332 TIMALIID.E. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris pale greenish or gre3'ish white to deep 

 lavender-, green-, or blue-grey of almost every conceivable tint 

 and sometimes (Godwin-Austen) amber ; bill pale plumbeous, the 

 base of mandible and most of the culraen black ; legs and feet pale 

 fleshy-white to pale fleshy-brown, claws horny-brown and soles 

 more yellowish. 



Measurements. Total length about 190 mm.; wing 80 to 85 mm.; 

 tail about 60 to 65 mm. ; tarsus about 28 to 29 mm. ; culmen about 

 17 mm. 



Female and Young. The upper part of the head bluish grey 

 instead of black and supercilium very indistinct ; upper plumage 

 olive-grey ; smaller wing-coverts black edged with yellowish ; greater 

 coverts black with yellow outer webs ; primary-coverts and vvinglet 

 black ; the earlier primaries edged with hoary-grey, the others 

 with yellow ; inner secondaries chestnut ; the central tail-feathers 

 green, the others black with broad green margins to the outer webs 

 and tipped with yellow ; lower plumage entirely pale buff. 



Measurements a little smaller than the male; wing 78 to 81 mm. 



Fig. 62. Head of P. erytltropterus. 



The young male assumes the adult plumage in the first autumn. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from Hazara to E. Assam, Mani- 

 pur and the Chin Hills. 



Nidification. This Shrike-Babbler breeds between 3,500 and 

 9,000 feet in June. Col. E. H. Eattray describes its nest as one 

 of the most difficult to find, being always built in the smaller twigs 

 very high up in high trees in forest. The nest is a strong, neat 

 cradle of fine roots, built, like an Oriole's, pendent from a small 

 fork. Three eggs taken on the llth of June were a pale lilac- 

 white with numerous fine specks and spots of deep purple, forming 

 deep rings round the extreme larger end and finely peppered 

 over the rest of the surface. They are broad ovals in shape, of a 

 rather fragile, glossless texture and measure about 21-8 x 16-2mm. 

 A nest taken by myself on the Khasia Hills in May contained 

 two abnormal, addled eggs. Neither nest nor eggs bear any 

 resemblance to those of the Laniidce or Campepliagida>. 



Habits. In the Himalayas from West to East this bird seems to 

 be found from 5,000 feet upwards but in the hills South of the 

 Brahmaputra they descend to 3,500 feet and are common, even 

 in summer, at 4,000 feet. They consort either in pairs or in small 



