ASSAM, SYLHET AND CACHAR. 175 



hills, though (he unfortunately is very careless in specifying 

 localities) it may have been from Cachar or Mymensingh. 

 It has not yet been recorded from any part of British Burmah. 



440.— Megalurus palustris, Hovsf. 



After crossing the Jhiri river I missed this species, and 

 never saw it once in the Western hills except in the Koputii 

 Thull ; but throughout the Manipur basin it is everywhere 

 common, and even in the gardens of the suburbs of the 

 capital you may see a dozen any early spring morning, perched 

 on some grass or bamboo spray, or even on the branch 

 or twig of some low tree, singing away most vigorously, a rather 

 loud harsh, but still not altogether unmelodious song. Or again 

 you may see them soaring or coming down with outspread 

 wings. 



I note that the foot in this species might be designated semi- 

 scansorial. _ It is deeply cleft between the middle and inner 

 toe, and this latter is partially reversible. This peculiarity 

 explains the rapidity and ease with which it climbs 

 about amongst reeds and reed grass. In January the inside of 

 the mouth is blackish. I have an idea that later in the year 

 it was differently coloured, but I omitted to note the fact. 



The following are exact details of three specimens : — 



Length. Expanse. Tail. Wing. larsns. Bill from gape. Weight. 



$ ... 10-8 12-5 5-1 3 6 1-4 0-93 1 9 oz. 



„ ... 10 9 12-3 5-3 3-9 14 0-91 1-8 „ 



„ ... 108 12-5 5-3 3-85 1'35 0'9 1-75 „ 



Legs and feet brown, often tinged fleshy on the tarsi ; claws 

 generally a darker brown ; soles yellowish ; upper mandible (and 

 sometimes edges of lower also) blackish brown ; lower man- 

 dible horny bluish or rarely greenish white ; irides brown. 



This species is universally distributed in all suitable localities 

 in all the plains portion of Assam, Cachar and Sylhet, but does 

 not, so far as I know, ascend the hills to any great elevation, 

 though it may be found in the hills in broad valleys or on 

 plateaux where suitable surroundings exist. Again it occurs 

 somewhat sparingly in Arakan, and more commonly in Pegu and 

 Northern and Central Tenasserim. 



[ The li'ul chaypee of the Assamese. Very common in 

 swampy ground and rice fields, and when these are on the bord- 

 ers of tea gardens, they stray into the tea bushes. They breed 

 in April and May in the Dibrugarh district, placing their deep 

 cup-shaped nests in tussocks of grass, wherever it is swampy, 

 in some instances the bottoms of the nests being wet. Four 

 seems to be the greatest number of eggs in a nest — J, R. C] 



