ELA.CIIL'EA. 445f 



(462) Elachura formosa. 



The Spotted AVkeis'. 



Trof/luchjtvs formosus Walden, Ibis, 1874, p. 91 (Darjeeling). 

 Elachura punctata. Blauf . & Oates, i, p. 339. 



Vernacular names. Marchek-pho (Lepcha). 



Description. The upper pliimage and wiiig-ooverts dark brown, 

 tinged with rufous on the lower rump and upper tail-coverts, 

 each feather with a small, subterminal white spot bordered above 

 and below with black; inner webs of quills brown, the outer 

 barred with chestnut and black; tail reddish-brown, cross-barred 

 with black ; lower plumage pale fidvous, inclining to rufous on. 

 the abdomen and flanks, each feather with a triangular white 

 spot, above which is a smaller black one; all the feathers delicately 

 vermiculated with white. 



Fig. 89. — Head oi E. forynosa. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris brown ; legs horny-brown ; bill 

 horny-broun. 



Measurements. Total length about 110 to 115 mm.; wing 49' 

 to 60 mm. ; tail 30 mm.; tarsus 18 to 19 mm.; culmen 11 to 

 12 mm. 



Distribution. Sikkim to Eastern Assam. Stevens record* 

 obtaining his specimens at Panchnoi, Dafla Hills, at quite low- 

 elevations. 



Nidification. Several clutches of this Wren's eggs were obtained' 

 by Mr. W. P. Masson and Mr. Iv. Macdonald in Sikkim round 

 about Darjeeling and in Xative Sikkim. The former reported 

 them as very common on the Singa-lila Ridge above 9,000 feet. 

 The nest was described as a deep, semi-domed cup made of dead 

 leaves, grass, roots, etc., densely lined with feathers and placed 

 on the ground on a bank, half hidden in fallen rubbish or well 

 concealed by the undergrowth. The eggs seem to number 3 or 4 

 oidy and are ratlier glossy, with a fine hard surface. In colour 

 they are pure white with a few specks of reddish-brown. The- 

 few eggs I have seen measured about 16*5 x 12-5 mm. 



Habits. Mr. Masson informed me that these birds were typica? 

 little Wrens in their behaviour, keeping much to their legs and 

 apparently loth to take wing unless very hard pressed. As 

 they live principally in deep forest with plentiful undergrowth 

 and much broken with moss-covered boulders and rocks, it is not 

 often one can force them to flight. 



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