Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 2).djvu/32

18 Bill black ; legs and feet dull purplish black ; iris deep brown (Hume).

Length about 4-5 ; tail 1*9 ; wing 2'6 ; tarsus '6; bill from gape *6.

Distribution. The Himalayas, from Kashmir arid the Hazara country to Sikhim. In summer this species is found up to 12,000 feet ; but in winter it descends to the lower ranges, and many birds find their way to the plains, whence I have examined specimens procured at Allahabad, Etawah, Jhansi, Saugor, Eaipur, Seoni, and Khandesh. It probably does not occur east of the longitude of Calcutta. Two birds procured in Karenuee by Wardlaw E/amsay were entered in my ' Birds of Burmah ' as belonging to this species. On reexaminiug these specimens, I find that they are without doubt females of C. astiyma. Other localities recorded for this species are Ajanta by Jerdon and Ahmednagar in the Deccan by Eairbank. Habits, <$fc. Breeds throughout the Himalayas from April to June, laying five eggs in a cup-shaped nest of moss in a hole of a tree or between two stones in a wall. The eggs are pale green, profusely marked with reddish, and measure about *62 by *48.

569. Cyornis melanoleucus. The Little Pied Flycatcher.

Muscicapa maculate, Tick. J. A. S. B. ii, p. 574 (1833, descr. mill.}, nee P.L. 8. Mull., nee GmeL

Muscicapula melanoleuca, Hodys., Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii. p. 940 (1843); id. Cat. p. 172.

Erythrosterna pusilla, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xviii, p. 813 (1849) ; id. Cat. p. 171 ; Jerd. B. I. i, p. 482 ; Brooks, S. F. iii, p. 236, v, p. 471 ; Hume, Cat. no. 324.

Muscicapula maculata (Tick.), Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, p. 296; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iv, p. 207 ; Oates, B. B. i, p. 294.

Erythrosterna maculata (Tick.}, Jerd. B. I. i, p. 483; Brooks, S. F. iii, p. 277 ; Hume, Cat. no. 326 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 167 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 117. The Rufous-backed Flycatcher', The Little Pied Flycatcher, Jerd. ; Tuni- ti-ti, Lepch.

Coloration. Male. The whole upper plumage, including the lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, and sides of the neck, black ; a very broad superciliary streak, reaching to the nape and widening posteriorly, white ; the whole lower plumage white; wings black, the later secondaries edged with white on the outer webs ; greater wing-coverts white; tail black, the basal two-thirds of all the feathers except the middle pair white ; the bases of some of the feathers of the rump white.

Female. Eesembles closely the female of C. superciliaris, but may be recognized by the bright ferruginous colouring of the upper tail-coverts and the pale colour of the lower plumage.

Specimens of females from Manipur and south of that place are generally much darker than those from the Indian peninsula.

The young closely resemble those of C. superciliaris, and are, in fact, not distinguishable from them.