en
ground-colour. They measured, on the average, .64 by .45 inch."

231. Ixulus occipitalis (Bl.) _The Chestnut-headed Ixulus_.

Ixulus occipitalis (_Bl.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 250; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 624.

A nest of this species, taken by Mr. Gammie out of a small tree below
Rungbee, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, was a small, somewhat
shallow cup, composed almost entirely of very fine moss-roots, but
with a little moss incorporated in the outer surface. Externally the
nest was about 31/2 inches in diameter and 2 inches in height. The
egg-cavity was about 21/4 inches by barely 11/4 inch. This nest was found
on the 17th June and contained three hard-set eggs, _which_ were
thrown away!

232. Ixulus flavicollis (Hodgs.). _The Yellow-naped Ixulus_.

Ixulus flavicollis (_Hodgs._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii. p. 259; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 623.

I have never taken a nest of the Yellow-naped Ixulus.

Mr. Gammie says:--"I have only as yet found a single nest of this
species, and this was one of the most artfully concealed that I have
ever seen. I found it in forest in the Chinchona reserves, at an
elevation of about 5000 feet, on the 14th May. It was a rather deep
cup, composed of moss and fine root-fibres and thickly lined with the
latter, and was suspended at a height of about six feet amongst the
natural moss, hanging from a horizontal branch of a small tree, in
which it was entirely enveloped. A more beautiful or more completely
invisible nest it is impossible to conceive. It contained three fresh
eggs. The cup itself was exteriorly 3.7 inches in diameter and 1.9 in
depth, while the cavity was 2.5 in diameter and 1.5 in depth."

The Yellow-naped Ixulus breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes,
in the central region of Nepal and the neighbourhood of Darjeeling,
laying during the months of May and June. It builds on the ground
in tufts of grass, constructing its nest of moss and moss-roots,
sometimes open and cup-like and sometimes globular, and lining it with
sheep's wool. Mr. Hodgson figures one nest suspended from a branch,
and although neither the English nor the vernacular notes confirm
this, it is supported to a certain extent by Mr. Gammie's experience.
At the same time, though the situation and surroundings of both seem
to have been similar, Mr. Hodgson figures his nest, not cup-shaped,
but egg-shaped, and with the longer diameter horizontal. Seven nests
are recorded as having been t