NOTES ON INDIAN TIMELIIDES AND THEIR ALLIES. 42T 



TiMELIA PILEATA BENGALENSIS, Godwin-Austiu. 



The Bengal Red-capped Babbler. 



Timelia be^igalensis, God win- Austin, J. A. S. B., xLi., part 2, p. 143- 

 (1872) ; Hartert, jSTov. ZooL, viii., p. 53 ; Gates, N. & Eggs, i., p. 91. 



Timelia jyileata, Gates, F. B. I. p. 132 (part). 



Description. — "The form from the Himalayas and Assam is considerably 

 smaller, much darker above, the tail much darker and more distinctly 

 barred. The abdomen is of a dirty buff, the sides of the breast and flanks 

 are deep brownish-olive. This colour extends much fiarther towards the 

 middle of the breast and abdomen, so that the pale area is much more 

 restricted." (Hartert.) 



"Wing 59 to 61 mm. (2-3" to 2.4")." 



Distribution. — Along the lower hills, from Nepal to Sikhim, Bengal, 

 Bhutan and Assam. 



Habits. — Haunts damp low-lying localities. Placing its nest on or near 

 the ground ; this is composed of grass and leaves, untidily put together 

 into a loose ball ; the breeding season is from April onwards. The eggs 

 are Avhite profusely spotted with brown, and measure from '69" to "75" by 

 •5.5" to -6". 



Timelia pileata jebdoni, Walden. 



The Burmese Red-capped Babbler. 



Timelia jerdoni, Walden, A. M. IST. H. (4), x., p. (il (1872) ; Hartert, 

 Nov. ZooL, viii., p. 53; Gates, N. & Eggs, i., p. 91. 



Timelia pileata, Gates, F. B. I., p. 132 (part). 



Description. — " Specimens from Tenasserim are intermediate between 

 those from Java and Northern India, they have the abdomen much more 

 rufous, the upper plumage browner, the crown slightly darker, and the' 

 sides of the breast and flanks darker and more olive than the Java birds." 



" Wing, about 67 mm. (2-65")." (Hartert.) 



Distribution. — The whole of Burma in suitable localities. I have only 

 found this species in damp low-lying places in Upper Burma, Gates men- 

 tions that it frequents gardens in Lower Burma. Its nest and eggs are 

 the same as the last species. 



Note. — Two specimens, now in the British Museum, collected by Lieut. 

 Vaughan, R. N., in S. China, are nearest to T. p. jerdoni from Burma, but' 

 are slightly smaller, and have the under parts darker, and a much more 

 massive bill for their size. 



Dumetia, Blyth, 1849. 



Gates, F. of B. I., i., p. 133. 



"This genus, which contains two common Indian species, resembles Ti- 

 metia, very closely in structure, especially in the stiffness of the shafts of 

 the feathers of the forehead and crown. The essential difference between 

 the two genera is that in Dumetia the bill is much smaller, more slender 

 and of a pale colour, and in Timelia larger, deeper, and black." (Gates.) 



Mr. Gates in describing D. albigularis points out the differences be- 

 tween birds from the following localities : " From Mt. Abu and Deesa down 

 to Mahableshwar the greater number of birds have nearly the whole crown 

 deep rufous with pale shaft-streaks. In Mysore and the Wynaad the rufous 

 is restricted to the forehead, the feathers having intensely black shafts, 

 and all the feathers of the throat having conspicuously black shafts. 

 Ceylonese birds resemble the Mysore and Wynaad ones, but the throat is 

 without the black shafts so conspicuous in the latter." Gn examining the 

 large series in the British Museum, I find that the birds from the first' 



