 

 abdomen ; lower wing-coverts nearly white, slightly tinged 

 with fulvous. 



Three specimens were collected in the oak-forests near 

 Shiraz, in Southern Persia, by Major St. John, at an eleva- 

 tion of from 5000 to 7000 feet above the sea. 



In size this bird is intermediate between the European 

 P. ate?' and the large P. bokharensis, Licht. (Evers. Reise von 

 Orenburg nach Bokhara, p. 131). It may easily be distin- 

 guished from all described forms of the group of P. ater by 

 its brown back. 



4. Parus (Cyanistes) persicus, sp. nov. 



P. cceruleo affinis, sed coloribus omnibus obscurioribus ; dorso 

 griseo-olivaceo ; pectore abdomineque pallide isabellino- 

 flavis ; apicibus albidis tcctricum alarium majorum, fas- 

 ciam transversalem praebentibus, latioribus; rostro mi- 

 nor e. 

 Long, alae 2*55, caudee 2, tarsi 0*65, rostri a fronte 0*3. 

 Hab. cum prsecedente in quercetis prope urbem Shiraz 

 (St. John) . 



Crown of the head dull verditer blue ; forehead, sides of 

 the head (except a black line from the base of the bill through 

 the eye to the nape), and a narrow band uniting the super- 

 cilia round the back of the head white ; nape dull dusky blue, 

 with a small whitish spot behind it, separating it from the 

 olive-grey back, which becomes rather lighter-coloured and 

 greener on the rump ; quills dusky brown, the secondaries 

 and basal portion of the primaries with dull blue edges, ter- 

 minal portion of the primaries narrowly edged with white ; 

 wing- coverts dull blue, the greater coverts and the last 

 secondaries broadly tipped with white, the former making a 

 well-marked wing-bar, much broader than in P. ceeruleus ; 

 tail dull blue above, bluish grey beneath, the outermost pair 

 of feathers with white margins externally, except near the 

 tip; chin white and black mixed ; throat dull black ; breast and 



