B B AC11 YPTEll Y X . 1 85 



to the evidence before me, is a Crateropodine bird with the young 

 similar to the adult. The two genera are also in structure quite 

 different, especially with regard to the length of the tail and 

 tarsus. 



In Bracliypteryx the bill is about half the length of the head, 

 strong and broad at the base ; the nostrils are long ovals and they 

 are overhung by the greatly lengthened shafts of the frontal 

 feathers ; the rictal bristles are long. The wing is short and 

 rounded; the tarsus smooth and of considerable length, and the 

 tail is short and square or nearly so. The sexes are alike in all 

 respects, and both species are non-migratory and confined to small 

 tracts of hill-country. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Sides of abdomen slaty blue B. albiventris, p. 185. 



b. Sides of abdomen pale chestnut B. rufiventris, p. 185, 



193. Bracliypteryx albiventris. The White-bellied Short-wing. 



Callene albiventris, Fairbank, Blanf. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 833, pi. 39 ; 



id. J. A. S. B. xxxviii, pt. ii, p. 179 ; Jerd. Ibis, 1872, p. 132 ; 



Hume, N. $ E. p. 220 ; Fairbank, S. F. v, p. 402, vii, p. 35 ; 



Hume, Cat. no. 339 bis; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 15 ; Terry, S. 



F. x, p. 473. 

 Brachypteryx albiventris (Fairb.\ Oates in Hume's N. fy E. 2nd ed. 



i, p. 128. 



Coloration. Lores and a narrow frontal band deep black ; above 

 these a band of bluish white ; centre of abdomen, vent, and under 

 tail-coverts white ; with these exceptions the whole plumage and 

 the exposed parts of the closed wings and tail are dark slaty 

 blue. 



Bill black ; feet leaden black ; iris buff (Fairbank). 



Length about 6-5 ; tail 2-6 ; wing 3-2 ; tarsus T15; bill from 

 gape -9. 



Distribution. The Palni hills and Southern Travancore from 

 1000 feet upwards. 



Habits, fyc. According to Fairbank these birds live in thickets 

 and are hard to discover. At the breeding-season the males have a 

 sweet song. The breeding-season is May and June. The nest is 

 placed in a hole of a tree or bank and is made of moss. The eggs, 

 generally two in number, are greyish green, thickly covered with 

 brown marks. They measure about -93 by '63. 



194. Brachypteryx rufiventris. The Rufous-bellied Short-wing. 



Phcenicura major, Jerd. Madr. Joum. L. S. xiii, p. 170 (1844). 



Brachypteryx major (Jerd.), Blyth, Cat. p. 178. 



Callene rufiventris, Blyth, Jerd. B. L i, p. 496 ; id. Ibit, 1872, p. 132 ; 



