ARGYA. 109 



108. Argya submfa. The Large Rufous Babbler. 



Timalia subrufa, Jerd. Madr. Journ. L. S. x, p. 259 (1844). 

 Malacocercus subrufus (Jen/.), Blyth, Cat.]). 141; Horsf.fyM. Cat.\, 



p. 217. 



Layardia subrufa (Jerd.), Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 66; Hume, Cat. no. 437 ; 

 -Butler, S. F. ix, p. 401; Daviton, S. F. x, p. 382; Barnes, Birds 

 Bom. p. 181. 

 Argya subrufa (Jerd.}, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 390; Oates in 



Hume's N. # E. 2ud ed. i, p. 74. 

 Argya hyperythra, Sharpe, t. c. p. 390. 

 The Rufous Babbler, Jerd. ; Jungli-Khyr, Hind. 



Coloration. Forehead hoary grey with black shafts ; whole upper 

 plumage, tail, and exposed parts of the wings olive-brown with a 

 rufous tinge, especially strong on the outer webs of the quills, on 

 the tail, and on the upper tail-coverts ; lores brown ; cheeks, sides 

 of head and neck olive-brown tinged with rufous ; lower plumage 

 bright rufous, somewhat paler on the abdomen and suffused with 

 brown on the thighs and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts 

 and edge of wing rufous ; tail slightly cross-rayed. 



Upper mandible, from gape to nostril, chrome-yellow ; rest of 

 upper mandible blackish brown; lower mandible chrome-yellow; 

 iris creamy white or pale yellow ; legs and feet dark yellowish 

 fleshy, pale reddish brown, greyish yellow (Davisori). 



Length 10 ; tail 4'5 ; wing 3'5 ; tarsus 1*3 ; bill from gape 1. 



Argya hyperythra, a species described by Sharpe in the 'Catalogue,' 

 cannot in my opinion be kept distinct. The two specimens upon 

 which the name was founded are certainly very rufous, but it is 

 only a matter of degree, and I believe that Sharpe himself now 

 doubts the validity of the species. 



Distribution. The Western Ghats from Coonoor and Kotagiri 

 on the Nilgiris to Khandala near Bombay. 



Habits, tyc. Davison remarks that this bird is quite a Malacocercus 

 in habits and voice, but it keeps to much denser cover, being found 

 far away in forests, and the voice is softer and more subdued. 



The nest of this bird is of the usual form, made of leaves and 

 bound together by grass and creepers. 



109. Argya longirostris. The Small Rufous Babbler. 



Pyctorhis longirostris, Hoclys., Moore, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 104; Horsf. 



$ M. Cat. i, p. 408 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 16 ; Hume, Cat. no. 386 ; 



id. S. F. ix, p. 250, xi, p. 137. 

 Malacocercus (Layardia) rubiginosus, Godwin- Austen, P. Z. S. 1874, 



p. 47 ; id. J. A. S. B. xliii, pt. ii, p. 164, pi. v ; Hume, S. F. iii, 



p. 397; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xlv, pt. ii, pp. 78, 202 ; xlvii, 



pt. ii, p. 24 ; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 153. 



Timelia longirostris (Hodos.), Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 509. 

 The Larger Yellow-eyed Babbler, Jerd. 



Coloration. Upper plumage, tail, and exposed parts of the closed 

 wings deep reddish brown ; lores, cheeks, chin, and upper throat 

 white ; the whole lower plumage and the ear-coverts ferruginous, 

 becoming albescent on the abdomen ; tail cross-rayed. 



