1867.J MR. W.T. BLANFORD ON A NEW CALLENE. 833 



to its large European population and the number of energetic natu- 

 ralists who have devoted themselves to the investigation of its zoo- 

 logy, has been very fairly made known ; that of the Nilghiris has 

 also been pretty well ascertained, the Reptilia especially having been 

 very thoroughly worked out by Dr. Jerdon and Captain Beddome ; 

 and the Reptilia and Mollusca of a small portion of the southern 

 range have been collected by Captain Beddome, almost the only 

 naturalist who has ever penetrated the Anamallay hills (which ad- 

 join the Pulneys) ; but of the fauna of the great range I have just 

 described in general, less is known than of that of Bhotan or of the 

 hills of Arakan. 



It is therefore not surprising that the first ornithological novelty 

 which has been obtained from Southern India since the publication of 

 Dr. Jerdon's list of the birds in the years 1839-44 in the ' Madras 

 Journal of Literature and Science ' should have been procured from 

 the Pulney hills, a group 7000 feet in height, forming the north- 

 eastern corner of the mountainous tract above described. It is very 

 interesting, however, to obtain from these hills a third representa- 

 tive form of the genus Cullene (formerly Clnclidium) of Blyth, pro- 

 posed first for a species inhabiting the Eastern Himalayas {C. fron- 

 talis, Blyth), and made by Jerdon, undoubtedly with justice, to in- 

 clude a Nilghiri bird first discovered by himself (C. rujiventris, 

 Blyth). This distribution illustrates one of the most remarkable 

 peculiarities in the fauna of Peninsular India, a peculiarity to which 

 I will refer after first giving the description of the new species. 



Callene albiventris, Fairbank. (PI. XXXIX.) 



Fusco-cyanea, mento lorisque holosericeo-nigris, fascia frontali 

 albescenti-ccerulea, rectricibus remigibusque fuscis ccerules- 

 cente marginatis, abdomine medio albo, lateribus cinerascenti- 

 bus ; I'ostro nigro, pedibus fuscis, iridibus brunneis. 



Long, tota 6, alse 3"1, caudse 2*6, rostri a fronte O'o, a rictu 0*75, 

 tarsi 1*1 poll. Angl. et dec. 



Hub. Montes Pulney dictos tndise meridionalis, ad alt. circa 

 6000-7000 ped. Angl. in duraetis et sylvis. 



C. albiventi-is is similar in form to the Nilghiri C rufiventris, 

 Blyth ; but it is rather smaller and differs widely in colour, being 

 much bluer above, with a distinct light-blue, almost whitish, frontal 

 band, instead of the faint indication which alone exists in C. ruji- 

 ventris. There is no trace of the ferruginous abdomen of that species ; 

 and the white in the new species is not, like the rufous colour in C. 

 rufiventris, spread over the whole lower parts from the breast down- 

 wards, but is almost confined to the centre of the abdomen and the 

 lower tail-coverts, shading gradually into slaty on the flanks. 



C. frontalis, Blyth, of the Sikkim and Nipal Himalayas, is a still 

 larger bird than C. rufiventris, with a longer tail. The frontal band 

 is of a darker and richer blue than in C. albiventris, and the abdo- 

 men is grey. The blue of C. albiventris is purer and less dusky 

 than that of either of the two other species, and, so far as can be 

 judged by the somewhat faded specimens in the Asiatic Society's 



