182 SIMALIN.E. 



IX, p. 401 ; Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 133 ; 



Swinhoe and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 68. 

 THE STRIATED BUSH BABBLER. 



Length, 9 ; wing, 3 ; tail, 4'5 ; tarsus, 1 ; bill at front, 0'6. 



Bill pale brownish -horny ; hides red-brown ; legs dull -yellow. 



Above pale ashy-brown, with numerous dusky striae, each 

 feather being centred brown ; tail pale olive-brown, obsoletely 

 barred with dusky ; beneath the chin white, the rest of the 

 plumage rufescent-ashy, darkest on the flanks. 



The Striated Bush Babbler is very common throughout the 

 region ; it is a permanent resident, and breeds almost the whole ' 

 year through. I have personally taken eggs in every month 

 except December. The nests are generally placed in thorny 

 bushes, two or three feet from the ground ; they are fairly well 

 made, deep, cup-shaped nests, composed of grass stems and roots, 

 occasionally lined with finer grass. The eggs, three or four in 

 number, are of a moderately elongated oval shape, but spheriform 

 varieties are not uncommon. They are of a glossy spotless 

 pale-blue color, and average 0*82 inches in length by about 

 0'64 in breadth. 



Eggs of Goccystes jacobinus are often found in these nests, 

 and are distinguished by their more globular shape. 



Chatarrhcea earlii, Blyth. 



439. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 68 ; Murray's Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Sind, p. 134. 



THE STRIATED REED BABBLER. 



Length, 99 ; expanse, 11 ; wing, 35 ; tail, 55 ; tarsus, T38 ; 

 bill at front, 075. 



Bill pale greenish-yellow, dusky above and at the tip ; irides 

 bright-yellow ; legs dirty greenish-horn. 



Above pale ashy-brown, with dark brown streaks on the head 

 and back, fading on the upper tail-coverts ; tail concolorous with 

 the back, still paler perhaps, and with no trace of strise ; chin, 

 throat, and upper part of the breast dull reddish-fulvous, edged 

 paler, and with faint dark central lines ; the rest of the under 

 parts dingy-fulvous or albescent-brown. 



Within our limits, the Striated Reed Babbler only occurs in 

 Sind, where it is a permanent resident, breeding from March to 

 September. 



They build a neat but rather massive cup-shaped nest, either 

 in close growing reeds or small bushes. The eggs, three or four 

 in number, closely resemble those of G. caudata, but are larger, 

 averaging 0'96 by 073. 



GENUS, Chaetornis, Grey. 



Bill very short, strong, high, compressed, curved on the cul- 

 men, strongly hooked at the tip, and notched ; five remarkably 



