268 T1MALIID.K. 



Key to Species and Subspecies. 



A. Fore crown rufous to chestnut ; bill not red. 



a. Throat yellowish. [p. 268. 

 a'. Rufous of crown extending to nape . . S. ruficeps nificept, 



V. Rufous of crown confined to th.,t 



part S. r. lhamocnsis, p. 209. 



b. Throat whitish. 



f'. Lores almost white; fore crown dull 



rufous S.r. nififrons, p. 269. 



d'. Lores yellow ; fore crown bright 



rufous" . S.r. ambiyua, p. 270. 



B. Fore crown fulvous ; bill red S. pyrrhops, p. 271. 



(^77) Stachyridopsis ruficeps ruficeps. 

 THE BED-HEADED BABBLEB. 



Stachyridopsis ruficeps Blyth, J. A. S. B., xvi, p. 452 (1847) (Darjee- 

 linjr; ; lilanf. & Gates, i. p. 164. 



Vernacular names. Syak-birang-pho (Lepcba). 



Description. Forehead, crown and nape bright chestnut, the 

 forehead with obsolete dark shaft-stripes ; lores bright yellow ; 

 upper plumage, tail and exposed parts of wings olive-brown, tinged 

 rufous ; chin and upper throat pale yellow with conspicuous black 

 shafts; sides of the head and neck and entire lower plumage 

 fulvous yellow ; the sides of the body, thighs, vent and under 

 tail-coverts tinged with olivaceous. 



Colours of soft parts. Iris golden-brown, red-brown or crimson ; 

 bill bluish plumbeous, darker above, paler and rather fleshy below ; 

 legs pale yellowish- or fleshy-brown. 



Measurements. Total length about 120 to 125 mm.; wing 54 

 to 58 mm. : tail about 50 to 52 mm. ; tarsus about 17 to 18 mm. ; 

 culmeu about 10 mm. 



Distribution. Sikkim and hills North of the Brahmaputra. 

 Khasia and N. Cachar Hills. Annam (Robinson Kloss). It 

 must also occur in the intervening countries in extreme JS". Burma 

 but so far has not been recorded thence. 



Nidification. This little Babbler breeds in Sikkim from 3,000 

 feet upwards and in the Assam Hills from 2,500 feet, commencing 

 in early April and continuing until the end of June. The nest is a 

 small, rather neatly made egg-shaped structure with the entrance 

 at the top, or small end ; outwardly it is composed of dead bamboo 

 leaves but inside is more or less mixed with roots and fibrous 

 material and generally lined with fine roots. The site selected is 

 either a mass of twigs low down in a bamboo clump or some thick 

 bush ; rarely it is placed actually on the ground. The eggs, four 

 in number, have a pearly white ground with faint specks and small 

 blotches, generally disposed as a ring round the larger end and 

 sparse or absent elsewhere. A few eggs may be found which are 

 pure white and equally seldom a clutch comparatively boldly 

 marked. The shape is a short, broad oval, the texture stout and 

 glossy. Thirty eggs average about 15-8 x 12-4 mm. 



