Genus ÆGITHALISCUS Cabanis, 1850.
The genus Ægithaliscus contains a group of very small Titmouses with tails longer in proportion and more graduated than in Parus. There is no crest but the feathers of the crown are very long and full. There is no ventral band.
Key to Species.
| A. Chin white, throat black | Æ. concinnus, p. 93. |
| B. Chin and upper throat black in a <-shape | Æ. bonvaloti, p. 96. |
| C. Chin and throat broadly black | Æ. leucogenys, p. 97. |
| D. Chin and throat all white | Æ. niveigularis, p. 98. |
| E. Chin and throat with silver-white centre and rufescent sides | Æ. ioschistos, p. 99. |
Ægithaliscus concinnus Gould, 1855.
Our little Indian Tits hitherto known as erythrocephalus are only a geographical race of the Chinese concinnus, moreover the name itself cannot be used for this Tit as it is invalidated by Linné's Parus erythrocephalus, x. ed. p. 191 (1758), and I have therefore had to give it a new subspecific name.
Key to Subspecies.
| A. Broad supercilium white | Æ. c. iredalei, p. 93. |
| B. Supercilium mixed black and white | Æ. c. manipurensis, p. 94. |
| C. Supercilium all black | |
| a. Crown ochre: pectoral band dark and well developed | Æ. c. talifuensis, p. 95. |
| b. Crown brownish buff; pectoral band paler | Æ. c. pulchellus, p. 95. |
(77) Ægithaliscus concinnus iredalei.
The Red-Headed Tit.
- Ægithaliscus concinnus iredalei Stuart Baker, Bull. B. O. C, xli, p. 2 (1920) (Simla).
- Ægithaliscus erythrocephalus. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 50.
Vernacular names. Pyiong-Samyi (Lepcha).
Description. Forehead, crown and nape chestnut; a broad eyebrow from the eye to the nape white; lores, round the eye, ear-coverts, a band under the eyebrow and a large round patch on the throat black; chin and a moustachial streak white; remainder of the lower phtmage ferruginous, with a paler band across the breast next to the black of the throat; upper plumage and wing-coverts bluish grey; primary wing-coverts and winglet dark brown; quills brown, narrowly edged with bluish grey; tail dark brown suffused with bluish grey, the outer web of the outermost feather white, the inner tipped with white; the next two feathers tipped with white.
