484 LANIIDJE. 



To the east of India this bird extends into China and on the west 

 to Afghanistan. 



P. brevirostris is said by many writers to be migratory and to be 

 found in the Himalayas in summer and in the plains in winter. 

 Scully, however, distinctly states that this species is found in 

 Gilgit in the winter, and he also observes that it is common in the 

 valley of Nepal throughout the year. The alleged migratory habits 

 of the bird therefore require confirmation. 



Habits, fyc* Breeds in the Himalayas in May and June, con- 

 structing a cup-shaped nest of fine twigs, grass, &c., covered with 

 cobwebs and lichens, on a tolerably high branch of some tree. The 

 eggs, three to five in number, are whitish marked with red and 

 purple and measure about '75 by '58. 



P. miniatus from Java differs from P. brevirostris in having the 

 greater wing-coverts entirely black. 



496. Pericrocotus neglectus. Hume's Minivet. 



Pericrocotus neglectus, Hume, S. F. v, pp. 171, 189 (1877) ; Hume 

 8f Dav. S. F.\i, p. 211; Hume, Cat. no. 273 ter ; Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. M. iv, p. 80 ; Gates, B. B. i, p. 241, note. 



Pericrocotus pulcherrimus, Salvador*, Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. (2) v, 

 p. 515 (1887), p. 580 (1888). 



Coloration. Resembles the deep, richly coloured, eastern form of 

 P. brevirostris. The tail of both sexes is, however, very much 

 shorter, and in the male of P. neglectus the black of the throat reaches 

 much further down the neck. 



Length about 6*5 ; tail, <$ 3'5, $ 3'2 ; wing 3'3 ; tarsus *55 ; 

 bill from gape *75. 



I would not recognize this species were it not for its isolated 

 habitat and for its very short tail, as compared with the tail of 

 P. brevirostris from all parts of India. Hume insists that the 

 female of P. neglectus is of a wholly different type from the female 

 of P. brevirostris ; but I cannot agree with him on this point, the 

 females of the two species appearing to me to be of precisely the 

 same colour. He also states (8. F. xi, p. 96) that P. neglectus is 

 very common in Manipur. I can discover no skins of this species 

 from that State in the series of Pericrocotus in the Hutne Collection 

 now in the British Museum. If P. neglectus does occur in Mairipur, 

 the main reason for separating it from P. brevirostris, viz. the 

 different areas of distribution of the two species, disappears. 



I have compared the types of P. pulcherrimus with the types of 

 P. neglectus, and find them to be the same species. 



Distribution. The slopes of Muleyit mountain, in Tenasserim, 

 where this species was procured by both Davison and Eea. 



497. Pericrocotus igneus. The Fiery Minivet. 



Pericrocotus igneus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 309 (1846) ; id. Cat. 

 p. 193 ; Sharpe, S. F. iv, p. 209 ; Hume, S. F. v, p. 190; id. Cat. 



