RUTICILLIN.E. 145 



They are mostly ground birds, feeding on insects, but fond 

 of shelter ; some frequenting thickets, others, long grass ; a few 

 being more arboreal. They usually nidificate on the ground. 



Gen. Larvivora, Hodgson. 



Bill as noticed above ; wings moderate, strong, 1st quill short, 

 3rd, 4th, and 5th quills about equal and longest ; tail rather short, 

 and the feathers slightly mucronate at the tip, even, or nearly 

 so ; tarsus long, slender, nearly smooth ; toes long slender ; claws 

 long, moderately curved, much compressed. 



507. Larvivora cyana, Hodgson. 



J. A. S., VI., 102— Blyth, Cat. 993— Horsf., Cat. 481 — 

 Phoenicura superciliaris, Jerdon, Cat. Suppl. 190 — L. brunnea, 

 Hodgs. (the female) — Manzhil-pho, Lepch. 



The Blue Wood-chat. 



Descr. — Above dusky indigo-blue, with a white superciliary 

 streak ; lores and ears black ; beneath bright rufous (the feathers 

 all dusky blue at their base), albescent towards the vent and under 

 tail-coverts ; thigh coverts cross-barred with blue and white. 



The female, according to Hodgson, is brown above ; white be- 

 neath ; cheeks, breast, and flanks rusty. 



Bill dusky: legs pale fleshy ; irides brown. Length Cinches; 

 extent 10 ; wing 3 ; tail 2 ; tarsus 1-i- ; bill at front ^. 



This bird is nearly related both to Ianthia and Calliope, with 

 which genus Mr. Blyth formerly classed it, and I described it as a 

 Phcenicura. Its shorter tail, lengthened legs, as well as partly the 

 coloring, tend towards Brachypteryx in the Myiotherine group. 



The blue AVood-chat is found in the Himalayas, from Cashmere 

 to Sikhim, and in the cold weather extending, but in very small 

 numbers, to the plains, for it has been procured near Calcutta. It 

 is also an inhabitant of the Neilgherries and Ceylon ; and I once 

 killed it among some brush-wood in a large mangoe-grove at Nellore. 

 Whether this bird had come from the Himalayas, or the Neilgher- 

 ries, it is impossible to say, but from the season at which I procured 

 it, viz., the end of March, it was probably migrating northwards. 



T 



