168 



713. Accentor himalayanus. The Altai Accentor. 



Accentor himalayanus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 187 (1842). 

 Accentor altaicus, Brandt, Bull. Acad. St. Petersb. i, p. 365 (1843) j 



Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 287 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. ii, p. 52 ; 



Hume, Cat. no. 653; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 74 ; Skarpe, Cat. B. 



M. vii, p. 660. 

 Accentor variegatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii ; p. 958 (1843) j id. Cat. 



p. 131 j Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 359. 



The Himalayan Accentor, Jerd. 



Coloration. Forehead, crown, nape, and hind neck greyish 

 brown, with darker shaft-streaks ; a pale but distinct greyish 

 supercilium ; ear-coverts rufous, with pale shafts ; all the feathers 

 under the eye speckled with white ; back, scapulars, and tertiaries 

 black edged with rufous ; rump greyish brown, with obsolete darker 

 shaft-streaks ; upper tail-coverts and tail dark brown, edged with 

 rufous, the inner web of each feather tipped with white or rufous ; 

 wing-coverts blackish, more or less edged with rufous and tipped 

 with white ; quills dark brown, edged with rufous ; middle of chin 

 and throat pure white ; sides of these parts banded with black ; 

 feathers of lower throat tipped with black, forming a small collar ; 

 sides of neck greyish brown ; remainder of lower plumage ferru- 

 ginous, each feather edged with white ; the middle of the abdomen 

 almost pure white ; the feathers of the flanks and under tail-coverts 

 with broader white edges. 



Base of bill at gape and the gape fleshy ; rest of bill dull black ; 

 legs and feet brownish fleshy ; claws dull black ; iris carmine-red 

 or cinnabar-red (Hume). 



Length about 6 ; tail 2-4 ; wing 3'7 ; tarsus -85 ; bill from 

 gape -6. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from Chamba and Grilgit to Sikhim. 

 This species occurs in Sikhim throughout the year, but probably at 

 various altitudes according to season. At Simla it appears to be 

 found only in winter, and it visits Gilgit at the same season. It 

 occurs throughout a considerable portion of Central Asia. 



Genus THARRHALEUS, Kaup, 1829. 



The genus TJiarrJialeus contains those Accentors which have a 

 blunt and feeble wing. The wing is longer than the tail, but by a 

 distance much less than the length of the tarsus, and the second- 

 aries fall short of the tip of the wing by a distance equal to about 

 half the length of the tarsus. 



The Accentors of this genus do not migrate to such an extent 

 as those of the genus Accentor, and some are resident. 



