STAPIITDTA. 205 



upper tail-coverts bright reddish brown ; primary-coverts black ; 

 primaries and secondaries black, with an external edging of chest- 

 nut and barred black ; the earlier primaries (where not chestnut) 

 edged with grey ; later secondaries and the tertiaries silky brown 

 barred with black ; base of the tail-feathers chestnut barred with 

 black,' the other parts black, the three outer pairs tipped white ; 

 ear-coverts hoary white streaked with brown ; lores dusky ; cheeks 

 blackish margined with grey ; the whole lower plumage rufous- 

 brown, streaked with chestnut-brown except on the flanks and under 

 tail-coverts. 



Bill grey ; legs and feet fleshy-brown; iris pale grey (Godwin- 

 Austen). 



Length about 8; tail 3-2; wing 3'6; tarsus 1-3; bill from 

 gape -85. 



Distribution. The Peak of Japvo on the Burrail range, Naga 

 hills, at 9000 feet, on the tops of the forest trees. 



Genus STAPHIDIA, Swinhoe, 1871. 



The members of the genus Staphidia are found in the hilly 

 regions of North-eastern India, Burma, and China. 



In Staphidia the bill is short and thick, and resembles that of 

 f.rnfus figured below ; the nostrils are overhung by a few long 

 hairs ; the rictal bristles are short, and the head is crested. The 

 tail is of considerable length and much graduated. Some of the 

 species of this genus have been retained in Ixulus by many 

 Indian authors, but wrongly so. Ixulu* has the tail quite square. 



The birds of this genus are very little known. They appear to 

 be found in trees and brushwood in small flocks. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Crown chestnut S. castaneicqis, p. 505. 



b. Crown grey, contrasting with the colour of 



the hack S. rvfiyenis, p. 206. 



c. Crown brown, not contrasting with the colour 



of the back S. striata, p. 206. 



216. Staphidia castaneiceps. The Chestnut-headed Staphidia. 



Ixulus cnstaniceps, Moore, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 141 ; fforsf. $ M. Cat. 



i,p. 411. 

 Ixulus striatus (Blytii), Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xxxix, pt. ii,p. 109; 



xlv, pt. ii, p. 202. 

 Staphidea castaneiceps (Moore), Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xlvii, pt. ii, 



p. 20; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 403 ; id. Cat. no. 624 bis ; Sharpe, Cat. 



. M. vii, p. 616 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 251. 



Coloration. Forehead chestnut-brown, with the feathers margined 

 with grey : crown and crest chestnut; upper plumage and visible 

 portions of wings and tail greenish brown, the back and scapulars 



