6. H. concolor, Sykes. Indian peninsula. 7. H. rupestris, Scopoli: H. rupicola, Hodgson; H. inornata, Jerdon. Himalaya, Neilgherries. 8. H. urbica, Lin. Himalaya, Neilgherries. 9. H. riparia, Lin. Nepal, S. India. (Non vidi.) 10. H. sinensis, Gray, in Hardwicke's Ill. Ind. Zool.: H. brevi. caudata, McClelland, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 156: Indian Martin Swallow of Latham. I think there can be no doubt that both the former names apply to the common little Indian Bank Martin, abundant along all the great rivers of the country, wherever the banks are sandy and high enough for them to perforate their nest-holes with tolerable security. The species is nearly allied to H. riparia in form, colour, and habits; but differs in its smaller size, less furcate tail, rather lighter colour, with the upper tail-coverts somewhat albescent, also in the breast being much paler, and in the absence of the downy tuft on the tarse just above the hind-toe, which invariably distinguishes H. riparia. Length of wing three inches and a half to three and threequarters, and of middle tail-feathers an inch and a half. Whether these birds are migratory I am unaware. I have found both newly laid eggs and young ready to fly in the beginning of December, and also at the end of February. The nest-holes vary in depth from a foot and a half to considerably more, according as the banks are more or less hard; and the nest itself is composed of dry grass, with occasionally a few feathers in the lining eggs pure white, like those of H. riparia; and the young have their upper feathers more or less margined with rufous, as in that species. N. B. The H. brevirostris, McClelland, described with H. brevicaudata, I have identified as a Collocalia (XIV, note to p. 548), being the same as H. unicolor, Jerdon. Of the various groups of Saxicoline Flycatchers, one genus makes a considerable approach to the Swallows. This is Hemichelidon, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 203. The bill is absolutely as in Hirundo; and the wing reaches to two-thirds of the length of the tail, having the first primary minute, the second nearly equalling the fifth, and the third and fourth equal and longest: rest as in Butalis, but the tarse still shorter. Mr. Hodgson describes two species, H. fuliginosa and H. ferruginea. The former is com H. fuliginosa mon at Darjeeling, and the latter I have not yet seen. has the wing two inches and three-quarters long, and tail an inch and three-quarters. Colour plain fuliginous-brown above, paler below, albescent towards the vent and lower tail-coverts, and slightly on the throat bill blackish above, the base of the lower mandible yellow; and feet brown. Young speckled with pale yellowish-brown, like a young Robin.* : Butalis, Boie, founded on the European Muscicapa grisola. This is another good genus, the species of which are distinguished by their plain olive or greyish colouring. The beak is more or less elongated and flattened, but in the Indian species is generally somewhat larger than in B. grisola: the feet are small and feeble; and the wings reach half-way down the tail, having their first primary short, the third and fourth sub-equal, and the second generally shorter than the fifth. Tail of mean length. All have the larger wing-feathers margined with pale buff externally. 1. B. terricolor, Hodgson, n. s. Plain uniform earthy-brown above, and whitish-brown below: the upper mandible dark, and the lower whitish except at its extreme tip: legs brown. Length about five inches and a half, of wing two and three-quarters, and tail two inches; bill to gape eleven-sixteenths, and tarse half an inch. The beak of this species is longer, broader, and also flatter, than in B. grisola. From Nepal. 2. B. rufescens, Jerdon, n. s. Very similar to the last, but distinguished by its general rufous tinge, and especially by its white legs and claws. Colour olive-brown above, tinged with rufous on the back, and more deeply so on the upper tail-coverts and margins of the caudal feathers; wing-coverts and tertiaries also margined with pale rufous: throat and fore-neck white, as also the anterior part of the lores, but a longitudinal patch of brown on each side of the throat; the breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts, brown, paler on the tail, and the belly whitish. Beak dark above, and yellowish-white below. Dimensions as in last. From S. India. 3. B. ruficauda, (Swainson), Nat. Libr., Flycatchers,' Appendix. The beak of this species more resembles that of B. grisola, but is * A species of this genus (apparently) is figured in one of Dr. McClelland's draw. ings of Assamese birds. Colour brown, paler below, whitish towards throat and vent: the secondaries and tertiaries margined with white, surrounding the tips of the latter. longer; the feet are dusky-plumbeous; and the tail and its upper coverts are moderately bright rufous or ferruginous, suffused with dusky on the middle pair of tail-feathers, and on part of the outer margin of the next; rump also tinged with ferruginous; the rest of the upper-parts olivaceous, and the under-parts greyish, passing to white. on the abdomen and chin; lower tail-coverts white, tinged faintly with ferruginous. Length about five inches and a half, of wing two and seven-eighths, and tail two and one-eighth; bill to gape three-quarters of an inch, and tarse five-eighths: the under mandible. of the bill of this species has little trace of whitish. Hab. S. India. 4. B. latirostris, (Raffles, Swainson): Muscicapa pöonensis, Sykes. The beak of this species is shorter and broader than in the others, and much flattened. Length nearly five inches, of wing two and fiveeighths, and tail an inch and seven-eighths; bill to gape eleven-sixteenths, and tarse half an inch. Colour greyish-brown above, sometimes a little tinged with rufescent; lower-parts white; the breast, flanks, and sides of the throat, light greyish-brown bill dusky, except the base of the lower mandible, which is pale-yellowish; and the feet are dark brown wing-coverts and tertiaries margined with light rufescent. Hab. S. India and Malay countries. The following are two very distinct generic forms of Flycatchers, neither of which can be approximated to any other with which I am acquainted. Muscitrea, nobis. Bill of moderate length, somewhat conical, a little compressed, the upper mandible obtusely angulated, with the curvature of its outline increasing to the tip, which overhangs that of the lower mandible, and is slightly emarginated; the extreme tip of the lower mandible also curves a little upward: gonys straight and scarcely inflected: the nostrils small, with anterior oval aperture, and beset at base with short reflected feathers and some incumbent hairs: a few fine hair-like bristles also at the gape, of moderate length. Tarsi moderately slender, as long as the middle toe with its claw; the toes and claws suited for perching. Wings long and broad, reaching more than half-way down the tail, having the fourth and fifth primaries equal and longest, the third rather shorter, the second equalling the eighth, and the first about half the length of the third. Tail moderately developed, its feathers of nearly equal length. The general plumage inclines to be dense, and is unadorned with bright colours and glossless in the only known species. M. cinerea, nobis. Length about six inches; of wing nearly three and a half; and tail two and a half: bill to forehead (through the feathers) five-eighths, and to gape three-quarters: tarse three-quarters of an inch. General colour ashy-brown above, greyer on the head, and tinged with fulvous on the exterior margins of the secondaries ; beneath albescent, a little brown across the breast: bill light horncolour; and feet have probably been bluish-leaden. From the Island of Ramree, Arracan, where discovered by Capt. Abbott. Anthipes, nobis. This would probably be classed by Mr. Swainson with his Fluvicolinæ, or "Water-chats." With the general form of a Pratincola, it combines a Flycatcher's bill, and the toes and claws of an Anthus or Pipit. Beak flattened, rather wide at base, and narrowing evenly to the tip; the ridge of the upper mandible distinctly angulated, and its tip considerably overhanging that of the lower mandible, and (as usual in such cases) emarginated: nostrils basal, nearly closed by the membrane, their aperture a narrow lateral fissure gape armed with fine but firm vibrissæ. Tarse slender, as long as the middle toe with its claw: the toes and claws suited for running, as in the Pipits; the middle front claw greatly exceeding the two lateral ones, and the hind claw as long as the toe, and but slightly curved, as are also the other claws. Wings moderate, rounded; the fourth, fifth, and sixth primaries sub-equal and longest, the third and seventh rather shorter, the second much shorter, and the first half the length of the second. Tail even, of moderate length, or somewhat short, the wings reaching half-way to its tip. Plumage full and dense. A. gularis, nobis. Length four inches and a quarter; of wing two and three-eighths, and tail an inch and three-quarters: bill to forehead half an inch, and to gape five-eighths: tarse three-quarters, and hind-toe and claw the same. Upper-parts fulvescent olive-brown; the wings and tail inclining to dark ferruginous: lores conspicuously whitish, continued as a streak over but not beyond the eye: throat white, forming a large triangular patch, surrounded by a narrow black border; the breast and flanks fulvescent, and middle of the belly whitish. Bill black; and legs and claws pale. From Arracan, where discovered by Capt. Phayre. The Dimorpha? moniliger, Hodgson, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, p. 196, would seem, from the description, to approximate the above species in its markings. Zanthopygia, nobis. This is a genus of Chat-flycatchers, which I am not as yet prepared to approximate to any other. In the form of its beak, it bears much resemblance to the Australian genera Eopsaltria and Petroica (which branch off from Pachycephala), and also to the Pratincole; but of the two species to be described, the bill of the first is vertically deeper than that of the second, which renders generalization more difficult, although the generic identity of the two birds is unquestionable. Bill of mean length, acutely triangular as viewed from above, or much narrower than in the more characteristic Flycatchers; its upper ridge angulated, and the tip of the upper mandible incurved and emarginated: gape beset with fine hair-like vibrissæ. Tarsi and toes moderately small and weak, the tarse as long as the middle toe with its claw; wings reaching half-way down the tail, their first primary short, only a quarter the length of the second, which is shorter than the fifth, the third and fourth being subequal and longest. Tail of mean length. Plumage rather firm the males black above, with yellow rump and under-parts, and a large white wing-spot. From Malasia. : Z. leucophrys, nobis. Length about five inches, of wing two and three-quarters, and tail an inch and three-quarters: bill to gape fiveeighths, and tarse barely five-eighths of an inch. Colour deep black above, bright yellow below and on the rump; a large wing-spot, continued along two-thirds of the outer edge of the largest tertiary, also a spot before and over the eye, and the lower tail-coverts, pure white: bill dusky-horn or blackish, and legs brown. The femalet differs widely in being of a light olive-green above, tinged with grey, especially Timixos meruloides, nobis, J. A. S. XI, 195, is Pachycephala olivacea, Vig. and Horsf. Muscicapa zanthopygia, A. Hay, Madr. Journ. No. XXXI, 162. The above description of the female is from his lordship's specimen; and Lord A. Hay's brief notice of the male in a foot-note, is from a specimen in the Society's museum, of which I have had a description by me in MS. for two years at least. His lordship, by a slip of the taining the male he had seen. description in the text, except perhaps in having the head less tinged with ashy. Dr. C. has only a female, which accords with the |