S1TTA. 301 



316. Sitta cimiamoineiveiitris. The Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch. 



Sitta eimiainoventris, Bli/th, J. A. 8. B. xi, p. 459; id. Cat. p. 189; 



Horsf. $ M. Cat. ii, >' 722. 

 Sitta cinnamomeoventris, Jerd. B. I. \, p. 387 ; Godw.-Aust. J. A. S. B. 



xxxix, ]>t. ii, p. '.)'.), xlv, pt. ii, p. 71 ; Hume, Cat. no. 251; 



Gadow, Cat. B. M. viii, p. 351 ; Scully, S. F. viii, p. 263; JTim?, 



& -F. xi, p. 80 ; Oates in Humes N. $ E. 2nd ed. i, p. 193. 



Sisi, Hind. ; Sidhyi-phip, Lepch. 



Coloration. Male. The lores, cheeks, ear-coverts, and chin 

 white, delicately barred with brown ; a broad black band from the 

 nostrils through the eyes to the shoulders ; upper plumage and 

 wing-coverts ashy blue ; quills black edged with ashy blue, the 

 edgings on the primaries being confined to the median part of the 

 web ; the secondaries more broadlv margined, the tertiaries almost 

 wholly ashy blue ; middle tail-feathers ashy blue, the next two 

 black, edged and tipped with ashy blue, the others with a sub- 

 terminal white patch on the inner webs, and generally with a 

 white band on the outer web of the outermost ; sides of neck and 

 the lower plumage intensely deep cinnamon-chestnut ; under tail- 

 coverts white, narrowly tipped with chestnut, the bases of the 

 feathers ashy; under wing-coverts black, followed by a white patch 

 at the base of the primaries only visible from below. 



Female. Similar to the male, except that the lower plumage is 

 dull pale chestnut. 



Bill black ; base of lower mandible and of culmen bluish grey- 

 horny ; iris hazel-brown ; feet dingy plumbeous (Scully). 



Length about 6 ; tail 1-8 ; wing 3'2 ; tarsus 7 ; bill from 

 gape 1. 



Distribution. Throughout the Himalayas from Murree to Di- 

 brugarh at moderate altitudes. Jerdon found this species in Sikhim 

 from 2000 to 6000 feet; Scully states that it is common in the 

 central woods of the Nepal valley, and Brooks says that in the lower 

 hills between Mussooree and Gaugotri it is the prevailing Nuthatch. 

 Godwin-Austen procured it in the Khasi hills, Hume on the 

 Eastern hills of Mauipur, and my men got it at Bhamo in Upper 

 Burma. 



Habits, fyc. Gamniie found the nest in Sikhim at 2000 feet eleva- 

 tion. It was in a hole of a decaying bamboo about twenty feet 

 from the ground, and contained four eggs, which were not preserved. 

 The joint of the bamboo which contained the nest was filled up 

 with alternate layers of green moss and bark. The nest, which 

 was placed on the top of this, was a small pad composed of fine 

 moss and fur mixed with a few feathers and the wings of 

 insects. 



317. Sitta neglecta. The Burmese Nuthatch. 



Sitta neglecta, Wald. A. M. N. H. (4 ) v, p. 218 (1870) ; Hume, S. F. 

 iii, p. 87 ; Hume fy Dav. S. F. vi, p. 201 ; Hume, Cat. no. 250 bis ; 



