BATRACHOSTOMUS. 195- 



with irregular black blotches ; a few smaller black spots on the 

 back ; a whitish collar produced by white feathers with black cross- 

 bands round the hind-neck ; much white on the scapulars and 

 whitish buff on the tertiaries ; quills brown, the outer webs and 

 tips mottled and spotted with rufous-white ; tail banded, paler 

 and darker, the cross-bands with imperfect blackish-brown edges; 

 lower surface paler than upper, of rufous, white, and black mixed, 

 white prevailing on the abdomen ; a more or less distinct white 

 band across the lower throat. 



Female. Rich chestnut throughout ; supercilia white ; chin, 

 vent, and lower tail-coverts whitish ; a nuchal collar of white 

 feathers banded with dark brown ; some of the scapulars, a band 

 of feathers across the throat, and a second across the breast white 

 with black borders ; tail with darker mottled cross-bands. 



Young very imperfectly known, probably each resembles an 

 adult of the same sex. 



Fig. 56. Head of B. hodgsoni, rf. \. 



Bill light madder ; irides marbled buff ; legs light madder tinged 

 with violet ( W. Ramsay). 



Length about 10-5 ; tail 6 ; wing 5-3 ; tarsus -65 ; width \ of 

 bill at gape 1*2. 



Distribution. Sikhim, at low elevations ; Naga hills ; Manipur ; 

 Toungngoo in Burma ; Karennee. Probably throughout the 

 country from Sikhim to Northern Tenasserim, but apparently very 

 rare. 



Habits, fyc. Scarcely known at all, but doubtless similar to those 

 of other species. The stomach of a female brought to Mr. Hume 

 in Manipur contained beetles. The breeding-season appears to 

 be from April to June ; the nests are either circular pads or deep 

 cups composed of moss, roots, or leaves and twigs, lined with 

 grass or down, placed on a branch or the stem of a tree. The 

 eggs, one or two in number, are glossless white, and measure 

 about 1-09 by -64. 



