ASSAM, SYLHET AND CACHAE. , 4^ 



Female.-^LegB and feet greyish brown, overlaid with green ;. 

 upper mandible bright green, blue about uares ; lower mandible 

 orange, green at base and tip ; irides hazel ; eyelids yellow. 



I have seen thousands and shot a great many of these birds' 

 from the Dhun eastwards, and my experience is that they as 

 a rule keep to the tops of the trees, the bare boughs and twigs 

 oi some gigantic cotton tree being a favourite perch. At 

 times for facility of flight they will dart through forest glades, 

 in the open, below the massive tree crowns, but their nor- 

 mal place is high up, and I have seen scores of flocks skim- 

 ming over the tops of the forest.* 



Is found througiiout the entire high forest region of Assam, 

 Cachar and North Sylhet, hills and plains. They are equally 

 found in the Arakan, Northern Pegu, Karenee and Tenasserim 

 hills as far south, at any rate, as Mooleyit and the Dawnra range, 



139. — Serilophus rubropygius, Hodgs. 



In the valley of the Limatak, while resting awhile, placidly 

 smoking in the dense forest, I became aware of a small 

 party of this Broad Bill, about 30 or 40 yards distant from 

 where I was, hunting in the shade, and fluttering from fes- 

 toon to festoon of the heavy creepers that hung like huge 

 snakes in mid air. I watched them for some minutes and 

 then shot one, and was fully prepared to shoot the whole 

 flock. I had heard and read so much of the accommodating 

 nature of these Serilophi, how " they didn't for nobody care 

 a rap," but would wait philosophically to be shot so long as any 

 were left, that of course I considered the whole lot as good 

 as bagged, so I fired, fully purposing to immortalise the 

 whole flock, but presto ! before I could even fire a second shot, 

 before the dead bird touched the ground even, the rest were 

 out of sight, and never from that day and hour was my heart 

 gladdened by the sight of them. 



Now I made sure that they had been picking insects off 

 the leaves and boughs, but when I dissected my solitary 



* [Psarisomus dalhousice, Jam. — My experience of this species has been just 

 the opposite of Mr. Hume's, for all my birds were shot among flocks that were 

 feeding among forest trees, certainly not more than 40 feet off the ground. One 

 flew into my bungalow during the day in January, 1881. They very soon 

 disappear on a shot being fired, threading their way through the foiiage with 

 wonderful rapidity. 



~ Tail. Wing. 



5-10 40 



4-80 4-05 



4-60 3-85 

 Irides brownish with an inner circle of pink ; legs greenish ; bill greenish, th« 

 base below dull orange, mouth inside bluish. 1 have only noticed them in th'O 

 cold weather.— J. 11. C] 



