Genus MICROURA, Gould.
C h a r a c t e r e s G e n e r i c i .
Rostrum longitudine caput aquans, furti rectum, acùmmatum, gracile et lateralitèr ccmpressum, gonyde levitir incurvato.
Nares basales lineane, et opercolo teda. Set® basales desmt. Ales brevissima!, miles, concava, et rotondata, primaries,
quartis, quintis, et sentis longissimis et inter se aquaKbus. Cauda condita, mollis. Tarsi elongati, graciles,
laves ■ digito posteriore, cam angue, magno et robusto, digitumque medium quoad hngitudmem aquante ; digitis ante-
rioribus graciUbus, et mguibus parvis mstructis ; digitis lateraUbus brevioribus et aqualibus. Plumse corporis, densa,
molles, et sericea. Color fuscus.
MIC R O U R A SQ U AMA T A, Goulcl.
Scaly-breasted Little-tail.
Mic. corpore superiors intensi fusco levittr oleoaceo Undo; tateribus capitis flavescente fusco guttatis nec non tectridbus
alarum corporisque lateribus, at pallidibs ; gulA, pectore, abdomineque fuscis singulis plumis albidomarginatis, squamas-
queftngentibus, rostro intensdfusco, tarsis pedibusque brwmescenti-cameis.
In altero specimine margines phmarum gutturalium et abdommaliim, qui in prime albidi,fulmm cobrem ostendunt.
Long. tot. 3It .One.; rostri, I ; ala, 2$; tarsi, 1.
General colour of the upper surface deep brown, slightly tinged with olive; sides of the head spotted with yellowish
brown, as are also some of the wing-coverts and the flanks, h u t more faintly; feathers of the throat, chest, and
belly dark brown edged with greyish white, giving to these parts a scaly appearance; bill dark brown; feet
and legs light flesh brown.
In a second specimen the colouring is precisely the same, with the exception that those parts of the under,
surface which are greyish white in the above are of a rich tawny brown.
Microura squamata, Gotdd, in Proc- of Zool. Soc. Part V. 1837.
T h i s curious little bird is almost tailless, this organ being so slightly developed that it consists o f merely the
rudiments o f a few weak downy feathers scarcely one-fourth o f an inch in length. Besides my own specimens,
which were received from the Himalaya, I have examined two others from Nepal, all o f which were alike in the
rudimentary nature o f the tail-feathers; I am consequently led to believe th at this character is permanent and
have named it accordingly. The accompanying plate represents the bird in two different states o f plumage,
which in all probability are indicative o f a difference o f sex, as both specimens appear to have arrived at
maturity and to have been preserved a t the same time. The great length o f its tarsi, and the rounded aud
concave form o f its wings, a t once indicate its partiality to the ground. Its plumage is thick, soft, and silky,
a covering admirably adapted for an inhabitant o f dense underwood, beneath the canopy o f which it in all
probability is an habitual resident.
The specimeus from which the figures are taken have lately been added to the fine collection o f the Zoolo-
gical Society o f London.
Habitat, the Himalaya Mountains and Nepal.
The figures are o f the natural size.