JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. 



Part II.— PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 

 No. I.— 1878. 



I. — Description of Ruticilla schisticeps, Hodgs. — By W. T. Blaxford, 



F. E. S. 



(Received October 11th, 1876 ;— Eead March 7th, 1877.) 



(With Plate I.) 



Since the original description of the male of this bird was published 

 in the appendix to the first ' Catalogue of the specimens and drawings of 

 Mammalia and Birds of Nepal and Thibet' presented by Mr. Hodgson to 

 the British Museum, I am not aware that anything has been added to its 

 history. It does not appear to have been seen by Blyth or Jerdon, there is 

 no specimen in the Society's old collection, nor to the best of my belief has 

 there hitherto been one in the Indian Museum, and the bird has not yet, 

 so far as I know, been found in the western Himalayas or in Turkestan. 

 Unless Colonel Prejevalski has obtained it in Mongolia, I do not think it 

 has hitherto been procured elsewhere than in the Tibetan region north of 

 Sikkim and Nepal. The female, so far as I can learn, has not been de- 

 scribed, although there appears to be a figure of it amongst Mr. Hodgson's 

 drawings. 



I have just received a pair of this rare bird from Mr. Mandelli, and 

 the following is a description of both sexes. 



3Iale. Crown of head and nape, greyish blue, paler in front, becoming 

 rather darker on the na])e. A narrow band on the foreliead, lores, sides of 

 head and neck, chiu and sides of throat, and back glossy black. Scapularies 

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