“Since Blyth (1843) did not describe the genus Ixops, we depict it as
follows: Ixops “Hodgson” Blyth 1843. gen. rev. Type species: Ixops nipalensis Hodgson 1836.. The members of this genus (I. nipalensis, I. waldeni, I. souliei, and I. morrisoniana) inhabit broadleaf evergreen and mixed forests. Sexes are alike.”
Is Ixops male or female? (ops [from Greek ops eye, face] Having the type of eyes or face indicated by the stem or prefix) Tursiops for dolphins is male? Does it matter? I. nepalensis would not change, I. morrisoniana is named for Mount Morrison, maybe Actinodura souliei griseinucha would change? The 1836 Hodgson citation is where he described Cinclosoma nipalensis. In fact it was called Notices Of The Ornithology Of Nepal. 1-Eight New Species Of Cinclosoma pp 143-192 . Hodgson did not publish Ixops until 1844 where it is a nomen nudum? ( Gray’s Zoological Miscellany) Blyth published Ixops in 1843 but no description, nomen nudum? "A nomen nudum (a "naked" name without description) is unavailable right from the beginning. Unavailable names are neither valid nor invalid, they virtually don't exist in zoological nomenclature."
BLYTH IN (1846) ANNALS & MAGAZINE OF NAT. HIST. “BY the politeness of Mr. J. E. Gray, I have just been favoured with a copy of his published Catalogue of Mr. Hodgson's specimens presented to the British Museum… P. 84 Actinodura Egerloni, apud nos, is placed as a synonym of Ixops nipalensis, Hodgson. I have no recollection of having ever made this mal-identification, much less committed it to print.”
Here is a quote from Hodgson’s Asiatic Researches article:
The birds composing the above genera of this sub-family " are gregarious, noisy, and alert. They frequent the deep and dank forests and groves exclusively ; procure the greater part of their food on the ground ; use the trees but for security when disturbed, for nidification, and for occasionally eking out their repasts with berries, pulpy fruits, and caterpillars, and are, for the most part, incapable of a sustained flight. Their habitat is very extensive, since they are almost equally common in the southern, central, and northern regions of Nepal and the Himalayas, and in the valleys alike, as on the tops of the mountains. In all situations, however, woodlands are indispensable to them, both for food and shelter, especially the latter, their retreat being a mere succession of hops from tree to tree, after the manner of the magpies. Most of them have a good deal of the mixed weariness and familiarity, as well as of the noisiness and congregational habits of the Córvida ; and, though they never quit the deep woodlands, those persons who pass through such places perpetually encounter them on the roads and pathways, to which these birds are attracted by the dung of cattle, for the grain, larvas, and insects it affords them. They are, on the whole, rather insectivorous than frugivorous, baccivorous, or graminivorous ; but they eat a deal of grain and hard seeds, with gravel to digest it, and must, from the universality of their regimen, be classed among the omnivores. They are distinguished from the Thrushes by their avoidance of rills and swamps, and they are more capable of a graminivorous diet than that group. They scrape the earth with their bill, and sometimes also with their feet, in the manner of the Honores. Many of the species are caged and tamed with facility, and they are more often turned loose into walled gardens, whence they seldom attempt to escape, if there be a considerable number of trees, and where they are of great service in destroying pupœ, larvœ, and perfect insects, especially those which are generated, or feed, in manure.
In the Minister's garden at Cathmandu, there were always several scores of O. leucolophua; and in that of his nephew, many individuals of each of the following species, G. albogularis, moniligera, ocellatus, P. erythrocephalus, and T. rufogulare."—(Hodgson, As. Res. XIX. p. 144.)
