218 Viscount Waldou on ncio Speciea of Birds 



Viewed ill this liLcht, tlic allinity of tlie Sponpjiada' to the 

 Trotozoa rather than to the C(vlenternta makes itselfeminently 

 conspicuous. Compared with the hitter subkingdom, it is 

 evident that the sponges possess a very niucli lower degree of 

 organization and an essentially different type of structure, 

 while at the same time their occasionally diifercntiated and 

 consolidated dermal memhrane, their development, in some 

 instances, of primitive lihious tissue, and their com])l('x inter- 

 stitial canal-system entitle them, in a natural and mor])ho- 

 logical system of classilication, to be ranked as the highest 

 representatives of the Protozoa. 



XXII. — Descrqytums of some nexo Species of Jh'rds from 

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



Sitta neglecta, n. sp. 



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

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

 base of primaries white. Throat tawny white. Breast ])ale 

 rufous, deepening into dark rusty on remainder of lower 

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

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

 '} inch. 



Three examples of this Nuthatch were obtained from the 

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

 its nearest ally, S. hiinahii/eiisis^ J. &h>., 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 reetrices. 



Passer assimilis, n. sp. 



Resembles P. cinnamomcus, Gould, but differs by being 

 smaller, by having a slenderer and smaller l)ill, and by having 

 the cheeks 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. 



Glaucomyias sordida, n. sp. 



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

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

 shoulder-coverts deep ])ure blue. Under shoulder-coverts, 

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

 with a dingy gloss of dark green. Bill, legs, and claws l)hick. 

 IjOics blaek. Wing nearly 3 inches ; tail 2-jj tarsus iJ ; fourth 

 and fifth (piills efjual ; third nearly as long ; second still shorter 



