] 872.] Brooks. — Beguloides sulvirldis. 149 



rarely equal ; and still more rarely is the 5th the longest in the wing ; the 

 1st quill is from 1'17 "to 1*08 short of tip of wing, according to sex. 



The general tone of colour is strikingly like that of Beguloides prore- 

 gulus, Pallas, but paler and duller ; and it differs from that bird in not 

 having a yellow rump band ; also in its more slender and much lighter 

 coloured bill. From Beguloides super ciliosus, G-mel., it differs in having the 

 supercilium of a decided yellow, while that bird's is ruddy white or pale 

 buff ; and its cheeks are of the same colour but duller mottled with light 

 brown. Our new bird's cheeks, on the contrary, have generally a strong 

 yellow tinge ; its coronal streak too is bright and well defined as in Beg. 

 proregulus ; while the coronal streak of B. superciliosus is seldom visible 

 and when so, is merely a faint brownish grey line on the dark olive brown 

 head, which can only be seen when looked at in certain lights. The indis- 

 tinctness, or entire absence, of the coronal streak is one of the characteristics 

 of Beguloides superciliosus. All the others, except Beguloides castaneiceps, 

 have the coronal streak very distinct. In our new species, the plumage is 

 very soft and lax ; and however carefully the skin may be put up, the coronal 

 streak gets disturbed and out of place. 



Unlike the purely hill Beguloides, B. proregulus, B. erochroa, B. 

 maculipennis, and B. castaneiceps, om- bird is migratory, and frequents the 

 plains of the North- Western Provinces during the cold season. The four 

 species which I have just mentioned find the lower Himalayan hills quite 

 warm enough for their winter retreat. 



" The call note of our species is peculiarly shrill, tinkling, and weak, but 

 quite Phylloscopine ; a " tiss-yip^' as expressed by Mr. Blyth. There is a 

 greater rise between the 1st and 2nd notes of the call (the 2nd being the 

 highest), than there is in the call note of Beguloides supei^ciliosus or of 

 Bhyllapneuste trochilus. 



The song, which I have sometimes heard on their arrival, is a pleasant 

 twittering but feeble one, and very like that of Begulus cristatus. I have 

 procured Beguloides suhviridis in the Etawah and Cawnpore districts, but I 

 have no doubt it is generally spread over the whole North- West. In Kash- 

 mir I never met with it, although B. proregulus and B. superciliosus were 

 abundant there. 



It arrives in the plains about a month later than B. superciliosus, and 

 while that species loves large aiid shady trees, our one seems to prefer 

 those of light foliage, especially the Babool. With one or two exceptions, 

 ' all my specimens were procured in Babool trees. The banks of the Etawah 

 branch of the Ganges canal abound with these trees, and there this little 

 \ bird is not uncommon. It is not an abundant bird like Beguloides superci- 

 liosus, but is comparatively scarce ; and its peculiar and excessively shrill 

 note enabled me to find the numbers I did. It only calls occasionally, 

 and is as silent a bird as B. superciliosus is noisy. 



