Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/485

 SALPORNI3. 439 Genus SALPORNIS Gray, 1847. The genus Salpornis coutaing two species, one Indian and the other African. It diifers from Oerthia in many remarkable respects, although bearing a great general resemblance to it. It has an extremely long, pointed wing, with a minute first primary, whilst the second primary reaches to the end of the wing. The foot, also, is differently shaped.

Salpornis has a typical Certhia's bill, though it is longer than it is in most birds of that genus; the tarsus is short and the hind claw is much shorter than the hind toe. The tail is composed of 12 soft, rounded feathers and is nearly square. - The sexes are alike and the young are similar to the adult. There is apparently no spring moult,


 * Certhia spilonota Frankl., P. Z. S., 1831, p. 121 (Ganges between Calcutta aud l^enares).
 * Salpornis spilmiota. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 3.33.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Whole upper plumage, wings and tail black, spotted and barred with white; forehead and crown brownish; a broad white supercilium; lores aud a line through the eye unspotted black; chiu and throat white, the sides of the latter sometimes speckled with black; lower plumage pale cinnamon-fulvous barred with black and with white tips to some of the feathers.

Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; bill above dark blackish horny, below pale horny; legs aud feet dark plumbeous.