CRATEROPODES. 75 



curtis scouleri, Beavan, Ibis, 1868, p. 75 ; StoL J. A. S. B. xxxvii. p. 473 ; 

 Hume, Sir. F. 1879, p. 457 ; id., Sir. F. 1879, p. 103 ; Scully, /. c. p. 31 1 ; 

 Biddulph, Ibis, 1881, p. 67 ; Seebohm, Ibis, 1882, p. 423. The SHORT-TAILED 

 FORK-TAIL. 



Forehead white ; hind crown, occiput, nape, lores and feathers above the 

 eye, sides of face and breast, ear coverts, cheeks, sides of neck, foreneck, throat, 

 back, lesser and median wing coverts, bastard wing, primary coverts and quills 

 purplish black ; the greater coverts black, tipped with white, forming a wing 

 bar ; the primaries conspicuously white-shafted and the secondaries with white 

 bases and edged with white near the ends ; innermost secondaries pure white ; 

 lower back and rump white, with a black band across the rump ; tail black, the 

 feathers with white bases, the outer feathers white and the next two with an 

 oblique black mark at the tip ; under surface white ; under wing coverts black, 

 the outer lower series white. Bill black ; feet and claws fleshy white ; irides 

 dark brown. 



Young, with the forehead black, throat white. 



Length. 6 inches ; wing 3-1 ; tail 2'2 ; oilmen 0*55 ; tarsus 0-95. 



Hab. From Samarcand throughout the Himalayas to the hills of Assam 

 and extending into Western China. (Sharpe.) Jerdon says this little bird, 

 aberrant as regards the shortness of its tail, appears to be found throughout 

 the whole extent of the Himalayas, though more common in the eastern 

 portion. It is rare in the N.-W. It has been observed in Cashmere, 

 from where Scully also notices it. In Sikkim, about Darjeeling, it is not un- 

 common, but does not ascend as high as H. maculatus. It affects the larger 

 rapid streams, and as Jerdon adds, may often be seen seated on a rock in the 

 midst of a boiling torrent. Feeds exclusively on rocks that are washed over. 

 Food water insects and larvae. Jerdon mentions having a nest brought to 

 him found on a ledge of rock near a stream with three eggs very similar to 

 those of H. maculatus, but smaller. Mr. Hume has no notice of the eggs. 



Group. CRATEROPODES. 



The Crateropodes are characterized by their strong and stout legs and feet, 

 and a short and rounded wing as well as a compressed bill, which is various 

 in form and length. Including non-Indian species, and all those at present 

 known from various parts, it presents a large assemblage of birds of diverse 

 and varied aspect of plain, sombre and in some varied and generally lax 

 plumage. In it are comprised the laughing thrushes, shrike thrushes, the 

 thick-billed finch thrushes, the jay thrush, the tit thrushes, as well as the 

 scimitar, spiny and other true babbling thrushes. They are social and 

 gregarious in their habits, feed on the ground either on insects, grain, seeds, 

 fruit, &c. Some affect open spots or groves, others delight in climbing 

 through interlaced hedges and thickets, in which also they build. The 

 majority lay eggs of a blue colour. Two-thirds of the recognized genera are 



