330 



Description. Male. The lores, sides of forehead and a broad 

 band passing through the eyes and ear-coverts round the nape 

 black : the whole crown deep slaty ; back, scapulars, rump and 

 upper tail-coverts chestnut; wing-coverts black ; quills black, all 

 but the first two with a patch of slaty near the base, increasing in 

 extent inwards and the 3rd to the 6th or 7th primary with a narrow 

 edging of the same about the middle of the outer web ; most of the 

 later quills minutely tipped with white ; tail black ; lower plumage 

 white, the sides of the body boldly barred with black ; vent and 

 under tail-coverts pale buff. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris brown ; bill black, pale leaden-blue 

 at gape and base of lower mandible ; legs and feet rich wax-yellow ; 

 claws pale yellowish-horny. 



Fig. 61. Head of C. n. nipalensis. 



Measurements. Length about 180 mm. ; wing 90 to 96 mm. ; 

 tail about 55 ram. ; tarsus about 30 mm.; culmen about 17 mm. 



Female. The crown paler and the band surrounding it choco- 

 late-brown instead of black ; the back and scapulars reddish brown 

 witli large oval black spots ; otherwise as in the male. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from Nepal to Eastern Assam, 

 North and South of the Brahmaputra, Manipur and Karenni. 



Nidification. Unknown. 



Habits. Found in flocks, above 6,000 feet, in summer, in forest 

 where it frequents the higher trees only. In winter it certainly 

 wanders down a good deal lower, for I saw it on two or three 

 occasions in the north-west of N. Cachar at about 3,000 feet 

 during December and January. They were then frequenting the 

 higher branches of oak-trees and the huge cotton-trees which 

 were scattered about amongst them. They feed both on insects 

 and berries and seeds. 



Genus PTEEUTHIUS Swains., 1831. 



The genus Pteruiliiits contains four species and many subspecies 

 of a very curious group of birds rather Shrike-like in general out- 

 ward appearance' but quite unlike any Shrikes in habits and mdifi- 

 cation and also in the sexes being dissimilar. Harington (Journal 

 B. N. H. S. xxiii, p. 655, 1915) suggests that the proper position 

 of this and the preceding genus is somewhere near the Campe- 



