CHIMARRHORXIS. 63 



This was on the llth May. In the middle of the foaming torrent 

 of the Bhagiruttee was a large rock, over which the water rushed 

 furiously in the form of a cascade. Through this cascade the 

 birds dived or darted numbers of times, with either food or nest- 

 materials in their bills. They generally remained some minutes 

 within the water, and from their attachment to the spot they 

 evidently had their nest there. The place was perfectly inaccessible, 

 and however the little birds managed to got through the sheet of 

 rushing broken water without being swept away I do not know." 



Dr. Jerdon writes: "A nest was brought to me, said to be 

 that of this bird, found on a ledge of rock near a stream, with 

 three eggs, very similar to those of E. maculatus, but smaller." 



638. Chimarrhornis leucocephalus (Vigors). The White-capped 



Redstart. 



Chaemorrornis leucocephala (F^.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 143 ; Hume, 

 Cat. no. 506. 



The late Mr. A. Anderson, when on a trip through Kumaon, 

 found the nest of this species. He writes : " Whilst at Furkia 

 I was so fortunate as to fall in with two nests of Chaimmarrornis 

 leucocephala and one of Riiticilla fuliginosa, which may just as well 

 be included in the present notice, the more so, as I can find 110 

 allusion to the nidification of the former in any of the ornithological 

 works to which I have access. 



" I do not know of any better instance of the importance of 

 oology as an element in the classification of birds than the eggs 

 of these two species, and, I might almost add, of Eincurus maculatus. 

 Alike in their habits, the situations they frequent, and the style 

 of nest architecture, the perfect similarity in the coloration of the 

 eggs of these two species of Redstarts indicates a close alliance with 

 each other. 



" Both nests of the White-capped Redstart were taken by myself 

 on the 20th of May, from a high precipitous moss-covered bank 

 which overlooked the boiling rapid (Pindar), very much to the 

 horror of my (^tfsz-shikaree ' Kheima,' who professed to be my 

 guide and keeper, but in reality \vas the most arrant humbug I 

 ever met. The nest of this bird is very like that of the European 

 Robin, and is composed outwardly of green moss roots and fibres, 

 the egg -cavity being profusely lined with goat's hair; its natural 

 position is in a hollow of a bank on the side of a stream, the 

 entrance being sheltered by overgrowing moss and ferns. 



" The eggs are three in number (I allowed ample time for a 

 fourth to be laid) ; and as they are so very like giant specimens of 

 the eggs of JRuticilla fuliginosa, as described by Captain Cock and 

 Mr. Brooks, and the exact counterpart of those taken by myself, 

 any further description is almost superfluous. The ground-colour 

 of both sets is greenish white, profusely covered with rufous or 

 reddish-brown spots ; the markings in one clutch have a tendency 



