280 birds of india. 



The Yellow-cheeked Tit. 



Descr. — Head, fully crested, wings and tail black, the latter 

 tipped white, and the tertiaries laterally edged throughout with 

 white ; nape, posterior part of crest, and a small superciliary 

 stripe, bright yellow ; back, scapulars, and rump, light olive-green, 

 the scapulars with a few black marks ; wing-coverts tipped with 

 pale yellow ; the outer primaries white-edged, and with a white bar 

 near their base, the others bluish externally ; tail dusky grey, 

 white-tipped ; cheeks, sides of neck, sides of breast and abdomen, 

 and under tail-coverts yellow, passing to greenish on the flanks and 

 under tail-coverts ; lores, a stripe on each side of the neck from 

 the eye, chin, throat, and middle of breast and abdomen, black. 



Bill black ; legs plumbeous ; irides light brown. Length 5£ 

 inches; wing 2| ; tail 2% ; bill at front 11 mill. ; tarsus f. 



This handsome species extends from the North-western Hima- 

 layas to Nepal, but not further east, being replaced in Sikhim by 

 the next species. Hutton says that " it is common at Mussooree 

 throughout the year. It breeds in April ; the nest was constructed 

 of moss, hair, and feathers, and placed at the bottom of a deep 

 hole in the stump of an oak tree." 



648. Machlolophus Jerdoni, Blyth. 



Parus, apud Blyth, J. A. S. XNV., p. 445 — Gould, Birds of 

 Asia, pt. IX. pi. 16 — P. xanthogenys, apud Sykes, Cat. 96 — 

 Jerdon, Cat. 130. 



The Southern yellow-Tit. 



Descr. — Very similar to the last (xantliogenys), but conspi- 

 cuously larger ; has the back less tinged with yellow, being dull 

 green with a slaty tinge ; the yellow portion of the plumage not 

 so intense in hue, and the yellow sincipital streak short, and not 

 continued forward over the eye. 



Bill black ; legs plumbeous; irides light brown. Length 6 inches; 

 wing 3 ; tail 2\ ; extent 10 ; tarsus | ^ ; bill at front 9 mill. 



This, the southern representative of the Yellow-cheeked Tits 

 of the Himalayas, is found on the Neilgherries, at a lower elevation 

 than P. cinereus, never exceeding 6,000 feet ; also in Coorg, 



