330 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIII 



Description. — As in Oates, F. B. I. 



Distribution. — Nepal, and probably the Kumaon Terai, and should not be 

 difficult to procure, so I hope any member so placed will collect a series of 

 this interesting bird, and if possible eggs, which Hodgson records as blue, 

 but as far as I can ascertain no authentic eggs are in any collection. 



Sub-Family — PoMATORHiNiE, Horsfield, 1821. 

 Scimitar Babblers. 



Oates, F. B. I., i., p. 115. 



" In this genus the bill is quite as long as the head, and frequently 

 much longer ; it is very slender, much curved downwards and compressed. 

 The feathers of the forehead are short, rounded and close, but feathers do 

 not grow on the nasal membrane, which is perfectly bare. The tail is 

 longer than the wing and considerably graduated, the outer feather being 

 two-thirds to three quarters the length of the tail." (Oates). 



All the members of this sub-family lay white unspotted eggs, which at 

 once removes from amongst them the Australian PomastoHomuSj which 

 lay remarkable eggs, quite distinct from any of the Timeliidce. These are 

 a dark brown, covered all over with numerous curly lines, calling to mind 

 the eggs of the Bronze-winged Jacana, Metroindius indicus. Here we have 

 a remarkable case of development along similar lines, some of the Austra- 

 lian "■ Scimitar-Babblers " are hardly separable in appearance from the 

 darker forms of oriental PomatorMni such as P. liorsUeldi, they have the 

 same style of bill and plumage, and until quite recently were placed in the 

 same genus and were only separated when the remarkable difference 

 between the eggs of the Aiistralian and Indian birds were taken into con- 

 sideration. I may add that this is one of the many examples in which the 

 coloration of eggs has been a great aid to classification. 



The Scimitar-Babblers are very noisy birds, with loud hooting calls, as 

 well as a very pleasing black-bird like song. They build either untidy 

 domed nests, or very deep cups, which are always placed on or near the 

 ground, the eggs as before mentioned are a pure white. 



Key for species as in the Fauna of British India. 



POMATORHINUS SCHISTICEPS NUCHALIS. 



The Slaty-headed Scimitar Babblers. 



This group of Scimitar Babblers is noticeable in having a chestnut 

 band on each side of the body, extending from the sides of the neck to 

 the abdomen, is found from the N. W. Himalayas, through Xepal, Sikhim 

 Butan, Assam to the Chin Hills, it then re-appears in the Shan States 

 where it meets P. olivaceus which has not got this chestnut band on each 

 side of the body. These two races may possibly interbreed in this 

 locality as many specimens vary greatly in colour and size. 



In P. schisticeps the first three sub-species have the chestnut band 

 streaked with white, whilst the fourth, (P. nuchalis) has this band un- 

 streaked. 



P. s. pimuilli (Sharpe), inhabits Simla and the N. W. Himalayas, and 

 is distinguishable by its smaller size. 



P. s. schisticeps (Hodgson) extends from Nepal to Sikhim, Bhutan, Assam, 

 and Manipur. Birds from the first three localities are noticeable for the 

 dark colour of the chestnut band, whilst those to the east gradually get 

 paler, until they merge into next sub-species. 



P. s. viearsi (O. — Grant). Probably from Assam to the Chin Hills and 

 Chindwin basis ; birds from these localities have the chestnut band paler 

 on the whole, but Avhere the range of P. s. schisticeps really ends and that 



