198 CRATEROPODIDTE. 



the ashy tip increasing in extent, and so on till the outermost 

 feathers are entirely black with a bluish-grey tip; chin, throat, and 

 cheeks white, becoming fulvous on the breast and abdomen, the 

 sides of which are washed with lilac ; vent and under tail-coverts 

 buff. 



Tarsus pale brown ; feet and claws darker ; bill black ; iris 

 brownish red, dull maroon or dull red (flume) ; iris crimson 

 (Cockburn). 



Length about 9*5; tail 4'5 ; wing 3'7; tarsus 1*2; bill from 

 gape I'l. 



Distribution. The Khasi and Naga hills ; Manipur ; generally 

 above 4500 feet. 



Habits, fyc. Hume describes this bird as being very active. It 

 runs along the branches, dodging in and out of the bunches of 

 parasitic ferns, orchids, and mistletoe, so as to be very difficult to 

 shoot. Godwin-Austen found the nest at the end of June. It 

 was constructed of grass, moss, and rootlets, and was placed near 

 the top of a pine. The eggs, three in number, were pale sea-green, 

 with ash-brown streakings and blotchings all over. 



206. Lioptila xnelanoleuca. TickeWs 



Sibia melanoleuca (Tick.), Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 413 (1859) ; 



Wald. Ibis, 1876, p. 355 ; Blyth, Birds Burm. p. 108 ; Davison, 



S. F. v, p. 458 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi, p. 293. 

 Sibia picata, TicMl, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 451 (1859). 

 Malacias melanoleucus (Tick.), Hume, Cat. no. 429quat. ; Sharpe, 



Cat. B. M. vii, p. 405 ; Oates, B. B. i, p. 43 ; Salvad. Ann. Mus. 



Civ. Gen. (2) v, p. 604. 

 Lioptila melanoleuca (Tick.*), Oates in Hume's N. 8f E. 2nd ed. i, 



p. 135. 



Coloration. Forehead, crown, nape, and the sides of the head 

 except the ear-coverts deep black ; ear-coverts very dark brown ; 

 back, scapulars, lesser and median wing-coverts, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts chocolate-brown, tinged with ashy on the latter two 

 parts ; wings and greater coverts black ; tail dark brown, the outer 

 webs edged with black, and all the feathers tipped with white; 

 entire lower plumage white. 



Legs and feet varying from a very dark reddish brown to a dark 

 purplish brown or brownish black ; bill black ; iris lake (Hume $ 

 Davison). 



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

 gape '95. 



Distribution. The higher portions of Muleyit mountain in Tenas- 

 serim. 



Habits, fyc. The note of this bird is a single, long drawn, clear- 

 sounding whistle. Davison found the nest in February a cup of 

 grass, roots, and fibres placed in a high tree. It contained two 

 blue eggs, which measured about '97 by '67. 



