106	CBATEROPODIM.
Other eggs, again, with the same pinky-white ground are thickly
but minutely freckled and speckled with rather pale brownish red,
most thickly towards and about the large end, where they become
confluent in patches, and where tiny purple clouds and spots are
dimly traceable.
164. Alcippe phseocephala (Jerd.).    The Nilc/hiri BalMer.
Alcippe poiocephala (Jerd.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 18 ; Hume, Rough
Draft N. $ JE. no. 389.
The Nilghiri Babbler breeds, apparently, throughout the hilly
regions of Southern India. It lays from January to June. A
nest taken near Neddivattam by Mr. Davison on the 5th April
was placed between the fork of three twigs of a bush, at the height
of 5 or 6 feet from the ground. It was a deep cup, massive enough
out very loosely put together, and composed of green moss, dead
leaves, a little grass and moss-roots. It was entirely lined with
rather coarse black moss-roots* In shape it was nearly an inverted
cone, some 3| inches in diameter at top, and fully 5 inches in
height. The cavity was over 2 inches in diameter and nearly 2
inches in depth. A few cobwebs are here and there intermingled
in the external surface, but the grass-roots appear to have been
chiefly relied on for holding the nest together.
Another nest found by Miss Cockburn on the 5th June on a
small bush, about 7 or 8 feet in height, standing on the banks of a
stream, was somewhat different. It was placed in the midst of a
clump of leaves, at the tips of three or four little twigs, between
which the nest was partly suspended and partly wedged in. It
was composed of fine grass-stems, with a few grass- and moss-roots
as a lining interiorly, and with several dead leaves and a good deal
of wool incorporated in the outer surface, the greater portion of
which, however, was concealed by the leaves of the twigs amongst
which it was built. It was only about 3| inches in diameter, and
the egg-cavity was less than 2| inches across, and not above 1|
inch in depth.
Mr. Davison writes :— " This bird breeds on the slopes of the
J^ilghiris in the latter end of March and April. The nest is un-
commonly like that of Trochalopterum cachinnans, but is of course
smaller; it is deep and cup-shaped, composed externally of moss
and dead leaves, and is lined with nioss and fern-roots. It is
always (as far as I have observed) fastened to a thin branch about
6 feet from the ground. All the nests I have ever observed were
on small trees in the shadiest parts of the jungle, far in, and never
near the edge of the jungle or in the open. The eggs are very
handsome, and are, I think, the prettiest of the eggs to be found
on the NiJghiris and their slopes. The ground-colour is of a
beautiful reddish pink (especially when fresh), blotched and streaked
with purplish carmine."
Mr. J. Darling, junior, says :—" The Nilghiri Quaker-Thrush
breeds on the slopes of the Nilghiri hills, generally in the depths