a little more than, three quarters the length of the head, straight and notched at the tip; the nostrils are not overhung by hairs and the rictal bristles are very short.
Key to Species and Subspecies.
A. |
Breast boldly streaked with dark brown.
|
a. |
Mantle not streaked.
|
a'. |
Crown rufous
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. ruficeps ruficeps, p. 238. |
b'. |
Crown pale chestnut
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. r. subochraceum, p. 239. |
c'. |
Crown dark chestnut
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. r. granti, p. 240. |
b. |
Mantle streaked with dark brown.
|
d'. |
Upper back streaked with dark brown.
|
a''. |
Less olive, more rufous
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. r. mandellii, p. 240. |
b''. |
Less rufous, more olive
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. r. jonesi, p. 241. |
e'. |
Upper back with no definite streaks.
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. r. minuis, p. 242. |
B. |
Breast streaked brown and greyish buff
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. paulstre, p. 242. |
C. |
Breast either not streaked at all or only obsoletely so.
|
c. |
Crown concolorous with back; forehead without pale shafts.
|
f'. |
Above fulvous olive-brown
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. tickelli tickelli, p. 247. |
g'. |
Above rufescent olive-brown
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. f. assamensis, p. 248. |
d. |
Crown concolorous with back but forehead pale shafted.
|
h'. |
Breast tinged brownish
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. ignotum ignotum, p. 243. |
i'. |
Breast tinged bright rufous
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. i. cinnamomeum, p. 244. |
e. |
Crown darker than back.
|
j'. |
Cap nearly chocolate-brown
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. fuscicapillum fuscicapillum, p. 245. |
k'. |
Cap olive-brown
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. f. babaulti, p. 245. |
l'. |
Cap black
....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
|
P. nigricapitcatum., p. 246. |
(240) Pellorneum ruficeps ruficeps.
The Spotted Babbler.
- Pellorneum ruficeps Swains., F. Bor.-Am., Birds, p. 487 (1831) (Nilgiris); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 141.
Vernacular names. Adavi-lika-jitta (Tel.).
Description. Torehead, crown and nape dull rufous; whole upper pluniiige and exposed parts of wings, sides of neck and tail olive-brown, the latter tipped with white; lores and an indistinct superciliuin creamy-white; sides of the head rufous, paler than the crown and mottled with black round the eye, and the ear- coverts streaked with brown : chin, throat and cheeks white; lower plumage white or pale fulvous white boldly streaked with black on the breast and flanks and suffused with olivaceous on the latter and thighs; under tail-coverts olive-brown edged with white.
Colours of soft parts. Iris red to crimson-lake, but cinnamon- brown in the youug; upper mandible dark brown, lower white to fleshy-white; legs, feet and claws fleshy-white.