Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/315

 CYANODERMA. 271


 * Stachyri.'< pyrrhops Blytli, J. A, S. B,, xiii, p. 379 (1844) (Nepal).
 * Stavln/rhidopxis pi/rrhop!<. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. lOo.

Vernacular names. ]None recorded. Description, forehead and anterior half ot' crown fulvous, blend- ing into the olive-brown of the upper plumage; the feathers of the forehead', crown and mantle dark-shafted; lores and chin black, the lower portion of the latter barred with white; sides of the liead fulvous; lou er plumage rather brighter fulvous; the sides of the body, flanks, thighs and under tail-coverts tinged with olivaceous.

Colours of soft parts. Iris red to blood-red; upper n)aiidible brown, sometimes, probably in the breeding season, tinged with red, lower mandible fleshy-pink, reddish-fleshy or fleshy tinged with slate; legs, feet and claws pale brownish-fleshy.

Measurements. Total length about 120 mm.; wing 50 to 53 inm.; tail about 55 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 10 to ] 1 mm.

Distribution. Himalayas, from Murree to Nej^al.

Nidification. The Red-billed Babbler breeds from 3,000 to 0,000 feet or higher in Kashmir, making a nest of grass and reed leaves, either cup-shaped, semi-domed or completely covered in. It is nearly always placed low down in bushes in scrub-land or more or less open forest. The eggs are like those of the rest of the genus, three or four in number and measure on an average about 1(3'5 X 13"0 nun. The breeding season is from the middle of xlpril to the end of .June.

Habits. These ap[)ear to be much the same as those of the last bird out they are never found below 3,000 feet and between 4,000 and 6,000 feet is their more usual elevation. They are said in winter to mix much with flocks of other birds and to have "a •clear and musical note like the ringing of a tiny bell." Genus CYANODERMA Salvadori, 1874. This genus differs from the two preceding in having the orbits naked and of a bright colour in life. The bill has the culmen straight on the basal half and slightly curved on its terminal half.


 * Timalia erythroptera Blytli, J. A. S. B, xi.j^. 794 (1842) (Malay).
 * Cyanoderma erythropteriim. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 166.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. Forehead, supercilium, ear-coverts, sides of the head and neck, chin, throat and breast clear plumbeous; abdomen, flanks, vent and under tail-coverts fulvous-brown; upper plumage rufescent brown; wings and tail bright ferruginous.