MALACIAS. 97 



outer webs margined with bluish grey ; under surface of body, including 

 the under tail coverts, rufous ; under wing coverts like the breast. Bill black ; 

 legs yellowish brown ; irides brown. 



Length ]'% to 8'8 inches ; wing 3-45 to 4 ; tail 3-5 to 4-55 ; tarsus ri ; 

 culmen 0*95. 



Hab. Himalayas from Cashmere to Bhootan ; abundant in Sikkim. 

 Recorded localities are Murree, Kumaon, Nepaul, Darjeeling, Bhootan, Mus- 

 soorie and Simla. Jerdon says it frequents the highest trees, climbing up the 

 larger 'branches, and clinging round and below the smaller branches, like a 

 wood-pecker or nut-hatch. Hume says it breeds throughout the Himalayas 

 during May, June, and part of July. The nest is made chiefly of moss, lined 

 with 'stalks of the maiden-hair fern and fine roots. Eggs, pale bluish green, 

 spotted and blotched with dark brownish red. In size they vary from 0*95 to 

 ro in length, and 0-69 to 072 in breadth. 



541. Malacias melanoleuca (Tickeify ffume, Str. F. 1879, p. 97; 



Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. vii. p. 405. Sibia melanoleuca, Tickell, MSS. ; 

 Blyth, J. A. S. B. xviii. p. 413; Hume and Davison, Sir. F. 1878^ 

 p. 293 ; Gould. B. Asia, part xxxiii. Sibia picata, Tick., J . A. S. B. xxviii. 

 p. 45 i ; Walden, Ibis, 1866, p. 355 ; Oates, B. Br. Burm. i. p. 43. TICKELL'S 

 SHORT-TAILED SIBIA. 



Forehead, crown, nape, chin, lores, and cheeks, also the sides of the face, jet 

 black ; ear coverts, neck and upper plumage rich brown ; tail brown, broadly 

 tipped with white; wing coverts jet black; quills blackish, externally washed 

 with glossy greenish black ; the primaries with a concealed patch of white at 

 the base, on the inner webs. Except a small black chin spot, the whole 

 under surface, including the under wing coverts and axillaries, white. Legs, 

 feet, and claws dark horny brown ; bill black ; irides lake. 



Length. -8 to 8-5 inches; wing 3-35 to 3-5; tail 3-95 to 4; tarsus rrs ; 

 culmen 0-75. 



Hab. Hills of Tenasserirn, confined, as far as is at present known, to the 

 higher slopes of the Mooleyit mountains. Gates, quoting Davison, says the 

 note of this bird is a single, long-drawn, clear-sounding whistle. Its food 

 consists of small berries and insects, which latter are captured amongst the 

 foliage on the tree-tops, in which small parties are always moving. They 

 never descend to the ground or even to brushwood. 



542. Malacias gracilis (McCleU.), Hume, Str, F. 1879, P . 97; 



Sharpe, Cat. B, Br. Mus. vii. p. 406. Hypsipetes gracilis, McClell. P. Z S. 

 ^39, p. 159. Sibia gracilis, Blyih, J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 449 ; Jerd. B. Ind. 

 ii. p, 56; Godw.-Aust., J. A. S. B. xxxix., p. 105. The ASSAM SIBIA. 

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