OBSERVED ON THE PALANI HILLS. 403 



dusk and sit by a bank or on the road side and sing. Their 

 song is not so loud nor so varied as that of the black bird 

 (Merula simillima) which lives in the same groves, but it is simi- 

 lar in style and in the quality of its tone. The sexes are similar 

 in size, (?) and color, and the dimensions of a male are as 

 follows : — 



c$ Pillar Rocks, 24<th May. — Length, 675 ; wing, 36 ; ex^ 

 pause, 10*0 ; tail, 2*5 ; tarsus, l'l ; bill from gape, 0'9 ; weight, 

 O92oz. Bill, black; iris buff; feet, leaden black. 



[I make the tail of this specimen 2*8 and the wing (or rather 

 both wings, for I have measured both) 32, other dimensions 

 agree. The female sent to me is markedly smaller, — wing, 

 2 - 85 ; tail, 2 5 ; tarsus, 1*0 barely. I subjoin* the original 

 description. — Ed., IS. F.] 



342.— Myiophonus horsfieldii, Vig. 



Not rare where there is running water, from the bottom to 

 5,000 feet, but being very wary is not easily obtained. 



* 360. — Merula simillima, Jerd. 



This fine singer may be heard any evening in spring, in 

 the Kodaikanal and other groves above 4,000 feet on the 

 Palanis. 



£ Shemiganur, 1st June. — Length, 10*7 ; wing, 52 ; expanse, 

 16"0 ; tail, 4*5 ; tarsus, 1*8 ; bill from gape, 1*3 ; weight, 3*0 oz. 

 Bill inside as well as outside and the orbits vermilion orange ; 

 feet yellow orange ; iris, hazel. 



* " Callene albiventris, Fairbank. 



Fusco-cyanea, mento lorisque holosericeo nigris, fascia frontali albescenti ccerulea, 

 rectricibus remigibusque fuscis cerulescenti marginatis, abdomine medio albo, 

 lateribus cinerascentibus, rostro nigro, pedibus fuscis, iridibus brunneis. 



" Long, tota 6 ; alas 31 ; candae 2 - 6 ; rostri a fronte - 5 ; a rictu 075 ; tarsi, 1"1 j poll 

 Angl. et dee. 



'« Hab. Montes Pulney dictos India? meridionalis, ad alti. circa 6000-7000 ped. Angl. 

 in dumetis et sylvis. 



" C. albiventris is similar in form to the Nilgheri C. rufiventris, BIyth, but it is 

 rather smaller and differs widely in colour, being much bluer above, with a distinct 

 light-blue, almost whitish, frontal band, instead of the faint indication which alone 

 exists in C. rufiventris. There is no trace of the ferruginous abdomen of that species ; 

 and the white in the new species is not, like the rufous colour in C. rufiventris. 

 spread over the whole lower parts from the breast downwards, but is almost confined 

 to the centre of the abdomen and the lower tail-coverts, shading gradually into slaty 

 on the flank. 



" C. frontalis, BIyth, of the Sikkim and Nipal Himalayas, is a still larger bird than 

 C. rufiventris, with a longer tail. The frontal band is of a darker and richer blue 

 than in C. albiventris and the abdomen is grey. The blue of C. albiventris is purer 

 and less dusky than that of either of the two other species, and, so far as can be judged 

 by the somewhat faded specimens in the Asiatic Society's Museum in Calcutta, 

 resembles rather the colour of Brachypteryx cruralis. 



" The sexes do not appear to differ. In the two specimens sent by Mr. Fairbank 

 the female is a little the paler ; but this appears due to the male being in brighter and 

 fresher plumage."— P. Z. S., 1867, 833. 



B 2 



