88 TURDIDJE. 



Legs, feet, and claws pale pinky- or fleshy- white ; bill black: 

 iris dark brown (Hume 3r Davison). 



Length about 8 ; tail 3'3 ; wing 37 ; tarsus 1-15 ; bill f/otn 

 gape 1"1. 



Distribution. Tenasserim, from Nwalabo mountain southwards. 

 This species extends down the Malay peninsula and is found iu 

 Borneo. 



Genus MICROCICHLA, Sharpe, 1883. 



This genus differs from the two preceding genera in its very 

 short tail, which is very much shorter than the wing and very 

 slightly forked, the middle feathers reaching nearly to the tip of 

 the outermost ones. There is only one species known, and the 

 sexes are alike. 



637. Microcichla scouleri. The Little ForJctail. 



Enicurus scouleri, Vigors, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 174; Gould, Cent. pi. 



xxviii ; Blyth, Cat. p. 159 ; Horsf. Sf M. Cat. i, p. 347 ; Jerd. B. I. 



ii, p. 214; Hume, N. \ E. p. 377. 

 Enicurus nigrifrons, Hodgs., Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 102; Jerd. B.I. 



ii, p. 215 ; Hume, Cat. no. 58S. 

 Henicurus scouleri, Vigors, Elwes, Ibis, 1872, p. 255 ; Hume, Cat. 



no. 587 ; Scully, 8. F. viii, p. 311 ; Biddulph, Ibis, 1882, p. 279. 

 Microcichla scouleri ( Vigors), Sharpe, Cat. B. 31. vii, p. 322 ; Gates 



in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 62. 



The Short-tailed Forktail, The Black-fronted Forktail, Jerd. ; Oong- 

 sumbrek-pho, Lepch. 



Coloration. Forehead and anterior half of crown white ; the 

 whole head, neck, upper part of breast, back, lesser and median 

 wing-coverts, primary-coverts, and winglet black ; scapulars and 

 greater coverts black tipped white ; primaries black ; secondaries 

 and tertiaries black with broad white bases, the later quills also 

 with white margins ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with a 

 broad black band across the former ; the two outer pairs of tail- 

 feathers white ; third pair white, with a black tip ; the others 

 progressively with less white and broader black tips ; lower plumage 

 white, the breast and the sides of the body mottled with black. 



The young have the forehead and anterior half of the crown 

 black like the rest of the upper plumage ; the chin and throat 

 white and the breast more mottled than in the adult. 



Bill black ; iris dark brown ; feet and claws pure fleshy white 

 (Scully). 



Length 5 ; tail 1*9 ; wing 2*9 ; tarsus "95 ; bill from gape '6. 



Distribution. The whole of the Himalayas, from Gilgit to the 

 Daphla hills in Assam; the E. Naga hills. This species is found 

 up to 11,000 feet in summer. It extends into Western China. 



Habits, Sfc. This Forktail appears to differ from all the other 

 Forktails in its habit of plunging into the water. The nest does 

 not appear to have been found yet. 



