324 
NEW SPECIES OF CASIA NOBIS OF NEPAL. 
The oldest Pilot on the li-st had only served 
thirty years, the mean of servitude for the 
whole casualties being only iweniy-three 
years. Thirty-two Masters have died in thirty 
years, the peieentage being 4.30, their mean 
age at the time of death being thirty-six, 
after a mean of service of seventeen year.c. 
The deatlis in the First Mates (tlie most 
exposed class probably ) have been heaviest 
of any, or 5 per cent . : their mean age was 
28, and their period of service ten years. 
The Second Mates deceased only at h;.lfth-t 
rate, their mean age being 28 also, their ser- 
vice eight years. Among ilte Volunteers, the 
casualties by drowning are twenty, while the 
natural deaths are only fifty, the total per- 
centage per annum being 4.10, the mean age 
of the deceased of this rank was 22, and their 
average periods of service three and a half 
years.” 
Tb he continued. 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
ON SOME NEW SPECIES OF THE 
EDOLIAN AND CEBLEPVRINE SUB- 
FAMILIES OF THE LANIID^ OF 
NEPAL. 
Bt B. H. Hodgson, Esa., 
Resident in Nepal. 
(For the India Review.) 
The dark-coloured shrikes of India, if they 
are, most of them, not wholly unknown to 
science, yet seem all very imperfectly known ; 
■whence has resulted the customary confu- 
sion of species and unsatisfactory classifica- 
tion. Hereafter, with more ample know- 
ledge of their manners, and the aid of Euro- 
pean libraries and museums, I trust to be 
able to dispose these birds in a natural man- 
ner. But I shall at present confine myself 
merely to a few indications on that subject, 
limiting this paper chiefly to an attempt to 
fix some of the species beyond the possibility 
of future doubts. 
EDOLIAN^. 
Genus edolius ? Genus? Subgenus? Chihia 
nobis. Bhring-raj * of the Hindoos. Chi- 
bya of the mountaineers (generiee). 
• Note, Bhring-Raja, quasi Rexa pum. is. in 
the plains, the generic name of our 3 first 
species. Chibia is the hill name. As 1 have 
separated the 3rd species subgenerically, 1 have 
applied the latter name to the two first species, 
and the former,to the third* Bhriiiga, Bhringaca, 
and Khring-raj,are synonimes, most improjjer- 
ly applied by Wilson to Lanius carulescens and 
other Bhuchangas . Quoad the use of native ge- 
neric appellations, 1 think there is wisdom in 
it, as heli)ing the student in India to discover 
affinities which the people have ascertained 
from long familiarity. And, with respect to the 
European student, what can he rationally ob- 
ject? A single word or dinarity cannot pour- 
tray a group or genus; and are not half Cuviers 
generic term.? derived from Greek or Ibatin 
ist Species, new. Casia nobis (K^sya, 
quasi comatus, of Nepal). 
Form and size, 13 inches long by 20 in 
expanse of wings ; bill 1 tail 6 ; tarsus I.^ 
central toe || ; hind ; weight 3^ oz. Bill, 
a third longer than the head, conspi- 
cuously and uniformly arched throughout, 
not hooked, nor depressed, at base as high as 
broad, and much compressed forwards; ge- 
neral form, subtetragonal, with sharp ridges 
and nearly plane somewhat spreading sides, 
especially those of the maxilla in its basal 
half ; for in its anteai half the sides become 
nearly vertical by extreme compression : 
tomiae very trenchant and remote from the 
ridged palate, those of the lower mandible 
fitting into a groove just within those of the 
upper : the tips acute and subequal ; having 
the curve and recurve ; the tooth and notch 
all distinct, though very small, especially the 
latter. Nasal fossae short but distinctly 
keeling the culmen between them, provided 
with membranes, and hid by thick-set velvety 
plumes very moderately produced over the 
bill and putting forth several long flowing 
elastic hairs which sweep with a fine curve 
over the head and neck. 
Rictus to the eye and strongly bristled. 
Narcs basal, lateral, ovoid, shaded above by 
a small process of the fossal membrane and 
hid by velvety plumes and adpressed rigid 
hairs. Tongue nearly equal to the bill, deep- 
ly cleft and feathered. Cervical plumes 
elongated, narrow, pointed, and curved 
gracefully backwards. Tail shorter than the 
body, consisting of ten, strong, and nearly 
even plumes, the two externals only pos- 
sessing palpably the divaricating structure, 
and, being produced about | an inch beyond 
the next, have their tips curled boldly over 
them. VVings ample, reaching to the mid- 
dle and more of the tail, or two and half 
inches short of its tip : alar quills broad-web- 
bed and obtusely pointed, even in the prima- 
ries which exceed the tertiaries by only 
inches. Closed wing 6| ; whereof the 1st 
quill is 3§ ; the 2ad 5^ ; the 3rd 6| ; the 4th 
6| ; and the 5th and longest, 6^. 
Legs and feet strong. Tarsus considera- 
bly longer than any of the digits and heavily 
scaled. Toes stout, short, unequal ; the 
fores basally connected ; the outer, beyond 
the joint ; the inner, less ; their soles full but 
subdepressed ; the hind toe, large, depressed, 
and equal to the outer fore one. Nails, 
strong, falcate, and rather acute ; the hind 
one largest. Intestines, 15 inches long, larg- 
names o 1 unknown birds ? Indian words are 
generally as euphonous as the cognate Greek 
and Latin ones, and, I may add, as signigeant 
too. 1 have serious thoughts of a classification 
founded in the resulrs of native experience, 
or, in other words, upon the adoption of Indian 
generic terms. The great difficulty is to as- 
certain the value of those terms ; but, once 
ascertained, they will often serve as a belter 
guide to affinities than all the scien* e of Eu- 
rope, wasted, as it is, upon dried skins! Euro- 
peans in India have done all they could to con- 
fuse native nomenclature by limiting to species 
the generic terms of the people: witness 
Haran, Mriga, Bagjarceta, Dhaiiesa, &c. &c. 
