452 TROGLODYTIDjE. 



(464) Spelaeornis longicaudatus longicaudatus, 

 THE ASSAM LONG-TAILED WREN. 



Pnoepyga lungicaudata, Moore, P. Z. S., 1854, p. 7 (N. India, Khasia 



Hills). 

 Urocichla longicaudata. Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 340. 



Vernacular names. Tin-lin-rui (Kacha Naga). 



Description. Forehead to hind neck olive-brown, each feather 

 with a narrow dark brown or blackish margin ; rump, upper tail- 

 coverts and tail olive-brown with a rufous tinge ; coverts and 

 wing brown, with the greater part of the outer webs oE the 

 feathers chestnut-brown ; lores, cheeks and ear-coverts deep 

 ashy ; the whole lower plumage ferruginous, the feathers of the 

 throat and breast with numerous small brown specks, most 

 conspicuous in newly moulted birds ; middle of the abdomen white. 



Pig. 90. Head of S. I. longicaudatus. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris red in adults, brown in the young ; 

 bill dark horny-brown to blackish ; legs and feet light brown. 



Measurements. Length about 115 mm.; wing 49 to 60 mm.; 

 tail 45 to 48 mm. ; tarsus about 19 to 20 mm. ; culmeu about 12 mm. 



Distribution. Hills South of the Brahmaputra, apparently not 

 Manipur and not the extreme Eastern Naga Hills. 



Nidification. This curious little "Wren breeds in considerable 

 numbers in the Khasia Hills but is much more rare in the 

 adjoining Cachar and Naga Hills. It commences breeding in 

 early April and eggs may be found to the end of June. The 

 nests of this Wren and all others of the genus are sui generis and 

 cannot be confounded with those of any other bird. The outer part 

 consists of dead leaves, withered grass, a fe\v roots and sometimes 

 a few bamboo spathes, but all the materials are of a very damp 

 and rotten description, falling to pieces directly the nest is moved 

 from its original position. The lining, however, is quite water- 

 proof and consists of a material exactly resembling papier mdcJie, 

 apparently made of skeleton leaves and some soft fibrous stuff 

 worked into a pulp and then spread over the whole interior of 

 the nest in a very neat cup. The nest itself is a long oval, 

 generally completely domed, sometimes only partially so, and is 

 placed on the ground on some sloping bank among weeds or 

 scrub in damp, evergreen forest. The eggs number two to four 

 and are pure, but dull white, sparsely speckled, chiefly at the 

 larger end, with reddish-brown. The texture is fine and close 

 and the shell fairly stout. In shape they are broad, obtuse ovals. 



