POMATOEHINUS. 125 



All birds from this region, without exception, have the chin 

 and throat white, very sparingly streaked with pale grey. In the 

 countries east of Nepal all birds have the chin, throat, and upper 

 breast dark grey streaked with white. So constant are these 

 characters that the tract from which a specimen came can be in- 

 stantly known by a glance at the bird. 



When we come to Nepal we find a mixture of both races. 

 Hodgson's collection contains both, but he only figured the 

 grey- throated one. Scully only obtained the grey-throated race 

 in the Nepal valley, but the only two specimens of his that I 

 have been able to examine are not nearly so dark as Sikhim 

 examples, and the same may be said of Hodgson's. Mandelli's 

 Dolaka (E. Nepal) specimens are identical with Sikhim ones, 

 being quite as dark. It thus appears that in Nepal there is an 

 intermediate race, arid under these circumstances 1 have not thought 

 it proper to keep the north-west race distinct from the Sikhim one, 

 but it will probably have to be done hereafter when a complete 

 Nepal series is available for examination. The existing Nepal 

 series is a very bad one. 



The Tenasserim bird appears to be distinct, being a small bird 

 with the wing 3*5 and tail 3-7 ; and the whole chin and throat are 

 pure white without a trace of grey. I have, however, examined 

 only one specimen, and these characters may not be constant *. 



The black cheek-stripe is present in all the races and is certainly 

 not a character possessed only by the male. It is found in all 

 well-prepared skins of both sexes. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from Murree to Bhutan ; the Khasi 

 hills ; Bhamo ; the pine-forests of the Salween valley ; Thatone, 

 Tenasserim. This species appears to be found at all elevations 

 from 2000 to 10,000 feet or even higher. 



Habits, $'c. Breeds from April to June, constructing a domed 

 nest of grass and leaves on the ground or in a thick bush close to the 

 ground. The eggs, three or four in number, measure I'll by '8. 



130. Pomatorhinus macclellandi. McClelland's 

 Scimitar Babbler. 



Pomatorhinus macclellandi, Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 32 (1863) (descr. nulla) ; 

 Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xxxix, pt. ii, p. 103 (1870) ; Jerd. Ibis, 

 1872, p. 302 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xliii, pt. ii, p. 177 ; Wardlaw 

 Ramsay, Ibis, 1878, p. 143; Hume, S. F. iii, p. 412; id. Cat. 

 no. 404 quat. ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 431 j Hume, S. F. xi, 

 p. 149. 



Pomatorhinus gravivox, David, Ann. Sci. Nat. xviii, art. v, p. 2 

 (1873). 



Coloration. Upper plumage, tail, exposed parts of closed wings, 



* Count Salvador! has recently sent me another specimen, procured by 

 Fea in Karennee. It agrees exactly with Hume's Tenasserim bird both in 

 dimensions and colour. The Count has named this race P. imberbis (Ann. 

 Mus. Civ. St. Nat. Genova (2) vii, p. 410, 1889), but too late for the uame 

 to be more than noticed here. 



