464 TROGLODYTIDiE. 



through the eye is acquired during the summer «ith the com- 

 pletion of the first plumage, but the full brightupss of the adult 

 plumage not until the following moult. 



Distribution. Garhwal, ]N'epal, Sikkim, the whole of Assam 

 jSTorth and South of the Brahmaputra, Chin, Kachin Hills and pos- 

 sibly Annum. McClelland's oliveci, a name given to Assam birds, 

 cannot stand, as the Assam birds differ in no way from the JS'epal 

 and Sikkim birds and I have seen specimens from the Kachin 

 Hills every bit as bright above and as dark below as any specimen 

 from those countries. They vary very greatly individually and large 

 series are necessary for comparison. 



Nidification. The Slaty-bellied Wren breeds in April, May and 

 June South of the Brahma)iutra and in June and July North of it, 

 at all heights between o,000 and 10,000 feet. The nest is a 

 beautiful ball of bright green moss lined with moss roots and 

 measuring some 5 inches in diameter, or, according to Hodgson, 

 more oval in shape, measuring about 7x5 inches. It may be 

 placed either in a tangle of creepers or in dense, long moss against 

 a tree or stump, or may be built in amongst the numerous 

 branches of a thick, low bush, whilst, very rarely, it may be 

 placed on a steep bank or against a rock or heap of boulders. 



The eggs number three or foui-, very rarely five and vary con- 

 siderably in appearance. The ground-colour is a very pale pink, 

 often with a yellowish-salmon tint; the markings consist of 

 reddish-pink specks and spots, sometimes so fine and so numerous 

 as to make the eggs look an almost uniform terra-cotta, at other 

 times sparser and much bolder, showing up well against the 

 ground-colour and more numerous at the larger end than else- 

 where. In shape they are normally rather long but blunt 

 ovals. Fifty eggs average 17*4 x 12-9 mm. and the extremes are: 

 maxima, IQl X 131 and 17-9 x 13-6 mm.; minima, 16'8 X 13-2 

 and 18-0 X 12-0 mm. 



Habits. This Wren is found over a greater range of altitude 

 than any of the others with the exception of the next bird. It is 

 certainly found up to at least 10,000 feet in Sikkim in summer, 

 whilst, on the other hand, Stevens found it right down amongst 

 the foothills and broken ground on the JN^orth bank of the Brah- 

 maputra, but it must be remembered that in temperature the 

 plains of North and North-East Assam are equivalent to an 

 altitude of at least 2,000 feet South of the river and in Burma. 

 It is a purely forest bird, preferring forests which have an ample 

 undergrowth in which it can skulk about without showing itself. 

 It is very loth to take flight and if one can mark it into a dense 

 isolated bush it can easily be caught with a butterfly net. It 

 much affects the vicinity of tiny water-courses through boulders 

 and dense evergreen forest, and its high, shrill note may be heard 

 mornings and evenings above the ripple of the water. It is 

 exclusively insectivorous. 



