272 ON CTJItRUCA AFFINIS AND CURRUCA GARRULA. 



€)n Cnmta nflmtg anb Curvncn grata. 



By W. Edwin Brooks. 



With the addition of two more examples of C. garrula from 

 my friend Canon Tristram, I have now five* specimens of the 

 English bird, and I cannot avoid coming to the conclusion that 

 the Indian species is quite distinct. 



1. — I have examined fully one hundred of C. ajjinis collect- 

 ed from Cashmere to Dinapore, and have examined the types of 

 afinis in the Indian Museum. I notice a structural difference 

 between this species and C. garrula, viz., a slightly different 

 form of wing. 



The 2nd quill of C. garrula is equal to the 5th, or, as in 

 two of the five examples now before me, a trifle shorter ; but of 46* 

 Indian birds, also before me, 31 have the 2nd quill equal to the 

 (3th, 14 have it intermediate between 6th and 7th, and one 

 has it equal to the 7th. If there were no other difference, 

 this structural one is quite against identity. 



2. — I also observe that the bill of the English bird is shorter 

 and not so stout as that of the Indian species. 



3. — The plumage of the English bird is very much softer 

 and more silky. 



4. — The ear-coverts of the Indian bird are much darker, and 

 contrast very strongly with the ash grey of the head. 



5. — The upper surface, from lower neck to tail-coverts, is 

 browner in the Indian bird, and more ashy in the Euglish. 



6. — The Indian bird builds its nest much higher from the 

 ground than the English one, and also does not care so much 

 about its concealment. 



I observe that the coloration of the tail (with regard to the 

 amount and purity of the white, and the penultimate feather 

 being tipped with white or not) is not specifically characteris- 

 tic ; for I have a Norfolk example with the tail of typical qffi- 

 nis, and numbers of Dinapore and other birds have the tail of 

 typical garrula. The real differences are those I have pointed 

 out. There may also be differences of note and song ; but it is 

 so long since I heard the English bird that I forget. The In- 

 dian species varies much in size, some being as small as any 

 garrula, while others are larger ; but variation, as regards size, 

 should not, in this species, be taken into account ; and I believe 

 we have only one species of lesser white throat in India. 



I have not seen any Indian-killed example which corresponds 

 exactly with the English bird ; and taking the points I have 



* A sixth example of C. garrula, belonging to Mr. Hume, which I have seen since 

 this paper was written, has the 2nd quill a trifle longer than the 4th, which further 

 confirms the position that this bird has not such a rounded wing as C. affinis. 



