194 Notes on various Indian and Malayan Birds. [No. 122. 



brought by Dr. Cantor from Chusan) ; and the plumage of the rump is 

 everywhere broadly black-tipped, through dull cinereous within. In- 

 habits Bootan. 



Ampeliceps, Nobis. Allied to Pastor, but the bill more sharp-pointed 

 and widening to its base, having the terminal third moderately com- 

 pressed, and the ridge of the upper mandible obtusely angular ; nostrils 

 large and impended by bristly feathers, and the gape unarmed. Tarse 

 and toes much shorter and more robust than in Pastor, the former not 

 exceeding in length the middle toe with its claw, and the claws also 

 rather short, stout, and much curved. Wings reaching beyond the 

 middle of the tail, having the first primary minute, the 2d and 3d nearly 

 equal, the second being longest. Skin thick, and plumage rather firm 

 and glossy. 



A. coronatus, Nobis. Length 8 inches, of wing from bend 5 J inches, and 

 tail 2f inch ; bill to forehead f inch, and to gape 1 inch ; and tarse |- inch. 

 General colour black with a steel shine ; the forehead, lores, crown and 

 occiput, chin and throat, together with a large wing- spot on the base of 

 the outer webs of the primaries excepting the first one, — bright yellow ; 

 the coronal feathers slender .and rigid, and those of the sides of the 

 forehead erect and curving over towards the mesial line, forming a 

 frontal crest somewhat resembling that of Pastor cristatellus : inner 

 webs of all the primaries yellowish-white at base, producing a large 

 mark of this colour on the under surface of the wing. Bill dusky 

 black, and legs apparently yellowish-brown. Tenasserim. 



Timixos, Nobis. A puzzling form, as regards its exact position, com- 

 bining the characters of many very different genera. The bill is quite 

 Parian, or shorter than the head, strong, higher than broad, the ridge 

 of the upper mandible obtuse, and its tip slightly emarginated ; both 

 mandibles are nearly of equal length, having their outlines distinctly 

 accurved : naral orifices a round aperture in the fore-part of the nasal 

 membrane : the gape feebly bristled. Tarse elongated and slender, the 

 toes moderate, the outermost longer than the inner toe, and the claws 

 compressed, that on the hind toe much the strongest and the most curv- 

 ed. Wings having the 4 th and 5 th primaries equal and longest, the 

 3d being a trifle shorter : tail even, and otherwise much resembling that 

 of Tricophorus. The wings and tail are tolerably firm, but the rest of 

 the plumage is excessively light, soft, and unsubstantial. 



