284 TIIMALUD.T-. 



uiKlergrowth aud, less ofteu, bamboo-jungle. The eggs number 

 from two to four. In colour they are white or ci-eamy-white, 

 smudged and blotched with yellowish brown and with a few darker, 

 almost black, spots and lines. The breeding season is from 

 February to May. Thirty eggs average 20*5 x 15"9 mm. 



Habits. The birds of this genus are more typically Tlmaliine in 

 their habits than Alcippe, less so than Rhopocichla . They collect 

 in small flocks of live to ten birds, haunt brushwood and low 

 forest and feed wholly on insects which they obtain principally on 

 the ground. Davison says that their note is like " chir-chit-chit- 

 chit," constantly repeated. 



(-•'S) S.choeniparus dubius mandellii. 



The Assam Tit-Eabbler. 



Schceniparus mandellii Godw.-Aust., A. M. N.H., (4) xviii, p. .33 

 (1876) (Naga Hillsj ; Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 169. 



Vernacular names. Dao-chitter (Cachari). 



Description. Differs from the last in having the upper plumage 

 more olive and the chin and throat buff like the centre of the 



Fig. 53.- Head of 8. d. mandellii. 



breast ; the black supercilium and black markings of tlie head and 

 upper back more pronounced; and the sides of the neck are 

 distinctly striped with black and buff. 



Colours of soft parts as in S. d. duJdus. 



Measurements. Wing r:)^] to 64 mm. ; tail about 62 mm. ; tarsus 

 25 nnn. ; oilmen 12 mm. 



Distribution. Assam, Chin Hills and AV. Burma. 



Nidification. This handsome little Babbler breeds in great 

 numbers during April, May and June at all elevations above 3,000 

 and fully up to 6,000 feet. It may be found in almost any 

 kind of cover but prefers forest with an undergrowth of bushes, 

 bracken and raspberry vines. The nest is practically invariably 

 placed on the ground, generally under the protection of some 

 thick patch of cover and always on a more or less sloping bank. 

 The materials used are dead leaves mixed with bracken, grass, 

 roots etc. and the shape is either a deep, semi-domed cup or a 



