PARUS JERDONI, myth. 



Jerdon's Tit. 



Parus Jerdoni, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xxv. p. 445. 



xanthogenys, Jerdon in Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., vol. xi. p. 7. 



Mr. Blyth was quite correct when he described this species as distinct from Parus xanthogenys and 

 P. spilonotus ; for although nearly allied to both those birds, and particularly to the former, it presents 

 several characters by which it may be distinguished : it is more robust in form, has a smaller amount of 

 yellow colouring on the cheeks, and is destitute of the yellow superciliary stripe, in lieu of which a small 

 yellow mark commences some distance behind the eye, and extends backwards to the nape ; in P. xantho- 

 genys, too, the yellow of the face and under surface predominates over the black, while precisely the reverse 

 occurs in P. Jerdoni, where the black mark, occupying the throat, chest and centre of the abdomen, is broad 

 and very conspicuous, and where the yellow is suffused with greyish-olive, and is consequently not so 

 bright ; the primaries, secondaries and wing-coverts in P. Jerdoni are jet-black, and the spots at their tips 

 are small and white. 



My collection contains examples of both sexes, and also a young bird; which latter differs from the 

 adult in the absence of the deep colouring of the centre of the abdomen, that part being dark olive-grey, 

 like the same part in the young Parus major, which this bird more nearly equals in size than either 

 P. xanthogenys or P. spilonotus. 



While Parus xanthogenys and P. spilonotus are inhabitants of the southern slopes of the great Himalayan 

 range, the present species, on the other hand, is a native of the Peninsula of India, where it enjoys a range 

 extending from the latitude of Bombay to that of Cape Comorin ; throughout this vast extent of country it 

 is to be found in every district of a hilly character suited to its habits, and particularly in the Neilgherries. 



The following brief note by Mr. Jerdon comprises all the information hitherto recorded respecting the 

 bird here figured : — 



"This species is also an inhabitant of the Neilgherries, but I only observed it in the warmer parts, about 

 the edges of the hills. I have hitherto observed it in no other locality, but it is mentioned in Mr. Elliott's 

 and Col. Sykes's Catalogues. Food and habits like those of Parus atriceps. Irides light brown." 



I cannot conclude this account without recording my obligations to Major Hutt, for the examples of this 

 bird kindly presented to me by him. 



Forehead, crown, crest, ear-coverts, sides of the neck, chin, throat, breast and centre of the abdomen 

 glossy jet-black ; stripe behind each eye, cheeks, sides of the breast, and a patch on the nape beneath the 

 crest, fine yellow ; upper surface olive-green, washed with dark grey on the rump ; wings black, the lesser 

 coverts margined with olive-green, the greater coverts with a variable-shaped spot at the tip of each ; 

 primaries white at the base, and narrowly edged from the middle to near the end of the external webs, and 

 tipped with white ; secondaries tipped, and the two nearest the body broadly edged with white ; tail 

 slaty-black, the external web of the outer feather and the tips of the whole white ; flanks dull greyish olive- 

 green ; bill black ; feet bluish-grey. 



The young differs in having all the tints much paler, and the throat and chest olive instead of black. 



The Plate represents both sexes of the natural size, on the Ixora rosea of Dr. Wallich. 





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