PHINIA. 449 



Habits, t$T. P. lepida frequents the sandy beds and banks of rivers, 

 where low bushes and clumps of grass grow. The breeding-season 

 extends from March till October. The nest is egg-shaped with the 

 entrance at the side, and is built of fine grass and seed-do\vn in 

 dense clumps of grass near the ground. The eggs, four in number, 

 are pale green, freckled and streaked with red or purplish grey, 

 and measure *53 by *44. 



463. Prinia flaviventris. The Yellow-bellied Wren- Warbler. 



Orthotonms flaviventris, Deless. Rev. Zool. 1840, p. 101. 



Prinia flaviventris (Deless.), Blyth, Cat. p. 144 ; Horsf. fy M. Cat. i, 

 p. 321 ; Jerd. B. I. ii, p. 169 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. xxxix, pt. ii, 

 p. 271 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 334 ; Blyth 8f Wald. Birds Bunn. p. 118 ; 

 Gates, S. F. iii, p. 340 ; id. S. F. v, p. 158 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. 

 xlv,pt. ii, pp. 79, 202 ; Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 466 ; Hume 

 8f Dav. S. F. vi. p. 347 ; Hume, Cat. no. 532 ; Doig, S. F. viii, 

 p. 378 ; Butlei', S. F. viii, p. 386 ; Oates, S. F. x, p. 219 ; Barnes, 

 Birds Bom. p. 215 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 207 ; Oates in Hume's N. 

 E. 2nd ed. i, p. 289. 



Burnesia flaviventris (Dekss.), Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 204 ; Oates, 

 B. B. i, p. 111. 



Coloration. In summer the forehead and crown are dark ashy ; 

 upper plumage and wings olive-green ; a whitish ring round the eye ; 

 sides of the head ashy ; chin, throat, and upper breast white ; re- 

 mainder of the lower plumage bright yellow ; tail olive-green, tipped 

 whitish, and each feather with an obscure subterminal brown patch. 



In winter the tail is longer, the feathers are obsoletely tipped 

 paler and have no subterminal brown patches, and there is also 

 a short white eyebrow. 



The white eyebrow occurs somewhat irregularly in these birds, 

 but is apparently seasonal. 



Birds obtained in the Malay peninsula from Klang to Singapore 

 are remarkable for the very large size of the bill. 



The young resemble the adult in winter, but have the whole 

 lower plumage pale yellow. 



Mouth black ; iris reddish yellow ; eyelids plumbeous ; bill black ; 

 legs orange-fleshy ; claws yellowish. In the non-breeding season 

 the mouth is flesh-coloured and the lower mandible is pale. 



In winter the length is about 5'5 ; tail 3 ; wing 1'75 ; tarsus *8 ; 

 bill from gape '65 ; in summer the tail measures but slightly over 

 2 inches and the total length is reduced to about 47. 



Distribution. Occurs in Sind along the Eastern Kara and at 

 Sukkur, and is found again in the Nepal Terai and the Bhutan 

 Doars, extending up the Assam Valley to Sadiya. Frcm the foot 

 of the Himalayas the range of this bird extends throughout Bengal 

 to Calcutta, and on the east to the extreme southern end of 

 Tenasserim and on to Singapore. 



Habits, fyc. This species frequents swamps, the banks of rivers and 



canals, and grassy plains which are low and liable to inundation. 



It breeds from May to September, constructing an oval nest of grass 



with an aperture near the top and lined with the finest grass-stems. 



VOL. i. 2 G 



