470 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



which are inseparable ; or, does this bird, unlike the generality 

 of small birds, take more than a year to mature ? If the nest- 

 lino; has a spotted plumage, — and I expect it has — a moulting 

 bird passing direct from the spotted to the blue stage would 

 settle the question and show that we have two distinct species. 

 Or, if the young of a blue male could be taken from the nest, 

 and passed through the autumn moult in confinement, and they 

 all passed to the female plumage, the present position that there 

 is but one species would be established. 



Dr. Jerdon was doubtful about Cyornis rnficauda being a 

 good species, and he suspected the male to be blue. 



I have seen much "of this species, being directed always to 

 it by the full pretty song, and I never saw such a thing as a 

 blue male. The sexes are alike in coloration as in the case of 

 the Nightingale or Garden Warbler. 



Alseonax latirostris, No. 297 of Jerdon. 



Should, I think, be struck off the Indian list. We have 

 only one Alseonax in India that I have seen, viz., Alseonax terri- 

 color, Hodgson. Tli6 rufous margins to coverts and tertials 

 are autumnal, and wear away by summer time, when the bird 

 is much faded and more ashy. This species migrates far south, 

 even to the islands of the Indian Ocean, and, of course, it 

 will be found in Southern India. I have only obtained it in 

 the North- West Provinces and at Dinapore on its southern 

 migration. 



What bird Alseonax latirostris, Raffles, really is, is an unsettled 

 question. Mr. Hume thinks that A. terricolor is RafHes's bird 

 on account of being found in the country from which latirostris 

 was described ; but has the absence of its close ally, A. cinereo- 

 alba, T. & S., been proved ? The latter has been united with 

 latirostris by some. It is the Chinese representative of our 

 terricolor. The two birds are so much alike* that nothing but 

 a most careful examination of the type, if in existence and in 

 good condition, would settle the question. For the present the 

 best plan is to avoid the use of Raffles's term till further light 

 be obtained. 



* These two Alseonax differ as follows : — 



1. There is far more black on the lower mandible of clnereoalba, and the bill 

 altogether is much darker. 



2. It is of slightly different shape. 



3. The tail is shorter. 



4. The color of upper plumage is constantly different, ash grey in cinereoalba, and 

 pale brown in terricolor. 



They are two closely affined birds, and the differences are slight, but nevertheless they 

 are of value. I have the same insuperable difficulty in uniting the two birds that 

 I should have in uniting Aquila vindhiana and A. albicans. Mr. Swinhoe and I 

 compared the two together, and he agreed with me that they were quite dis- 

 tinct.— W. £. B. 



