OCR Text |
Show 1890.] FROM SOUTH-EASTERN CHINA. 343 Babbler at Ching-fung, in North Fokien, on the 13th of October. It is most nearly allied to Pomatorhinus erythrocnemis, from Formosa, which it resembles in its dimensions, but from which it differs in the following particulars :-the crown is brown rather than grey ; the back is chestnut-red rather than chestnut-brown ; the breast and belly are pale slate-grey in the centre, and dark slate-grey on the sides, instead of dull white in the centre, and chestnut-brown on the sides; whilst the thighs are almost entirely slate-grey, instead of chestnut and brown. ALCIPPE HUETI, David, Ann. Sc. Nat. xix. Art. 9 (1874). Alcippe annulo ophthalmico albo ; hypochondriis brunneis ; pileo cinereo. Two examples collected by Herr Baun, one on the 14th of November at Puching, and the other on the 28th of October at Kien-ning, appear to be distinct horn Alcippe morrisoni from Formosa, and still more so from Alcippe nipalensis from the Eastern Himalayas. The Fokien species agrees with them in having a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eye, but differs from both in the colour of the crown and nape, which is slate-grey without any tinge of brown. The lores also differ in having no white bases to the feathers. On the underparts it agrees with the Formosan species in having the throat suffused with grey instead of buff, and with the Himalayan species in having the flanks and under tail-coverts suffused with olive-brown instead of sandy buff. The male measures 2*55 inches in length of wing, and 2'4 in length of tail; but the female is smaller, measuring only 2'45 inches in length of wing, and 2' 1 5 in length of tail. In both sexes the culmen measures "5 and the tarsus "9. The Abbe David appears to have been fully justified in describing the Fokien bird as a distinct species; though he was subsequently induced to identify it with Alcippe nipalensis (David et Oustalet, Ois. Chine, p. 218), and still more recently other ornithologists have identified it with Alcippe morrisoni (Styan, Ibis, 1887, p. 222). LlOTHRIX LUTEA. Liothrix pileo olivaceo, caudd valde furcatcl. Two examples of the Red-billed Hill-Tit procured by Herr Baun at Puching, one in May and the other in November, differ from Himalayan examples in various particulars, and cannot be regarded as of the same species. The specific term lutea must be retained for the Chinese species, having been originally applied to examples from Nankin (Scopoli, Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. ii. p. 96), whilst that of calipyga (Hodgson, Indian Review, 1838, p. 88) will probably be recognized as the name of the Indian species. The Chinese species has a much more forked tail, the outer feathers being -35 inch longer than the central feathers, instead of only '15 inch. The red patch on the wing is almo t as rich, whilst the red on the outer webs of the two innermost primaries is almost as pale as in Liothrix argentauris. The tertials of the Chinese species are 24* |