Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/436

392 Genus XANTHIXUS Oates, 1889.

This genus was created by Oates for the reception of Xanthixus flavescens, a species differing from all its nearest allies in having the tail-feathers strongly graduated. The outermost tail-feather falls short of the longest by a distance equal in length to the tarsus; the crest resembles that of Hemixus flavala and the wing that of Molpastes.

There is only one species, which I divided into two races in 1917, one of which was again renamed by Kloss in 1919 on the grounds that I had renamed the original race from Arrakan instead of the new race. I have again compared the fine series in the British Museum and find that my original distribution is quite correct. Kloss's name sordidus therefore becomes a synonym of my vividus. The types of flavescens from Arrakan, which are in the Indian Museum and were inspected by Kloss, are probably discoloured by age, as fresh specimens from Arrakan and the Chin Mills show beyond all doubt that they belong to the same form as that from Assam and not to the more yellow form from Eastern Burma.

Kloss's birds from Annam may quite possibly be yet another form, though I cannot distinguish any differences, in which case they would retain the name sordidus.

Xanthixus flavescens.

Key to Subspecies.

(408) Xanthixus flavescens flavescens.

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Vernacular names. Dao bulip-gurrmo (Cachari).

Description. Forehead and crown dark brown, the feathers of the front half of the crown edged with grey, those of the hinder half with olive-green; upper plumage olive-brown tinged with flavescent on the rump; wings olive-brown; edges of quill-feathers olive-green; tail olive-brown, shafts rather darker brown, the three outer pairs of tail-feathers faintly tipped with yellowish white; lores black; a short supercilium from base of upper mandible yellowish white; cheeks and ear-coverts greenish grey; chin pale grey; throat, breast and flanks grey, slightly suffused with yellow on the lower breast; abdomen dull yellowish; vent and under fail-coverts bright yellow; edge of wing and under wing-coverts fulvous yellow.

Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; bill, legs and feet black.