Phylloscopus fuscatus (_Blyth), Jerd B.I._ ii, p. 191.
Horornis fulviventer, _Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 523.
Mr. Blyth long ago stated in 'The Ibis' that _Horornis fulviventris_
was identical with _P. fuscatus_[A].
[Footnote A: It is with considerable hesitation that I reproduce this
note. _Horornis fulviventris_ with which Jerdon identified the bird,
the nest of which he describes, is certainly _P. fuscatus_. The only
doubt I have is whether Jerdon, who apparently had not seen a specimen
of _H. fulviventris_, rightly identified his bird with it. With this
explanation the note is republished as it appeared in the 'Rough
Draft.'--ED.]
Subsequently I procured several specimens which were quite distinct
from _P. fuscatus_, structurally as well as in plumage answering
perfectly to Hodgson's description.
I wrote to Dr. Jerdon mentioning this fact, and he replied:--"I also
am not satisfied of the identity of this species (_H. fulviventris_)
with _Phylloscopus fuscatus_. I have recently got at Darjeeling what I
take to be _Horornis fulviventris_, and it is somewhat smaller in all
its dimensions, but I had not a typical _P. fuscatus_ with which to
compare it. Specimens measured 4¾ to 4-7/8 inches; expanse 6½ inches;
wing 2 to 2-1/16 inches. I procured the nest and eggs in July; the
nest, cup-shaped, on a bank, composed of grass chiefly, with a few
fibres; and the eggs, three in number, pinky white, with a few reddish
spots."
It is certainly not _P. fuscatus_ (though possibly some specimens of
_P. fuscatus_ in the British Museum may bear a label formerly attached
to a bird of this species), nor any other _Horornis_ or _Horeites_
included in Dr. Jerdon's work, all of which I have. Mr. Blyth possibly
went by Mr. Hodgson's specimens in the British Museum, but some
confusion has, it is known, somehow crept in amongst these; and I have
no doubt myself that _Horornis fulviventris_ is a good species,
and that it was the nest and eggs of this species which Dr. Jerdon
found[A].
[Footnote A: I omit the article on _Abrornis chloronotus_, Hodgs,
which appeared in the 'Rough Draft' under number 574 bis. There is no
manner of doubt that Hodgson got the wrong nest, a nest of a Sunbird,
and figured it as that of this bird.--ED.]