CILLOROPSIS. 347 
on the wings including most of the lesser coverts, bright pale 
blue; edge of wing rather darker blue; concealed portions of 
wing-quills dark brown; lower aspect of tail plumbeous; remainder 
of plumage bright grass-green, lighter below and sometimes inclined 
to an emerald tint. 
Colours of soft parts. Iris light to dark brown; bill black, 
gape and base of lower mandible horny ; mouth bluish; legs 
clear pale to dark plumbeous, the younger the bird the brighter 
and clearer the colour. 
Measurements. Total length about 190 mm.; wing 94 to 98 mm.; 
tail about 70 to 75 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 
17 to 18 mm. 
Female has the gold forehead less developed and the crown 
duller, the gold collar is obsolete ; the blue of the throat is some- 
times mixed with black. 
Measurements. A smaller bird than the male; wing 90 to 94 mm. 
Distribution. The Himalayas from Garhwal and Simla to 
Eastern Assam; the hilly country of North and North-East 
India from Chota Nagpur, Rajmahal, Santal Parganas ete.; 
the whole of Burma to South Tenasserim where it meets C. a. 
inornata ; Shan States, North and Central Siam. 
Nidification. The nest is a rather shallow cup, made of very 
fine twigs, moss roots, the tendrils of climbing plants, outwardly 
bound together and also interwoven with scraps of moss, grass 
and a tow-like material which seems to be the inner bark of a 
tree. The lining, if any, is of finest grass stems or moss roots. 
The nests are generally placed in horizontal forks at the extremity 
of a small outer branch near the top of a high tree in forest. As 
the nest is a small one, roughly about 3:7" (93 mm.) by under 
2" (50 mm.) deep, it is very hard to find. 
They breed from the middle of May to the end of July or even 
into August at all heights from 3,000 to 6,000 feet and probably 
much lower, as a nest of a Chloropsis, probably of this species, 
was taken by natives in the foot-hills of Cachar at a few hundred 
feet elevation only and in Margherita, Assam, at about 700 feet 
this bird was quite common throughout the summer. 
The normal clutch of eggs is two, three only rarely and in 
appearance they are very like long dull-coloured eggs of the 
Niltavas. The ground is cream or reddish cream and they are 
covered, usually profusely, with faint pale reddish-brown markings, 
equally numerous over the whole surface. They are long, often 
pointed, ovals in shape and the texture is glossless and fairly fine. 
‘Ten eggs average 23°5 x 15°09 mm. 
Habits. The Golden-fronted Chloropsis is found in small parties, 
four to a dozen or so, throughout the non-breeding season, 
frequenting open but well-wooded country, and keeping much to 
the tops of the highest trees, especially the Cotton-tree (Bonbav 
malabarica) when in flower. At other times it may be found in 
