PAiirs. 79 



Nidification. Breeds in April and May and possibly sometimes 

 earlier, as a clutch iu the Waterstiadt collection was taken on 

 the 20th February. The nest is made of fur, wool, or hair, 

 sometimes with a base of soft moss and sometimes mixed moss 

 and other materials, but nearly always lined with wool, hair, or 

 fur. It is generally placed in some hole in a tree or dead stump 

 but Hariugton took it from a hole in a bank. The eggs, four to 

 six in number, ai'e like those of cinereus and measure about 

 16-2 X 12-8 (16-80 X 13-05 mm. Mackenzie). 



Habits. Much the same as those of cinereus in India. A 

 sociable, lively little bird frequenting, preferably, broken hilly 

 country and ascending the hills to at least 6,0iJO feet but also 

 being found iu the low country, perhaps, however, more frequently 

 in the winter than in the summer. 



(58) Parus nuchalis. 



The White-winged Blacic-Tit. 



Parus nuchalis Jerdon, Madr. Jom-n., xiii, p. 131 (1844) (Eastern 

 Ghats) ; lilanf. & Gates, i, p. 49. 



Vernacular names. Nulla patsa jitta (Tle\.). 



Description. The whole upper plumage, wing-coverts, lores, 

 sides of the crown, chin, throat, centre of the breast and a broad 

 ventral band black; a large nape-patch, the cheeks, ear-coverts 

 and those parts of the phimage not already mentioned white; 

 the under tail-coverts streaked with black; quills with the outer 

 webs white at base and a partial nari'ow edging of white elsewhere ; 

 the later secondaries broadly edged white and the innermost one 

 or two wholly white. The two outer tail-feathers white, the next 

 with the outer web white, the inner web black with' a white tip, 

 the other feathers black with white tips. The amount of white on 

 the tail varies considerably in different individuals. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown ; bill black ; legs and 

 feet slaty-plumbeous {Butler). 



Measurements. Total length about 140 mm. ; wing 61 to 71 mm.; 

 tail 51 to 57 mm. ; tarsus about 18 mm. ; culmeu about 

 10 mm. 



Distribution. From the country round the Sambhar Lake 

 through Ajmere to Deesaand on to Cutch ; Jerdon first obtained 

 it on the Eastern Ghats west of Nellore and Dr. Stewart obtained 

 it at Bangalore. The specimen in the British Museum from 

 the Gradow collection is labelled Bhutan, but this assuredly is 

 a mistake. 



Nidification. Nothing on record. 



Habits. Apparently a resident bird wherever found, but very 

 little is known about it. Jerdon records it as keeping to the tops 

 of heavily wooded hills on the Eastern Ghats. 



