Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/376

 332 TIMALIID.i;.

Colours of soft parts. Iris pale greenish or greyish white to deep lavender-, green-, or bkie-grey of almost every conceivable tint and sometimes {Go< /.will- Austen) amhev • bill pale plumbeous, the base of mandible and most of the culmen black; legs and feet pale fleshy-white to pale fleshy-brown, claws hoi'ny-brown and soles more yellowish.

Measurements. Total length about 190 mm.; wing 80 to So mm.; tail about 60 to 65 mm.; tarsus about 28 to 29 mm.; culmen about 17 mm. Female and Young. The upper pai-t of the head bluish grey instead of bhick and supercilium very indistinct; upper plumage olive-grey; smaller wing-coverts black edged with yellowish; greater coverts black with yellow outer webs; primary-coverts and winglefc black; the earlier primaries edged with hoary-grey, the others with yellow; inner secondaries chestnvit; the central tail-feathers green, the others black with broad green margins to the outer webs and tipped with yellow; lower plumage entirely pale buff. Measurements a little smaller than the male; wing 78 to 81 mm.

The young male assumes the adult plumage in the first autumn.

Distribution. The Himalayas from Hazara to E. Assam, Manipur and the Chin Hills.

Nidification. This Shrike-Babbler breeds between 3,500 and 9,000 feet in June. Col. E. H. Kattray describes its nest as one of the most difficult to find, being alwa)^s built in the smaller twigs very high up in high trees in forest. The nest is a strong, neat cradle of fine roots, built, like an Oriole's, pendent from a small fork. Three eggs taken on the 11th of June were a pale lilac- white with numerous fine specks and spots of deep purple, forming deep rings round the extreme larger end and finely peppered over the rest of the surface. They are broad ovals in shape, of a rather fragile, glossless texture and measure about 21*8 x 16-2mm. A nest taken by myself on the Khasia Hills in May contained two abnormal, addled eggs, Neither nest nor eggs bear any resemblance to those of the Lnniidce or CampeijJiagida;.

Habits. In the Himalayas from West to East this bird seems to be found from 5,000 feet upwards but in the hills South of the Brahmaputra they descend to 3,500 feet and are common, even in summer, at 4,000 feet. They consort either in pairs or in small