374 Appendix to Mr. Blytlis Report [No 149. 



an inch and three-sixteenths. The small female gave seven by nine 

 inches ; wing two and seven-eighths ; tail eight inches, and tarse 

 an inch and one-sixteenth. Mr. Frith has well suggested that the 

 very remarkable ant-orbital bristles of this genus are admirably 

 adapted to protect the eyes when the bird is forcing its way through 

 the dense tufts of high grass and reeds, among which both it and the 

 Megalurus are constantly found. 



Following the Sphenura should rank Mr. Jerdon's Timalia platyura , 

 for which I have suggested to him the generic name Schcenicola ; but 

 I have not a specimen now by me wherefrom to draw up its particular 

 characters. Another allied but distinct form may be designated 



EurycerciiSy Nobis. General form diminutive of Sphenura, but pro- 

 portionally much less robust ; the bill weaker, slenderer, and more 

 compressed ; the rictal bristles feeble and inconsiderable : the feet and 

 claws resemble those of Sphenura, but are somewhat less elongated : the 

 wings also are shorter and more rounded, having the fourth, fifth, and 

 sixth primaries subequal and longest, the third equalling the ninth, 

 and the first being half the length of the fourth : the tail-feathers are 

 much broader and softer, and extremely graduated ; plumage lax and 

 soft. 



Eu. Burnesii, Nobis. Length six inches and a quarter, of which the 

 middle tail-feathers are three and three-quarters, the outermost two 

 and one-eighth less, and breadth of middle tail-feathers above half an 

 inch ; wing two inches and one-eighth ; bill to gape five-eighths of an 

 inch ; and tarse three-quarters of an inch. Upper-parts coloured as 

 in the Malacocerci generally, or brownish-grey with darker central 

 streaks to the feathers, chiefly apparent on the scapularies and inter-sca- 

 pularies ; tail very faintly barred, only discernibly so in certain lights, 

 having no subterminal band or white tip ; under-parts whitish, tinged 

 with fulvescent on the flanks ; a shade of the same also on the sides of 

 the neck, where the mesial streaks to the feathers are tolerably dis- 

 tinct ; under tail-coverts ferruginous : the upper mandible of the bill 

 is dusky-horn above, the lower yellowish-white; legs yellowish-brown. 

 Inhabits the Indus territories, where obtained by the late Sir Alexan- 

 der Burnes and Dr. Lord.* 1 



* Both this and the preceding genus are distinct from Sphenceacus, Strickland, 

 founded on the Fluteur of Levaillant, figured as Malurus a/ricanus in Swainson's 

 ' Zoological' 1 llustrations. Sphenoeacus should be placed next to Sphenura. 



