PELLOBNEUM. 237 



seen, for though they will sit on the nest until an elephant or 

 buffalo almost touches them, they slink away amongst the grass 

 long before a man on foot can get near them. I obtained nests 

 in the months of April and July, but presume they are principally 

 " Bains " breeders when their food grasshoppers are most 

 numerous. The few eggs I have seen are very beautiful, having 

 a pale or bright pink ground-colour, with handsome blotches and 

 smears of reddish brown ov lig-ht red with, secondary markings 

 of neutral tint. Fourteen eggs- average about 18'1 x 14-6 mm. 



Habits. This little Babbler seems to be found only in the 

 plains or in the rolling stretches of " sun-grass " lands on the 

 foot-hills of the Himalayas. It is found always in pairs and 

 always in grass of some kind though this may be anything from 

 two to twenty feet high. It has a sweet little song of some dozen 

 notes or so which it sings from the highest piece of grass near its 

 nest. 



(239) Pyctorhis altirostris scindicus. 

 THE SISD BABBLES. 



Pyctorhis altirostris scindicus Harington, Jour. B. N. H. S., xxiii, 

 p. 424 (1918) (Sukkur in Scind). 



Vernacular names. Mullala (Sind). 



Description. Differs from Jerdon's Babbler in having the upper 

 plumage fulvous, chin and throat white, breast and remainder of 

 lower plumage ochraceous. 



Colours of soft parts as in P. . altirostris. 



Measurements. Wing 65 mm. ; culmen 12 mm. 



Distribution. Sind only. 



Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded. 



Genus PELLOKNEUM Svvainson, 1831. 



In this genus I include Harington's three genera Pellorneum, 

 Scotocichla and Drymocataphus, the Jast and first only of which 

 Gates recognized in the Avifauna. These genera have generally 

 been divided on account of the alleged difference in the compara- 

 tive length of wing and tail, but a glance at the measurements of 

 the various species suffices to show that this does not form a 

 sufficient ground for their separation. Thus Pellorneum palustre 

 has always been accepted as a typical Pellorneum, yet this is the 

 only species or race in the three genera in which the tail exceeds 

 the wing in length. In all the other species the tail is always 

 shorter than the wing, and the three genera only differ in this 

 respect in degree. 



In Pellorneum, as now accepted, the tail is shorter than the wing, 

 with the one exception of P. palustre, but is equal to or longer 

 than twice the length of the tarsus ; the bill is about equal to, or 



