284 TIMAMIDJE. 



undergrowth and, less ofteii, bamboo-jungle. The eggs number 

 from two to four. In colour they are white or creamy-white, 

 smudged and blotched with yellowish brown and with a few darker, 

 almost black, spots and lines. The breeding season is from 

 February to May. Thirty eggs average 20-5 x 15-9 mm. 



Habits. The birds of this genus are more typically Timaliine in 

 their habits than Alcippe, less so than Rliopociclila . They collect 

 in small flocks of five to ten birds, haunt brushwood and low 

 forest and feed wholly on insects which they obtain principally on 

 the ground. Davison savs that their note is like " chir-chit-chit- 

 chit," constantly repeated. 



(-''S) Schoeniparus dubius mandellii. 

 THE ASSAM TIT- BABBLER. 



Schceniparm mandellii Godw.-Aust., A. M. N. II., (4) xviii, p. 33 

 (1876) (Naga Hills) ; Blanf. & Gates, i, p. 169. 



Vernacular names. Dao-clntter (Cachari). 



Description. Differs from the last in having the upper plumage 

 nore olive and the chin and throat buff like the centre of the 



Fig. 53.- Head of S. d. mandellii. 



breast ; the black supercilium and black markings of the head and 

 upper back more pronounced ; and the sides of the neck are 

 distinctly striped with black and buff. 



Colours of soft parts as in S. d. dulius. 



Measurements. Wing 56 to 64 mm. ; tail about 62 ram. ; tarsus 

 25 mm. ; culmen 12 mm. 



Distribution. Assam, Chin Hills and W. Burma. 



Nidification. This handsome little Babbler breeds in great 

 numbers during April, May and June at all elevations above 3,000 

 and fully up to 6,000 feet. It may be found in almost any 

 kind of cover but prefers forest -with an undergrowth of bushes, 

 bracken and raspberry vines. The nest is practically invariably 

 placed on the ground, generally under the protection of some 

 thick patch of cover and always on a more or less sloping bank. 

 The materials used are dead leaves mixed with bracken, grass, 

 roots etc. and the shape is either a deep, semi-domed cup or a 



