The Black-hcadcd Sibia. 
227 
liticness is lost under the conditions of aviary life, lliou!>;ii tliis 
is variable, as some i)airs are apparently as prolitic in the aviary 
as in tlie native wilds, others enjoyin.^' best conditions seldom 
make any attempt to reproduce their kind, or do so abortively, 
or only after a long period in captivity — this is specially true of 
the Rosella Parrakeet. though many of this species are now 
successfully bred in aviaries. But 1 must not allow myself to 
run on, space forbids; 1 must complete the bird extracts from 
the other three sections of the book in another issue. 
Tu be continued. 
^4-H> 
The Blach-headed Sibia in its Native Woods. 
By 11. Whistler. F.Z.S.E. 
Perhaps our members may be interested in this short 
note on the Black-headed Sibia ( Lioptila capistrata) in its 
native woods, as I gather from Bird Notes that the species has 
been kept successfully in one or two English aviaries. 
At present I am on military duty in the Hill station of 
Murree in the N.W- Himalayas; Alurree itself is a large moun- 
tain rising in places to a height of 7,000 feet ; to the north of the 
hill, away from the Bazaar and Cantonment, is a large expanse 
of jungle filling the hollows and brows of the hill side. This 
jungle is composed of magnificent silver firs, mixed, with ever- 
g-reen oaks, chestnuts, wild cherries, and other forest trees, 
many of which have attained a considerable age and size; the 
undergrow'th is somewhat light, composed chiefly of a pungent 
shrub of whose name 1 am unaware. 
Here for the past month 1 have been occasionally 
meeting the Black-headed Sibia. always in pairs, but by no 
means numerous. Tliey are shy birds, quiet in demeanour, 
and observed with difficulty as they usually frequent the thicker 
trees ; as they pass with rather laboured flight from one tree to 
another, or hop rapidly up the branches of some silver fir, they 
may very easily be mistaken for that much more common bird, 
the Blue-winged Laughing-Thrush (Trochaloptcron simile). 
The finding of the nest has been a matter of ambition 
with me for some time past, but it seemed rather a hopeless 
