PELLOBNEUM. 139 



141. Pyctorhis altirostris. Jerdon's Babller. 



Chrysomma altirostre, Jcrd. Ibis, 1862, p. 22; Godiv.-Aust. A.M. 



N. H. (4) xvii, p. 34 ; Hume, S. F. iv, p. 504. 



Pyctorhis altirostris (Jerd.), Blyth $ Wald. Birds Burm. p. 117; 

 . Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xlv, pt. ii. pp. 74, 197, pi. ix ; Blanf. S. F. 



v, p. 245; Gates, S. F. v, p. 249; Godic.-Aust. J.A.S.B. xlvii, 



pt. ii, p. 23 ; Hume, Cat. no. 386 bis ; Oates, S. F. x, p. 206 ; id. 



B. B. i, p. 47 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 512 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 138. 

 Pyctorhis griseigularis, Hume, S. F. v, p. 116; id. Cat. no. 386 ter ; 



Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 174. 



Coloration. Forehead and a broad stripe to the eye hoary grey 

 with black centres ; lores grey ; sides of head and neck greyish 

 brown tinged with rufous, more hoary round the eye ; whole 

 upper plumage deep reddish brown, brighter on the tail and ex- 

 posed parts of wings ; chin, throat, cheeks, and upper breast grey; 

 remainder of lower surface bright buff. 



Upper mandible pale horn-colour, lower pinkish flesh-colour ; 

 iris hazel-brown ; eyelid and orbital skin greenish yellow ; legs 

 and feet pinkish brown ; claws pinkish horn-colour. 



Length about 6-5 ; tail 3-3 ; wing 2-4 ; tarsus -9 ; bill from 

 gape -55. 



Distribution. Mangrani between Sukkur and Shikarpur in Sind ; 

 Bhutan and Buxa doars; the Bishnath plain and Sibscagar in 

 Assam ; Thayetmyo ; the plains of Pegu between the Pegu hills 

 and the Sittoung from Kyeikpadein to Toungngoo. 



Habits, fyc. This bird is confined to vast plains of elephant -grass. 

 It is a very difficult bird to observe ; it creeps quietly through the 

 clumps of grass and is seen for an instant only as it flies from 

 one clump to another. It has a peculiar note, very different to 

 that of P. sinensis. 



Genus PELLORNEUM, Swains., 1831. 



The genus Pellorneum contains seven species which are almost 

 exclusively Indian and greatly developed in the Eastern portion of 

 the Empire. 



In Pellorneum the tail and wing are about equal in length ; the 

 bill is about three fourths the length of the head, straight and 

 notched at the tip ; the nostrils are not overhung by hairs and the 

 rictal bristles are extremely short. The breast is streaked ; in five 

 species very distinctly so, in the other two obsoletely. 



The habits of all the species, so far as is known, are similar and 

 may be dealt with here to avoid repetition. These Babblers are 

 found solitary or in pairs in thick brushwood and neglected gardens, 

 or places in fact which are not open and exposed. They are almost 

 always seen on the ground and they utter a series of very pretty 

 notes as well as harsh ones. Their nests are domed and built on 

 the ground with one doubtful exception. 



