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MELANOCHLORA SULTANEA. 



Sultan Tit. 



Parus sultaneus, Hodgs. Ind. Rev., 1836, p. Sl.-Gray, Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 83.-Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 



vol. xm. p. 943.-G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 192, Parus, sp. 41. 

 -flavocristatus, Lafres. Mag. de Zool., 1837, Ois. pi. 80.-Horsf. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. (1839), p. 162.- 



Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 184, and vol. xii. p. 955.— Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. 



Soc. Calcutta, p. 102.— Id. in Jard. Cont. to Orn., 1852, p. 48. 

 Melanochlora Sumatrana, Less. Rev. Zool., 1839, p. 42. 



sultaneus etjlavocristatus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., torn. i. p. 333. 



Parus Sumatranus, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 792. 



Crataionyx flava et ater, Eyt. Proc. of Zool. Soc. (1839), p. 104. 



Melanochlora sultanea, Jerd. Birds of Ind. vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 282.-Wald. in Proc. of Zool. Soc. (1866), p. 551. _ 



Bon tylia pho, Lepchas (Jerdon). 



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Ornithologists very generally agree in placing this bird among the Paridce, and Strickland went so far s 

 to say he considered it a typical Tit ; but in my opinion we ought first to define the characters of the family, 

 and then determine whether such birds as those forming the genera Mgithalus and Calamophilus on the one 

 hand, and Fakunculus on the other, are members of it ; if so, then Melanochlora may not be too widely 

 different to be admitted also. For myself, I am sure that a mere glance at the accompanying Plate will be 

 sufficient for even an ordinary observer to perceive how greatly the birds figured thereon differ from the 

 ordinary Tits. The small amount of information that has been recorded respecting their habits and economy 

 throws but little light on the subject: they are said to frequent the tops of large trees, and to move about 

 in flocks ; the reed-loving Calamophilus is equally gregarious, yet it is by many writers excluded from the 

 Paridce. Besides this difficulty as to the affinities of Melanochlora, it is a question whether there are one 

 or two species of this form, or if the Malaccan and Sumatran birds be identical with those from the 

 Himalayas. It will be seen, from the synonyms given above, that I regard them as one and the same ; but 

 I must remark that my figures were taken from Himalayan specimens, which are always larger and 

 more beautifully coloured than those from Sumatra. 



As is the case with the members of the genus Fakunculus, a marked difference occurs in the outward 

 appearance of the sexes, the female having the throat green, while in the male it is steel-blue. 



The following short sentences, which are given with due acknowledgment of the sources whence they 

 were obtained, comprise all that has been recorded respecting this showy bird : — 



" This magnificent Tit," says Mr. Jerdon, " is only found in the warmer valleys of the Himalayas, 

 extending into Assam, and through Burmah to the Malayan peninsula, and even to Sumatra. Near 

 Darjeeling it is common in the valley of the great Runjeet, about 1200 feet, and thence ascends to about 

 4000. It frequents the tops of high trees, in small flocks, feeding on insects chiefly, and emits a rather loud 

 note. The Lepchas told me that it breeds in holes in lofty trees, but did not obtain me the nest and eggs." 



Mr. Hodgson states that "it is found in the northern regions of the hills, passing into the southern in 

 winter. It explores foliage, and feeds upon the softer arboreal insects, perfect and imperfect, is exceedingly 

 fond of caterpillars, and occasionally takes pulpy berries." 



Captain Beavan, who obtained a specimen at Kyodan, Salween River, Burmah, on the 14th of August, 

 1865, states that the species there " occurs in small parties in heavy tree jungle, and is very noisy." 

 Viscount Walden, in his Notes on the Birds collected by Capt. Beavan in Tenasserim and in the Andaman 

 Islands, remarks, on the above-mentioned specimen, that it is " a young male in immature plumage, the 

 yellow crest hardly extending beyond the nape, and the dark portion of the plumage being of a dull greenish 

 brown," and adds, " Specimens from Penang and Darjeeling do not differ ; and the geographically 

 intermediate Tenasserim race seems to be identical with them. I adopt Mr. Hodgson's designation in 

 preference to that of Lafresnaye, on the authority of the date cited by Dr. Jerdon. Sumatran examples 

 have yet to be compared with continental, and, if found to be specifically distinct, will have to take 

 Lafresnaye's title of Jlavo-cristatus. Prince Bonaparte, in his ' Conspectus Generum Avium,' keeps the two 

 separate, but gives no other distinction than that of size, Hodgson's species being, according to him, the 

 smallest. This statement, however, is not quite reliable; for the Prince records them both from the 

 Himalayas." (Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 551.) 



The male has the forehead, crown, lengthened crest, under wing-coverts, breast, abdomen, flanks, and 

 under tail-coverts pure yellow ; the remainder of the plumage black, glossed with green on the throat; irides 

 dark brown ; bill and feet greenish black. 



The figures represent the two sexes, of the size of life, on the Epigynium acuminatum. 



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