196 C'RATEROPODJDJE. 



this genus, and five others which have been usually placed in 

 Malacias. I cannot iind a single character by which to separate 

 the above two genera, and I accordingly join them together. 



In Lioptila the bill is similar to that of Ixops, but rather more 

 slender; the nostrils are long, and covered by a long membrane; 

 the rictal bristles are fairly long, and the crest is more or less well 

 developed in all the species. The tail is considerably longer than 

 the wing and well-graduated, the outer feather reaching a little 

 beyond the middle of the tail. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Crown of head black or brown. 



a'. Median pair of tail-feathers with a sub- 

 terminal black band. 



a"* Rump and upper tail-coverts rufous . . L. capistrata, p. 190. 

 b". Rump and upper tail-coverts ashy grey. L. gracilis, p. 197. 

 b'. Median pair of tail-feathers uniformly 



black or brown with white tips. 

 c". Rump chocolate-brown like the back. 

 a'". Tertiaries and greater wing-coverts 



black L. mclanoleuca, p. 198. 



b 1 ". Tertiaries and greater wing-coverts 



chiefly chestnut L. casianoptera, p. 199. 



d". Rump chestnut. 



c'". Wing-coverts margined, the lesser 

 and median with ashy, the greater 



with chestnut L. anncctcns, p. 199. 



d'". Wing-coverts entirely black L. davistmi, p. 200. 



b. Crown of head bluish grey like the upper 



plumage L. pnlchella, p. 200. 



Fig. 59. Head of L. capistrata. 



204. Lioptila capistrata. The Black-headed Sibia. 



Cinclosoma capistratuin, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 56. 

 Sibia ni^riceps, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. viii, p. 38 (1839). 

 Sibia capistrata ( Vig.}, Blyth, Cat. p. 98 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 21(5 ; 



Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 54; Stoliczka, J. A. S. 7?. xxxvii, pt. ii, p. 38; 



Cock $ Marsh. S. F. i, p. 354 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 267 ; Brooks, 



S. F. iii. p. 238. 

 Malacias capistratus ( Vig.}, flume, Cat. no. 429 ; S. F. viii, p. 292 ; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 403. 



