CONOSTOMA. 



the body ; quills dark brown, ashy on the outer webs ; innermost secondaries 

 light brown ; tail dark brown, ashy at base, and with pale ends ; head creamy 

 buff ; cheeks and ear coverts dark brown, washed with fulvous ; throat blackish 

 brown, the feathers margined with fulvous brown ; hinder surface ashy brown ; 

 the middle of the abdomen pale fulvous ; feathers of the chest and sides of the 

 body streaked with white, also the under tail coverts, which are ashy fulvous. 

 Bill yellowish ; legs fleshy yellow ; iris yellowish white. 



Length. 8-5 to 9 inches ; wing 3'8 to 4 ; tail 4 ; tarsus 1*3. 



Hab. The Deccan and Southern India. Common and abundant in the 

 Carnatic ; also Travancore and the Northern Circars. Affects hedges, gardens, 

 &c. Breeds from January to May and June. Eggs the same colour as the 

 last and other species of the genus. 



585. CraterOpUS Somervillei (Sykes), Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. 

 vii. p. 482. Timalia Somervillei, SyUes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 88 ; id., J.A.S. B. 

 iii. p. 536; Jtrd., Madr. Journ. x. p. 257. Malacocercus Somervillei, 

 Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiii. p. 368 ; Jerd., III. Lid. Orn. text to pi. 19 (1847) ; 

 Jerd'., B. Ind. ii. p. 63, No. 435; Fairbank, Sir. F. 1876, p. 258 ; Hume, 

 t. c. p. 456; id., Str> F. 1879, p. 97 ; Vidal, Sir. F. 1879, p. 64. Malaco- 

 cercus Sykesii, Jerd., B Ind. ii. p. 63. The RUFOUS-TAILED BABBLER. 



Above light brown, the head a little more dusky than the back, the feathers 

 of which latter are white-shafted ; rump and upper tail coverts sandy buff, the 

 feathers white-shafted ; quills dark brown, their outer margin ashy ; tail rufous 

 brown, the outermost feathers tipped paler, and all with obsolete dusky trans- 

 verse bars under certain lights ; lores dull whitish ; sides of face pale ashy ; 

 throat dusky brown, the feathers margined with ashy ; foreneck and chest ashy ; 

 the feathers with fulvous shaft streaks ; under surface of the body light tawny 

 buff; the under wing coverts deeper and more fawn-coloured. Bill horny 

 yellow ; legs dirty yellow ; irides pale yellow. 



Length. 9*5 to 9*8 inches; wing4'i to 4*4; tail 4 to 4*3 ; tarsus 1*45. 



7/tf. The Concan and Deccan. Found on the Khandalla Ghauts and 

 along the Western Coast. Breeds during May and June. Eggs greenish blue. 



Gen. ConostOEQa. Hodgs. 



Bill short, stout, compressed and arched with the culmen broad and rounded; 

 nostrils round, hidden by plumes ; rictal bristles scanty and feeble ; wing short, 

 rounded, 6th, 7th and 8th quills about equal and longest ; tail long ; feet large 

 and strong and with four toes ; outer toe longer than the inner ; hind toe very 

 large ; claws long, and slender. 



586. Conostoma semodium, Hodgs., J. A. S. B. x. p. 857; id., 



Icon. ined. m Br. Mus. Passer es, pi. 263; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. vii. 

 P- 4^5; Jerd., B. Ind. ii. p. I o, No. 381 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. B> 

 p. 237 ; id., Str. F. 1879, P- 95* The RED-BILLED JAY-THRUSH. 



