29 



nails strong and acute, the hind largest. Nearly confined to the 

 hills ; rare below in the cold season ; solitary or in pairs ; familiar ; 

 dwells in low bushes and hedge-rows and fences, picking up minute 

 insects from the leaves and decayed ■vvood, and frequently descending 

 to the ground, Avhere they movė fitfully, by hops, to take minute in- 

 sects, and presently return to their low perch. Make beautiful pen- 

 sile nests, by sewing together the edges of large leaves, and hence 

 are called ' Patia ' or the ' Leaf-bird ' in the hills. 



Type, Sylvia put oria, v. sphenura, v. ruficapilla, Auct. — Above 

 vernal green, below white ; the great alars and caudals dusky ; the 

 top of the head brown-red ; bill dusky horn ; legs fleshy brown ; iris 

 brown. Female similarly coloured, but vi^anting almost entirely the 

 prolonged centrai tail-feathers of the malė, and smaller. Length (of 

 malė), 5\ inches ; bill, f; tail, 2|-; closed wing, 1| ; tarse, į; cen- 

 trai toe and nail, ^ ; hind, ^. Weight į or A oz. Has a loud 

 shrill monosyllable note — tee-tee-tee. I suspect there are two spe- 

 cies, because the eggs difFer in colour in the nests brought me, 

 some being verditer-blue and unspotted, and others bluish -vvhite, 

 with fawn spots. The latter, I think, belong to the above, and the 

 former to a smaller species, having the caudal appendage very little 

 developed. I call this 



Orthotomus Patia, and subjoin the following measurements. Length 

 (of malė), 4f inches; bill, |; tail, lį ; wing, 1| ; tarse, if; centrai 

 toe and nail, plūs ^ ; hind, ^. 



2nd subgenus, Prinia, Horsf . 



Bill shorter and straighter, but still longer than the head, and not 

 notched ; less cut out at the base by the nareal fosse ; rietus hispid ; 

 nares smaller, ■with wider aperture ; wings yet shorter and absolutely 

 rounded, ■with the first five quills conspicuously gradated up to the 

 sixth and longest; tail ampler, more elongate and more gradate, 

 fan-shaped, feeble ; legs and feet slighter. Manners and nidification 

 of the lašt, but a lowlander, being more rarely found in the hills than 

 these. 



Type, Prinia fusca, mihi. — Length 5 inches; bill, ^; tail, 2^^; 

 ■wing, less 1| ; tarse, i-| ; centrai toe and nail, -^ ; hind, -į^. Above 

 lutescent brown ; laterally luteous ; below white ; tips of the caudals 

 with black drops, margined with white ; bill dusky ; legs carneous ; 

 iris brown. 



2nd species of Prinia, P. brunnifrons, mihi ; ruficapilla, Auct. } 



Above olive-brown, deeper and ruddier on the cap, \vings and tail ; 

 below sordid vvhite ; under tail-coverts sordid olive, and the thighs 

 the šame ; bill yellow horn ; legs plumbeous grey ; tail smaller than 

 in the lašt. Length, 4 inches ; bill, plūs | ; tail, 1^ ; tarse, | ; centrai 

 toe and nail, \^ ; hind, -^, 



Remark. — Aberrant towards Horeites by its smaller tail and more 

 perfect foot. This is a common species in the plains, and may pos- 

 sibly be the Tailoi--bird of authors rather than our Patia, which is 

 rare there. 



