PAKUS. 79 



Nidification. Breeds in April and May and possibly sometimes 

 earlier, as a clutch in the Waterstradt collection was taken on 

 the 20th February. The nest is made of fur, wool, or hair, 

 sometimes with a base of soft moss and sometimes mixed moss 

 and other materials, but nearly always lined with wool, hair, or 

 fur. It is generally placed in some hole in a tree or dead stump 

 but Harington took it from a hole in a bank. The eggs, four to 

 six in number, are like those of cinereus and measure about 

 16-2x12-8 (16-80x13-05 mm. Mackenzie). 



Habits. Much the same as those of cinereus in India. A 

 sociable, lively little bird frequenting, preferably, broken hilly 

 country and ascending the hills to at least 6,000 feet but also 

 being found in the low country, perhaps, however, more frequently 

 in the winter than in the summer. 



(58) Parus nuchalis. 

 THE WHITE- WINGED BLACK-TIT. 



Paruf nuchalis Jerdon, Madr. Journ., xiii, p. 131 (1844) (Eastern 

 Ghats) ; Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 49. 



Vernacular names. Nalla patsa jitta (Tel.). 



Description. The whole upper plumage, wing-coverts, lores, 

 sides of the crown, chin, throat, centre of the breast and a broad 

 ventral band black; a large nape-patch, the cheeks, ear-coverts 

 and those parts of the plumage not already mentioned white ; 

 the under tail-coverts streaked with black ; quills with the outer 

 webs white at base and a partial narrow edging of white elsewhere ; 

 the later secondaries broadly edged white and the innermost one 

 or two wholly white. The two outer tail-feathers white, the next 

 with the outer web white, the inner web black with a white tip, 

 the other feathers black with white tips. The amount of white on 

 the tail varies considerably in different individuals. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; bill black; legs and 

 feet slaty-plumbeous (Butler). 



Measurements. Total length about 140 mm. ; wing 61 to 71 mm.; 

 tail 51 to .57 mm. ; tarsus about 18 mm. ; culmen about 

 10 mm. 



Distribution. From the country round the Sambhar Lake 

 through Ajmere to Deesa and on to Cutch ; Jerdon first obtained 

 it on the Eastern Ghats west of Nellore and Dr. Stewart obtained 

 it at Bangalore. The specimen in the British Museum from 

 the Gadow collection is labelled Bhutan, but this assuredly is 

 a mistake. 



Nidification. Nothing on record. 



Habits. Apparently a resident bird wherever found, but very 

 little is known about it. Jerdon records it as keeping to the tops 

 of heavily wooded hills on the Eastern Ghats. 



