114 
BIEDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
The strongliold of this Warbler appears to be the vast plain of grass which 
lies between the Pegu and the Sittang rivers. Northwards at Tonghoo 
and southwards at Rangoon it becomes rare^ and I do not think that it is 
found in the Irrawaddy delta or in the valley of that river. 
On a former occasion I wrote -.—^^ It is an amusing little bird. Perched 
on the summit of a stalk of elephant-grass^ it gives out its monotonous 
song, consisting of one note repeated some twenty times ; then, with its 
ample tail held at right angles to the back, it skips away to the bottom of 
the next tuft, only to reappear shortly on the summit with its persistent 
little song. These birds seem hardly able to regulate their flight. They 
seldom fly more than twenty yards, and in this short space they appear in 
imminent peril of turning sundry summersaults, for the bill on these 
occasions points to the ground, while the tail, bent well over the back, is 
nearly horizontal.''^ 
The frequency with which one finds the nests of this small bird in the 
rains is a positive grievance to the collector. In some favoured localities 
there is a nest at every ten yards. The structure is cylindrical or oval 
in shape, made entirely of fine grasses most strongly woven together. 
Although the walls can be seen through, yet they resist any ordinary 
eff'orts to tear them asunder, and altogether the nest is a beautiful spe- 
cimen of bird-architecture. The eggs, usually four in number, are pale 
blue, marked with spots and scrawls of purplish brown. 
113. PEINIA INOENATA. 
THE INDIAN WREN-WARBLER. 
Prinia inornata, Sijkes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 89, Sylvia longicaudata, Tick. J. A. S. B, 
ii. p. 576. Prinia fusca, Hodgs. Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 82 ; id. P. Z. S. 1845, 
p. 29. Prinia adamsi, Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 170 ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 335 ; 
id. S. F. viii. p. 101. Drymoipus inornatus, Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 178; Hume, 
Nests and Eggs, p. 346 ; Hume Sf Henders. Lah. to Yark. pi. xvii. fig. 1 ; Brooks, 
S. F. iii. p. 295, vii. p. 468 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped. p. 640. Drymoipus 
longicaudatus, Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 180 ; Himie 8f Henders. Lah. to Yark. p. 215, 
. pi. xvii. fig. 2 ; Butler, S. F. iii. p. 483 ; . Brooks, S. F. iv. p. 229; Hume, S. F. 
iv. p. 407. Drymoipus fuscus, Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 348. Drymoipus 
terricolor, Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 349 ; Brooks, S. F. iv. p. 229 ; Hume, 
S. F. iv. p. 407. Drymoipus longicaudus, Hwne, Nests and Eggs, p. 350. 
Drymoeca longicaudata, Bl. B. Burm. p. 118; Hume, S. F. yiii. p. 101. 
Drymoica fusca, Hume, S. F. vii. p. 395, Drymoeca inornata, Hume, 
S. F. viii. p. 101. Drymoeca fusca, Hume, S. F. viii. p. 101. Drymoeca 
insularis, Legge, Birds Ceylon, p. 529, pi. xxv. fig. 2. 
Description. — Male and female in winter. Upper plumage and tail rufous- 
brown, the feathers on the crown dark-centred ; the tail-feathers tipped 
