184 Mr. A. Hume on Indian Ornithology. 



a couple of feet, these parts appear of a uniform brown, less 

 rufous in tone than that of the same parts of Acrocephalus 

 agricolus, to which the bird, after its autumnal moult, presents a 

 general resemblance in colouring (though of course differing, as 

 already noticed, in structure) but still, in most specimens, with a 

 certain shade of rufous. The amount of this, of course, varies, 

 some specimens being greyer and some more rufous. 



At this season of the year it would be impossible (setting 

 aside structural differences) to mistake this species for Phyllo- 

 pneuste rama : it is altogether a darker bird, conspicuously so 

 when on the whig ; it never has the uniformly mouse- or grey- 

 brown of that species; its habits too are widely different, 

 quite those of an Acrocephalus (like A, dumetorum) , frequent- 

 ing thick crops, from which it is only flushed with great difficulty, 

 dropping again after a short flight. P. rama, on the other hand, 

 is rarely found in, and never sticks close to, thick ground-covert, 

 but affects trees and bushes, more especially the babool [Acacia 

 arabica) . 



The notes are entirely those of an Acrocephalus, most resem- 

 bling those of A. dumetorum, but perhaps rather more Saxi- 

 coline in their character. In the spring and summer the whole 

 upper surface of the bird becomes paler and what some vs^ould 

 describe as more rufous, others as more sandy, while the lower 

 parts lose a great deal of their warm buffy tint. The remiges 

 and rectrices also fade similarly. In this stage it might easily 

 be mistaken by a casual observer for a small specimen of P. rama; 

 but its upper surface is always somewhat more rufous in tone 

 than that of the latter. 



Comparing specimens of our new bird freshly moulted, at 

 the close of September, with sj)cciniens of P. rama in similar 

 plumage, the difference (independent of structure and habits) is 

 very noticeable. P. rama, even in its fresh feathers, is a smooth, 

 light grey-brown bird, very uniform in colour, and with the 

 lower parts quite devoid of the ruddy buff tint of Jerdonia. 

 The feet too of P. rama are of a greenish-blue- grey, darker 

 about the foot (the soles excepted), while the feet of Jerdonia 

 are of a warmer flesh-colour; indeed, in the colour of the feet 

 and tarsi the birds differ conspicuously. 



