112 CEATEEOPODID^E. 



taken in May, June, and July, were all of the same type shallow 

 or deeper cups loosely put together, exteriorly composed of coarse 

 blades of grass, dead leaves, bamboo-spathes and the like, held 

 together with a little vegetable fibre or fibrous roots, and interiorly 

 of fine grass generally more or less mingled with blackish roots, 

 which in some nests greatly predominate over the grass. 



The eggs are broad ovals, somewhat compressed towards one 

 end, in some cases slightly pyriform. They are pure white, spot- 

 less, and fairly glossy. 



They vary from O68 to 0-8-4 in length, and from 0-55 to 0'61 

 in breadth, but the average of thirty-four eggs is 0'76 by somewhat 

 over 0-58. 



170. Stachyrhis chrysaea, Hodgs. The Golden-headed Babbler. 



Stachyris chrysaea, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 22 ; Hume, Rough 

 Draft N. $ E. no. 394. 



Mr. Blyth remarks : " The egg, as figured by Mr. Hodgson, is 

 pinkish white, and the nest domed and placed on the summit of a 

 sedge. S. prcecognita lays a blue egg." (Ibis, 1866, p. 309.) 



There is no figure of either the nest or eggs of the Golden- 

 headed Babbler amongst the drawings of Mr. Hodgson that I 

 possess. 



From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes : " I took a nest of this bird 

 out of a large forest, at 5000 feet elevation, on the 15th May. It 

 is of an oval shape, neatly made of small bamboo-leaves only, 

 devoid of lining, and was fixed vertically between a few upright 

 sprays, within two feet of the ground. It measures externally 5*25 

 inches in height by 4 in diameter; internally 1*5 in depth, from 

 lip of egg-cavity, by 1'75 in diameter. The entrance is also 1 P 75 

 across. 



" The eggs were four in number ; three of them well set and the 

 fourth quite fresh. The set eggs were altogether pure white, but 

 the fresh egg, unblown, was of a pinky-white colour with a pure 

 white cap; when blown it exactly resembled the others." 



The eggs sent as pertaining to this species by Mr. Gammie are 

 very regular ovals, pure white, and somewhat glossy, but they are 

 so small that I can scarcely credit their really belonging to this 

 species. Their cubit contents are not half those of the average 

 eggs of S. nigriceps. They measure 0*63 by 0*48. 



172. Stachyrhidopsis ruficeps, Bl. The Red-headed Babbler. 



Stachyris ruficeps, BL, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 22 ; Hume, Rough Draft 

 N. $ E. no. 393. 



The B-ed-headed Babbler breeds in Nepal, according to Mr. Hodg- 

 son, from April to June, building a large massive cup-shaped nest 

 amongst bamboos, as a rule, at heights of from 7 to 10 feet from 

 the ground. The nest is wedged in between half a dozen or more 



