122 CKATEROPODID.E. 



black border over the snpercilium being very narrow and in some 

 cases almost obsolete, and in the lower plumage being of a much 

 deeper ferruginous. 



Bill coral-red ; iris lemon-yellow ; legs brown with a tinge of 

 greenish ( Cockburn) iris yellowish white (Hume) ; iris pale yellow 

 ( Godw.- Austen). 



Length about 9*5 ; tail 4 ; wing 3'5 ; tarsus 1'3 ; bill from 

 gape 1-2. 



Distribution. Moflong, Assam ; Shillong and Cherra Poonjee ; 

 Naga hills ; Manipur : Arrakan. 



125. PomatorMnus ruficollis. The Rufous-neclced 

 Scimitar Babbler. 



Pomatorhinus ruficollis, Hodgs. As. Res. xix, p. 182 (1836); Bhjth, 

 Cat. p. 147 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 236 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 29 : 

 Hume, N. $E. p. 249 : Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xliii, pt. ii, p. 160 

 xlv, pt. ii, p. 75 ; Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 1878, p. 138 ; Hume, 

 Cat. no. 400 ; Scully, S. F. viii, p. 287 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, 

 p. 426 ; Hume, S. F.'xi, p. 146 ; Oates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. 

 f ; p. 87.^ 



Pomatorhinus stridulus, Swinh. Ibis, 1861, p. 265. 



Moh-mera, Angaini Naga ; Bhiakuroh of the Parbuttiahs. 



Coloration. Upper plumage, tail, and visible portions of closed 

 wings rufescent olive-brown ; a broad white supercilium from the 

 nostrils to the nape ; lores, under the eye, and the ear-coverts 

 black ; sides of the neck bright ferruginous, this colour frequently 

 passing round the hind neck and forming a collar ; chin, throat, 

 and cheeks white ; lower throat, breast, and centre of abdomen 

 white, streaked with olive-brown ; sides of the abdomen and breast, 

 the vent, and the under tail-coverts plain olive-brown. 



In some birds the streaks on the breast are rufous, and this is 

 especially the case in specimens from China ; also, but in a less 

 degree, in specimens from the Himalayas. Young nestlings have 

 the whole breast rusty. 



Bill horny yellow, paler at the tip, and the base of the maxilla 

 and basal three fourths of culmen brownish black ; iris varies from 

 pale red to crimson ; eyelid plumbeous ; feet grey or greenish 

 plumbeous ; claws brownish horny (Scully). 



Length about 7'5 ; tail 3*5 ; wing 3*1 ; tarsus 1*1 ; bill from 

 gape -9 to 1-2. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from Nepal to Assam (where 

 Godwin- Austen obtained it in the Daphla and Naga hills); Shillong; 

 Manipur. This species also occurs in China. 



Habits, fyc. Breeds in April and May, constructing a domed nest 

 of grass, fern, and bamboo-leaves on the ground and laying five 

 eggs, which measure '95 by '68. 



The next three species are very closely allied, but may be known 

 by their longer, very slender, and more curved bill (fig. 32). 



