POMATORHINUS. a 
growth. Little is known about it, and even its distribution east- 
wards is still a matter of doubt. 
(218) Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps stenorhynchus. 
Avsten’s Scrmrrar- BABBLER. 
Pomatorhinus stenorhynchus Blyth, J. A. S. B., xlvi, p. 48 (1877) 
(Sadiya) ; Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 125. 
Vernacular names. Jnrui-gna (Kacha Naga). 
Description. Differs from P. 0. ochraceiceps in being much paler 
and less richly coloured throughout. The flanks avd abdomen 
are tinged with rufous-buff. 
Colours of soft parts and Measurements as in the last 
Distribution. Hills South of the Brahmaputra from N.E.Cachar 
and Naga Hills to extreme East Assam and Sadiya North of the 
Brabmaputra. 
Nidification. Similar to that of other Scimitar-Babblers. Of 
the few nests taken in N. Cachar some were placed on the ground 
and some on bushes or tangles of vines and creepers a few feet 
above it. The eggs numbered three or four, generally the latter, 
and rarely five, and Ww ere, like those of P. 0. austeni, longer in 
proportion to théir size that those of most of the genus, thirty 
eggs averaging 25:2 x 18-3 mm. They are also rather more fragile 
in texture. All the nests were found in forest, but generally close 
to a jungle-path, stream or open glade. The breeding season 
appears to be from the middle of May to early July. 
Habits. | found this Scimitar-Babbler in pairs only, haunting 
wet, ccol forests with a fair amount of undergrowth, but not the 
dense scrub and grass so beloved by some of its nearest relations. 
It was, comparatively speaking, a very quiet bird, each of the pair 
uttering from time to time its soft, full “ hoot hoot” or a pleasant 
whistling chuckle. Like the rest of their tribe, they spend most 
of the time on the ground turning over the leaves and debris 
in search of food but, according to. the Nagas, when the various 
figs are ripe they w ork high up into these trees in quest of the 
insects which infest the fruit. It is a bird of high levels, from 
9,000 feet upwards to at least 9,000 feet in the Naga Hills. 
Pomatorhinus erythrogenys. 
Key to Subspecies. 
A. Flanks deep rufous. 
a. Breast almost pure white. 
a. Winevover S9immny sis. os. 4.5 P.e. erythrogenys, p. 220. 
me Wing, under SOumm ss... sa... 5. P, e. emberbis, p. 222. 
. Breast pale ¢ grey, streaked with white. P. e. harington, p. 220, 
Breast white, streaked with black .. P. e. gravivox, p. 221. 
B. tanks OlVACEOTISHS terete a ce. JER. macclellandi, p: 221. 
