38 



42. Machlolophns xanthogenys (Tig.)- The Yellow-cheeked Tit. 



Machlolophus xanthogenys ( Via;.}, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 279 ; Hume, 

 Rough Draft N. $ E. no. 647. 



The Yellow-cheeked Tit is one of the commonest birds in the 

 neighbourhood of Simla, yet curiously enough I have never found 

 a nest. 



I have had eggs and nest sent me, and I know it breeds through- 

 out the Western Himalayas, at elevations of from 4000 to 7000 

 feet ; and that it lays during April and May (and probably other 

 months), making a soft pad-like nest, composed of hair and fur, in 

 holes in trees and walls ; but I can give no further particulars. 



Captain Hutton tells us that it is "common in the hills through- 

 out the year. It breeds in April, in which month a nest containing 

 four fledged young ones was found at 5000 feet elevation ; it was 

 constructed of moss, hair, and feathers, and placed at the bottom 

 of a deep hole in a stump at the foot of an oak tree/' 



Writing from Dhurmsala, Captain Cock says : " Towards the 

 end of April this bird made its nest in a hole of a tree just below 

 the terrace of my house. Before the nest was quite finished a 

 pair of Passer cinnamomeus bullied the old birds out of the place, 

 which they deserted. After they had left it I cut the nest out and 

 found it nearly ready to lay in, lined with soft goat-hair and that 

 same dark fur noticed in the nest of Parus monticola" 



Later he wrote to me that this species " breeds up at Dhurmsala 

 in April and May. It chooses an old cleft or natural cavity in a 

 tree, usually the hill-oak, and makes a nest of wool and fur at the 

 bottom of the cavity, upon which it lays five eggs much like the 

 eggs of Parus monticola. Perhaps the blotches are a little larger, 

 otherwise I can see no difference. I noticed on one occasion the 

 male bird carry wool to the nest, which, when I cut it out the same 

 day, I found contained hard-set eggs. I used to nail a sheepskin 

 up in a hill-oak, and watch it with glasses, during April and May, 

 and many a nest have I found by its help. Parus atriceps, P. monti- 

 cola, Machlolophus xanthogenys, Abrornis albisuperciliaris,&iidi many 

 others used to visit it and pull off flocks of wool for their nests. 

 Following up a little bird with wool in its bill through jungle 

 requires sharp eyes and is no easy matter at first, but one soon 

 becomes practised at it." 



The eggs are regular, somewhat elongated ovals, in some cases 

 slightly compressed towards one end. The ground is white or 

 reddish white, and they are thickly speckled, spotted, and even 

 blotched with brick-dust red ; they have little or no gloss. 



They vary in length from 07 to 078, and in breadth from 0-52 

 to 0'55 ; but I have only measured six eggs. 



