Major H. H. Godwin- Austen on a neio Minla. 33 



down the side of the neck of the same colour 5 ear-coverts 

 grej, surmounted hy a small streak of golden yellow. Chin 

 grej ; breast and belly dull sordid white ; under tail-coverts 

 white ; flanks grey. Shoulder of wing olivaceous ; primaries 

 black, rufous at the base, forming a band, the outermost edged 

 white ; their coverts black : secondaries grey, edged rich rufous 

 on the outer web, with a narrow white edging to the inner. 

 Irides dark brown ; legs and feet pale grey 5 bill neutral 

 grey. 



Length 3-25 inches, wing 1-75, tail 2-10, tarsus 0-62, bill 

 at front 0*25. 



Hub. The bamboo underwood of the forests at 5000-7000 

 feet, Dafla hills, and first obtained on the slopes of Torupiitu 

 Peak in January. 



These curious little birds associate together in large flocks, 

 making an incessant sharp twitter. They are most active, 

 flitting rapidly about the foliage of the bamboos, of which the 

 underwood is principally composed. They were the most 

 fearless birds I ever met witli, perching on twigs within a 

 couple of yards of one's head, so close that it was some time 

 before I could fire at one without the certainty of blowing 

 it all to pieces, and two specimens obtained I had to throw 

 away. The bright-coloured top of the head, set off with its 

 black coronal edging, is conspicuous as they fly and hop about 

 the branches. 



Minla Mandelliij n. sp. 



Above dark olivaceous, tail brown; forehead rufous, merging 

 into the olivaceous brown of the top of the head ; a white 

 supercilium commences from above the eye, and extends to 

 the neck, merging into some streaky buff and black feathers 

 behind the ear-coverts ; a black band surmounts the white 

 one, but does not meet the black lores ; ear-coverts sooty. 

 Chin, throat, and upper breast bufly white ; sullied white on 

 abdomen ; flanks olivaceous. Irides dark red-brown ; legs 

 and feet pale fleshy ; bill grey-brown. Feathers of the head 

 scaly. 



Length 5-55 inches, wing 2*2, tail 2*5, tarsus 0*95, bill at 

 front 0*45 (measured in the flesh). 



Hah. Ndgd hills, in forest, at about 6000 feet. 



I have named this bird after Mr. L. Mandelli, who has so 

 successfully worked the ornithology of the Sikkim hills, and 

 who described in ' Stray Feathers,' July 1873, a very near 

 ally of this species, viz. Minla rufogularis ( = coZ?ar^*s,Walden), 

 of which I obtained several specimens in the Dafla hills last 

 winter. 



Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xvii. 3 



