THAMNOBIA. 63 



Gen. Chimarrhornis. Hodgson. 



Bill moderately long, straight, slender, slightly notched ; rictus nearly 

 smooth ; wings moderately long, the primaries rounded at the end ; tarsus of 

 moderate length, the outstretched feet not reaching the tip of the tail ; feet 

 moderate. 



492. Chimarrhornis leucocephalus (Vigors), Sharpe, Cat. B. 



Br. Mus. vii. p. 47 ; Anderson, Rep. Zool. Exp. Yunnan, Aves, p. 614 ; Godwin- 

 Austen, J. A. S. B. xlv. p. 79; Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. IO ; Scully, t. c. 

 p. 303 ; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 64; Oates, B. Br. Burm. i. p. 34. Phoeni- 

 cura leucocephala, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1830, p. 35. Chsemorornis leucocephala, 

 Hodgs. in Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 82; Jerd., B. 2nd. ii. p. 143, No, 506; 

 y. A. S. B. xxxvii. 64 ; Hume and Henders., Lahore to Yarkand, p. 214; 

 Blyth, B. Burm. p. loi ; Reid Cat. B. Prov. Mus. Luck. p. lol. The 

 WHITE-CAPPED RED-START. 



Crown of the head and nape white ; forehead, lores, sides of the face, cheeks y 

 throat, neck all round, upper breast, upper back, wing coverts and a broad 

 black band at the tip of the tail black ; base of the tail, lower back, rump, 

 upper tail coverts, lower breast, abdomen, sides of the body and flanks bright 

 chestnut ; thighs dusky brown ; quills black, margined externally with blue 

 black ; under wing coverts black, also the axillaries, the latter edged with 

 chestnut. Bill black ; tarsus vinaceous brown ; irides dark brown. 



Length. 7 inches ; wings 3-8 to 3-85 ; tail 3-1 to 3-5; tarsus T2 ; culmen 

 0-65. 



Hab. Entire Himalayan range from Gilgit, occurring throughout Western 

 China to Kansu, and as far as the Ichang gorge on the Yangtze river. It also 

 occurs on the Dafla hills and in Arrakan, and extends as far south as the 

 second defile of the Irrawaddy river. (Sharpe.) According to Jerdon this 

 handsome Red-start is found from the extreme N.-W. Afghanistan to the 

 Khasia hills. In Sikkim it occurs from a level of 1,000 to 5,000 feet, but it 

 is there only a winter visitant. Dr. Anderson procured it near Bhamo, and it 

 also occurs in the hill ranges of Eastern Bengal. It is recorded by Sharpe from 

 Cashmere, Kangra, Nepaul, Irrawaddy defile (2nd), and Reid in his Catalogue, 

 from Ranibagh, Almora, Pethoragurh, and Kumaon, in the Himalayas. 

 It affects the banks of rivers and streams, where it picks up insects near the 

 water, but not the rapids of torrents. In its continual flittings, and spreading 

 of the tail when feeding or picking, it resembles the Redstarts. 



Gen. Thamnobia. Swains. 



Bill slender, as wide a> high at the nostrils, slightly arched throughout ; 

 wings short and rounded, the 4th and 5th quills longest, the primaries hardly 

 exceeding in length the secondaries and tertiaries ; tail moderate, broad and 

 rounded, the outer feather on each side shorter than the longest by the 

 length of the tarsus. 



