Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/505

 PNOEPYGA. 459 but this sort of nest must be quite abnormal. The height selected may be anything between a foot and six feet from the ground. The eggs vary from three to five, but four is the full number normally laid. They are pure white, glossless and very fragile, regular ovals, sometimes a little pointed at the smaller end. Eighty eggs average 18-X]3-7 mm. and the extremes are: maxima, 19-3 xl 4-4 and 19-0x14.6 mm.; minima, 16-9 X 13-9 and 17-1 X 13-1 mm.

Habits. This quaint little tailless bird is a tvpical Wren in all its habits but is even more of a pedestrian and less of a flyer than the birds of the genus Troylodytes. It is an inhabitant of wet, ever- green forest, loving the vicinity of jungle-streams where it scrambles over the mossy boulders, the fallen trees and decaying vegetation. In and out of the hollows and crevices, under and through the luxuriant moss and climbing plants, ever on the move yet never on the wing, at the first hint of danger it dodges out of sight, only to reappear once again when quiet is restored. It is insectivorous in its diet and seems especially fond of the smaller spiders and ants, pursuing these with great activity and restless energy. Its ordinary note is a loud, rather shrill whistle but it attempts a little song in the breeding season which rather reminds one of tiie English Wren. This Wren is found up to at least 9,000 feet and possibly a good deal higher in iSikkim. In winter it occasionally may be found as low as 3,000 feet but it does not descend much below its ordinary breeding range, even in the coldest weather. Pnoepyga pusilla. This species has been split up into numerous races on rather slender reasons, for the variations are, for the most part, individual rather than geographical. The two points most usually dwelt upon are the amount of spotting and barring, more especially on wing-coverts and innermost secondaries, and the rufous or brown colouring on the sides of the head. The extremes of both these features are to be found in birds' obtained in Xepal and Sikkim, now in the British Museum Collection, and the greatest care should be exercised when naming subspecies that not only the series named is a full one but that ample material for comparison is available. With more material it is possible that some of the subspecies at present accepted will have to be suppressed.


 * Pnoepyga pusilla Ilodgs., P. Z. S., 1845, p. 25 (Nepal); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 343.

Vernacular names. Inrui-ha gajeha (Ivacha Naga).