POMATORHINUS, 99 



544. Pomatorhinus schisticeps, Hodgs. Asiat. Res. xix. p. 181 ; 



"Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 175 ; xiv. p. 598 ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 220; Jerd. B. 

 Ind. ii. p. 29 ; Keavan, Ibis, 1867, p. 433 ; Hume, Sir. F. 1875, p. 121 ; Ward- 

 law-Ramsay, Ibis, 1878, p. 133, pi. iii., figs.. I and 2; Hume, Str. F. 1879, 

 p. 96 ; Scully t. c. p. 288 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm. p. 72. Pomatorhinus 

 leucogaster, Gould, P. Z. S. 1837, P- *37 ; Blyth, Cat. B. Br. Mus. As. Soc. 

 p. 146. Pomatorhinus nuchalis, Tweed, Ann. and Mag. Nat Hist. (4) xx. 

 P' 535 ; Wardlaw-Ramsay, Ibis, 1878, p- 134 ; Hume and Dav., Str. F. 1878, 

 p. 282 ; Hume, Str. F. 1879, P- 9 6 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm. p. 71 ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. B, Br. Mus. vii. p. 413. Pomatorhinus leucogaster, Wald. in Ely. B. 

 Burm. p. 113. Pomatorhinus olivaceus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 451 ; 

 Hume, Str. F. 1877, p. 137; Wardlaw-Ramsay, Ibis, 1878, p. 133; Hume 

 and Dav., Str. F. 1878, p. 283; Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 96; Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. Br. Mus xii. p. 414. The SLATY-HEADED SCIMITAR-BABBLER. 



Above, including the wing coverts, dark olive brown ; crown of head and nape 

 dark slate colour, duller in some ; the hind neck a little brighter olive brown 

 than the back, sometimes separated (Tenasserim specimens) from the latter 

 by a rufescent collar ; a broad white eyebrow from the base of the bill ; lores 

 and feathers below the eye and ear coverts black ; neck rich ferruginous or 

 chestnut; cheeks, throat, and breast white ; sides of the chest white, with rufous 

 margins to the tips ; sides of the breast ferruginous, streaked with white ; quills 

 dusky brown, externally dark olive, shaded with grey near the base of the pri- 

 maries ; tail feathers dusky brown, washed with olive brown on the outer webs, 

 and barred across under certain lights ; centre tail feathers washed with olive 

 for nearly their whole length ; flanks fulvescent olive brown, tinged with 

 rufous ; thighs ashy olive ; under tail coverts olive brown ; axillaries olive 

 brown, slightly tinged with rufous ; under wing coverts light rufous. Bill 

 horny or deep yellow ; feet plumbeous ; irides reddish cream colour. 



Length. 8 to 10 inches ; wing 3-2 to 4; tail 3-9 to 4-5 ; tarsus r2 to i'4; 

 culmen 1*15 to 2. 



Hab. Eastern Himalayas from Nepaul, extending through Sikkim to 

 Bhootan, Assam, the Tipperah Hills, Sylhet, Arrakan, Burmah, Upper Pegu 

 and the lower hills of Central and Southern Tenasserim. Jerdon says it is not 

 rare near Darjeeling at above 500 feet elevation, and goes generally in pairs, 

 the male uttering a loud hooting call. A nest made of moss and some fibres, 

 and with four pure white eggs, was brought to him at Darjeeling. It occurs in 

 Thayetmyo and, according to Oates (under P. olivaceus and P. nuchalis, 

 which I do not separate from schisticeps) from Thoungya Sakan down to 

 Malewoon in Tenasserim, and (Capt. Bingham) throughout the Thoungwyeen 

 Valley. Capt Wardlaw-Ramsay got it at Tounghoo on the Karin Hills and in 

 Karennee at 3,000 feet elevation. Capt. Bingham found the nest in March 

 (P. olivaceus) in the Meplay forest reserve. It was cup-shaped, loosely 



