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IANTHOCINCLA ARTEMISIA. 



Allied lanthocincla. 



Cinclosoma Artemisia, David, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 1871, 4th ser. vol. vii. p. 256.— Swinh., Proc. of Zool. 



Soc. 1871, p. 372. 

 Yantocincla Arthemisia, David, Nouv. Archiv. du Mus., torn, vii,, Bull. p. 6. 

 Yanthocincla Arthemisicz, David, ib. p. 14. 



The Abbe Armand David has the honour of bringing this novelty to the knowledge of scientific ornithologists. 

 It is most closely allied to the lanthocincla ocellata ; but as the difference in their colouring, though slight, 

 is permanent, they, like many other nearly allied species, have been distinguished by separate specific desig- 

 nations ; in what these differences consist, a glance at the figures of the two species in the respective places 

 will at once render apparent. How these slight differences arise we know not. The countries inha- 

 bited by the two birds are divided by a vast range of mountains, which neither of them presumes to cross, 

 but each strictly confines itself to its own native districts. 



Mr. Elliot was so good as to favour me with the loan of the fine specimens from which the figures in the 

 accompanying Plate were taken, an act of kindness for which, as well as for many others, my thanks are here 

 tendered to him. That there will be little, if any, difference in the habits and economy of the lanthocincla 

 Artemisia and /. ocellata I consider not improbable ; that they feed on insects, snails, and mollusks of the same 

 genera, if not of the same species, seems likely ; and that their thick clothing and the lax and silky character 

 of their feathers indicate that they live in thick and humid brushes will be plain to every one. 



The men who make such interesting discoveries as the L Artemisia are the invaluable pioneers of scien- 

 tific knowledge, to which I lend my aid by giving such representations of them as are contained in the ■ Birds 

 of Asia. 5 It will be for future generations to make us acquainted with their history, their actions, the nature 

 of their food, their mode of nidification, the number and colour of their eggs, &c. ; but this cannot be done 

 until the exclusiveness of the Chinese is more completely swept away, and the various tribes not under our 

 sway have become sufficiently enlightened to enable the scientific explorer to traverse those distant regions 

 with safety. At present the little we know respecting the /. Artemisia is contained in the following brief 

 note from the pen of the Abbe David, published in the Bulletin of the * Nouvelles Archives du Museum 

 d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris ' above quoted. 



"This species, which closely resembles the Yanthocincla ocellata, is distinguished at all ages by its darker 

 bill, by the spots on the back, which are yellowish and not white, and by the blackness of the head, throat, 

 and round the eyes, which is very marked." 



The following is the Abbe's description of the bird, which I give in his own words, as it was probably 

 taken from a recently killed example : — 



" Head and a broad patch on the throat black, leaving the chin, lores, and under the eye buff-coloured, 

 and a partial half-eyebrow and a spot in rear of the ear-coverts whitish. Neck and underparts buff, a little 

 rufous near the edge of the black gorget ; back of the neck, breast, and flanks banded on each feather near 

 its tip with an undulating black bar. Scapulars and back as in /. ocellata, but with broader and yellower 

 tip-spots, and with much narrower black bars. Wings and tail as in its ally, but with the rufous more mixed 

 with yellow. Length 12*75 inches; wing 5, tail 6*5. Bill variable in length; iris yellow. Habitat 

 Moupin, Western Szechuen." 



The Plate represents the birds of the size of life. 



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