324 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL MIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXlll. 



I have examined tlie type of A. hyperythra, Sharpe, it is one of the 

 Gould collection, and labelled the " Peninsula of India/' it is certainly 

 very rufous, but as it is such a very old skin, I think that this rufous 

 tinge may possibly have been caused by chemical action, as there are 

 numerous old skins in the Museum collection of other species ; many of 

 which show rather a dull rufous shade quite unlike that of the newer 

 specimens. 



Argya longikostkis, Hodgson. 



The Slender-billed Babbler. 



Pyctorhis lonyirostris, Hodgs., Moore, P. Z. S., 1854, p. 104. 

 Timelia longirostris, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii., p. 509. 

 Argya longirostris, Gates, F. B. I. i,, p. 109. 

 Description. — As in Gates, F. B. I. 



This undoubtedly as Gates points out belongs to this group and is 

 quite distinct fromi the Timeliincs, it also lays blue eggs which almost at 

 once places it amongst the Babblers. I think, however, that it should have 

 a distinct genus to itself, on account of its very slender long bill, and the 

 feathers of the crown being not so stiff, only few feathers on the forehead 

 having stiffened shafts. 



Distnbution. — The Nepal Terai, Bhutan, Assam and Manipur, Col. Rippon, 

 Ibis 1901, p. 529, states that he received one specimen from Bampon, S. Shan 

 States. I have carefully examined all the specimens in the British 

 Museum and cannot find any froaa Burma. There is, however, a skin 

 of a Suya, Suya c. cooJci, collected by Col. Rippon from Bampon, on the 

 label which is written in pencil "Argya longirostris," this may possibly 

 be the bird he refers to. There is no reason why this species should not 

 be found in the huge expenses of elephant-grass in the Upper Chindwin 

 District. 



Nesting. — [ " This bird breeds not uncommonly on the high grass plateaus 

 in the Khasia hills. The nest is exactly like that of the rest of the birds 

 of the genus ; and may be placed in amongst the roots of some tuft of 

 dense grass, in a bush, or tangle of brambles, or even on an old stump or in 

 a clump of weeds, or on a broken down wall or bank. 



"I have been peculiarly unfortunate in getting full clutches of this bird's 

 eggs but the usual full clutch will undoubtedly be four." 



" They are, when freshly taken and blown, a rather exceptionally bright 

 blue, and many are also paler than is generally the case with Argya and 

 Crateropii eggs. They measure about •90"X"70"." — E. C. S. B.] 



Cratekopus, Swainson, 1831. 



Gates, F.B.I., i., p. 110. 



"The genus Crafero^ifs differs from Argya in its shorter tail, which is 

 about equal to the wing, and in its shorter bill. The tail is also much less 

 graduated, the outer feathers being about two-thirds the entire length of the 

 tail. In habits the two genera are very similar, as also in their mode of 

 nidification, and the colour of their eggs." — Gates. 



The wing is not so rounded as in the " Laughing thrushes " and the first 

 four primaries are graduated. 



I think the generic name of Crateropus should be restricted to African 

 birds of this genxis which appear to me to be quite distinct from those 

 from India, and that the name Malacocercus, Hodgson, be revived for the 

 Indian birds of this genus. 



