Xiphorhamphus superciliaris (Blyth), Jerd.  B. Ind. ii, p. 33; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 406.

The Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, according to Mr. Hodgson’s notes, breeds in Sikhim, at elevations of 3000 to 6000 feet, during the months of May and June.  The nest is a large globular one, composed of dry bamboo-leaves and green grass, intermingled and lined with fine roots and fibres.  The entrance, which is about 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter, is at one end.  A nest containing four eggs, obtained on the 12th June, measured about 7 inches in diameter externally, and it was placed in the crown of a stump from 2 to 3 feet from the ground.  Sometimes the nests are placed in tufts of high grass or in thick bushes, but never at any great elevation above the ground.  They lay three or four eggs, which are pure white, and one of which is figured as a broad oval, measuring 0.95 by 0.7.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:—­“I took a nest of this Scimitar Babbler on the 29th May, in the middle of the large forest on the top of the Mahalderam ridge, at about 7000 feet elevation.  It was built on the ground, on top of a dry bank by the side of a path, and was overhung by a few grassy weeds.  In shape it was a blunt cone laid on its side, with the entrance at the wide end.  It was loosely made of the dead leaves of a deciduous orchid (Pleione wallichiana), small bamboo, chestnut, and grass, intermixed with decaying stems of small climbing-plants.  It measured externally 6 inches long, with a diameter of 5.5 at front, and of 1.75 at back.  The cavity was quite devoid of lining and measured 3.5 in length by 2.5 wide at entrance, slightly contracting inwards.  It contained three partially incubated eggs.”

Two eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie are elongated ovals, pure white, and with only a faint gloss.  They measure 0.99 and 1.05 in length, by 0.68 and 0.75 in breadth respectively.

Subfamily TIMELIINAE.

134.  Timelia pileata, Horsf. The Red-capped Babbler.

Timelia pileata, Horsf., Jerd.  B. Ind. ii, p. 24; Hume, Rough Draft
N. & E. no. 396.

Mr. Eugene Oates records that he “found the nest of this bird at Thayetmyo on the 2nd June with young ones a few days old.  The nest was placed on the ground in the centre of a low but very thick thorny bush.”

Subsequently he wrote from Pegu, further south:—­“The nest is placed in the fork of a shrub, very near to, or quite on, the ground, and is surrounded in every case by long grass.  A nest found on the 4th July, on which the female was sitting closely, contained three eggs slightly incubated.  The breeding-season seems to be in June and July.

“The nest is made entirely of bamboo-leaves and is lined sparingly with fine grass.  No other material enters into its composition.  It is oval, about 7 inches in height and 4 in diameter, with a large entrance at the side, its lower edge being about the middle of the nest.