206 ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 
The Minivets seem to me to be divisible into two groups, viz., 
(a), species with a red or yellow tip to the tail, and (b), species 
with white-tipped tails: by far the greater number belong to 
the first division in which I recognise 11 different species, as 
follows :-— 
1.—P. speciosus. 
a. P. spectosus. 
6. P. elegans. 
2.—P. xanthogaster. 
3.—P. flammeus. 
4.—P. exul. 
5.—P. peregrinus. 
6.—P. igneus. 
7.—P. brevirostris. 
8.—P. miniatus. 
9.—P. roseus. 
10.—P. solaris. 
11.—P. griseigularis. 
I shall now proceed to record what I believe to be the habi- 
tats of these species as briefly as possible, although in the case 
of a few some critical remarks are necessary. 
1.—Pericrocotus speciosus. 
Hab. Himalayah Mountains. Not uncommon near Darjeel- 
ing, generally at about 3,000 to 4,000 feet of elevation (Jerdon) : 
Darjeeling (Beavan): Sikhim (Hume): Nepal (Hodgson)) : 
Kumaon (Hume): Mussoorie (Hume): below Mussoorie half way 
from Rajpur (Srooks): Khasia Hills (Godwin-Austen): Ponsee 
Kakhyen Hills (Anderson): Bhamo, Upper Burmah (Ander- 
son): Fokien Province, South China (Swinhoe). 
We see from the above records, all of which I consider to be 
perfectly authentic, that P. speciosus is a bird of the hills, found 
in the Himalayas, Upper Burmah, and extending even to 
Southern China; but how far this large form may be said to be 
constant, or in what respect it is approached by examples from 
other localities, is a question for future observers tu decide. 
Dr. Jerdon says that P. speciosus is found about Caleutta and 
extends to Assam, Burmah, and Malayana, and it has been 
received from the Andaman islands.’ The bird from the 
latter locality, Mr. Hume considers to be a distinct species ; but 
as far as I can understand, there is nothing but a difference in 
size, to separate the Assam bird (P. elegans), the Hainan 
(P. fraterculus), which Mr. Swinhoe in his original description 
admits to have seen from Siam, and P. andamenensis from 
P. speciosus; P. ardens, or, as I believe, we shall have to call it 
P. wanthogaster (Raffles): is also nothing, but a small form of 
