378 A FIRST LIST OF THE BIRDS 
It is true, that when I formerly wrote, I thought it (relying 
upon what Hodgson recorded) probable that Hodgsoni was the 
female and castaneus the male, but now the remarkable fact 
appears that while the female moniliger as sexed by Mr. Bour- 
dillon closely agrees with Mr. Blyth’s description of that 
species, the male as also sexed by Mr. Bourdillon approxi- 
mates in plumage to Otothria Hodgsoni, and bears it appears 
to me precisely the same relation in point of plumage to 2s 
female that Otothrizx Hodgsoni does to B. castaneus. 
As regards the identity of Ofothri« Hodgsoni and Batrachos- 
tomus castaneus, it has further to be remarked that despite what 
has been said to the contrary (unless I wrongly identify the 
former), the upper mandible in both closes completely over the 
lower mandible; moreover the bills of both are precisely 
similar, and in both very much smaller than either those 
of affinis or moniliger, and lastly in both there is, in good 
specimens, a peculiar development over the eye of long 
bristle-like feathers which I do not find in either of the other 
species. 
Of course, we must defer any positive conclusion until some 
one will shoot and carefully dissect a few of the Sikhim birds, 
but at present it appears to me that the balance of evidence is 
entirely in favor of B. castaneus and O. Hodgsoni, representing 
different sexes of the same species. Further it would not sur- 
prise me to find that the red and grey birds of the other 
species of this genus represent the two sexes, instead of being 
mere stages of plumage common to both sexes. 
To return now to Batrachostomus moniliger of the female, the 
following are the dimensions recorded in the flesh :— 
Length, 9; expanse, 16; wing, 4°75; tail, 4; tarsus, 0°6 ; 
bill from gape to tip, 1°35; width at gape, 1°37. 
The original description given by Mr. Blyth, already quoted 
in this Journal (Vol. II. p. 350), corresponds on the whole so 
accurately with this bird (the of the pair according to Mr. 
Bourdillon,) that I shall not attempt any fresh description, but I 
would remark that in my specimen it appears to be the nuchal 
and not the occipital feathers that are tipped white, that the inner 
webs of the primaries are hair brown, and that every one of the 
feathers of the interscapulary region has a minute, but bright, 
black spot at the tip. 
The male, however, is a very different looking bird, altogether 
greyer and less rufous, with the abdomen and the outer webs of 
most of the scapulars pure white and only pencilled with 
blackish brown, with an excessively conspicuous and broad 
white nuchal half collar, and a white band across the base of 
the throat. 
