notes on some of our indian stone chats. 243 

 Females. 



2 2-9 Sikliim; Sudya (Assam). 



2 28 Dehra Dhoon ; Etawah. 



2 275 Native Sikhim; Kusmore (Upper Sindh). 



2 273 Bohtuk (Delhi Division) ; Sukker (Upper Sindh). 



5 27 Etawah; Chunar; Caehar ; Mount Aboo ; Amoy 

 (China). 



2 268 Pahpoon (Tenasserim) ; Etawah. 



4 2'65 Jacobabad ; Etawah ; Etawah ; Jhansee. 



3 26 Kashmir j Wan (Pegu) ; Amoy (China), 



7 2"55 Kashmir; Almora ; Almora; Etawah; Dacca; 



Malewoon (S. Tenasserim) ; Gourgaon. 

 12 2o Kotegurh; Mussouri ; Kussowlee ; Kussowlee ; Al- 



morah ; Almora; Petoragurh ; Rangoon; Male- 

 woon (S. Tenasserim) ; Khyketo ; Cawnpoor ; 

 Allahabad. 



1 2-47 Mahasu (near Simla) . 



1 246 ., 



1 2 45 Kojee (Sutlej Valley). 



44 



Now the first tiling that strikes one is that out of 81 males, 

 52 have the wings from 2*6 to 27, and out of 41 females, 22 

 have them from 25 to 26 ; and generally it seems clear from 

 these figures that the wings of the females average somewhere 

 about 0"1 less than those of the males. 



In the second place, all the males with wings over 2-9, and all 

 the females with wings over 2"8, are from the Himalayas or 

 Snddya, at the extreme east of Assam, to which in the cold 

 weather a very great number of Eastern Himalayan birds 

 descend. Moreover, all these very large males are more or less 

 in the plumage, which I understand to characterize robusta, en- 

 tirely rufous beneath and with very small white neck spots. 



But unfortunately I have several other specimens with wings 

 of 2'Q and upwards, exhibiting quite this same plumage, and 

 after a long and tiring day's work, Captain Marshall and I have 

 come to the conclusion that it is absolutely impossible to make 

 two species out of the 125 specimens before us. 



I did think at one time for a few moments that I had 

 got hold of a distinctive character. In P. indica, as a rule, 

 the 2nd primary = the 7th, but in the Sikhim, 31 bird, I found 

 the 2nd between the 7th and 8th ; and in the Syree 3*0 bird, 

 the 2nd=8th; in a Suddya 295 bird, the 2nd was between 

 the 7th and 8th ; and in a Suddya 2-92 bird, 2nd=8th; un- 

 fortunately in the 2nd 2'95 Suddya bird, the 2nd was between 

 the 6th and 7th; in a Suddya 2'9 bird, 2nd = 7th, and when I came 

 to examine the mass of the smaller birds I found that, though 

 2nd = 7th was the general rule, sometimes 2nd=Sth, and some- 

 times it was between 7th and 8th, and sometimes between 6th 

 and 7th. 



