Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/479

 CEETHIA. 433 Key to Subspecies. A. Upper plumage dark brown; lower back and rump ferruginous C. f. nipalensis, p. 433. B. Darker above; with very little ferruginous on back or rump C.f. khamensis, p. 434. C. Paler above; only a tinge of fulvous on the lower back and rump C.f, hodgsoni, p, 434.


 * Certhia nipalensis Blvth, J. A. S. B., xiv, 2, p. 581 (^1845) (Nepal); Blanf. & Oates, i, jp. 330.

Vernacular names. Dao-mojo (Cacliari); Inrui-m-jet (Naga).

Description. Upper plumage and wiug-coverts very dark brown, streaked with briglit rufous and with a few additional streaks of blackish and fulvous-white; lower back and rump ferruginous; tail brown faintly tinged with reddish; a fulvous white super- cilium from the nostrils to the nape; lores and ear-coverts mixed brown and rufous; wings brown, the primaries with an oblique band of fulvous edged with black; chin and throat pure white • abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts fulvous-white.

Colours of soft parts. Iris brown; upper mandible horny brown, lower mandible fleshy horny; legs and feet flesh-colour.

Measurements. Wing 67 to 71 mm.; tail 57 to 76 mm.; tarsus about IS mm.; culmen 13 to 15 mm.

Distribution. Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and hills North and South of the Brahmaputra above 6,000 feet.

Nidification. A nest taken by myself in N. Cachar was com- posed entirely of scraps of soft green moss, forming a pad fitting into a hollow between a projecting piece of bark and the trunk of a tree at about 25 feet from the ground. There were only three eggs which were taken as I had to leave the place, or doubtless more would have been laid. In colour they are a pure white with tiny spots o£ reddish, principally in a ring about the larger end. They were taken on the 11th April, 1890 (recorded in error 16th May, Journal B. N. H. S. and ' Ibis '), and measure 17.7 x 13.1 mm. They will possibly eventually prove to be abnormally large, pale eggs but I watched the parent birds for hours previously and am certain of their identity.

Habits. These are in no way different from those of the Himalayan Tree-Creeper. It is found principally between 7,000 and 10,000 feet North of the Brahmaputra and certainly ascends to 12,000 and 13,000 feet during the summer. South of the Brahmaputra it was not very rare either in North Cachar or the Khasia Hills at 6,000 feet, being found as low as 5,000 feet. It is essentially a bird of pine and fir forests but I found it also. VOL. I. 2 F