Other treatments were proposed by Hugh Whistler and N B Kinnear where "tephronotus" was considered a subspecies of "schach" and "nigriceps" and "nasutus" grouped together. Another treatment considered "tricolor" as a subspecies of "L. tephronotus". It was subsequently however noted that "tephronotus" and "schach" co-occurred in the Kumaon region and so the two were confirmed as distinct species. Molecular distances also indicate that they are distant enough. The "erythronotus" group have a grey head which continues into the back with a gradual suffusion of rufous. The westernmost population from Transcaspia named by Sergei Buturlin as "jaxartensis" and said to be larger, is not considered valid. A very light grey form from western dry region of India named by Walter Koelz as "kathiawarensis" is also considered merely as a variant. In southern India and Sri Lanka, subspecies "caniceps", is marked by the rufous restricted to the rump, light crown and the pure grey on the back. Biswamoy Biswas supported the view that "nigriceps" (having upper mantle grey and lower mantle rufous) was a hybrid of "tricolor" and "erythronotus". Subspecies "longicaudatus" has a greyer crown and is found in Thailand and Burma. The nominate subspecies is found in China from the Yangtze valley south to Hainan and Taiwan. Some individuals of the nominate form show melanism and were once described as a species "fuscatus". Island forms include "nasutus" (Philippine Islands from Mindanao to Luzon and north Borneo), "suluensis" (Sulu Island), "bentet" (Sunda Islands and Sumatra other than Borneo) and "stresemanni" of New Guinea. The species is found across Asia from Kazakhstan to New Guinea. It is found mainly in scrub and open habitats. Many of the temperate zone populations are migratory, moving south in winter while those in the tropics tend to be sedentary although they may make short distance movements. Subspecies "caniceps" of southern India is found in winter in the dry coastal zone of southern India. Subspecies "tricolor" migrates south to Bengal in India.