THE BIRDS OF NORTH CACHAR. 163 



(368) Dictum ertthrorhynchus.— Tickell's Flo\v0r-|-,v. '-n*. 



Hume, No. 238 ; Oates, No. 919. 

 A very rare bird in Oachar, but is sparsely scattered tbrougbout the 

 whole of it. I have seen a specimen from near the extreme north, and 

 another from Hailakandi in the south. 



(369) PiPRisoMA SQUALIDUM. — The Thick-billed Flower-pecker. 



Hume, No. 240 ; Oales^ No. 921. 



This is the common form in Cachar after all, and not the next bird 

 P. modestum, as Gates suggests. I fancy I see ten at least of this bird 

 to every one of P. modestum. 



(370) PiPRisoMA MODESTUM. — Hume's Flower-pecker. 

 Hume, No. 240 Sex ; Oates, No. 922. 



The nest of this bird differs in no way from that of P. squalidum. 

 The description given by Captain Beavan ("Nests and Eggs," Yol. II, 

 page 278) of the nest of that bird would have stood perfectly well for 

 the two I have seen of this. 



One of my eggs, however, is rather peculiar; the ground-colour is of 

 the usual creamy-pink, but the markings are very bold and are almost 

 confined to a broad irregular ring at the larger end. They consist of 

 large blotches of brownish-red, running into and over-laying one 

 another, the colour being, so to speak, doubled in depth where they 

 coalesce, and there are also secondary smaller blotches of lavender and 

 pinky-grey. Outside the ring there are only a few small blotches and 

 freckles of both kinds; inside they are fairly numerous. The egg is a 

 broad oval, rather inclined to the peg-top shape, but is not very 

 pointed. 



It measures '64" X '50" fully. 



Family Pittidm. 

 (371) Pitta nepalensis.— The Blue-naped Pitta. 

 Hume, No. 344 ; Oates, No. 927. 



In a freshly prepared skin the male bird will be seen to have a far 

 brighter pink hue on the lower plumage than is ever shown on that 

 of the female. Moreover, the extent of blue on the nape is far greater 

 in extent in the male than it is in the opposite sex, and it is also much 

 brighter. The general difference is altogether a great deal more dis- 

 tinct than one would imagine from reading Oates's remarks in " The 

 Fauna of British India." I have noted the colour of the soft parts as 



