10 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 

 (137) Elachura haplonota. — The Plain Brown Wren. 



A separate article on this bird, with a plate, appeared in the third 

 number of the Journal for 1892; so it is needless to add anything here. 



(138) Ueocichla longicaudata. — The Long-tailed Wren. 



Oates, No. 354 ; Hume, No. 332. 

 I had a specimen of this bird brought to me by a Naga in 1888, 

 which he had caught in a snare. This was at a place called Guilong 

 and at an elevation of about 4,000 feet. 



(139) Pnoepyga squamata. — The Scaly-breasted Wren. 



Oates, No. 356 ; Hume, No. 329. 

 A rare bird here, the next species being the common type. 

 (140) Pnoepyga pusilla. — The Brown Wren. 

 Oates, No. 357 ; Hume, No. 330. 

 This is the commonest type of wren in the North Cachar Hills, but 

 it is extremely locally distributed. A few birds may be met with at 

 Guilong, and it is found thence along all the higher hills for some 12 

 miles in a direct line south-east, after which it is no longer met with. 

 In its habits it differs in no way from P. squamata, being the same 

 restless, energetic little bird, equally shy and skulking and equally 

 loth to leave the piece of jungle in which it is hiding. The favourite 

 haunts are masses of brambles, raspberry bushes and scrub, interspersed 

 with moss-covered trees, and if there are a few fallen trees about, so 

 much the better. 



The first nest I found of this bird was a lovely little ball of bright 

 green moss wedged in amongst a mass of brilliant yellow orchids which 

 were growing on a large, mossy tree. It was placed just above a 

 broken branch about 5 feet from the ground almost level with my 

 eyes, yet so beautifully was it concealed that, standing as I was within 

 a yard of it, I could not see it until nearly all the over-hanging orchids 

 had been cut away. Another nest was placed against a fallen tree in 

 amongst the luxuriant moss which hung from it in long festoons. 

 Altogether I have taken about ten nests, and these have all been either 

 built against the trunks of living trees or against fallen logs. Where 

 these were covered with moss, the nest was always made of that 

 particular kind of moss and well hidden amongst the same, where there 

 was no moss, and this was the exception, they were usually placed in, 

 or under, a clump of orchids, tree-fern, or other plant. 



