ACRIDOTHEEES. 593 



The evidence which has already been adduced regarding the character assigned 

 ^y Blyth to this supposed species seems all to tend in the direction of proving 

 it to be only a local race distinguished by a somewhat longer bill. 



A large series of birds will in all probability show that even the large bill is 

 not a stable character. 



Having examined the type, I am disposed to think that the great naked space 

 described by Blyth as surrounding the eye is chiefly due to the accidental loss of 

 feathers, and that the area does not differ in its dimensions from the corresponding 

 area in TI. occipitalis, and Mr. Hume distinctly states that there is no naked space 

 surrounding the eyes. Captain Wardlaw Eamsay has recently remarked that the 

 colouring of the wings is not more bright than in TI. occipitalis. 



A number of adults of this species appeared at Ponsee, shortly before our 

 departure, along with Fica rustica and C. levaillanti, and were daily seen near our 

 camp which was close to the village. Mr. Gates, as quoted by Hume, remarks that 

 " it likes the neighbourhood of villages in forest country," and Hume calls atten- 

 tion to the difference in this respect between IT. magnirostris and TI. occipitalis, the 

 latter having never been observed by him in the immediate vicinity of villages. 

 None of these birds were observed at Ponsee during the first month of our deten- 

 tion, and as J^ica rustica began immediately with the Crows to build their nests on 

 their arrival, I conclude that TI. magnirostris arrived for a similar purpose. In 

 connection with these facts it is as well to point out that the country to the east is 

 singularly denuded of forest. 



^Q,m{\j—STURNIB^. 



Genus Acridotheres, Vieillot. 

 45. AcRiDOTHEEEs TEiSTis, Linn. 



Paradisea tristis, Linn., Syst. Nat., t. i, p. 167, 1766; Buff., PI. Enl., 219, 1783. 



Gracula grylUvora, Daud., Traite d'Orn., t. ii, p. 285, 1800. 



Acridotkeres tristis, Vieill, Analyse, p. ,1816; Pears., Journ. As. Soc, Bengal, p. 648, 

 1841; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc, Bengal, vol. xiii, p. 361, 1844; vol. xv, p. 314, 1846; id., 

 ■ Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. xx, p. 384, 1847; Gray, Gen. B., vol. ii, p. 335, 1847; Tiekell, Journ. 

 As. Soc, Bengal, vol. xvii, p. 304, 1848; Hutton, t. c, p. 8 ; Bonap. Consp., t. i, p. 419, 

 1850; Cab., Mus. Hein., th. i, p. 205, 1850; Layard, Ann. Nat. Hist. (2), vol. xiii^ 

 p. 218, 1854; Tytler, t. c, p. 368, 1854; Theob., Journ. As. Soc, Bengal, vol. xxiii' 

 p. 597, 1855; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. Ind. Co., vol. ii, p. 532, 1856; Jerdon, b! 

 Ind., vol. ii, p. 325, 1863 ; Gray, Handl. B., vol. ii, p. 19, 1870 ; G od win- Austen, Journ. As. 

 Soc, Bengal, vol. xxxix, 1870, p. 110 ; Holdsw., Proc Zool. Soc, 1872, p. 462 ; Hume, Stray 

 Feathers, 1873, pp. 207, 440; Adam., t. c, p. 386; Ball, op. cit., 1874, p. 419 ; Hume, 

 t. c, pp. 246, 480; id., op. cit., 1875, p. 146; id.. Nests and Eggs, Ind. B., p. 428, 1873- 

 Blyth & Walden, Journ. As. Soc, Bengal, vol. xliv, ex. No., p. 90, 1875; W. T. Blanford' 

 op. ci)^., vol. xlv, 1876, p. 91 ; Butler, Stray Feathers, 1877, p. 35; Faii'bank, t. c, p. 260; 

 Hume, t. c, p. 279 ; id., p. 456, 1877, p. 38 ; Gates, t. c, p. 160 ; Gammie, t. c, p. 384 ; Fairbank' 

 t. c, pp. 391, 407. 



Gracula tristis, Lath., Gen. Hist., vol. iii, p. 147, 1822; Sundev., Ann. Nat. Hist., vol xviii 

 p. 303, 1846. 



c 4 



