Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 2).djvu/51

Rh Legs and feet pale Wax-yellow ; claws brown ; upper mandible blackish brown, yellowish at tip ; lower mandible dull horny-yellow ; iris brown (Hume).

Length about 5'5; tail 2-1; wing 2*8; tarsus '55; bill from gape '65.

I have not been able to examine a young bird.

Distribution. Summers in Sikhim and probably in other parts of the Himalayas and winters in Travancore and Ceylon. This species occurs at Shillong on the Khasi hills, where it has been obtained in August, September, and October, and in Manipur, where Hume observed it in April. It may probably be a permanent resident, therefore, in Shillong and in Manipur. Brooks observed it at Mudhupur on the E. I. Kailway on passage. Legge notes it from Ceylon in January and June. Altogether our knowledge of the movements of this Flycatcher is very imperfect.

Genus OCHROMELA, Blyth, 1847.

The genus Ocliromela was instituted by Blyth for the reception of a Flycatcher which is remarkable alike for its coloration and its habits.

In Ocliromela the sexes are slightly dissimilar, but both preserve the characteristic black and orange plumage. The bill is blunt and thick, and the rictal bristles are not only very numerous but very long. The wing is blunt, with the first primary longer than half the length of the second, and the tail is considerably rounded.

In habits this species approaches Pratincola, descending to the ground for an instant to capture its prey, and it differs from all other Flycatchers in constructing a large globular nest. It is described by Jerdon as frequenting dense woods.

591. Ocliromela nigrirufa. The Black-and-Orange Flycatcher.

Saxicola nigrorufa, Jerd. Madr. Journ. L. S. x, p. 200 (1839).

Ochromela nigrorufa (Jerd. Blyth, Cat. p. 173 ; Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 289 ; Jerd. B. L i, p. 402 ; Hume, N. $ E. p. 207 ; id. Cat. no. 300 ; Davison, S. F. x, p. 309 ; Gate* in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. ii, p. 14.

Siphia nigrorufa (Jerd.), Sharpe, Cat. B. M. iv, p. 455; Legye, Binh Ceyl. p. 425. Fig. 15. Bill of 0. nigrirufa.

Coloration. Male. Forehead, crown, nape, hind neck, lores, sides