heuipus. 329 



thing as H. capitalis, McClell., in India, or, in other words, that 

 this latter name is a mere synonym of H. picatus *. 



Mr. Blyth remarks, Ibis, 1866 : — " Hemipus picatus. Under this 

 name two very distinct species are brought together by Dr. 

 Jerdon : H. capitalis (McClell., 1839 ; H.piccecoloi; Hodgson, 1845) 

 of the Himalaya, which is larger, with proportionally longer tail, 

 and has a brown back ; and H. picatus (Sykes) of Southern India 

 and Ceylon, which has a black back. Mr. Wallace has good series 

 of both of them. 



" Hemipus capitalis has accordingly to be added to the birds of 

 India." 



Now, out of India, Mr. Wallace may have got hold of some 

 brown-backed Hemipus, which is really distinct, but nothing is 

 more certain (I speak after comparison of a large series from 

 Southern India with a still larger, gathered from all parts of the 

 Himalayas) than that the Southern and Northern Indian birds are 

 identical, and that in both localities the males have black and the 

 females brown backs. 



Capt. T. Hutton says : — " On the 12th of May I procured a nest 

 of this bird in the Dehra Doon ; it was placed on the ground at 

 the base of an overhanging rock, and was composed entirely of the 

 hair of horses and cows and other cattle, which had doubtless 

 been collected from the bushes and pasture-lands in the vicinity. 

 There were four eggs of a pale sea-green, spotted with rufous- 

 brown, and forming an indistinct and nearly confluent ring at the 

 larger end. The bird had begun to sit. 



" This curious little species is not uncommon in the outer hills 

 up to 5000 feet in the summer months." 



The three eggs sent me by Captain Hutton appear to differ 

 somewhat conspicuously from any other eggs of the Laniidai that 

 I have yet seen. The ground-colour is a very pale greenish white, 

 and they are moderately thickly freckled and mottled all over, 

 but most densely towards the large end (where, in one egg, there 

 is a well-marked, though somewhat irregular, zone), with pale 

 brownish pink and very pale purple. In shape the eggs are very 

 regular, rather broad ovals, and appear to have but little or no 

 gloss. They vary in length from - 66 to 0'7 inch, and in breadth 

 from 0-53 to 0-55 inch. 



Dr. Jerdon's evidence, so far as it goes, tallies with Captain 

 Hutton's account. He says : — " I obtained its nest once at Dar- 

 jeeling, made of roots and grasses, with three greenish-white eggs, 

 having a few rusty-red spots." 



* Mr. Hume would probably now agree with me that H. picatus and 

 H. capitalis are distinct species. H. picatus, however, is not confined to 

 Southern India, but occurs along the Terais of Sikhim and Nepal, and through- 

 out Burma. H. capitalis occurs on the Himalayas from Gurwhal to Assam. 

 There is little doubt that Captain Hutton's nest did not really belong to a 

 Pied Shrike.— Ed. 



