1872.] W. T. Blanford— Zoology of Sikhim. 49 



1*17, bill from forehead 068. Jerdon's measurement of the bill, |, must be 

 from the gape. 



It is quite possible that this may be a distinct local race, inhabiting 

 Eastern Tibet, but I scarcely like to separate it without better means of 

 comparison. 



Tukdid^i. 



350 Zoothera monticola, Vigors. — I obtained one specimen at about 

 10,000 feet in the Lachen valley, but I did not shoot it myself. 



362 Mebtjla albocestcta, (Royle). — This black bird is common in 

 rhododendron scrub, and on the skirts of forest on the Chola range at 11,000 

 to 13,000 feet. I saw it also at Lachung hi Upper Sikkim at about 8,000 feet. 

 It appears to haunt banks of streams. 



352 Oreocohtes erythrogaster, (Vigors). — Obtained by Captain 

 Elwes near Lachung. 



478 GtEANdaxa CCELICOLOR, Hodgs. — The systematic position of this 

 bird is very puzzling. I cannot see much affinity for Myiomela, and even less 

 for Calliope, next to which Mr. Gr. E. Gray classes it in his ' Hand list.' I was 

 wrong in placing the African Pholidaioges letccogaster, in the same genus 

 (Obs. Geol. and Zool. Abyssinia, p. 367), but I still believe that there is some 

 affinity between the two. The bill of Granclala is certainly Saxicoline, but I 

 am strongly disposed to doubt whether, as a rule, far too great importance 

 is not attached to characters of the bill by ornithologists. 



Were I to judge Grmidala by its flight, habits, and form of wing, I 

 shotdd unhesitatingly place it amongst the Starlings. The tarsi are, it is 

 true, less strongly scutellated than in the 8fat,rnidce, but stfll the scutellation 

 towards the base is well marked, and the tarsus has no more resemblance to 

 that of a Saxicola than to that of Sturnus. On the whole perhaps the most 

 natural position is hi the thrushes, some of which, as the fieldfare, assemble 

 into flocks in the winter. 



Captain Speke was quite correct as to the gregarious habits of this bird, 

 Mr. Hodgson's information, however, may have been derived from its being 

 found solitary or hi pairs in the summer. We first met with it at Momay 

 Samdong (15,000 feet). A flock entirely composed of young birds or females 

 used to visit a small grassy flat, close to our encampment, for several evenings 

 after our arrival, and hunt about for insects which were atracted by the 

 yak's dung, exactly as starlings do. All which I shot proved to be young 

 males. I saw none at a lower elevation, but near Donkia pass, at above 

 17,000 feet, I met with a flock in which were some males hi adult plumage, 

 one of which I shot. 



483 Pratds'COLa indica, Blyth. — Common in the Laclning and Lachen 

 valleys in September and the beginning of October, and apparently 

 7 



