Mr. A. Hume on Indian Ornithology. 181 



XII. — Stray Notes on Ornithology in India. 

 By Allan Hume, C.B. 



No. IV, A new Genus of Sylviidse. 



Jerdonia. 



Bill, straight, slender, entire or very faintly notched, slightly 

 widened at base, compressed towards the tip ; culmen distinctly 

 raised, acute at base. Tip of upper mandible very slightly de- 

 flected; two (or three) stout bristles on either side of the gape. 



Tarsus, stout, rather short, with transverse scutes (usually 

 five). 



Foot, hind toe short, claw moderately curved, compressed, 

 rather deep; front toes slender, the middle longer than or as 

 long as the laterals with their claws ; outer toe in some spe- 

 cimens a hair's breadth the longest, but both lateral toes very 

 nearly equal, and usually very slightly shorter than the hind toe. 



Wings, third, fourth, and fifth primaries subequal ; fourth, if 

 any thing, a trifle the longest ; second primary from | to f of the 

 length of the third : first about | of the second. 



Tail, moderate, decidedly but not abruptly rounded. 



Skull, well raised above the bill-line. 



This genus has in some respects a very Phylloscopine chai'ac- 

 ter, but it is also nearly allied to other subgroups. In the first 

 place, in the skulking, dense-covert-frequenting habits of the only 

 known species, this genus approximates closely to the Reed- 

 Warblers. In fact, the bills of Calamodyta phragmitis, Calamo- 

 herpe arundinacea, and Acrocephalus agricolus are all virtually 

 identical with the bill of Jerdonia. The two or three stout bristles 

 on either side of the gape, the moderate-sized first primary 

 (contrasting with the exceedingly minute ones of the three first- 

 named birds, and their congeners), and the short hind and elon- 

 gated middle toe of Jerdonia suffice to separate it. 



In the shape of the wing this genus more closely approaches 

 Hypolais elaica and H. polyglotta ; but the bills of these are 

 broader, less compressed towards the tips, and more of the type 

 of that of Phyllojmeuste rama than of Jerdonia. The bill in 

 this latter is almost a miniature of that of Aedon galactodes, 

 but is slightly less compressed in the middle than that of this 

 last species, and is considerably more sharply pointed. In the 



