502 NOVELTIES. 



Lyncornis Bourdilloni, Sp. Nov. 



Very similar to L, cerviniceps, Gould, but conspicicouslj/ smaller and 

 brighter colored. 



It is to Mr. Frank Bourdillon that I am indebted for the 

 first specimen of the Lyncornis of Southern India that I have 

 seen. It is a female shot on the 15th January at Kalland 

 Kkauni, South Travancore. 



I have long known that we had a Lyncornis in Southern 

 India, or else some very large horned Goat-sucker, but I have 

 hi therto failed in obtaining a specimen. Now that Mr. Bourdillon 

 has secured one, it appears to me necessary to separate it under 

 a distinct name. It must, not, however be supposed that it is 

 a very distinct species. It is merely a diminutive race, and it 

 bears to the Burmese L. cerviniceps precisely the same relation 

 that the LLemicercus cordatus found in the same jungles in 

 Southern Travancore bears to the Burmese R. canente, (Less.) 



The following are the measurements recorded in the flesh 

 of the female shot by Mr. Bourdillon, which is an adult in very 

 perfect plumage : — Length, 14*5; expanse, 32 ; wing, 10*25; 

 tail, 7*62; tarsus, 0'56 ; bill from gape, 1*45. 



I shall not attempt to describe the plumage, it is precisely 

 that of cerviniceps, but only perhaps somewhat more rufescent 

 and richly colored than any of the 50 odd specimens of the 

 Burmese bird which we have in our museum ; but I subjoin 

 the measurements recorded in the flesh of a dozen females of 

 the Burmese bird to shew the marked difference that exists in 

 the size of the two races. 



L. cerviniceps, ? . — Length, 15*62 to 16*5; expanse, 34*5 to 

 36-25; wing, 11-37 to 1262; tail, 7*9 to 9; tarsus, 075 to 

 0*82 ; bill from gape, 1*7 to 1-82. 



The males are, if any thing, a trifle larger as an average. 

 I should note that amongst the females of cerviniceps some 

 not fully adult specimens were measured, so that the figures 

 above o-iven hardly represent (unless the minima be rejected) 

 the real difference in size between the two races. 



Mr. Bourdillon says, " I am inclined to think that this must 

 be a Lyncornis from the long ear-tufts, which, though hardly 

 visible now, were most conspicuous when I picked the bird 

 up. Indeed my first idea was that I had some kind of Horned 

 Owl. The specimen was obtained in a ' hillmenV clearing on 

 the banks of' the Peenaven-aur about 15 miles north of this 

 (Mvnall), at an elevation of 600 feet above sea level. Irides 

 dull brown ; legs and feet brownish pink; claws ashy. The 

 bird was observed with 3 or 4 others of the same kind flyiug 



