DBYMOCATAPHUS. TUBDINTJS. 103 



151. Drymocataphus tickelli. TickelVs Babbler. 

 Trichastoma minus, Hume ; Hume, Cat. no. 387 bis. 



Major C. T. Bingham found the nest of this bird in the valley 

 of the Meplay river, Tenasserim, and he says: "On the 15 ih 

 March I found a little domed nest made of dried bamboo-leaves, 

 and lined with fine roots, placed in a cane-bush a foot or so above 

 the ground. It contained three tiny white eggs, with minute pink 

 dottings chiefly at the larger end ; one egg, however, is nearly pure 

 white." 



One of these eggs taken by Major Bingham on the 15th March 

 is a very regular, somewhat elongated oval. The shell very fine and 

 delicate, and fairly glossy. The ground is china- white, and it is 

 everywhere speckled and spotted, nowhere very thickly, but most 

 so in a zone near one end, with pale ferruginous. It measured 

 0-67 by 0-51. 



160. Turdinus abbotti (Bl.). Abbott's Babbler. 

 Trichastoma abbotti (Bl.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 17. 



Abbott's Babbler breeds throughout Burma in suitable localities. 

 Writing from Kyeikpadein, in Southern Pegu, Mr. Gates says : 

 " On the 22nd May I found a nest with two eggs nearly hatched, 

 and on 23rd of same month another with two eggs, one of which 

 was fresh and the other incubated. This bird builds in thick 

 undergrowth, and the nest is built at a height of about 2 feet from 

 the ground. I have found very many of their nests, but, with the 

 above exceptions, the young had flown. It is generally attached 

 to a stout weed or two, and consists of two portions. First, a 

 platform of dead leaves about 6 inches in diameter and 1 deep, 

 placed loosely, and on this the nest proper is built. This consists 

 of a small cup, the interior diameter of which is 2 inches, and 

 depth 1|. It is formed entirely of fine black fern-roots well woven 

 together. Stout weeds appear favourite sites, but I have found old 

 nests in dwarf palm-trees at the junction of the frond with the trunk, 

 and in one instance I found an old nest on the ground, undoubtedly 

 belonging to this bird. Three eggs measured '84 by *66, *82 by 

 67, and '87 by -65. They are very glossy and smooth. The 

 ground-colour is a pale pinkish white. At the cap there are a few 

 spots and short Hues of inky-purple sunk into the shell, and over 

 the whole egg, very sparingly distributed, there are spots and irre- 

 gular fine scrawls of reddish brown. A few of the marks are 

 neither spots nor scrawls, but something like knots. The cap is 

 suffused with a darker tinge of pink than are the other parts of 

 the shell. 



" A third nest, found on the 10th June, contained three eggs, 

 and differed from those above described in being very massive. It 

 was composed of dead leaves and fern-roots, and measured abou 

 5 inches in exterior diameter, with the egg-cup about 2| inches 

 broad and 2 inches deep. It was placed on some entangled small 



