713. Accentor himalayanus. The Altai Accentor.
Accentor himalayanus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 187 (1842).
Accentor altaicus, Brandt, Bull. Acad. St. Petersb. i, p. 365 (1843) Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 287 ; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. ii, p. 52 ; Hume, Cat. no. 653; Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 74 ; Skarpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 660.
Accentor variegatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii ; p. 958 (1843) j id. Cat. p. 131 j Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 359.
The Himalayan Accentor, Jerd.
Coloration. Forehead, crown, nape, and hind neck greyish brown, with darker shaft-streaks ; a pale but distinct greyish supercilium ; ear-coverts rufous, with pale shafts ; all the feathers under the eye speckled with white ; back, scapulars, and tertiaries black edged with rufous ; rump greyish brown, with obsolete darker shaft-streaks ; upper tail-coverts and tail dark brown, edged with rufous, the inner web of each feather tipped with white or rufous ; wing-coverts blackish, more or less edged with rufous and tipped with white ; quills dark brown, edged with rufous ; middle of chin and throat pure white ; sides of these parts banded with black ; feathers of lower throat tipped with black, forming a small collar ; sides of neck greyish brown ; remainder of lower plumage ferruginous, each feather edged with white ; the middle of the abdomen almost pure white ; the feathers of the flanks and under tail-coverts with broader white edges.
Base of bill at gape and the gape fleshy ; rest of bill dull black ; legs and feet brownish fleshy ; claws dull black ; iris carmine-red or cinnabar-red (Hume).
Length about 6 ; tail 2-4 ; wing 3'7 ; tarsus -85 ; bill from gape -6.
Distribution. The Himalayas from Chamba and Grilgit to Sikhim. This species occurs in Sikhim throughout the year, but probably at various altitudes according to season. At Simla it appears to be found only in winter, and it visits Gilgit at the same season. It occurs throughout a considerable portion of Central Asia.
Genus THARRHALEUS, Kaup, 1829.
The genus TJiarrJialeus contains those Accentors which have a blunt and feeble wing. The wing is longer than the tail, but by a distance much less than the length of the tarsus, and the secondaries fall short of the tip of the wing by a distance equal to about half the length of the tarsus.
The Accentors of this genus do not migrate to such an extent as those of the genus Accentor, and some are resident.
