158 CRATEROPODID^E. 



164. Alcippe phaeocephala. The Nilgiri Babbler. 



Thimalia poioicephala, Jerd. Madr. Journ. L. S. xiii, p. 169 (1844). 

 Alcippe poiocephala (Jerd.), Bhjth, Cat. p. 148 ; Jerd. B. I. ri, p. 18; 



id. Ibis, 1872, p. 298 ; Hume, N. 8f E. p. 240 ; id. Cat. no. 389 ; 



Davison, S. F. x, p. 374. 

 Alcippe brucei, Fairbank MS.*, Hume, J. A. 8. S. xxxix, pt. ii, 



p. 122 (1870) ; id. S. F. i, p. 8 ; Jerd. Ibis, 1872, p. 298. 

 Alcippe phaeocephala (Jerd.), Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, p. 622 5 Oates 



in Hume's N. 8f E. 2nd ed. i, p. 106. 



The Neilgherry Quaker- Thrush, Jerd. 



Coloration. Forehead, crown, and nape ashy brown ; the whole 

 upper plumage olive-brown tinged with fulvous, the wings, tail, 

 and upper tail-coverts decidedly ferruginous ; sides of the head 

 ashy brown, the shafts of the ear-coverts paler ; the entire lower 

 plumage fulvous, paler on the centre of the abdomen. 



Iris slaty grey ; legs, feet, and claws greyish fleshy ; bill horny 

 brown (Davison). 



Length about 6 ; tail 2'6 ; wing 2*8 ; tarsus *8 ; bill from gape *7. 



Birds from the Nilgiris and Travancore have the head very much 

 darker than the rest of the upper plumage; birds from more 

 northern localities have it very little darker than the upper parts 

 in general. 



Distribution. The western coast of India from Khandala to 

 Travancore, ascending up to 6000 feet of elevation. This Babbler 

 also occurs at Pachmarhi in the Central Provinces. In the British 

 Museum there is an Alcippe from Pareshnath Hill which I am 

 inclined to identity with the present species rather than with A. 

 phayrii ; but the two species run very close to each other, and it 

 is not always easy to separate them. 



Habits, <$fc. There appears to be nothing distinctive in the habits or 

 nidification of this species worthy of note. It breeds from January 

 to June, and the eggs measure -85 by -63. 



165. Alcippe phayrii. The Burmese Babbler. 



Alcippe phayrei, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 601 (1845) ; id. Cat. 

 p. 148; Hume, S. F. iii, p. 116, v, p. 60; Hume 8f Dav. S. F. vi, 

 p. 260 ; Anders. Yunnan Exped., Aves, p. 635, pi. xlviii ; Hume, 

 Cat. no. 388 bis ; Oates, B. B. i, p. 69 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. vii, 

 p. 623 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 139 ; Oates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. 

 i, p. 108. 



Alcippe magnirostris, Wald. in Blyth, Birds Burm. p. 115 (1875) ; 

 id. Ibis, 1877, p. 487 ; Hume, S. F. v, p. 66. 



Alcippe fusca, Godwin- Austen, J. A. S. B. xlv, pt. ii, p. 197 (1876) ; 

 Hume, S. F. v, p. 54 ; id. Cat. no. 388 ter. 



Coloration. Resembles A. phceocephala. Differs in having, as a 

 rule, traces of sincipital brown stripes ; in being of a clearer and 



* I cannot discover where this name was published ; the first mention of it, 

 BO far as I know, is by Hume (I, <?.). 



