Proparus dubius, Hume; Hume, cat. no. 622 bis.
Mr. W. Davison has furnished me with the following note:—"On the 21st of February I took a nest of this species on Muleyit mountain containing two eggs, and out of the female which I shot off the nest I took another egg ready for expulsion which was in every particular precisely similar to those in the nest.
"The nest was a large globular structure, composed externally of dried reed-leaves, very loosely put together, the egg-cavity deep and lined with fibres. It was placed on the ground close to a rock, and at the foot of a Zingiberaceous plant, and rather exposed to view. The nest was not unlike that of Pomatorhinus, but of course considerably smaller, not so much domed, and with the mouth of the egg-cavity pointing upwards.
"A few days later, on the 25th, I took a second nest, quite similar in shape and materials to the first one, but placed several feet above the ground, in a dense mass of creepers growing over a rock. It was quite exposed to view, and from a distance of 3 or 4 feet the eggs were quite visible.
"There were three eggs in the nest, similar to those in the first nest. Both parent birds were obtained. The first nest measured 5 inches long by 4·5 wide, the egg-cavity 3·8 deep by 2·75 wide at the entrance. The other was about half an inch smaller each way.
"The measurements of the six eggs varied from 0·76 to 0·81 in length by 0·56 to 0·6 in width, but the average was 0·78 by 0·59."
The eggs are rather narrow ovals, as a rule, occasionally much pointed towards one end. The shell is very fine and has a faint gloss. The ground-colour is white. The markings, which are difficult to describe, consist first of spots, specks, and hair-line scratches, dark brown, almost black occasionally, and a great amount of irregular clouding, streaking, and smudging of a pale dirty-brown, slightly reddish in some eggs. Besides this, about the large end there is an indistinct irregular zone of faint inky purple spots and small blotches, and a few spots of this same colour may be observed on other parts of the egg.
182. Sittiparus castaneiceps (Hodgs.). The Chestnut-headed Tit-Babbler.
Minla castaneiceps, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 255; Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E. no. 619.
Mr. Hodgson's notes inform us that the Chestnut-headed Tit-Babbler breeds in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling in May and June, laying four eggs, which are figured as somewhat elongated ovals, having a very pale greenish-yellow or dingy yellowish-white ground finely speckled, chiefly at the large end, where there is a tendency to form a zone, with red or brownish red, and measuring 0·75 by 0·52. The nest is said to be placed in a thick bush, at a height of about 3 feet from the ground, in a double fork; to be very broad and shallow, composed of twigs, grass, and moss, and lined with leaves. One, taken on the 18th May, 1846, measured 6 inches in diameter and 2·5 in height externally; the cavity was only 2·1 in diameter and 1 in depth.