382 



fulvous ; tlie feathers of the hind neck black with white margins, 

 forming a collar different in appearance to the back ; wing-coverts 

 and quills dark brown, the former very broadly, the latter very 

 narrowly edged with tawny fulvous ; tail black, margined with 

 olivaceous, broadly tipped w r bite, and indistinctly cross-barred ; 

 lores, a supercilium, and round the eye greyish white ; ear-coverts 

 rufescent ; sides.of neck, breast and body, thighs, and under tail- 

 coverts ochraceous, the latter with black shaft- streaks. 



Legs and feet pale fleshy brown ; bill brow r n, pale fleshy on 

 basal half of lower mandible; iris reddish brown (Hume}. 



Wing 2-4 ; tarsus '9 ; bill from gape '7 ; length in summer about 

 6'5, of tail 2-8 ; length in winter about 7, of tail 3-5. 



Pig. 121. Head of G. bengalensis. 



The plumage of this bird is subject to considerable variation, as 

 is the case in all birds that live in reeds and get the margins of 

 their feathers worn away in various degrees regardless of season, 

 sex, or age. 



Distribution. Jerdon first observed this bird on the banks of the 

 Ganges, and subsequently in Cachar. It occurs in the Bhutan and 

 Buxa Doars and up the Assam valley to Sadiya. It appears to be 

 common in Sylhet and Cachar, and both Hume and Godwin- 

 Austen procured it in Manipur. In the British Museum there is 

 a specimen from Siam. 



Habits, #c. A nest, supposed to be of this species, is said by 

 Hume to be a massive and deep cup, fixed between three reeds, con- 

 structed of sedge and vegetable fibre firmly wound together and 

 round the reeds, and lined with fine grass-roots. The egg is said 

 to be a dull green, faintly speckled with dull purplish and reddish 

 brown. 



Genus MEGALURUS, Horsf., 1821. 



The genus Megalurus contains one Indian species which occurs 

 in a somewhat erratic manner over a considerable portion of the 

 Empire. This bird appears to have little or nothing of a spring 

 moult ; its tail is not changed, and probably what little moult it 

 has at that season is confined to some of the body-feathers. The 

 young, however, are intensely and richly coloured, which shows the 

 affinity of this species for the Warblers. 



Megalurus frequents plains of grass and the banks of rivers, 

 feeds on the ground a good deal, and is not so fond of hiding itself 



