110 Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker on the 



91. Staphidia rufigenis. 



Blanford, F. B. Ind. i. p. 206. 



Hume's Staphidia appears to be the Western representative 

 of this genus, and I doubt whether the locality, Daphla 

 Hills, for S. castaneiceps is correct, the bird Godwin-Austen 

 obtained there having been, more probably, of this species. 



So far as we know at present, it is found at the foot of all 

 the hills bordering the Lakhimpur district, both north and 

 south, but we have not been able to ascertain to what 

 height it ascends. It is of extreme rarity everywhere. 



So far I have in five years seen but two nests in situ, of 

 these one contained young birds and the other three eggs. 

 The first was found in a tramway-cutting leading from the 

 A. R. T. Railway to the Ledo Tea Estate, and the second 

 in an abandoned roadway-cutting in North Lakhimpur. 



The nest is very much like that of Staphidia castaneiceps 

 and is made of the same silky, jute-like material as is used 

 by that bird ; and this, as I said when describing the nest, is 

 probably the fibre from the inner bark of some tree. What 

 it actually is I cannot say, though I have been at some pains 

 to discover. The fabric is beautifully put together, the thick 

 walls being very thoroughly woven and the circular shape 

 of the inner cup always most carefully adhered to, however 

 rough and distorted the outside may be made in order to fit 

 the hole in which it is placed. Of the two that I have seen, 

 one was placed in a rather large hole, and a considerable 

 amount of other material, such as dead leaves, grass, twigs, 

 &c, had been used to fill up the corners ; in the second case, 

 where the hole was only about four inches across by five 

 deep, nothing but the fibrous stuff was used. In each case 

 the inner cup was a hemisphere about 2" by 1" deep. 



In one nest there was absolutely no attempt at conceal- 

 ment, the edge being level with the mouth of the hole, which 

 was clear of jungle; in the other there was a growth of 

 ferns hanging over the mouth of the hole which hid it 

 fairly well from view. The nests obtained by Dr. Coltart 

 agree well with mine. 



The eggs of Hume's Staphidia and the Chestnut-headed 



