144 TFRTJIDTE. 



lores, centre of chin and throat, a patch on the side of the neck, 

 and a broad but ill-defined cheek-stripe buff, each feather more or 

 less fringed with black ; ear-coverts black with mesial buff streaks ; 

 greater coverts and quills more or less margined white ; tail plain 

 brown ; lower plumage, axillaries, and under wing-coverts barred 

 with black and buff. 



In the male the bill is black ; gape yellow ; iris dark brown ; 

 feet vinous brown or black ; claws blackish : in the female the bill 

 is dusky ; mouth and gape yellow ; iris brown ; tarsus dark brown ; 

 toes blackish (Scully}. 



Length about 9*5; tail 4'2; wing 4'9 ; tarsus !! ; bill from 

 gape 1-2. 



Distribution. A permanent resident in the Himalayas from 

 Chamba to Bhutan ; the Khasi hills ; Cachar ; Manipur ; the 

 mountains east of Toungngoo. This species extends into Western 

 China. 



Habits, fyc. Breeds from April to July, constructing a nest on 

 the ground under a rock or stump or in a hole in a bank, and laying 

 three eggs, which measure about 1 by '75, and are described by 

 Hodgson as being somewhat buff-coloured. 



691. PetropMla cinclorhyncha. The Blue-Jieaded Rock-Thrush. 



Petrocincla cinclorhyncha, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 172. 

 Phoenicura cinclorhyncha ( Vig.\ Gould, Cent. pi. xix. 

 Mouticola cinclorhvncha ( Vig.), Blyth, Cat. p. 164 ; Seebohm, Cat. 

 B. M. v, p. 320 ;" Gates, B. B. i, p. 9 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 170. 



Jerd. 



id. Cat. 



no/353 ; Scully, S. F. via, p." 282; Oates in Hume's N. '$ E. 2nd 

 ed. ii, p. 103. 

 The Blue-headed Chat-Thrush, Jerd.; Krishen patti, Nepal. 



Coloration. Male. Head, from the nostrils to the nape, and the 

 lesser wing-coverts, the chin, throat, and cheeks cobalt-blue ; lores, 

 under the eye, ear-coverts, sides of neck, back, and scapulars black ; 

 primaries black, all but the first two edged exteriorly with blue ; 

 secondaries black, each with a white patch on the outer web ; tertiaries 

 wholly black ; greater coverts black, edged with faint blue ; rump, 

 upper tail-coverts, and lower plumage, with the axillaries and under 

 wing-coverts, chestnut ; tail blackish, edged faintly on the outer 

 webs with bluish. In autumn most of the feathers of the black 

 and blue portions of the plumage are fringed with pale buff and 

 these fringes are dropped in spring and summer plumage. 



Female. The whole upper plumage is olive-brown tinged with 

 ochraceous, especially on the rump and upper tail-coverts, which 

 are also barred with black ; wings brown, the quills ochraceous on the 

 outer web, and the tertiaries and later secondaries margined with 

 white ; chin and throat nearly white ; sides of the head mottled with 

 white and brown ; remainder of lower plumage white, tinged with 

 ochraceous on the breast, and the whole, with the exception of the 



