446 SYLYIID^J. 



Distribution. Sikhim. Hodgson procured this bird, but probably 

 in Sikhim, and not in Nepal. Jerdon quotes it from the Khasi 

 hills ; but he, no doubt, did not distinguish it from S. khasiana. 

 Hume, in his * Rough Draft of Nests and Eggs,' states that it breeds 

 in Kumaun, and probably he is right, but there is not a single 

 specimen in his collection now from that province, and I have seen 

 no specimens from any part of India but Sikhim. 



Habits, $c. Breeds from 4000 to 6000 feet in May and June, 

 and probably also in April and July. The nest, an egg-shaped 

 structure made of grass and a little moss, is placed in a low bush 

 or clump of grass. The eggs, four or five in number, are greyish 

 green, marked with purple, and measure '68 by 5. 



460. Suya khasiana. Austen's Hill- Warbler. 



Suya atrogularis, Moore, apud Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xxxix, pt. ii, 



p. 107. 

 Suya khasiana, Godw.-Aust. A. M. N. H. (4), xviii, p. 412 (1876) ; 



Hume, S. F. v, p. 59 ; id. S. F. vii, p. 3 ; id. Cat. no. 549 bis ; Sharpe, 



Cat. B. M. vii, p. 181 ; Hume, 8. F. xi, p. 216. 



Coloration. In winter the whole upper plumage is a rich ferru- 

 ginous brown, brighter on the forehead and crown ; tail brown, 

 suffused with ferruginous, tipped pale, and with a subterminal 

 dark patch on each feather ; a streak from the nostril over the eye 

 to the end of the ear-coverts and the feathers on the eyelids ashy 

 white ; lores dusky ; cheeks white, delicately barred with brown ; 

 chin, middle of throat, of breast, and of abdomen pure white ; ear- 

 coverts, sides of the throat, neck, breast, and body, with the under 

 tail-coverts, ochraceous. 



In summer the upper plumage, wings, and tail are the same as 

 in winter ; the lores and supercilium are blackish, with some 

 whitish specks ; ear-coverts and round the eye slaty ; a broad and 

 conspicuous cheek-stripe white ; chin and throat black ; the fea- 

 thers on the upper breast white, with black margins ; middle of 

 lower breast and abdomen white ; sides of the breast, of the body, 

 and the under tail-coverts ochraceous. 



Legs and feet delicate fleshy pink ; claws brownish ; upper 

 mandible dark brown : lower mandible and edges of the upper 

 towards the point pale fleshy pink ; iris orange-buff (Hume). 



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

 6. The tail appears to be constantly of the same length both in 

 winter and summer, and probably is not moulted in the spring. 



Distribution. The Khasi and Naga hills. Also in Mauipur, 

 where Hume found this Suya on the Eastern hills. 



Habits, fyc. Hume states that this bird frequents dense herba- 

 ceous undergrowth of balsams and the like in forest. On the llth 

 of May he found a nest containing four well- incubated eggs. The 

 nest was placed in a wild ginger-plant, about two feet from the 

 ground, in forest at the very summit of the Match i hill. 



