LETOTRICHINJS. 251 



Bill coral-ved ; legs fleshy brown; irides brown. Length 6^ inches; 

 extent 9; wing 2f ; tail 2i ; hill at front y^^-; tarsus 1-j'^. The 

 green of the back soon fades to a greyish, and the bright yellow 

 to buffy yellow. 



The red-billed Leiothrix is one of the most common birds about 

 Darjeeling. It usually assf>ciates in small parties of five or six, 

 frequenting the dense thickets and underwood that springs up 

 wherever the forest is partially cleared. It is a shy bird, and 

 avoids observation in general. Its food consists of berries, fruits, 

 seeds, and insects. Now and then, duriug the winter, I have seen 

 a party of them alirrht on a load for a few seconds, apparently pick 

 up some gravel, and tlien hurry off into the jungle again. Its usual 

 note is a chattering call, but in the spring the male has a very 

 pleasing song. I got the nest and eggs repeatedly ; the nest 

 made chiefly of grass, with roots, fibres, and fragments of moss, 

 and usually containing three or four eggs, bluish white, with a few 

 purple and red blotches. It is generally placed in a leafy bush, 

 at no great height fro*m the ground. Gould, quoting from Mr. 

 Shore's notes, says that the eggs are black spotted with yellow. 

 This is ()f course erroneous. I have taken the nest myself on several 

 occasions, and killed the bird; and, in every case, the eggs were 

 colored as above. This species appears to spread over all the 

 Himalayas ; is found from 5,000 to 8,000 feet, and higher. It is 

 common on the Khasia Hills, and other hill ranges to the south- 

 east ; and is said to occur also in China. I have seen it caged, 

 and it is a lively and amusing pet. 



The next species differs so slightly in structure, and in its mode 

 of coloration, that I think it barely separable. Hodgson makes 

 it the type of his genus Mesia, subsequently Fhilocalyx and Frin- 

 gilliparus. It has the bill a trifle longer and less curved, the tail 

 more lengthened and even, with the outermost feathers slightly 

 shorter. 



615. Leiothrix argentauris, Hodgson. 



Mesia, apud Hodgsox, — Dang rapchil-pho, Lepch. 



The Silver-eared Hill-tit. 

 Descr. — Top of the head black, also the lores, and a streak from 

 the lower mandible ; back slaty, strongly tinged with green, and a 



