TIMALIA. 225 
outer webs tinged with rufous at the base; wings dark brown, 
the outer webs olive-brown and the inner secondaries rutous- 
brown; breast and abdomen ferruginous; flanks, vent and 
under tail-coverts rufous-brown ; thighs plumbeous. 
Colours of soft parts. Iris red-brown to almost vermilion ; bill 
black, paler at tip; legs dull grey, horny-grey, or plumbeous 
brown. 
Measurements. Length about 210 to 220 mm.; wing about 
72to 77 mm.; tail about 50 mm.; tarsus about 30 mm.; culmen 
about 55 to 60 mm. 
Distribution. Sikkim, Bhutan and hills South of the Brahma- 
putra. I obtained it in both the Khasia and Cachar Hills, and 
have had it sent me from the Naga Hills. 
Nidification. This bird breeds from April to July between 
4,500 and 8,000 feet, but as a rule over 5,000 feet. It makes the 
usual grass-ball nest, rather more tidy and neat than most 
Scimitar-Babblers and measuring roughly about 6" in diameter. 
The eggs, three to five in number, are like those of the genus 
Pomatorhinus, and measure about 23°8 x 18:1 mm. 
Habits. These are typically those of the Scimitar-Babblers, but 
as far as I saw they were always in pairs, not flocks. Their voice 
is a high-pitched replica of the triple “ hoot,’ a quite sweet note 
and not often uttered. They were seen frequently in bracken 
and fern cover and are also sometimes found in Pine forests in 
which the undergrowth is very scanty and confined to the ravines 
and hollows. 
Genus TIMALIA Horsf., 1831. 
The genus 7%imalia consists of a single species, which is charac- 
terized by the peculiar rigid shafts of the feathers of the forehead 
and crown and by its deep black bill. The tail is longer than the 
wing and much graduated, the outer feather being about half 
the length of the central ones. 
Fig. 88.—Head of 7. p. bengalensis. 
Timalia pileata. 
Key to Subspecies. 
A. Abdomen tulvous; upper plumage darker.. 7. p. bengalensis, p. 226. 
B, Abdomen rusty-buff; upper plumage paler. 7. p. jerdoni, p. 227. 
VOL, I. Q 
