262 FALCULfA PALLIATA. 



The nest and eggs of this bird have not yet been described, 

 but they probably are very similar to those of its near Indian 

 ally, S. spilonotus, of which Mr. Blanford writes (Faun. Brit. 

 Ind. i. p. 333) : " Mr. Cleveland found the nest in Gurgaon on 

 April 16. It was placed on a horizontal bough of a tree and 

 attached to a vertical shoot. It was cup-shaped, and composed 

 of bits of leaf-stalk and leaves, chips of bark, and the dung of 

 caterpillars, bound together by cobwebs : it was very firm and 

 elastic, the nest containing two young birds and one egg. 

 The latter was greenish white, with a ring of blackish-brown 

 specks round the large end, and a few specks over the 

 remainder of the shell. It measured 068 by 0*53." 



Subfamily III. FALCULIINiE and Genus FALCULIA. 



These divisions are represented by a single known Madagascar species, 

 Falculia palliata. 



Bill pearl grey, long, curved, and much compressed at the sides ; no 

 nasal groove ; nostrils round and exposed ; no nasal nor rictal bristles ; wing 

 formula : 4, 5, 3, 6, 7, 2, 8, 9, 10, 1 ; 1 = more than half the length of 4 ; 

 tarsus, hind toe with claw, and middle toe with claw, all equal in length. 

 Nest cup-shaped and placed in the fork of a bough. 



Falculia palliata. 



Falculia palliata, Geoff. St. Hilaire, Bull. Soc. Sc. Nat. 1835, p. 115 

 Madagascar ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. hi. p. 145 (1877) ; Hartl. Vog. 

 Madag. p. 86 (1877) ; Milne Edw. and Grand. Hist. Mad. Ois. i. 

 p. 304, pis. 117, 117', 119, 120 (1879) ; Sibree, Ibis, 1891, p. 442 ; 

 Shelley, B. Air. I. No. 142 (1896). 



Adult. Snow white, with the back wings and tail black with a green 

 gloss. Bill and legs pearl grey ; iris deep brown. Total length 12-8 inches, 

 culmen 2-4, wing 6-0, tail 8-0, tarsus 1-24. 



The Baby-bird inhabits the woods which grow on the dry 

 sandy plains of west and south Madagascar. 



