SITTA. 125 



(111) Sitta castaneiventris cinnamoventris. 



TlIK C'lN>AMOJf-iiKLL]KI) NuTHATCH. 



Sitta ciiinamove.ntris Blytb, J. A. S. 11, xi, p. 439 (1 S4i') (Daijeeling). 

 Sitt(( viiinaiiiomeoventris. Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 301. 



Vernacular names. SiH (Hiiid.) ; Sklhyi-pliij} (Lepcha); Dao- 

 inojo-(ja/ao (Cachari ). 



Description. — Adult male. Like tlie last but the white parts of 

 the face are delicately barred with brown ; the upper pluuiage is 

 more an ashy-blue, tlie under parts are a deep cinnamon-chestnut 

 and the niider tail-corerts are \\hite with ashy bases and narrow 

 chestuut tips. 



Female. Differs from tlie uiale in beiug a pale dull cliestinit 

 below. 



Fig. 25. — Head of <S'. c. chrnainovcntrh. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris red-brown to lake ; bill slaty-blue, 

 blacli at tlie tip and paler on base and lower mandible; legs aud 

 feet dull blue-gre}' or bluish plumbeous. 



Measurements. Total length about 150 mm.; A\ing 78 to 81 mm.; 

 tail about 45 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm. ; cuhueu about 20 mm. 



Distribution. The Himalayas from Murree to Eastern Assam, 

 both North and 8outh of the Brahmaputra, Manipur, Lushai and 

 Chittagong liill-tracts, but not further East. Oates's specimens 

 from Bliamo are much nearer ner/lecta and should be assigned 

 to that bird. 



Nidification. Gammie obtained the nest in Sikkim at 2,000 

 feet in a decayed bamboo, and I found many nests in the Kiiasia 

 Hills in April and May at elevations between 4,500 aud 6,u00 

 feet. In these hills, although a nest might now and then be 

 found in some okl stump, the great majority are built in the 

 retaining walls of roads or in walls of fields and compounds. 

 Tliese walls are built of mud and stones aud form favourite 

 breeding places for Tits, Nuthatches, Flycatchers and many other 

 birds. The Nutbatclies select some hollow, generally only a few 

 inches from the ground, and then fill the whole entrance in with 

 mud, leaving only a circular hole about 40 mm. across. The 

 hollow inside, however big it may be, is filled to a depth of some 

 inches with scraps of dead wood, bark and odds and ends of 

 vegetable matter, over which is placed a bed of moss and then a 

 fine thick layer of fur, or fur and wool. They are very persistent 



