54 
The nrrhfailrd Mhla. 
a songster ho posso.ssp^ quite a proliy rail. A Imirc balh is his grcaiost 
treat and he never misses taking a good " tuli ' every morning. 
ri is a ])ri'11\- siylit to see him flying round l-hc '•ooni every 
morning, hi' inspects all the other birds in turn by rinining up and 
ilown. th( wire fronts of their cages, bent on mischief too - pulling abouti 
their grapes and banana much to their disgust. 
Ho is really a great favourite of mine and I am delighted to 
own such an interesting bird." A. Ezra, 31'1/'14. 
Our coloured frontispiece I'enders a description of the 
male unnecessary. The female differs from the male materi- 
ally, though the general pattern is similar: hack, scapulars, 
and upper tail-coverts, vinous-brown; the crimson areas of 
the male iu wings and tail are pinkish white and pale red 
respectively in the female. 
The total length of the male is 5^ inches, of which the 
tail measures 2^. 
Distribution: Nepal; Sikhim; Bhutan; Naga Hills, 
Manipur, and is found up to 9,000 feet, which we may 
broadlj' summarise so: the majestic Himalayas, from o.OOO 
to 9,000 feet, are its home. How impossible to describe the 
full natural setting of this bird, for though I have never 
visited India, yet from the pens of various travellers it is 
an open picture, in so far as it is possible to describe such 
colossal grandeur and magnificence; a few quotations may en- 
able us to grip this. 
" A jungle rhapsody, an extravagant, impossible fanr tli' force, in 
"tensely modern in its Titanic, incoherent magnificence." 
" From 5,000 to 10,000 feet, several species of evergreen 
"oaks abound the rhododendron, the deodar, and other 
"hill c'ypresses, and the beautiful horse-chestnut." 
" On the vast ridges of elevated mountain masses, which 
" constitute the Himalayas, are found regions of distinct character. 
" Th< loftiest peaks of the snowy range abutting on the great plateaiix 
" of Central Asia and Tibet run like a great belt across the globe, 
"falling to the south-west to the plains of India. Between the 
" summit and the plains, a distance of 60 to 70 miles, there are 
" higher, middle, and lower ranges, so cut up by deep and winding 
" valleys and river-courses, that no labyrinth could be found more 
" dithcult to unravel The torrents rushing from under the 
" glaciers which flow from the snow-clad summits roar and foam, 
"eating their way ever into the misty gorges." 
" At a place about 16 miles above Bageswar the valley off 
"the Sarju suddenly contracts into a gorge with precipitous cliffs. 
"The scenery here is superb. The path passes through a shady glade 
