Page:The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma (Birds Vol 1).djvu/480

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434 CEETHIIDiE, in mixed oak and iliododendron and, though I failed to find its nest, it certainly bred in the latter in the Khasia Hills. Its voice is a very Bat-like little squeak but I have never heard its song.

(449) Certhia familiaris khamensis.

The Tibetan Tree-Creeper.

Certhia khamensis Bianchi, Sliarpe, IIand-1. B., iv, p. 355, description p. 360 (1893).

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. This race is near to the preceding but the upper plumage is still darl<er and has less rufous; on the under parts the breast is more white and the abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts are pale smoky-brown instead of fulvous.

Colours of soft parts as in the preceding bird.

Measurements. Wing about G9 to 70 mm.; tail 65 to 68 mm.; tarsus 18 mm.; culmen considerably longer than in ni^alensis, measuring about 17 to 18 mm.

Distribution. South-East Tibet. Eggs of a Creeper sent me from the Chambi Valley, South Tibet, may be either of this or the preceding form. The record of the Nepal Tree-Creeper from the extreme North-East of the Kachin Hills (Ilarington) is almost sure to refer to this bird.

Nidification and Habits. Nothing known.

(450) Certhia familiaris hodgsoni.

Hodgson's Tree-Creeper.

Certhia hodysoni I'l'ooks, J. A. S. B., xli, p. 74 (1872) (Kashmir); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 329.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. This Tree-Creeper differs from both the other Indian races of this species in being much paler above; the rufous tinge is absent but the rump and upper tail-coverts have a wash of fulvous; below it is almost entirely white, with merely a tinge of fulvous on the posterior flanks and under tail-coverts.

Colours of soft parts as in the preceding races.

Measurements. This is decidedly the smallest of the three races. Wing 63 to 66 mm.; tail 60 to 61 mm.; tarsus about 17 mm.; culmen about 16 to 18 mm.

Distribution. Garhwal to North-West Kashmir.

Nidification. The nest of this bird was first taken by Captain Cock at Gulmurg in Kashmir and it has also been taken by liattray, Buchanan and others in Danga Gali and Changla Gali in the Murree Hills. The birds are late breeders; Capt. Cock's nests were