SUTHORA. 107 



Colours of soft parts. Iris brown to red-brown ; bill wax- 

 yellow ; legs and feet slaty-grey or plumbeous tinted with blue or 

 green ; " legs and claws green '' (Cockburn}. 



Measurements. Bather smaller than the last; tail about 

 100 mm. ; wing 80 to 85 mm. ; culnien about 8 to 9 mm. ; tarsus 

 about 26 mm. 



Distribution. Hills south of Brahmaputra, N. Lakhimpur, 

 hills of N. Burma, Shan States into western China. 



Nidification. Similar to that of the last bird but probably never 

 breeds below 3,000 feet and seldom under 4,000 feet. The eggs 

 also are indistinguishable and the average of 34 is 22-2 x 16-4 mm. 



Habits. The same as those of flavirostris, but whereas that 

 bird is most common at low levels this is found at much higher 

 levels and never, so far as has been recorded, in the plains or 

 foot-hills. 



Genus SUTHORA Hodgson, 1838. 



The genus Sutlwra is one which has been much split up 

 by some Ornithologists. Harington accepted Heteromorpha, 

 Chleuasicus, Suthora and Neosuthora as good genera. Whilst, 

 however, the last named is sharply divided from the others by its 

 very short tail, I can find no generic differences between the three 

 first and retain them all under Suthora. 



The characteristics of the genus are the short, thick bill, a trifle 

 longer than deep, the culmen. strongly curved but with the com- 

 missure almost straight. The nostrils are very small, circular, 

 and completely concealed by plumules. The sixth primary is a 

 little longer than the fifth and seventh or subequal. The tail- 

 feathers are long and narrow and greatly graduated, the outer 

 being about half the length of the central. The plumage is soft 

 and full and there is a short thick crest. 



Key to Species and Subspecies. 



A. A well-defined supercilium of black 

 or brown. 



a. Whole upper plumage olive-brown. S. unicolor, p. 108. 



b. Crown ashy-brown, remaining upper 



plumage orange-brown S. nepalensis, p. 109. 



c. Crown and upper parts all orange- 



brown. 

 a'. Ear-coverts slaty blue-grey. 



a". Breast and abdomen pale grey S. poliotis poliotis, p. 109. 



b". Breast and abdomen orange- 



fnlvous S. p. ripponi, p. 111. 



b'. Ear-coverts orange-chestnut . . S. p. humii, p. 110. 



