DRYONASTES. ]J5 



the neck, lower abdomen and under tail coverts bright rufous ; rest of under 

 surface ashy olive brown ; back and quills and their coverts olive brown, the 

 primaries margined on their outer web with ashy ; tail black, obsoletely 

 banded across with dusky under certain lights ; thighs ashy olive brown, 

 washed with ferruginous ; under wing coverts and axillaries the same. Bill 

 black ; legs livid brown ; irides dull red. 



Length. q to 9-5 inches; wing 375 to 4; tail 4*3 to 5-5; tarsus 1-4; 

 culmen 0*9. 



Hab. Nepaul to Assam, and the hills of Upper Burmah. Jerdon says it is 

 found at the foot of the Himalayas, extending up to the slopes of the hills to 

 perhaps 2,000 feet, and is also common in the forests of Assam, Sylhet, Cachar 

 and the Eastern frontier of Bengal. He observed it in the Sikkim Terai, whence 

 specimens have since been found. It is generally in large troops of from twenty 

 to thirty. Their presence is soon known by an extraordinary burst of harsh 

 cackling, chattering, &c. They affect bamboo jungle and feed chiefly on the 

 ground, insects and seeds being their food. Nests have been found in 

 Darjeeling and Sikkim. Eggs, clear pale blue. 



571. Dryonastes chinensis (Scop.), Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. vii. 



p. 455. Lanius chinensis, Scop. Del. Flor. el. Fauna Insubr. ii. p. 86. 

 Garrulax chinensis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv. p. 598; Bp. Consp. i. p. 370; 

 Wald., P. Z. S. 1866, p. 549; Blyth and Wald. B. Burm. p. 107; Hume 

 and Dw. t Str. F. 1878, p. 289 ; Hume, Sir. F. 1879, p. 96; Oates, B. Br 

 Burm. i. p. 38. The BLACK-THROATED LAUGHING-THRUSH. 



Head and nape slaty blue; nasal plumes and base of forehead black; 

 round the eye and a line over the ear coverts white ; a patch below the lores, 

 chin and throat also black ; hinder cheeks and ear coverts white ; foreneck 

 black washed with reddish brown on the lower part ; back olive brown ; wing 

 coverts the same; the bastard wing washed with ashy; quills externally olive 

 brown ; tail the same but with the tips and the outer webs black, washed with 

 olive brown near the base ; breast and sides of foreneck ashy grey ; abdomen, 

 sides of the body, and thighs olive brown, darker on the tinder tail coverts; 

 axillaries and under wing coverts olive brown. Bill black ; legs dusky brown ; 

 iris lake. 



Length.--^'*) to II inches ; wing 4*5 to 4-9; tail 47 to 5 ; tarsus 1-65 ; 

 culmen 1*1. 



. Burmah and Tenasserim. Occurs in Pegu, but rarely. Oates pro- 

 cured it once or twice near Kyakpadien, and again in the forests between 

 Nyounglay-bin and Shwaygheen on the west of the Sittang river. In Tenas- 

 serim Davison found it from Pahpoon down to Meetan at the foot of the 

 Mooleyit. It has also been got in the Thoungyeen Valley. 



