214 TIMALIID-*. 



Nidification. Breeds in Sikkim from the end of April to the end 

 of June, making a globular nest of grass and bamboo leaves, some- 

 times lined with finer grass, but generally unlined. The nest is 

 placed either on, or quite close to, the ground, generally in dense 

 undergrowth, less often in bamboo or thinner jungle. The eggs, 

 either three or four in number, according to Hodgson sometimes 

 five, are the usual pure white, and twenty eggs average about 

 23'5 x 17*7 mm. 



Habits. This bird is generally found at considerable heights 

 from 4,000 feet up to at least 6,000 feet, seldom breeding below 

 the former. Its habits differ in no way from those of the better 

 known phayrei. 



(211) Pomatorhinus ferruginosus phayrei. 

 PHAYRE'S CORAL-BILLED SCIMITAK-BABBLER. 



Pomatorhinus p/utyreiBhih, J. A. S. B., xvi, p. 462 (1847)(Arrnkan); 

 Blanf. & Gates, i, p. .121. 



Vernacular names. 2fao-&tt&tt-o;a0(Cacbari); />m'-r/q/o(Kacba 

 Nags). 



Description. Similar to the last, but the upper plumage olive- 

 brown with no rufous tinge; above the white supercilium there is 

 a trace of a black line ; the under parts are much more rufous. 

 The crown is practically concolorous with the back. 



Colours of soft parts and Measurements as in ferruginosus. 



Distribution. Hills South of the Brahmaputra, Chin Hills and 

 Arrakan Yomas. 



Nidification. Breeds in considerable numbers in the Khasia 

 and N. Cachar Hills between 3,000 and 5,000 feet, most commonly 

 at 3,000 to 3,500 feet. The nest is the usual football-shaped affair, 

 lying on its side, very loosely and untidily made, principally of 

 bamboo leaves and bracken, more or less mixed with grass, roots 

 and a few leaves. In most nests there is no true lining but, in 

 a few, fine grass is used for this purpose. The entrance, which 

 may be anything up to 4" wide, is at one end low down and the 

 ends of the materials stick out all round, half hiding it from sight. 

 The nest is sometimes placed on the ground, but far more often 

 in bushes some feet above it, and I have taken one nest which lay 

 on the top of a bush about 7 feet up, easily visible from the hill- 

 path above but looking like a mass of rubbish blown together bv the 

 wind against a jutting branch. Three is the number of eggs most 

 often laid, sometimes four, frequently two only. Fifty eggs 

 average 27-1 x 19-1 mm. The breeding season lasts from May to 

 July but I have seen nests with eggs both in April and late August. 



Habits. Phayre's Scimitar-Babbler is a bird of thick forest and 

 dense undergrowth, found but little in bamboo-jungle and still less 

 in the grass-covered hills, except in the mornings and evenings 



