392 SYLYIID^E. 



Coloration. After the autumn moult the upper plumage and the 

 margins of the wing and tail are olive-brown with a fuhous tinge, 

 the outer tail-feathers edged with whitish ; lores dusky ; a pale 

 whity-buff supercilium from the nostrils to just past the eye ; the 

 whole lower plumage very pale buff, the throat and middle of the 

 abdomen nearly white. 



Iris brown ; legs and feet grey ; bill brown above, fleshy below 

 (Butler}. 



Length about 5-5 ; tail 2'2 ; wing 2*3 to 2*5 ; tarsus '8 ; bill 

 from gape "6. The second primary terminates between the seventh 

 and ninth, the first primary is I'l to 1-25 short of the tip of the 

 wing and the secondaries '4 short. 



There is no seasonal change of colour in the plumage beyond 

 what is caused by abrasion and wear and tear of the feathers. The 

 colour of the plumage is a very bad guide to identification. 



Distribution. Throughout the whole peninsula of India down to 

 the Nilgiris in the south, and to the longitude of Dinapore and 

 Lohardugga in the east. I have examined a large series of birds 

 from almost every portion of this area. It is in general a winter 

 visitor, but Doig found a large colony breeding from March to July 

 on the Eastern Nara, Siud. It breeds in Quetta and westwards 

 to Europe ; also in Turkestan ; and Seebohm states that it breeds 

 in Kashmir. India appears to be its main winter-quarters. 



Habits, fyc. Breeds in Sind, constructing a small cup -shaped 

 nest of sedge and fine grass in the centre of a low bush. The eggs, 

 four in number, are white marked with brown and measure '61 

 by -49. 



395. Hypolais pallida. The Olivaceous Tree-Warbler. 



Curruca pallida, Hemp. $ Ehr. Symb. Phys., Aves, fol. bb (1833). 

 Hypolais pallida (H. $ E.}, Hume, S. F. vii, pp. 398, 504 ; id. Cat. 



no. 553 ter ; id. S. F. ix, p. 231 ; Seebohm, Cat. B. M. v, p. 82 ; 



Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 225. 



Coloration. Resembles H. rama in colour, but differs in being 

 larger, in the tip of the secondaries being -55 to -65 from the tip 

 of the wing, and the tip of the first primary 1'3 to 1-5 short of the 

 same. 



Length nearly 6 ; tail 2'2 ; wing 2-5 to 2'7 ; tarsus -8 ; bill 

 from gape '75 ; the second primary is between the sixth and 

 eighth. 



In H. pallida the difference between the length of the wing and 

 that of the tail is considerably greater than in H. rama, in which it 

 is frequently not more than -1. 



Distribution. Hume received this bird from Sehwan, but subse- 

 quently doubted the identification of the specimen, thinking it to 

 be an abnormal H. rama. Dresser, however, distinctly states that 

 he has seen Sind specimens of //. pallida. It is a bird which is 

 most likely to be found in Sind, and so I admit it to my list. 

 Barnes states that this bird occurs in Sind as a cold-weather 



