GRAND ALA 61 



picks up at the edge of the water. It breeds in May ; con- 

 structing a cup-shaped nest of green moss-roots and fibres, 

 profusely lined with hair, which it places in the hollow of a 

 bank on the side of a stream, and deposits 3 greenish white eggs 

 covered with rufous spots. 



GRANDALA, Hodgs., 1843. 



92. HODGSON'S BLUE CHAT. 



GRANDALA C^ELICOLOR. 



Grandala ccelicolor Hodgs. J. As. Soc. Beng. xii., p. 447 (1843) ; Gould 

 B. of Asia, iv., pi. 36 ; Seebolim, Cat. B. Br. Mus. v., p. 328 ; Gates, 

 F. Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 111. 



ad. (Himalayas). Wings and tail black, the rest of the plumage 

 deep rich blue, most brilliant on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; bill 

 and legs deep black ; iris brown. Culmen 0'85, wing 5*75, tail 3*6, 

 tarsus 1*18 inch. The female has the plumage brown tinged with blue, 

 especially on the rump and upper tail-coverts, the head, neck, and under 

 parts streaked with fulvous white ; under tail-coverts broadly margined 

 with white ; one small and one larger patch of white on the wing. The 

 young bird is said to resemble the female, but the fulvous white streaks 

 are broader, and are extended over the flanks, which are unstreaked in the 

 adult females. 



Hob. The higher portions of the Himalayas, from Garhwal 

 to Sikkim, from 12,000 to 17,000 feet, eastwards to Tibet and 

 Western China. 



Being so little disturbed it is not shy, and frequents barren 

 rocky localities, feeding on insects. On the ground it resembles 

 a Wheatear, but its flight is said to be like that of a Starling 

 or a Bee-eater. In the winter it is found in flocks. It is said 

 to breed in the highest portions of the mountains, but its nest 

 and eggs are as yet unknown. 



CYANECULA, Brehm, 1828. 



93. WHITE-SPOTTED BLUE-THROAT. 



CYANECULA WOLFI. 



Cyanecula wolfi, C. L. Brehm, Beitr. zur Vogelk, ii. p. 173 (1822) ; 

 Dresser, ii. p. 311, pis. 47, 48, and 50, fig. 1 ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. 

 Birds, ii. p. 100 ; C. suecica (nee. Linn.) Naumann, ii. p. 414, Taf. 75, 

 figs. 3, 4 ; Sylvia cyanecula, Wolf. Taschenb. i. p. 240 (1810) ; 

 (Seebohm), Cat. B. Br. Mus. v. p. 311 ; C. leucocyana, C. L. Brehm, 

 Vog. Deutschl., p. 353 (1831) Gould, B. of Gt. Brit. ii. pi. 50. 



