94 OUR INDIAN CISTICOL.E. 



Godwin-Austen's remark that " some specimens do not show the 

 rufous on the neck so much as others," and to what lie says 

 about the tail under his munipurensis , quoted S. F. III., 397. 



Of melanocephalus, I possess one, (the best,) of Dr. Jerdon's 

 Debroogurh specimens, and a second, that he also gave me, from 

 Dacca, and 1 am bound to say that but for the " nearly even" 

 tail both these agree extremely well with Blyth's description of 

 homalura. I b} r no means hazard the assertion that homalura 

 is identical with melanocephala, and was described from a speci- 

 men of which the tail was imperfect or abnormal, but I suggest 

 the matter for the verification of those who have a better series 

 than myself of melanocephala and homalura; of which latter I 

 have none. 



Of Cisticola Tytleri as described by Blyth (unde ?) and 

 quoted by Jerdon, I have never succeeded in obtaining speci- 

 mens, although I have had considerable collections made in 

 Dacca ; but I have melanocephala from thence, besides the one 

 Dr. Jerdon gave me, and it is curious that in giving me the 

 two specimens of melanocephala, one from Debroogurh, the 

 other from Dacca, he assured me that, in his opinion, they were 

 only the adults of Tytleri, with one of which he said he had 

 compared them. I cannot find that he ever recorded this any- 

 where, but on the strength of this assurance, the birds were thus 

 labelled, and so stand to this day in my museum. 



I should not be at all surprised if Tytleri and melanocephala 

 did prove identical, in which case the former name has prece- 

 dence; and it seems to me further not impossible that homalura 

 may also be identical, in which case this name would stand. 

 I note that all my specimens of melanocephala have some dark 

 markings on the breast, thus recalling Blyth's remarks in 

 regard to homalura. 



The last on our list is C. erythrocephala, which I have only 

 obtained in Saugor and of which Jerdon himself identified my 

 specimen. 



It is, I believe, a very rare bird. I have never obtained more 

 than the single specimen that I myself shot, and I have not as 

 yet heard of any one else obtaining it. 



The following are the dimensions (taken from the skin) of my 

 specimen : — 



Length, 4*2; wing, 193; tail, 1*7; tarsus, 0*78; bill at 

 front, 0-46. 



The bill appears to me absolutely identical in size and shape 

 with that of cursitans, but has the upper mandible much paler 

 and the lower mandible redder than in that species. 



The wing has the 4th and 5th feathers equal and longest; the 

 3rd, 0-02 shorter ; the 2nd, 02 ; and the 1st, 8 shorter. These 



