176 THE BIEDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 



obliqua; speculo roarginali et margine lato tertiariorum albis; binis mediis rectricibus niffri- 

 cantibus. Eostro et pedibus nigris. 



Fem. supra brunnescenti-grisea^ subtus griseo-fulvescens ; uropygio et canda rufo- 

 ferrugineis ; alls brunneo-nigricantibus^ tectricibus et tertiariis fulvo limbatis ; rectricibus 

 binis mediis nigricantibus. 



Mea^ 



surements 

















Length. 



Width. 



Wing. 



Tail. 



Gape. 



Tarsus. 



Middle toe 





in. 



in. 



in. 



in. 



in. 



in. 



in. 



6 . 



. 7 



105 



3-5 



3-23 



0-67 



0-8 



0-53 



2 . 



. 6-7 



10-3 



3-45 



3-3 



0-65 



0-82 



0-53 



Quills — 4tli=5th longest, 6>3>7, 2 = 8; first twice the length of its 

 upper coverts. In the rounded tail the two central feathers protrude. 

 Culm en black ; legs blackish ; iris brown. 



Male. — Head, back of neck, and the upper portion of its sides lead-blue, 

 in autumn tipped with brown. The upper and under parts of the body 

 (excluding the white middle of the back part of the stomach), as well as the 

 tail (except the tw^o black central feathers), dark reddish brown, with an 

 orange shade on the back. Quills dark brown, tertiaries marked with wide 

 white edges ; the white line between the shoulders and the white spot on the 

 wing are formed by the upper wing-coverts, most of which are black ; the 

 under wing-coverts are white. 



Female, — Above greyish brown, with a red tint in it ; below pale yellow, 

 in autumn shaded with grey on the breast and sides of the neck ; centre of 

 stomach yellowish white ; rump, upper and under tail-coverts, and tail (with 

 the exception of the two black central tail-feathers) rusty red. Wings dark 

 brown, with broad yellow edges on the tertiaries, and the large and median 

 wino:-coverts white. 



The plumage is very soft in both sexes. 



The first birds of this new species were obtained by us in Ala-shan, 



