NOTES ON SIKHIM BIRDS. 227 



177. Gecinulus grantius.— Forehead dingy fulvous. Chin 

 and ujoper throat greenish-grey. Its usual call is '•'• tcrr-terr^'' which is 

 indicated by its Lepcha name. When it occasionally calls " ml-mi^'' 

 this is regarded as an e\'il omen — nit being the negative particle in 

 both the Lepcha and Bhotiya languages. 



178. Micropternus phaioceps.— A slight crest. Irides 



dusky brown. Bill horny-black ; the inferior border of lower mandible 

 greenish-horny in its middle third. Three out of the seven females 

 have the crimson mandibular stripe extending backwai'ds to the ear- 

 coverts. The 0010™* of the breast ranges from light to dark chestnut- 

 bay or ferruginous. In one female, without the crimson cheek stripes, 

 the feathers of the chin and throat are darkly pigmented on either 

 side of shaft, while the edges are unusually pale, almost like M. gularis ; 

 but the lower abdomen is barred. The feathers of crown and nape are 

 smeared with the gum resin of some tree. 



180. Brachypternus aurantius.— A male in March, length 



11-6, generally answers to Jerdon's description. The feathers of the 

 median and lesser wing coverts have subterminally a heart-shaped spot 

 of fulvescent-white. The outer web of the primaries, excepting the 

 first, have whitish spots corresponding with those on the inner, and 

 these spots are three in number, excepting the second and thii'd quills, 

 which have one and two respectively. The tips of the primaries are 

 greenish-brown. 



181. B. pnncticoUiS.— A female in February has the bill 

 horny-black. Irides pale prune. Legs pale sap-green. Claws plum- 

 beous. A conspicuous fringe of crimson-tipped feathers on the occiput. 

 The median and lesser wing coverts are less spotted than in B. auran- 

 tius. The tertiary are unspotted ; and the spots are of an acuminate 

 ovoid shape. The primary quills have the whitish spots on their 

 outer webs more defined and regular, so as to form two and-a-half 

 inten'upted whitish bars. 



187. Sasia OChracea. — Bill: upper mandible horny-black; 

 lower pale greenish underneath. Winglet margined with pale buff. 

 Wing-lining and axillaries silvery-white. Rmnp and upper tail 

 ochraceous — slightly lighter than breast. Legs fleshy-pink. Claws 

 pale horny-grey. 



192. Megalsema hodgsoni,— As there seems some doubt 

 about the characters of this species, I give here some details of my 

 seven specimens on the points in question : — 



Males — 



Length 97 — 8-8 inches. 



Expanse 120 —11-6 „ 



Wing 5-3 — 5-2 „ 



Tail 3-4 — 315 „ 



Bill from gape 1'5 — 1*4 „ 



„ at front 1-15— 113 „ 



