On 
~I 
BAM. PARI DA 
Characters. Bill exceedingly slender, much shorter than head, with both culmen 
and gonys nearly straight; tip in most of the species acute, in R. macronyx and subspecies 
somewhat flattened. Nostrils lateral, very small, circular and entirely hidden by the antrorse, 
latero-frontal plumules. Rictal bristles obsolete or scarcely indicated. Wing rather long, 
rounded, first primary reduced to a narrow, lanceolate feather, in length equal to, or but little 
depassing, the primary coverts; third and fourth primaries forming the tip, fifth hardly shorter; 
second primary falling between the sixth and seventh; secondaries long, about four-fifths of 
whole wing; wing-tip much shorter than tarsus. Tail slightly emarginate, distinctly shorter than 
the wing, the difference being about equal to length of bill. Tarsus relatively strong, covered in 
front with very distinctly separated scutes. Toes with strongly curved claws. Outer toe slightly 
longer than inner one; basal phalanx of middle toe adherent to outer toe for more than half of 
its length, to inner toe for its entire length; hallux about equal to inner toe, but much stouter. 
Coloration. The majority of the species (nos. 1-5) have the upper back clear chestnut, 
shading into buff on lower back and rump and into buffy or greyish white on upper tail coverts. 
The upper wing coverts are either clear chestnut, cinnamon-rufous or isabelle, wing- and tail 
feathers dusky, broadly edged with hoary white. Forehead and sides of the head black, the 
crown exceedingly variable in coloration, varying from hoary white to chestnut; under parts 
white, more or less underlaid with cinnamon on chest, and washed with buff on abdomen. The 
five first forms are undoubtedly geographic races of the same type, and such is also very likely 
the case with 7. yeriseensis, The Central-Asiatic subspecies differ from the Western ones by 
their much smaller, weeker bill. R. pendulina jaxartensis resembles, as far as coloration is 
concerned, the European R. p. pendulina, in having the lesser upper wing coyerts cinnamon- 
rufous and the black frontal band followed by a narrow, rufous border, while in R. p. stoliczkae 
this line is altogether absent and the colour of the lesser wing coverts much paler, isabelle or 
cinnamon-buff, R. yeniseensis, of which only the immature plumage is known, shares the 
coloration of the wings with R. p. stoliczkae, but differs from the corresponding stage of the 
latter by the much broader and more distinct, buffy white frontal edge, loral and supercilary 
streak. R. macronyx and allies (nos. 9-11) are somewhat aberrant both in coloration and struc- 
ture. The bill is larger, flatter and less pointed, the feet are considerably stronger, the spurious 
primary is somewhat longer, In the adults, the whole head and sometimes even parts of the back 
and breast are black; however, the immature plumages closely resemble those of the typical 
forms. 
Geographical Distribution. South-eastern Europe and temperate regions of Palearctic 
Asia, in the east southwards to the Yangtszekiang and to Southern Japan (Kiusiu). 
Habits and Nidification. The members of this genus frequent the banks of rivers and 
lakes, and marshy places. The nest is usually built on thin twigs of willows, poplars, birches and 
other trees, often overhanging a river or swamp, but sometimes away from water. It is a beauti- 
ful stracture of the down of willow catkins or other vegetable down, carefully woven together 
with stems and fibres; in shape it somewhat resembles a flask, completely domed and thickly 
woven at the bottom, with one or two openings. The eggs, from five to seven in number, are 
pure white, without gloss, of remarkably elongated shape, and measure from 14 to 18 by 
Io to IL mm. (Jourdain). 
