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Head and neck bright rufous, upper 

 parts olive brown. Throat and breast 

 rufous washed with rose, with a darker 

 stripe on every feather. Flanks, abdo- 

 men, and under tail coverts olive. 

 Lesser wing coverts olive green. 



Distribution. — Common all over 

 China. Resident in the Yangtse 

 Valley. 



Nest and Eggs. — The nest is built 

 in reeds, nettles, or low shrubs. It is 

 a loose structure of coarse grass, and 

 leaves, bound together with cobwebs, 

 and lined with fine grasses. The eggs 

 are of various shades of blue, some 

 quite pale. There are usually two 

 broods in a season, and the whole 

 family seem to remain together during 

 the fall and winter in a small flock. 



Notes. — These birds may be found 

 in small flocks in tall grasses or reeds 

 all over the country. They are 

 possessed of a temper all out of pro- 

 portion to their size. The Chinese 

 train them for fighting. The birds are 

 put in specially constructed cages, 

 with one side sufiSciently open to 

 allow them to fight between the bars, 

 but not to escape. Their thick, heavy 

 bills enable them to give a strong 

 effective blow, or to get a bone- 

 breaking grip on the leg of their 

 opponent. 



This is considered the cage bird of 

 the Chinese " sport," and large sums 

 are often paid for a good fighter. 



The Rufous Croiutit (Suthora 

 suffusa), a south China species, also 

 occurs in the Yangtse Valley. It is 

 described as smaller, with a bright 

 rufous abdomen. There seems to be 

 some doubt, however, as to the validity 



