TIMELIID^E. 



Gen. Mesia. 



Bill short, strong, wide at the base, compressed at the tip, which is bent over 

 and slightly notched ; culmen moderately curved ; a few long rictal bristles ; 

 tail slightly forked ; wing longer than the tail ; the 4th quill generally shorter 

 than the 5th and 6th. 



664. Mesia argentauriS, Hodgs., Ind. Rev. p.88; id., Icon, ined 

 in Br. Mus. Passeres, pi. 68, fig. 4 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. B. p. 392 ; 

 id., Str. F. 1879, p. 104 ; Oa/es, B. Br. Bunn. i. p. 143 ; Sharpe, Cat. Br. 

 Mus. vii. p. 642. Leiothrix argentauris, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 269; Bp. Consp. 

 i- P 33 2 5 Jerd. t B. Ind. ii. p. 251, No. 615. The SILVER-EARED MESIA or 



HlLL-TlT. 



Forehead golden yellow ; top of head, lores, cheeks, feathers round the eye 

 and a line below the ear coverts black ; ear coverts silvery white ; chin, throat 

 and breast bright orange ; round the hind neck an orange collar ; sides of the 

 neck and upper back fulvous yellow ; lower back, scapulars, tertiaries and 

 wing coverts slaty ; the greater and primary coverts narrowly fringed with 

 yellow ; quills slaty brown, the first two edged with yellow, the rest inclining 

 to paler yellow towards the ends of the primaries ; the bases of the feathers 

 washed on the exterior web with crimson and forming a wing patch ; upper 

 tail coverts crimson ; tail blackish brown, the three outer pairs of feathers 

 edged with yellowish ; the centre feathers edged with dusky at the base ; under 

 surface of the body olive green, yellower on the centre of the abdomen; 

 under tail coverts crimson ; under wing coverts and axillaries light olive ; a 

 daik olivaceous patch on the edge of the wing, which is bright yellow. 



The young have the upper and under tail coverts more fulvous yellow. Bill 

 ochre yellow, slightly greenish at the base ; irides dark or reddish brown ; 

 feet fleshy yellow. 



Length. 6 to 7 inches; wing 2-9 to 3*1 ; tail 2-65 to 3; tarsus i ; cul- 

 men 07. 



Hob. Eastern Himalayas, throughout the hills of N.-E. Bengal and 

 Burmah to Tenasserim. Recorded from Nepaul, Sikkim, Khasia and the 

 Kakhyen hills, also Darjeeling and Bhootan. It was got by Captain Ward law- 

 Ramsay in the Tonghoo hills and also in the Karennee hills at altitudes 

 of from 1,500 to 4,000 feet. Davison met with it on the Mooleyit mountain in 

 Tenasserim ; near Bhamo it has been procured by Dr. Anderson, and in the 

 hill tracts of Eastern Bengal by Colonel Godwin-Austen. Hume, quoting 

 Hodgson, says it breeds in the lowlands of Nepaul, laying in May and June. 

 The nest is placed on a bushy tree between two or three thin twigs to which it 

 is attached. The structure is composed of dry bamboo and other leaves, thin 

 grass roots and moss, and is lined inside with fine roots. Eggs, 3 4, pale green, 

 with a few brownish red spots and specks, more closely speckled at the larger 

 end and forming an annular zone. 



