NOTES ON INDIAN TIMELIIDES AND THEIR ALLIES. 445 



A. phreocephala and its forms extend from Southern and Western India 

 passing through Burma to Siam and the Malay Peninsula. 



The range of these two Groups overlap to a great extent, whenever this 

 is the case, the former is only found at high elevations in the hills, while the 

 latter only occurs at much lower levels. From their non-migratory habits 

 and their wide and often isolated distribution, both have developed into 

 numerous geographical races. These, if compared singly, are often hard to 

 separate, but if series, from different localities, are taken and placed side 

 by side, the differences at once become apparent. A very interesting feature 

 in both these Groups is the great similarity between the two sub-species at 

 either extremity of their geographical areas. We have A. moriisoniana from 

 Formosa much nearer in size and general appearance to A. nepalemis from 

 Assam, than the latter has to A. fratercula, from Burma ; and in the other 

 group, A, brucei, from Western India is almost identical with A. davisoni 

 sub-sp. no v., from Tavoy and Mergui. 



The first bird of this genus to be described was A. nepalensis, Hodo-son 

 (1838), a bird with a conspicuously striped head. The next was A. pTio&ocep- 

 Tiala, Jerdon (1844), a bird with no stripes on the head. The following 

 year (1845), Blyth described A. phayrei from Arracan, and unfortunately 

 compared it with both nepalensis, and p)hceocephala, and even went so far 

 as to consider that the want of stripes "on the head of p/iap-ei .denotes 

 that it is probably the young of nepcdensis. 



"All authors have hitherto been satisfied with comparing A. phayrei with 

 A. nepalensis, two birds which are quite distinct, both in coloration and in 

 size, and which cannot be confounded under any circumstances " (Gates). 

 The first Alcippe received by Hume from Burma were from Pegu, which he 

 presumed to be the same as the one already described by Blyth from 

 Arracan, and he remarks on the stripes on the head of the birds he had 

 just received, and considered that Blyth had overlooked this feature. 

 Later on -when Hume received specimens from Tenasserim, he at once 

 notices the absence of stripes on the heads of birds from that locality, and 

 this time claims it as a distinguishing feature between these birds and 

 nepalensis, while instead of there only being one sub-species, there were 

 three, A. phayrei with no stripes on the head from Arracan, A. magnirostis 

 with a striped head from Pegu, and A. davisoni, sp. nov., from Tenasserim. 

 Again when A. maynirostris, Walden, and A. fusca, Godwin-Austin, 

 were described, both were compared with the nepalensis group. 



Nesting. — All the Alcippe seem to build cup-shaped nests which are placed 

 in a fork, or a cradle-like ones suspended from twigs, placed at no great 

 height from the ground, and composed of grass and bamboo leaves, lined 

 with fine grass and fibres. Their eggs are of a very distinctive family type, 

 being pinkish with numerous smudges and smears of a darker shade 

 and may be compared to chaffinches, one, however. A, nepalensis, lays 

 eggs which seems to be very liable to variation. 



(1) The Nepalensis Sub-Group. 



These birds are slightly smaller, and have a smaller and deeper bill than 

 those in the second group ; the majority have conspicuously striped heads; 

 and all with one exception have white rings round the eye. In habits they 

 are very tit-like, going about in parties hunting the bushes, and often be- 

 have like fly-catchers; and in India they are only found in the hills. 



A. nepalensis, Hodgson, extends from Nepal to the Chin Hills on the West 

 of Burma, and has hitherto been stated to occur in other parts of the 

 province. I have, however, examined all the specimens in the British 

 Museum and find all the so called nepialejisis from Karennee and 

 Tenasserim are A. fratercula. 



