1845.] Drafts for a Fauna Indica. 853 



tumid ; and with the soles of the toes narrow, whereas in the preceding 

 sections they are particularly broad and flat : a nude livid space sur- 

 rounds the eyes, but less developed than in the first section ; and the 

 curious character observable throughout the preceding group, of having 

 the inner web of the third primary abruptly sinuated, does not exist 

 in the present one. These birds are exclusively mountaineers, inhabit- 

 ing the hill- forests, and are remarkable for the music of their notes. 



Tr. sphenura : Vinago sphenura, Vigors, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1831, 

 p. 173 ; Gould's « Century,' pi. LV1I : Kokla, or Kokhela, H. (a name 

 also applied to the next species). Very similar in colouring to Tr. nipa- 

 lensis and Tr, malabarica, but larger, and at once distinguished by its 

 cuneiform tail ; by the greater development of the soft basal portion of 

 its bill ; also by the green colour tinged in the male with buff of its 

 crown ; by the considerable diminution of the maronne colour on the man- 

 tle of the male, especially on the back, the posterior scapularies, the 

 tertiaries, and the great wing- coverts, being green ; and by having but 

 a slight pale yellow margin to only the great coverts of the wing. Tail, 

 green above, with an ill-defined subterminal dusky, band to its outer 

 feathers, and uniform dull albescent- grey, underneath ; its lower coverts 

 long, and of a pale rufous-buff hue in the male, yellowish- white with 

 green centres in the female, as are likewise the short outer ones of the 

 male : breast of the latter, deeply tinged with buff. In the female, the 

 subterminal dusky band on the three outer tail-feathers, is much better 

 defined. Irides, coloured as usual ; the bill, and nude skin around the 

 eye, livid; and legs, coral-red. Wing, seven inches to seven and a quar- 

 ter : middle tail-feathers, five and three-quarters. 



This species inhabits the Himalaya, and is, I believe, more abundant 

 in the south-eastern portion of the chain, as in Nepal and at Darjeeling ; 

 though it is also common at Simla. Capt. Hutton writes, from Mus- 

 soorie, — " This species is very numerous in the hills from April to June, 

 when, having reared its young, and the rains having set in, it becomes 

 scarcer, and gradually disappears during the rainy season. The nest is 

 in high trees, composed of dried twigs, a mere platform ; and the eggs 

 are two, and white. I heard the first Kooklah this year on the 12th of 

 April." It is greatly prized by the natives as a cage-bird, on account of 

 its singularly prolonged and varied musical note, which is an improve- 

 ment upon that of Tr. phcenicoptera and its allies. A few are even 

 brought in cages to Calcutta, and sell at a high price, as song-birds. 



