1847.] or Little Known Species of Birds. 147 



and under-parts from the breast, except the feathers of the flanks 

 which are only margined with white ; and, besides a white wing-patch 

 under the scapularies, the wing-coverts and tertiaries are tipped with 

 the same, and the secondaries and middle tail-feathers, with the upper 

 tail- coverts, more slightly, the rest of the tail-feathers being succes- 

 sively more deeply so tipped, increasing in amount to the outermost. 

 The female has the upper -parts brown instead of black, with slight 

 whitish tips to the upper tail-coverts, and less white on the tail-feathers, 

 which is also less pure ; the wing-coverts are each tipped with a 

 triangular spot of fulvous-white, and the tertiaries more slightly ; the 

 supercilium is also fulvous-white, and the entire under-parts, except 

 the lower tail-coverts which are purer white, a little variegated with 

 dusky ; while the feathers of the throat, breast, and flanks, are each 

 tipped with a transverse dusky spot, more or less triangular on those 

 of the breast ; axillaries chiefly pure white : bill and legs yellowish. In 

 fact, if we except the eye-streak and the mottlings of the wings and 

 tail, and also its smaller size, the female of this species resembles a 

 good deal a pale and spotted-breasted hen English Blackbird. It seems 

 to be far from being a common species in this country, though met 

 with from the Himalaya to Travancore. 



16. M. boulboul ; Lanius boulboul, Lath.: Turdus pcecilopterus, 

 Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 54 ; Gould's Century, pi. XIV. The black 

 of this species is never so uniformly deep as in the European Black- 

 bird, the under-parts of the old male being more or less brownish : iu 

 younger males, there is also a brown tinge above ; the rump and upper 

 tail- coverts incline to ashy, and the lower-parts may be termed fuscous- 

 brown : the wing-mark, too, is more albescent in old birds, thus con- 

 trasting stronger with the black of the rest of the plumage ; while in 

 younger specimens it is much browner. The brown colour of the 

 females is more uniform than is represented on Gould's plate, and the 

 wing-mark is certainly never of the decided rufous hue which is there 

 laid on, having but a faint rufescent tinge, with the margins of the 

 outer coverts dull albescent to a greater or less extent. In the spotted 

 nestling garb, the sexes are already easily distinguishable, from the much 

 darker tone of colouring in the males : besides that, in all the Thrush 

 tribe, the great alars and caudals first put forth resemble in colouring, 

 size, and firm texture, those of the adults, being not shed at the first 



