410 BIRDS OP INDIA. 



the nostrils, through the eye, to beyond the ear-coverts, black ; 

 beneath white, reddish-cinereous on the neck, breast, and flanks. 



Bill blackish ; legs plumbeous ; irides wax-yellow. 



Length 8^ inches ; extent 14 ; wing 4^ ; tail 3;^ ; bill at front 

 /y ; tarsus -^^ nearly ; weight 1^ oz. 



This species diiFers from the last in being smaller, in the purer 

 and darker cinereous hue of the upper plumage, and in the white 

 beneath ; also in the more conspicuous and darker eye-streak. 



This Wood Shrike is only found in the forests of the Malabar coast, 

 from Cape Comorin up to N. L. 16°, and ascending the Neilgherry 

 and other ranges up to 5,000 feet or so. It climbs and hops about 

 the larger boughs of trees, picking insects of various kinds off the 

 bark, and occasionally makes a swoop at one it has spied on a 

 branch at a short distance. It is usually found in small flocks, 

 keeping up a noisy and harsh chattering, but it has also a clear note. 



265. Tephodornis pondiceriana, Gmel. 



Muscicapa apud Gmelin — Blyth, Cat. 884— Hoksf., Cat. 

 222 — T. superciliosus, Swainson — Jerdon, Cat. 53 — Keroula 

 indica, Gray, Hakdw, 111. Ind. Zool., pi. 23, f. 1-2. Lanius 

 muscicapoides, Franklin — Lan. griseus, Tickell — Tenthaea 

 leucura, Hodgson — Muscicapa philippensis of India, Latham — 

 Lanius sordidus, Lesson — Keroula, Hind., in the Noith—Ckud- 

 uMa, Beng. — Ula pitta, Tel, i. e. 'whistling bird,' sometimes 

 Vodam-hal-jitta. 



The Common Wood-Shrike. 



Descr. — Above ashy -brownish ; the feathers of the rump edged 

 with white, and the upper tail-coverts deep brown ; beneath, chin and 

 throat white, the rest whitish, with a tinge of reddish grey ; under 

 tail-coverts white ; superciliary streak reddish -white ; wings and 

 tail dusky-brown, the latter deeper brown, and with the two 

 outer feathers on each side, white at the base and also at tip ; a dark 

 brown band from the nostrils through the eye to the ear-coverts. 



Length 6^ to 7 inches ; wing 3| ; tail 2| ; extent 10 inches ; bill 

 at front f; tarsus |; weight 12 dwt. 



Bill dusky-horny ; legs plumbeous-brown ] irides greenish-yellow. 



