70 OUR INDIAN CERTHIIN.E. 



If Mr. Hodgson bad ever published a description of nipalen-* 

 sis, surely either Gray, or Moore and Horsefield, or Blyth. him- 

 self would have known of and indicated it. 



The facts appear to be these : — In 1843 Mr. Hodgson sent 

 three examples of the white-breasted species to the As. Soc. 

 Mus. labelled Certhia himalayana and also Certhia nipalensis, 

 Hodgson. Himalayana was not known then, and Mr. Blyth 

 accepted the specimens as belonging to this species. 



Two years later, Mr. Webb sent specimens of the brown- 

 breasted species from Darjeeling, and Blyth at once detected 

 the difference between these and the white-breasted birds pre- 

 viously received from Hodgson. 



Accordingly in his list * of the Indian Nuthatches and Tree 

 Creepers (J. A. 8. B., XIV., p. 579, 1845) we find (page 580) 

 the following : — 



" 7. — Certhia himalayana, Vigors. P.Z.S., 1831, p. 174. 



8. — Certhia discolor, Nobis. — Distinguished by having the 

 entire under parts uniform dingy brown, or very much sul- 

 lied albescent (inclining in some to whitish on the abdominal 

 region), and no ferruginous on the flanks, but only on the 

 lower tail-coverts ; whereas in the preceding species, the under 

 parts are pure white, tinged with ferruginous on the sides of 

 the breast, and the flanks as well as the lower tail-coverts are 

 deep ferruginous ; the upper parts also are a shade less rufous 

 than in C. himalayana and the pale central spots to the fea- 

 thers are more diffused (i.e., much less defined), especially 

 those of the head. Upon a first view it might be thought that 

 the under parts of C. discolor, are merely dirty ; but the color 

 is not to be washed out, and five specimens before me are all 

 quite similar, while in three Nepal specimens of the other the 

 white is alike pure and the flanks deep ferruginous. It is 

 indeed possible that neither of these is the true C. himalayana, 

 in which case the Nepal species might be designated, C. nipal- 

 ensis, Hodgson.'''' 



The italicised passage (the italics are mine) is, I believe, the 

 first published indication of C. nipalensis, and by this the 

 name must stand, and not by any name recorded on an unpub- 

 lished drawing. 



I may add that in 1847 Mr. Blyth received the true himalay- 

 ana. He _ remarks (J. A. S. B., XVI., 864) " a few bird skins, 

 among which is one species new to the museum, viz., Certhia 

 himalayana, Vigors, v. asiatica, Swaiusou; 'common in the 

 Dehra Dhoon.' This is quite distinct from C. nipalensis, Hodgs., 



* ? Is this what Blyth refers to (Cat. Mus., As. Soc. B rds, p. 188, No. 1131.) as his 

 " Mon. Ind. Certaiadffl P" Or is it his communication to the Ann. Nat. Hist. (XX., 

 p. 317., November 1847) P Or did he ever publish any separate Monograph? I can 

 find no trace of it. 



