SITTA. 133 



Female differs from the male in having no black supercilium 

 and, like the rest of the genus, in being a trifle smaller. 



Distribution. Ceylon, the whole of India west of Bombay, 

 Gwalior and Kumaon ; Assam, practically the whole of Burma in 

 suitable localities, Siain, Malay Peninsula to Java. 



Nidification. This little Nuthatch breeds all over its habitat, 

 chiefly between 1,000 and 4,000 feet elevation. In the southern 

 portions of both Burma and India it lays in February and March, 

 but in the northern districts it does not lay until April, continu- 

 ing through May and even into June. It selects some natural 

 hollow or one made and deserted by a Barbefc or Woodpecker. 

 Though it very seldom uses clay to reduce the size of the 

 entrance, it does, on the other hand, often enlarge crevices suffici- 

 ently to allow it to make its nest in some enviable hollow. The 

 nest itselt' is made of moss, generally green and fresh, worked into 

 a solid pad, and above this may be fur, fur and feathers or, very 

 rarely, feathers alone. This lining or superstructure is always 

 soft and plentiful, almost hiding the eggs which number from 

 three to six. These are typical Nuthatches' eggs, but are rather 

 more densely and uniformly covered with blotches than is usual 

 and they are also longer ovals in shape than are those of most 

 Nuthatches. Fifty eggs average I7"2 x 13-2 mm. and the extremes 

 are : maxima 18'0 X 13'4 and 17'9 x 13 8 mm., minima 16'0 X 

 12'3 mm. 



Habits. The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch is a bird of the plains 

 and lower hills where there are forests and woods, but it is not 

 found in quite open tracts and sparsely wooded areas. It 

 frequents both the higher and smaller trees in flocks of half-a- 

 dozen to a dozen or more, and is the quickest and most active of 

 all the Nuthatches in its ways. Its note is a constant mouse- 

 like cheep. 



