Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/127

Rh Distribution. Hill ranges South of the Brahmaputra, Manipur, Looshai and the extreme northern ranges of the Chin Hills.

Nidification. Its eggs have been taken by myself in Shillong, and by Messrs. Hopwood, Mackenzie and others in the northern Chin Hills, and many by Col. Tytler in the Naga Hills where it is quite common.

Mr. Mackenzie describes the nest as like a small and beautiful specimen of the Long-tailed Tit's and remarks on its predilection for brilliant feathers for use as a lining. The eggs are like those of the Common Red-headed Tit and are nearly always three only in number. They measure about 13·0 × 10·3 mm.

The breeding season seems to be May.

Habits. Similar to those of others of the genus. In the Khasia Hills and Cachar it is found as low as 5,000 feet, but over most of its range it keeps above 6,000 feet and ascends at least as high as 9,000 feet.


 * Ægithaliscus pulchellus Rippon, Bull. B. O. C, xi, p. 2 (1900) (Nanoi, S. Shan States).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Can be separated at once from Hume's Red-headed Tit by the wholly black supercilium, whilst from the next bird it can be differentiated by the colour of the crown, which is brownish buff rather than ochre.

Colours of soft parts and measurements as in manipurensis.

Distribution. Southern Shan States, Karenni. The limits of the range of this subspecies are not yet known.

Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded. Wardlaw Ramsay got it in Karenni at 3,000 feet.


 * Ægithaliscus talifuensis Rippon, Bull. B. O. C, xiv, p. 18 (1903) (Gvi-dzin, N. Shan States).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Similar to Hume's Red-headed Tit but has the crown ochraceous rather than chestnut; the supercilium is black, the plumage below is whiter, and the pectoral band darker, though not so dark as in the Shan bird.