436 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIU. 



Description. — Upper plumage rufescent olive-brown, the feathers with pale 

 shaft stripes ; outer edge of the primaries dull rufous ; lores pale fulvous : 

 sides of the neck reddish-buff; sides of the head fulvous with dark mott- 

 lings ; chin, throat and breast fulvous tinged with ochraceous, in some 

 specimens the throat is faintly mottled ; flanks and abdomen dark olive- 

 brown. 



Distribution. — Khasia hills, DoUah and Sadiya in Assam. 



Note. — -There are numerous specimens of D. tickelli and assamensis from 

 Assam in the Tring Museum, and I failed to notice any difference between 

 them. 



Nestitiff. — The nest and eggs seem to be the same as the last species. 



Dkymocataphus NIGK.ICAPITATUS, Eyton. 

 The Black-oapped Babbler. 



Bachyri^teryx nigricapitata, Eyton, P. Z, S., 1839, p. 103. 



Drymocataphus nigricapitatus, Sharpe, Cat., B. M., vii., p. 554; Gates, i., p. 

 145. 



Description. — As in Gates, F. B. I. 



Distribution. — ^The extreme south of Tenasserim. I can find nothing 

 recorded as to its habits or nidification. 



Note. — This species has a consj)icuous black cap, and appears to agree 

 in every particular with Scotocichla, and I think should be placed in 

 that genus. Its rectal bristles are very short, no hairs overhanging its 

 nostrils, and wing slightly longer than the tail. 



There are also several other so-called Drymocataphus from the Malay 

 Peninsula and Island which I think should be placed in Scotocichla. 



Rhopocichla, Gates, 1889. 



Gates, F. B. I., i., p. 159. 



" This genus diff'ers from Alcippe in having the nostrils roundish, exposed, 

 and pierced in the anterior part of the membrane, and in having a much 

 shorter tail when compared to the wing. The eggs of the two genera are 

 also different." (Gates.) 



This genus is confined to Southern India and Ceylon, and forms a con- 

 necting link between Pellorneum and Alcippe, the shape of its bill being like 

 the last, whilst its eggs and nidification are like those of the former. 



They have besides the above characteristics, the usual short rounded 

 wing ; bill curved throughout and deepest at the gape, also the bill is wider 

 than it is deep ; no hairs overhanging the nostrils, and rictal bristles well 

 developed. 



Key. 



(Gates, F. B. I,, i., p. 160). 



a. Crown and sides of the head black . , . . R. atriceps. 



b. Forehead and ear-coverts only black . , R. nigrifrons. 



c. Ear-coverts only blackish . . . . . . R. bowdilloni. 



Rhopocichla atriceps atriceps, Jerdon. 

 The Black-headed Babbler. 



Brachypteryx atriceps, Jerdon, Madras Journ., L. and S., x., p. 250 (1839). 



Alcippe atriceps, Sharpe, Cat., B. M., vii., p. 625. 



Rhopocichla atriceps, Gates, F, B., I., p. 160. 



Descrijition. — As in Gates, F. B. I. 



Distribution. — Nilgiris, and West Coast of India. 



