22 Three Beautiful Niltaz'os. 



tliC birds of the station (Bakloh, i'unjalj), and therefrom I am 

 making" a few extracts. 



" Oalcs gives its range on the Himalayas as from Assam to Simla." 

 " Is a low bush bird, Imt, if disturbed, does not hesitate to fly up to 

 a highish perch." 



" I have not found its eggs, but have seen a fair number of nests 

 with young." 



" Young Niltavas are very robin-like when close at hand." 

 " I caught a hen Rufous-bellied Niltava in June 1907, at Kajiar. 6,000 

 f^., and this April (1914) I caught a magnificent cock in my compound, wh'ch 

 is a veritable bird of paradise. I kejjt him for a bit, hoping to get a hen 

 and then let him go, and he stayed close at hand for some time. This bird 

 •vvas very common at Darjiling, and I got to know it well for such a 

 retired-haunt-loving bird, for they are not reall\- shy. This and the Large 

 Niltava (not so common a bird there) both had young in the nest late in 



August It takes well to captivity, and I hope some time to try 



a pair in my aviaries as potential breeders." 



" The hen differs from the male and is different shades of brown, 

 with a i)atch of white on the fore-neck, and a brilliant Niltava ])atch of light 

 b^ue on each side of the neck." 



In Bird Notes for 1913, pages 105, 129, 165 and 201, the 

 late CoL, then Major, Perreaii gives an account of an unique 

 consignment of birds which he personally brought over, 

 and included in it were Rufous-bellied, and Large Niltavas — I 

 think three of each ; a pair of the former passed into the posses- 

 sion of Mr. R. S. O. de Quincey. and a pair of the latter went 

 to Mr. A. Ezra. 



In Bird Notes for 1914, pages 115-6, Mr. R. S. O. de 

 Quincey gives some interesting details of his pair of A^. suiuiara, 

 from which the following extracts are made : — 



" I obtained niv pair of this species in March 1913 from Maj. Perreau- — 

 30 far (A|)ril 1914), thev have made absolutely no attempt to go to nest." 



"It is most interesting to watch them catching flies and gnats, 

 espcciallv in the evening. You see them sitting sleepily on a branch, then 

 suddenly they make a d;irt, catch their fly or flies, and return to their 

 original branch. You can tell the number of insects they capture by the 

 clicking of their bills. They must have splendid eyesight, for often in the 

 dusk von will see them literally ' dart ' fifteen to twenty feet, ending up 

 with a click ;ind a swoop on to the nearest branch." 



" They seldom came to the ground, but often sit in the shade of a 

 rhododendron bush about a foot from the ground. There the cock would 

 sing when the sun was shining, a pretty Imt rather soft little song. At 

 svich times the hen would come quite close to him and they would sit together, 

 but otherwise they were very seldom found near each other. They each 



