LEIOPTILA. 301 
latter streaked with white; sides of the back black; scapulars pale 
rufous ; middle of back, rump and upper tail-coverts chestnut, 
the latter with a few black streaks; lesser and median wing- 
coverts black edged with ashy ; greater coverts black tipped with 
chestnut ; primaries black, edged on the outer webs of all but the 
last two or three with bluish-white, secondaries the same but with 
broader edges and the innermost tipped with white and with some 
chestnut on the outer web; tail black, edged with still deeper black 
on the basal half and tipped with white, the white increasing in 
extent outwardly ; lower plumage white, except the vent, flanks 
and under tail-coy erts which are chestnut. 
Colours of soft parts. Iris grey-brown in the young to choco- 
late-brown and deep crimson in the adult; bill black; the extreme 
base of the lower mandible yellow; legs and feet wax- or chrome- 
yellow, claws brownish. 
Measurements. Total length about 190mm.; wing 75 to80 mm.; 
tail about 85 to 87 min.; tarsus about 24 mm. ; culmen about 
15 to i6 mm. 
Distribution. Sikkim, Assam North and South of the Brahma- 
putra, Manipur and Chin Hills. 
Nidification. This graceful Sibia breeds from 4,000 feet to the 
top of the highest hills South of the Brahmaputra, placing its nest 
on the small outer branches of trees, sometimes at great heights, 
sometimes in quite small saplings not 20 feet from the greund. 
In shape it is a deep cup of moss, mixed with a few pone and 
roots with an inner lining of grass and reed-stems anda true 
lining of fine roots and porneerchiles It is placed without anv 
attempt at concealment and even if not spotted at once the excited 
actions of the birds soon draw one’s attention to it. The eggs, 
which number either two or three, are pale blue with blots, 
blotches and specks of pale reddish-brown and a few hair-lines 
of the same or darker. ‘I'wenty-five eggs average 22:0 X 15-5 mm. 
The breeding season is May and vitae 
Habits. Blyth’s Sibia is a bird of the evergreen forests above 
4,000 feet, descending but little lower even in the cold season. It 
climbs, creeps and flutters amongst the higher branches of the 
trees in hunting for food and is generally found in small parties 
of five or six individuals. Their note is a clear, single whistle but 
they are quite unobtrusive birds, though not very shy. 
(318) Leioptila annectens saturata. 
WaALDEN’s Srpta. 
Lioptila saturata Walden, Ibis, 1875, p. 352 (Karennee). 
Vernacular names. None recorded. 
Description. Similar to the last but differs in having the back 
a richer, deeper chestnut. 
