A3SAM, SYLHET AND CACHAR. 10& 



and the dense undergrowth which they frequent, few specime n 

 are brought to bag. — J. R. C] 



It is not known to'extend to any part of British Burmah, but I 

 have it, I may add, from Comillah (Tipperah), from the Sikhim 

 Terai and the Bhootan Dears. 



3076/s.— Alseonax (oUm Cyornis) mandellii, Hume. 



On the 19th of April at Aimole in the Eastern hills I 

 caught sight of a dingy-looking bird poking about in the 

 low brushwood under high forest and shot it. 



It proved to be a male of this rare and little known species. 

 The following are the details : — 



Male. — Length, 5*5 ; expanse, 8-8; tail, 2-15; wing, 2*85; 

 tarsus, 065 ; bill from gape, 0'66 ; weight, 0'41oz. 



Legs and feet pale wax yellow ; claws brown ; upper man- 

 dible blackish brown, yellowish at tip ; lower mandible dull, 

 horny yellow ; irides brown. 



I believe Mr. Sharpe is right in referring this to Alseonax 

 instead of Cyornis, where I originally located it. At the 

 same time when I saw it the bird was poking about like a 

 true Gyornis, in fact like Gyornis poliogenys, which, when I 

 fired, I believed it to be, not flying out flycatcher-like as 

 Alseonax ferrugineus (which he now classes by the way 

 as Hemichelidon) always does. 



Major Legge obtained a bird extremely like this in Ceylon, 

 which he identifies with Bwtalis muttui, Layard. 



I must remark that I do not consider this identification 

 conclusive. The two most conspicuous features in the bird 

 are the snow-white eye -ring and line over the lores and the 

 yellow legs, and to neither of these does Layard allude. His 

 description runs as follows : — 



" General resemblance of B. latirostris, but of a far more 

 rufous colour ; this colour most prevalent on the outer 

 webs of the wing primaries, the outer tail-coverts and the 

 sides of the breast and belly ; throat, belly and vent 

 whitish ; breast rufous ashy ; back of the head dark brown. 

 Length, 5 inches ; wing, 3." 



Now I must say that on the whole it seems to me that 

 this description applies as well to A. ferrugineus as to 

 TTbUttui, apud Legge. You cannot possibly speak of the 

 throat, belly and vent as whitish ; in this latter it is clearly 

 pure white, in ferrugineus it is whitish. 



But let this pass — the main point is, are mutttii, apud 

 Legge and Sharpe, and mandellii^ distinct. These gentlemen 

 think so. 



