1868.] N. W. Himalaya. 31 



the feathers being dark slaty on their basal half, except those on the 

 chin and throat, which are entirely white. 



In the old female all the blue of the male is ashy grey, with an oliva- 

 ceous tinge, with a little blue on the head, back and especially on the 

 upper tail-coverts, and occasionally also on the edges of the outer webs 

 of the wing and tail feathers ; both the latter are dusky brown, the tail 

 having no white at the base ; a very indistinct pale superciliar 

 stripe is present; lores whitish; the front-head above the nostrils 

 and partially the cheeks have a distinct rufous tinge. The white 

 below is less pure, than in the male, and somewhat fulvous, especially 

 on the chin and on the throat ; the sides of the breast are pale grey. 



Bill and legs black in both male and female. 



The young male is above blackish brown, with more or less numerous, 

 pale fulvous, triangular spots, with which all the feathers are centred 

 towards the black tips. The external margins of the wing-coverts and 

 the tertiaries are also pale ; the tail is white on the basal half as in the 

 old male. Below, the plumage on the chin and throat is pale fulvous, 

 the front of the breast down towards the vent spotted, all the feathers 

 being margined and tipped with dusky ; purer white only on the under 

 tailcoverts. The change of the plumage begins about the end of July 

 or in August. The fulvous spots disappear and the young male is 

 coloured, like the old female, but with much more blue above 

 especially on the back, on the scapulars, on the rump and on the head \ 

 the nape and the lateral spots on the breast remaining grey 

 or somewhat olivaceous. In this state I found the young males 

 retiring from the interior hills to the plains, or at least to the lower 

 hills, but I have not been able to ascertain whether they do or not 

 obtain their full colouring before the next spring. 



The young female in every respect resembles the young male, except 

 that the general colour above is more grey and less dark, the lateral 

 spots on the breast being very indistinct ; the tail has no white at the 

 base, as likewise in the old female. 



This species is one of the most common birds in the Sutlej 

 valley and is seen all the way from Belaspoor to Pangi ; I found it 

 in general, in the N. W. Himalaya, ascending elevations up to 

 12,000 feet. About Kishtwar, it is still not uncommon, but it 

 is rarer in the Sind-valley of Kashmir, being also occasionally met 



