452 TROGLODYTID A. 
(464) Speleornis longicaudatus longicaudatus. 
Tue Assam LONG-TAILED WREN. 
Pnoepyga longicaudata, Moore, P. Z. S., 1854, p. 7 (N. India, Khasia 
Hills). 
Urocichla longicaudata. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 340. 
Vernacular names. 7%n-lin-rui (Kacha Naga). 
Description. Forehead to hind neck olive-brown, each feather 
with a narrow dark brown or blackish margin ; rump, upper tail- 
coverts and tail olive-brown with a rufous tinge; coverts and 
wing brown, with the greater part of the outer webs of the 
feathers chestnut-brown; lores, cheeks and ear-coverts deep 
ashy; the whole lower plumage ferruginous, the feathers of the 
throat and breast with numerous small brown specks, most 
conspicuous in newly moulted birds ; middle of the abdomen white. 
Fig. 90.—Head of 8S. 1. longicaudatus. 
Colours of soft parts. Iris red in adults, brown in the young ; 
bill dark horny-brown to blackish ; legs and feet light brown. 
Measurements. Length about 115 mm.; wing 49 to 60 mm.; 
tail 45 to48 mm.; tarsus about 19 to 20 mm.; culmen about 12mm. 
Distribution. Hills South of the Brahmaputra, apparently not 
Manipur and not the extreme Eastern Naga Hills. 
Nidification. This curious little Wren breeds in considerable 
numbers in the Khasia Hills but is much more rare in the 
adjoining Cachar and Naga Hills. It cominences breeding in 
early April and eggs may be found to the end of June. The 
nests of this Wren and all others of the genus are sui generis and 
cannot be confounded with those of any other bird. The outer part 
consists of dead leaves, withered grass, a few roots and sometimes 
a few bamboo spathes, but all the materials are ef a very damp 
and rotten description, falling to pieces directly the nest is moved 
from its original position. The lining, however, is quite water- 
proof and consists of a material exactly resembling papier mdché, 
apparently made of skeleton leaves and some soft fibrous stuff 
worked into a pulp and then spread over the whole interior of 
the nest in a very neat cup. ‘The nest itself is a long oval, 
generally completely domed, sometimes only partially so, Pand is 
placed on the ground on some sloping bank among weeds or 
scrub in damp, evergreen forest. The eggs number two to four 
and are pure, but dull white, sparsely speckled, chiefly at the 
larger end, with reddish-brown. The texture is fine and close 
and the shell fairly stout. In shape they are broad, obtuse ovals. 
