Davison, who write to me : — " The exact limits of this species have yet to be determined. We 

 have the true jE. sehericB from Cachar, the Khasia hills, Gowhatty in Assam, Sikkim, Nepaul, 

 Kumaon, and Gurhwal ; but we are not aware of its occurring westward of the Jumna, in the 

 Himalayas. We have never obtained it in the neighbourhood of Simla or northward in the 

 valleys of the Sutlej and Beas, though we have collected there continually for years. 



" In the summer it ranges as high as six and seven thousand feet ; in the winter it may be 

 found in all the sub-Himalayan tracts, the Dhoons, Terais, and Doars that skirt the Himalayas 

 from where the Jumna debouches from the hills eastward of Assam. They are particularly 

 plentiful about Kalsi and Dehra Dhoon during January and February. 



" How far up the valley of Assam this species extends we have not yet been able to ascertain. 

 How far, again, southward of Cachar it spreads, and where it meets the nearly allied 2E. cava, and 

 whether or not the species that occurs in the Arracan hills is identical with JE. cava or 2E. seherice, 

 or distinct from both, are points which need further investigation. 



" This species being so well known, we need only add that a fine male measured in the 

 flesh — length 6 - 37 inches, expanse 7T2, tail from vent 3-25. The legs, feet, and bill vary from 

 dark brown to dingy black ; the hides are hazel." 



Towards the western limit of its range Mr. W. E. Brooks met with it near the banks of the 

 Bhagirata at Dunda and Batwari, between Mussoori and Gangaotri, in May. 



According to Dr. Leith Adams its note is soft, sweet, and musical, and it is met with singly 

 in the dense jungles in the lower ranges of the Himalayas. 



Captain R. C. Tytler kept a cage full of these birds alive for a considerable time by feeding 

 them upon sugar and water, bread and milk, occasionally varying their diet with honey. The 

 males sang in captivity, and soon became familiar and confiding. 



According to Mr. Hodgson's MSS. and drawings, this bird begins to lay in April, the young 

 being fully fledged in July. The nest is of the usual oval form, suspended from a twig, and is 

 about 6 inches in length by 3 inches in breadth, with an oval entrance about 2 inches below the 

 point of suspension. There is no portico or projection above the entrance. The nest is com- 

 posed of fine roots with a little moss compactly interwoven with some cobwebs, and is lined with 

 silky cotton-like fibres. 



The eggs are two or three in number, greyish white, speckled with brown, and measure 

 about 065 by 045 inch, in shape rather broad ovals pointed towards the small end. 



With regard to the synonymy of this bird, we may observe that the name seherice was 

 applied by Tickell to specimens from Seheria, in Barabhum, and undoubtedly belongs to this 

 species ; that of miles, Hodgson, to specimens from Nepal ; goalpariensis, Boyle, to examples 

 from Dehra Dhoon ; and labecula, McClelland, to the Assam bird. C. mystacalis, Blyth, com- 

 prises, besides this species, JE. vara, 2E. siparaja, and possibly also the true 2E. mystacalis. 

 2E. miles of Beavan, as well as of Walden (P. Z. S. 1866, p. 541), refers to JE. cara. 



The specimens which I have here figured and described are an adult male and female in 

 my own collection, the latter collected by Dr. J. Reid in Upper Assam. There is no indication 

 of the sex on the label ; but it appears to be an adult bird ; and as the other specimens in the 

 same collection were males in full plumage, we presume this specimen to be an adult female. 



3b2 



