PAEUS ATBICEPS. 559 



moss-covered trunks and limbs of the rather stunted timber-trees of that elevation, and attentively scrutinizes 

 every nook and cranny in quest of its morning meal. While hopping about the branches of trees, it gives out 

 a sharp two-note whistle, and repeats it for a considerable time, after the manner of its European relative. I 

 am not aware whether it has the interesting habit of tapping branches in the same style which must be familiar 

 to all who have observed our Great Tit in England during the autumn and winter. No little bird can possess 

 a more thoroughly busy and at the same time contented air than this one, when he is diligently working away 

 at the branch of some find old apple-tree, making his well-directed blows heard at a considerable distance from 

 his perch. 



Jerdon says of the Grey Tit, " it is a very familiar and abundant bird on the Nilghiris, with the usual 

 habits of the tribe, entering gardens, and feeding on various small insects and also on seeds. " Dr. Armstrong 

 observes that it is very active, " moving from one bush or tree to another, and frequenting alike the highest 

 So?ine?-atia-trees and the lowest mangroves." 



Nidification. — In the Central Province this species breeds from March until July. It usually selects a 

 hole in some moderately-sized tree, perhaps one which has been cut by a Barbet or a Woodpecker, and at the 

 bottom of this retreat forms a large and slovenly nest of moss, feathers, and hair. It lays from four to six 

 eggs, broad ovals in shape, pure white, openly spotted with well-defined marks of purplish red, which often 

 form a zone round the large end. It often chooses a hole in a bank, and has been known to build on a branch 

 of a tree, Mr. Hume citing an instance of a nest so situated in a " Banj " tree, 10 feet from the ground. 



This author states that they rear two broods in India, the first in March, the second in June, while in the 

 Nilghiris they lay as late as September and October. Miss Cockburn, who has made so many interesting notes 

 on the nidification of birds at Kotagherry, remarks that they show great affection and care for their young, 

 and that they bite savagely at the hand of an intruder, puffing out their throats and hissing like a snake. The 

 average size of a number of eggs taken in India is stated to be 071 by 0'5-A inch. 



PASSERES. 



Fam. CERTHIID^E. 



Bill variable, either straight or much curved, but always compressed and with the tip entire. 



Tail variable, rather long in some, with the shafts rigid and pointed, in others short and even at 



the tip. Legs short ; feet very large ; toes in many syndactyle, the hind toe and claw larger than 



the rest. 



Of scansorial or climbing habit. 



Subfam. SITTING. 

 Bill straight and rather short. Tail shorter than the wings and even at the tip. 



