492 



Ceblepyris lugubris, Sundev. Physiogr. Sallsk. Tidskr. vol. i (1837-38) ; 



id. A. M. N. H. (1), xviii, p. 109 (1846). 

 Campophaga finibriata (Temm.), Blyth, Cat. p. 191 ; Horsf. fy M. 



Cat. i, p. 176. 



Volvocivora melanura, Hartl. J.f. O. 1865, p. 162. 

 Campephaga lugubris (Sundev. },'Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iv, p. 65. 

 Campophaga melanoschista (Hodys.), Gates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd 



ed. i, p. 345. 

 Kabasi, Beng. 



Fig. 144. Head of C. melanoschista. 



Coloration. Male. The whole plumage dark bluish grey ; wings 

 and tail black, the latter tipped with white. 



Female. When fully adult similar to the male, but rather paler. 

 Fully adult females are, however, seldom met with, the lower 

 plumage generally showing traces of the cross bars of the young 

 stage, the ear-coverts being frequently streaked with white and the 

 edges of the eyelids more or less white. The under tail-coverts 

 of the female are often paler than the abdomen, and birds in which 

 this is the case might be confounded with C. melanoptera were it 

 not for the general dark colour of the plumage. 



Legs and feet plumbeous ; bill black ; iris dark brown (Hume). 



Length about 9 ; tail 4'5 ; wing 4*7 ; tarsus *8 ; bill from gape '9. 



No great variation takes place in this species throughout its 

 extensive range, and it is unmistakably distinct at all ages from 

 C. melanoptera. 



Distribution. The Himalayas, from Murree to Dibrugarh in Assam 

 up to 7000 feet ; the plains of India from the Himalayas to about 

 latitude 16, except apparently in the Punjab, Sind, R,ajputana, 

 and Gruzerat; the valley of Assam and the country south to about 

 the latitude of Manipur. This species is said to be a summer 

 visitor to the Himalayas and a winter visitor to the plains. 



Habits, <$fc. Breeds in the Himalayas from April to July, con- 

 structing a small and shallow nest of fine twigs coated with cob- 

 webs and lichens in a branch of a tree. The eggs, two or three 

 in number, are greenish white marked with brown and purple, and 

 measure about 1 by 7. 



506. Campophaga melanoptera, The Pale-grey Cuckoo-Shrike. 



Ceblepyris melanoptera. Riipp. Mus. Senckenb. iii, p. 25, tab. ii, 



fig. 1 (1839). 

 Campephaga melanoptera, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 307 (1846) ; id. 



Cat. p. 191 ; Sharpe, Cat, B. M. iv, p. 67 ; Gates, B. B. i, p. 231. 



