

320 THE BIRDS OF GILGIT. 



distinctly striated, the other has tbe upper tail-coverts striated, 

 but no trace of dark centrings on the rump.* 



The two birds belong to the same species ; and Mr. Hume's 

 diagnosis appears to be the more strictly accurate of the two ; 

 but as both the specimens are females, and as no male approach- 

 in o- the P. rubicola type was found among the numerous 

 specimens preserved, I hesitate, on the strength of these two, 

 to include P. rubicola among the birds of Gilgit. 



All the males show a small amount of white at the base of 

 the tail, about a quarter of an inch in some ; but none have 

 white on the outer tail-feathers as in P. hemprichi. 



They are distinguished from P. macrorhyncha by having 

 the white patch formed by the upper tertials and tertiary 

 coverts next the body, and from P. rubetroides\ by having the 

 axillaries black and not white. — G. F. L. M.] 



73— Pratincola robusta, Tristram. (483). 



[Out of twenty specimens brought down, five apparently 

 belong to the type separated as P. robusta by Cauon Tristram. 



r. Hume points out (S.F., V., 243) that no constant specific 

 difference has as yet been shown between this form and the 

 smaller P. indica, and retains them both under one name. 



After looking into this question with Mr. Brooks, and com- 

 paring a number of specimens, we concluded that P. robusta 

 is a good species. It is not only a larger but a slenderer bird, 

 with a tail much longer in proportion to its length of wing 

 than P. indica. In specimens of P. indica and P. robusta, 

 each with the wing three inches in length, the tail of the latter 

 exceeds the tail of the former by a full quarter of an inch. 

 The females also are more rufous altogether; and the males, 

 in breeding-plumage, are less black above on the back.| — 

 G. F. L. M ] 



74.— Saxicola opistholeuca, Strickl. (488). 



Never very common ; appears about 1st May. I shot one in 

 December ; but this was in immature plumage, and its appear- 



* A similar colouration has been noticed in some Chats procured in Nepal (S. F., 

 1879, p. 301).— J. S. 



f [Captain Marshall had perhaps overlooked my remarks, S. F., VII., 65, in which 

 I pointed out that P. macrorhyncha and P. rubetraoides were one and the same 

 species. Of this there is no doubt ; the only doubt is whether macrorhyncha is, as 

 my numerous specimens showed, the young of rubetraoides, or, as Blanford suspected, 

 the females. — A. O. H ] 



X [These remarks were probably penned before Captain Marshall had seen my 

 remarks, S. F., IX., 133. In these I pointed out that the true robusta of Tristram 

 was a magnificent bird of the torquata type, totally distinct from the large Eastern 

 race of indica. "Whether this Eastern race deserves or requires specific separation 

 is a matter of opinion which I have discussed loc. cit. sup. According to my views 

 it does not, but even if this be dissented from, it will require a new name and cannot 

 stand under that of robusta, Tristram, which was applied to a wholly distinct species. 

 —A. O. H.J 



