TROCHALOPTERUM. 169 
Colours of soft parts. Legs and feet brown with a purplish 
tinge; bill horny dark brown to practically black; iris brown 
(juv.) to deep crimson or lac-red ; orbital skin dull leaden-dusky. 
Measurements. Total length about 280 mm.; wing 81 to 93mm. ; 
tail about 100 mm. ; tarsus about 32 mm.; culmen about 15 mm. 
Distribution. Nepal to the extreme east of Assam, North of the 
Brahmaputra. 
Nidification. Breeds between 3,000 and 5,000 feet and some- 
times rather higher in the months of April to June, making a 
compact, deep cup of grass, leaves, roots and moss, lined with 
the latter and measuring about 43 inches to 53 inches in dia- 
meter by nearly as much in depth. It is generally placed in 
bushes in rather dense and moist forest, sometimes fairly high 
up but more often at 3 or 4 feet from the ground. The eggs 
number 2 or 8, very rarely 4, and are very beautiful, the ground- 
colour being a deep Thrush-egg blue with dark maroon and red- 
black lines, blotches and dots, the first being most numerous. 
Fifty eggs average 25:9 x 18°5 min. 
Habits. This species haunts forests and secondary growth rather 
than scrub-jungle, at elevations between 3,000 and 6,000 feet, 
wandering as low down as 2,000 feet in winter. They are some- 
times found singly or in pairs, but more often in small parties of 
four or five, keeping much to the undergrowth and lower trees 
and also hopping about and feeding on the ground, eating insects 
of all kinds and also certain seeds. Their flight is feeble and their 
notes consist of a great variety of conversational calls both harsh 
and sweet, with an occasional louder call when the birds get 
separated. 
(157) Trochalopterum pheniceum bakeri. 
Tre AssSaAM CRIMSON-WINGED LAUGHING-THRUSH. 
Trochalopteron pheniceum bakeri Hartert, Bull. B. O. C., XXXlll, 
p. 10 (1909) (Laisung, N. Cachar). 
Vernacular names. Dao-yao-gajao (Cachari). 
Description. Differs from the preceding bird in being paler both 
above and below and in having the ashy-grey wash on the abdomen 
much more pronounced. 
Colours of soft parts as in the last bird. 
Measurements slightly smaller than the last, the wing averag- 
ing about 85 mm. as against 90 mm. in that bird. 
Distribution. Hills South of the Brahmaputra, Manipur and 
Lushai Hills. 
Nidification. Breeds in May and June between 3,500 and 
5,000 feet. The nest is a well-made cup, similar to that of the 
last bird but more often placed quite close to the ground, Eggs 
