PBATINCOLA. 65 



coverts near the edge of the wing fringed with fulvous ; primary- 

 coverts with the basal half black, the terminal half white ; quills 

 blackish, all of them broadly white at base, except the last two or 

 three primaries and the first secondary, the primaries and secon- 

 daries narrowly, the tertiaries broadly, edged with fulvous ; tail 

 black, with conceal ed -white bases to the inner webs ; point of the 

 chin and a narrow stripe along the base of the mandible black ; 

 throat, extending laterally to the sides of the neck, white, more or 

 less marked with rusty ; remainder of the lower plumage rusty 

 ferruginous, the breast marked with some broad black streaks, the 

 abdomen paler ; under tail-coverts pale fulvous-white ; under wing- 

 coverts black edged with white ; axillaries white, with the bases of 

 the feathers blackish. 



In summer, judging from the only specimen I have seen (one 

 collected by Hodgson at Segowlie, and figured by him), the fulvous 

 margins on the upper plumage are cast and this part becomes black, 

 the black streaks on the breast are absent, and there is no rusty 

 either on the throat or the upper tail-coverts. Hodgson's bird 

 appears to have been obtained on the 10th January, but it seems 

 nevertheless to be in full well-worn summer plumage, and there 

 may be some mistake about the date. 



Female. In winter, and probably in summer also, the upper 

 plumage is brown, each feather margined with dull fulvous ; upper 

 tail-coverts rusty; tail brown, with fulvous margins and tips and 

 with no white at the base ; wing-coverts dark brown, margined and 

 tipped with fulvous ; the innermost greater coverts and the last 

 tertiary chiefly white ; quills dark brown, with small dull white 

 bases and margined with fulvous ; sides of the head and neck, lores, 

 and above the eye dull fulvous, the ear-coverts rufescent; the 

 whole lower plumage rusty brown, darker on the breast, which 

 sometimes has a few dark-brown streaks. 



A young male obtained in December has the wings, tail, and 

 upper plumage similar to the same parts of the adult male in 

 winter, but the lower plumage is that of the female and the ear- 

 coverts are nearly black. 



The male has the iris deep brown, the bill and legs black ; the 

 female has the bill blackish brown, horny at base of the lower 

 mandible (Cleveland}. 



Length about 6-5; tail 2-4; wing 3-6; tarsus 1-1; bill from 

 gape *85. 



Distribution. A. rare species, occurring on the plains of Northern 

 India from Cawnpore to the Bhutan Doars. The Marshalls pro- 

 cured it near Cawnpore in February ; Mr. Cleveland in the 

 Gorakhpur and Basti districts in October and December ; Hodgson 

 at Segowlie, as already mentioned ; and Mandelli in the lower hills 

 of Sikhim and the Bhutan Doars in April. The summer-quarters 

 of this species are not known, but lie probably in the Central hills 

 of Nepal and Sikhim. 



Habits, <Sfc. This Bush-Chat is found in flat open country thickly 

 dotted with cane-fields, which appear to be its favourite haunts. 



VOL. II, F 



