270 



'GrROtTP BRADYPTERL 



Aberrant Reed Warblers with 10-12 tail feathers, allied to the Grass- Warblers. 



Gen. Schoenicola. 



Bill moderate, rather deep, much compressed ; culmen slightly Curved $ 

 'rictal bristles moderate, few ; wings moderate, slightly rounded ; 4th quill 

 longest, 3rd equal to the 5th ; tail moderate, the feathers broad ; under tail 

 coverts long, reaching to more than half the length of the tail ; tarsus long : ; 

 plumage lax. 



330. Schcenicola platyura, (Jerd.) Biyth, J. A. 6*. B. xiii. 



P- 374 5 Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 73, No. 442 ; Hume, Sir. F. 1878, p. 37 ; id. 

 Sir. F. 18*79, P- 97 5 -Brooks, Sir. F. 1881, p. 209 ; Hume, t. c. p. 211 ; Legge^ 

 Birds, Ceylon, p. 532; Hume, Sir. F. 1880, pp. 234.260; Butler, Cat. B. 

 Bom. Pres. p. 43; Sharpe, P. Z. S. t88'i, p. 920; id. Cat. B. Br. Mus. 

 Vii. p. HO. Timalia platyura, Jerd. Madr. Journ. xiii. p. 170.' The 

 BROAD-TAILED REED-BIRD. 



Upper surface russet or rufous brown, including the ear and wing coverts ; 

 quills dusky, externally margined with russet-brown, the innermost second- 

 aries the same on both webs ; tail russet-brown, obscurely banded with dusky 

 brown under certain lights ; the outer feathers darker and tipped with ashy ; 

 lores whitish ; supercilium fulvous, also the cheeks and sides of the neck ; 

 throat, centre of breast, and abdomen whitish^ the former washed with fulvous 

 on the lower parts, also the sides of the body, flanks, thighs, and under tail 

 i coverts the latter washed with ashy at the tips ; under wing coverts and 

 : axillaries buffish white. Bill horny yellow, 0-4 ; legs fleshy yellow ; irides 

 yellowish brown. 



Length. 5'8 to 6-3 inches ; wing 2-5 to 2-65 ; tail 2'6 to 2'8 ; tarsus 

 0-8 to 0-85, 



Hob. Southern India (Belgaum, Travancore, Wynaad, at the foot of the 

 Neilgherries, and Ceylon). According to Jerdon the Broad-tailed Reed-Bird 

 affects reeds in swampy places. In their actions and habits, Captain Butler 

 says : These birds resemble Chaternis striata and in the breeding season rise 

 constantly into the air, chirruping like that species, and descending afterwards 

 in the same way on to some low bush or tussock of grass, sometimes even on 

 to the telegraph wires. They are fearful little skulks. If you attempt to 

 pursue them, at once they disappear into the grass, from whence it is almost 

 impossible to flush them again unless you all but tread on them. They breed 

 in September. The food of the Broad-tailed Reed-bird consists chiefly of 

 insects. Captain Butler's notes, in Str. F. ix. p. 262, quoted by Mr. Hume, 

 in regard to the nidification of this species are to the effect that the nest is 

 composed of coarse grass, with an entrance on one side, built in long grass, 



