A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF NEPAL. 239 



147.-— Palaeornis nipalensis, Hodgs. 



Two males, Sal forest, December. — Length, 21"8 to 22 ;. 

 expanse, 26 to 26'5; wing, 9 to 9*05; tail, 12-45 to 13-5 ; 

 tarsus, 0*7 to 0*8 ; bill from gape, 1'05 to I'l ; from anterior 

 margin of cere to point of bill, straight, 1'4 to 1'45 ; nostril to 

 point of bill, 1*35 ; depth of closed bill at anterior margin of 

 cere, 1-6 ; height of upper mandible at base, 0*85 to 0*88 ; 

 length of cere on culmen, 0'08 ; closed wings short of tail, 8 '4 

 to 9. 



Bill coral red, the colour of the upper mandible deeper 

 than that of the lower, and the tips of both mandibles horny 

 yellow ; cere and margins of eyelids fleshy j^ellow ; irides pale 

 yellow ; feet sullied whitish fleshy ; claws dusky horny, paler at 

 their bases. . 



Female, Bichiakoh, December. — Length, 20'5 ; expanse, 24 ; 

 wing, 8*25; tail, 11"3; tarsus, 0'79; bill from gape, 1*03 ; 

 from anterior margin of cere to point of bill, 1-33 ; nostril to 

 point of bill, 1*3; depth of closed bill at anterior margin of 

 cere, 1 '34; height of upper mandible at base, 0'8; length of 

 cere on culmen, 0'09 ; closed wings short of tail, 7'3. 



Bill coral red, the lower mandible much paler than the upper, 

 and the tips of both mandibles horny yellow ; cere and margins 

 of eyelids yellowish fleshy ; irides pale yellow ; feet dirty whitish 

 fleshy ; claws dusky horny, pale at their bases. 



These birds were shot in the Sal forest at Bichiakoh in 

 December, when the sexual organs were well developed, shew- 

 ing that the species was near its breeding time ; the birds were 

 clearly adult. 



The male has broad black mandibular stripe, a half collar 

 on the back of the neck of bright rose pink, surmounted by a 

 very distinct glaucous blue band ; the cheeks sufi'used with 

 glaucous blue, and the base of the throat below the mandibular 

 stripes dingy yellowish. 



The female has no glaucous blue about the head, no black 

 mandibular stripes, and no rose demi-collar. 



Both sexes have the dark red wing spot large, about two 

 inches long and nearly one inch broad. 



My birds are clearly referable to Hodgson's Palaornis nipa- 

 lensis, "Asiatic Researches,^' 1836, Vol XIX, p. 177, from the 

 " Tarai and Lower Hills of Nepal." The figure of this Paroquet 

 in Mr. Hodgson's drawings must be either unfinished or taken 

 from a young male, as no blue shade is shown on the cheeks ; 

 but he expressly states on the back of this plate that his bird 

 was obtained from the " S^l forest,^' where, in fact, the species 

 I got swarms on the highway between Segowli and Kathmandu 



31 



