DKYMOTOIN^.. 179 



I find specimens described rrom Southern India, from the Hima- 

 layas, and Ghazeepore, which, on the whole, afjree very well with 

 each other; and the few slight differences apparent may depend on 

 age, or on the more or less abrasion the feathers have under- 

 gone. Blyth, who at one time considered them distinct, in the J. 

 A. S., XVIII., 1.2, note, declared his belief that tht- two were 

 identical, and that inornota was the worn and abnaded plumage of 

 maci oiira. On a previous occasion, when contrasting the supposed 

 two species, (J. A. S. XVI.) 1 ima<jine that he had the next spe- 

 cies ill view ; and Hodgson, in his original description of fnsca, 

 had at that time probably not distinguished the next species. 

 When freshly moalted, the sub-terminal dark band of the tail lias 

 more the character of a large spot, and the whitish tips are then 

 more conspicuous, but, by abrasion, become lost and the spot ap- 

 pears as a band. In no case does the wing ever come up to 2 inches, 

 more generally If. The tail of course accidentally varies much 

 length. 



The common Wren-Warbler is found tkroughout India in low 

 jungles, bushy ground, hedgerows, in cultivated ground, and even 

 in gardens. It is generally in pairs, occasionally in small 

 flocks, flying incessantly from bush to bush, hunting for insects, 

 and every now and then descending to the ground. It has a 

 rather loud monotonous note, twee-hoee-twee ; and occasionally 

 one perches himself on the top of a bush, and gives a sort of feeble, 

 but sprightly, twittering song. Its flight is feeble, struggling as 

 it were, by jerks, and. when pursued, they conceal themselves 

 in the thick bushes. I have found the nest and eggs repeatedly, 

 usually in a thorny shrub, at about three or four feet from the 

 ground. The nest is very neatly woven with grass, nearly 

 globular, with a hole at the side, and lined witli some soft down, 

 generally that of the Calotropis gigantea, dnd sometimes with 

 feathers. It is firmly fixed to some of the thorny twigs of the 

 bush, and it is impossible to remove it without cutting the sup- 

 porting branches. The eggs are from two to four, bright pale 

 blue, with large blotches of purplish brown, one of the most 

 beautiful eggs I know. I imagine that the nest described by me, 

 ixnder 118 of my Cat., probably refers to the next species. 



