# The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma/Birds/Order Passeres/Family Sittidæ/Genus Sitta

Genus SITTA Linn., 1766.
The characters of the genus are those of the family.
Key to Species and Subspecies.
| A. | Upper plumage uniform bluish grey. |
| a. | Middle pair of tail-feathers white at base. |
| b. | Middle pair of tail-feathers uniform, with no white. |
| c'. | Lateral tail-feathers with white spots. |
| a''. | Under tail-coverts chestnut, centred ashy. |
| b''. | Under tail-coverts white, tipped chestnut. |
| c'''. | Lower plumage chestnut. |
(108) Sitta himalayensis.
The White-tailed Nuthatch.
    Sitta himalayensis Jard. & Selby, Ill. Ind. Orn., iii, pl. 144 (1835); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 300.
Vernacular names. Siddyi-phip (Lepcha).
Description.—Adult male. The forehead, lores, a streak behind the eye, produced down the side of the neck to the shoulders, black; an indistinct eyebrow fulvous white; upper plumage, wing-coverts and inner secondaries dark slaty-blue, somewhat paler on the ends; primaries and outer secondaries dark brown edged with slaty-blue; middle pair of tail-feathers slaty-blue, the basal half of the inner web and a band next the shaft on the outer web white; the next two pairs whoUy black; the next pair black with an ashy tip; the next black with an oblique white band and an ashy tip, the outermost the same but with more white; sides of the face and chin pale fulvous; lower plumage chestnut, richer and deeper on the flanks and under tail-coverts; under wing-coverts black, a white patch on the base of the primaries showing from below only.
Adult female. Resembles the male, but is rather duller and paler.
Colours of soft parts. Iris pale brown; bill black, the gape and base of lower mandible bluish white to pale slaty; legs and feet yellowish or olive-brown.
Measurements. Length about 120 mm.; wing 71 to 76 mm.; tail about 37 to 41 mm.; tarsus about 17 to 18 mm.; culmen about 14 to 15 mm.
Distribution. The Himalayas from Kaugra to Assam North of the Brahmaputra river, but in over tuenty years' collecting we never found it South of the river, and there may be some mistake in Godwin-Austen's record from Aimul in Manipur.
Nidification. The White-tailed Nuthatch breeds in the Himalayas from 5,000 feet to at least 11,000, at which height Blanford procured it in Sikkim. It is a very early breeder, commencing to lay in the first few days of April or even in the end of March. The eggs are laid in some natural hollow in a tree or stump, the entrance being filled in neatly with mud so as to leave only a small, quite circular entrance, little over an inch in diameter. The nest is a pad of moss, or moss and moss-roots with a depression in the centre for the eggs. These number from four to six and are white with numerous specks and spots of reddish, sometimes more ​sparse and confined to the larger end. They measure about 18·3 × 14·0 mm.
Both parents, according to Hodgson, assist in incubation and in looking after the young.
Habits. The habits of most Nuthatches are very similar. In the non-breeding season they are to be found in family parties, sometimes in greater numbers, hunting all over the trunks and branches ot trees for insects; scuttling about upwards and downwards, now under, now over, peering into every cranny and every broken bit of bark as they restlessly work their way from the trunk of the tree to the highest branches, whence they take flight to the nearest tree likely to prove a profitable hunting-ground. They also feed on nuts, including the hardest, boring holes into them and extracting their contents, and they sometimes eat seeds and fruits. Their note when feeding is singularly like the cheep of a mouse and is frequently uttered. The flight is fairly strong and direct.
(109) Sitta victoriæ.
The Chin Hills Nuthatch.
    Sitta victoriæ Rippon, Bull. B. O. C, xiv, p. 84 (1904) (Mt. Victoria).
Vernacular names. Huet-pya-chouk (Burmese).
Description. Similar to the last bird, but has the chin, throat, upper breast and centre of the abdomen white; the sides of the face and neck pure white, the latter marked with golden chestnut.
Colours of soft parts. Iris red-brown; bill slaty-grey, black at the tip; legs dull yellowish brown.
Measurements. Wing 68 to 72 mm.; tail about 40 mm.; culmen 14 mm.
Female is apparently similar to the male.
Distribution. Chin Hills. Mt. Victoria.
Nidification and Habits. Nothing recorded, found at 9,000 feet. This bird should probably be placed as a subspecies of S. himalayensis, but until some connecting forms are discovered it must rank as a species.
(110) Sitta castaneiventris castaneiventris.
The Chestnut-bellieu Nuthatch.
    Sitta castaneiventris Frank., P. Z. S., 1831, p. 121 (Vindhyan Hills) Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 304.
Vernacular names. Siri (Hind.); Chor-parki (Beng.).
Description.—Adult male. A black streak from the nostril ​through the eye to the shoulder; lores, cheeks, ear-coverts and chin white; the whole upper plumage and visible portions of closed wing slaty-blue; middle tail-feathers ashy-blue; the next two black, edged and tipped with ashy-blue; the others with a subterminal white patch on the inner webs and generally with a white band on the outer web of the outermost feathers; whole lower plumage uniform dark chestnut-bay; under tail-coverts chestnut, centred with ashy; under wing-coverts black; a white patch on the base of the primaries visible from below.
Female is a paler chestnut below and the white on the face is ill-defined.
Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown; bill greenish or bluish plumbeous, the terminal half black and lower mandible and base paler; legs and feet greenish plumbeous. In some specimens nearly the whole bill is black.
Measurements. Length about 130 mm.; wing 74 to 76 mm.; tail about 37 mm.; tarsus about 17 to 18 mm.; culmen about 15 to 17 mm.
Distribution. The whole of the northern plains of India as far south as the Wynaad, as far west as Umballa and Khandesh and as far east as Calcutta. I obtained it both in Nadia and the 24th Parganas, where however it is very rare. In Behar it is extremely common to the east.
Nidification. This little Nuthatch breeds principally in February and March throughout its range, making its nest in small holes in trees at any height from 10 to 30 feet from the ground. A very favourite nesting-site is in mango-trees in branches between 8 and 12 feet from the ground, and the natural hollow is always cemented round with clay to reduce the entrance to about 30 mm. This masonry work is also often continued well down inside the hollow and on the bark outside the tree as well and, even when the natural entrance to the hole is in no way too big, it is nearly always made neat and tidy with a clay finish. The nest is generally nothing but chips of dried bark and soft tinder-wood with a few leaves and rarely a little dried moss. The eggs number anything from two to six, most often five and are rather fragile, brond oval in shape and of the usual white ground with red specks. They average about 17.0 × 13.2 mm. Many birds must breed twice in the year, as nests may be taken in May and June and even as late as September.
Habits. The Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch is entirely a plains' bird and is very common in all well-wooded parts, though it is not a forest bird. Mango-topes both in the vicinity of, as well as away from, villages are very favourite resorts and two or more pairs may often be found in the same orchard. They have the usual restless habits of the genus and feed on the same kind of food.
SITTA C. CINNAMOVENTRIS. The Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch. $^2$⁄$_3$ life size.
(111) Sitta castaneiventris cinnamoventris.
The Cinammon-bellied NuTHATCH.
    Sitta cinnamoventris Blyth, J. A. S. 11, xi, p. 439 (1842) (Darjeeling).
    Sitta cinnamomeoventris. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 301.
Vernacular names. Siri (Hind.); Sidhyi-phip (Lepcha); Dao-mojo-gajao (Cachari).
Description.—Adult male. Like the last but the white parts of the face are delicately barred with brown; the upper plumage is more an ashy-blue, the under parts are a deep cinnamon-chestnut and the under tail-coverts are white with ashy bases and narrow chestnut tips.
Female. Differs from the male in beiug a pale dull chestnut below.
Fig. 25.—Head of S. c. cinnamoventris.
Colours of soft parts. Iris red-brown to lake; bill slaty-blue, black at the tip and paler on base and lower mandible; legs aud feet dull blue-grey or bluish plumbeous.
Measurements. Total length about 150 mm.; wing 78 to 81 mm.; tail about 45 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 20 mm.
Distribution. The Himalayas from Murree to Eastern Assam, both North and South of the Brahmaputra, Manipur, Lushai and Chittagong hill-tracts, but not further East. Oates's specimens from Bhamo are much nearer neglecta and should be assigned to that bird.
Nidification. Gammie obtained the nest in Sikkim at 2,000 feet in a decayed bamboo, and I found many nests in the Khasia Hills in April and May at elevations between 4,500 and 6,000 feet. In these hills, although a nest might now and then be found in some old stump, the great majority are built in the retaining walls of roads or in walls of fields and compounds. These walls are built of mud and stones and form favourite breeding places for Tits, Nuthatches, Flycatchers and many other birds. The Nuthatches select some hollow, generally only a few inches from the ground, and then fill the whole entrance in with mud, leaving only a circular hole about 40 mm. across. The hollow inside, however big it may be, is filled to a depth of some inches with scraps of dead wood, bark and odds and ends of vegetable matter, over which is placed a bed of moss and then a fine thick layer of fur, or fur and wool. They are very persistent ​little birds, and will often repair and again lay in a nest which has been pillaged. In North Cachar I found them breeding in trees, and in these the nests were often very flimsy and scanty, consisting of leaves and rubbish and perhaps a little moss and a few feathers or scraps of fur. They lay in April and May, but an occasioual nest may be seen as early as March or as late as June. The normal full complement of eggs is six, but sometimes only four or five are laid and sometimes as many as eight. They are of the usual white ground with red specks, but are more strongly and numerously marked than those of the last bird and in shape are much longer, narrower ovals. Sixty eggs average 19·8 × 14·1 mm. The maxima are 21·0 × 14·4 and 20·6 × 15 mm., and the minima are 17·3 × 13·6 and 18·8 × 13·2 mm.
Habits. This Nuthatch is most common between 4,000 and 7,000 feet and is not often fouud below 3,000 feet. It has much the same habits as the rest of the genus, but I have often noticed it on the ground feeding on ants and termites, and it seems very partial to hunting walls, cliffs and banks as the Rock-Nuthatches do. Its note is a continual cheep, very much like the squeak of a mouse. It is a very sociable bird, and I have seen flocks of this bird and Sitta frontalis hunting together in perfect amity.
(112) Sitta castaneiventris neglecta.
The Burmese Nuthatch.
    Sitta neglecta Wald., A. M. N. H., (4) v, p. 218 (1870) (Karen Hills); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 301.
Vernacular names. Pan-che-lip (Kachin).
Description. Differs from the preceding in being smaller and in having the throat and breast much paler than the abdomen aud flanks, whilst the white of the sides of the head blends with the rufous of the throat. The female differs iu the same way from the female of the Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch.
Colours of soft parts. Iris brown; upper mandible bluish, tipped black; legs and feet dark plumbeous, claws horn-colour.
Measurements. Length about 130 mm.; wing 75 to 78 mm.; tail about 38 to 42 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 17 mm.
Distribution. From Mulevit Mountain in South Tenasserim, through the eastern hill-ranges of Burma to the Bhamo Hills, N. and N. W. Siam.
Nidification. Similar to that of S. c. castaneiventris, but this is a forest bird and its nest is found in the natural hollows of trees on the outskirts of forest or in dead trees in deserted clearings. The eggs are of the usual short, blunt type and measure from 16·2 × 13·4 to 18·3 × 14·2 mm.
They are apparently early breeders; Bingham found the young ​hatched in the end of March, and eggs sent me by Col. Harington, taken on the 22nd of that month, were on the point of hatching.
Habits. Those of the genus, and there seems to be nothing calling for notice. They are found between 2,000 and 5,000 feet, never in the plains, and are forest birds, though like most Nuthatches they keep to the more open parts, the outskirts, or to partially cleared or deserted cultivation clearings in which the dead trees are still standing.
(113) Sitta europæa nagaensis.
Austen's Nuthatch.
    Sitta nagaensis Godw.-Aust., P. Z. S., 1874, p. 44 (Sopremak, Naga Hills); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 302.
Vernacular names. Daomojo-gophu (Cachari); Hnet-pya-chouk (Burmese).
Description. Upper plumage, closed wings and central tail-feathers slaty-blue-grey; a black line from the bill, through the eye to the nape; primaries and secondaries black on the inner webs; outer tail-feathers black, the three or four outer pairs with a white subterminal spot on the inner web and the outermost pair with an oblique white band on the outer edge; sides of the head and neck and lower plumage grey; sides of the body rich chestnut; lower tail-coverts white tipped and edged with chestnut; the usual white patch on base of quills.
The female only differs in being a trifle duller.
Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown, bill slaty-grey, the terminal half blackish; legs and feet greenish brown.
Measurements. Length about 130 mm.; wing 74 to 78 mm.; tail about 40 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 15 mm.
Distribution. Hills South of the Brahmaputra, Chin Hills and Kachin Hills. Kinnear's Sitta e. griseiventris (Bull. B. O. C. lx, p. 142, 1920) seems to be the same as this bird. It is possibly a purer grey, but as all the specimens of Austen's Nuthatch in the British Museum are very poor specimens and some of the Chin Hills birds taken elsewhere are quite indistinguishable, I consider this name to be merely a synonym of nagaensis.
Nidification. This Nuthatch breeds in the Kachin Hills in April and probably also March and May. Eggs taken by Col. Harington were placed in the usual kind of holes in trees and were plastered up with clay masonry, reducing the entrance to a size just sufficient to allow ingress and egress to the parents. The nests were of moss with a lining of fur, and contained two to four eggs just like those of S. c. castaneiventris and measuring about 18·9 x 14·1 mm.
Habits. This is a forest form found up to the highest hills, 9,000 or 10,000 feet and apparently down to about 5,000 feet, below which S. c. neglecta takes its place.
(114) Sitta kashmiriensis.
Brooks's Nuthatch.
    Sitta kashmiriensis Brooks, P, A. S. B., 1871, p. 279 (Kaslimir); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 303.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Upper plumage aud wings slaty-blue; the usual black band through the eye; chin and sides of the face dull white tinged with fulvous: throat more fulvous, the lower plumage gradually becoming deeper and turning to deep chestnut on the abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts; middle tail-feathers ashy-blue, the next two pairs black edged and tipped with ashy; the next two black with a subterminal white spot on the inner web; the outermost feather black, with a white patch on each web and a brown tip; under wing-coverts blackish with the usual white primary patch; under tail-coverts chestnut with traces of ashy centres.
Colours of soft parts. Iris red or red-brown; bill slaty-grey with black tip and paler base; legs greenish brown, yellowish brown or dull grey-brown.
Measurements. Length about 130 mm.; wing 81 to 85 mm,; tail about 40 to 44 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 18 to 19 mm.
Distribution. Himalayas, Afghanistan to Garhwal.
Nidification. This bird breeds in some numbers throughout Kashmir and in the Murree Galis. It selects holes in forest-trees at all heights from the ground, plastering up the entrance with the usual hard clay masonry and laying its eggs in April and May. These number four to seven and are quite typical. Fifty eggs average about 19·7 × 16·4 mm.
Habits. Those of the genus. This is a forest bird, haunting rather deep forest at heights between 6,000 and 9,000 feet, straggling both lower in the cold and higher in the hot weather. Whitehead found it fairly common in the Sated Koh between 7,500 and 10,000 feet.
(115) Sitta magna.
The Giant Nuthatch.
    Sitta magna Wardl.-Ramsay, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 677 (Karennee); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 303.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Upper plumage, wings aud central pair of tail-feathers slaty-blue; two broad bands of black from the base of the bill through the eyes to the shoulders; two pairs of tail-feathers next the central pair black with a slaty-blue tip, the next two the same with a subterminal white patch and the outermost the same but with a white bar on the outer web; lores, sides of the ​head, chin and throat greyish white changing to darker grey on breast and to dull chestiuit on lower flanks, thighs, vent and under tail-coverts, the latter broadly tipped with white; under wing-coverts black and the under surface of the primaries with the typical white patch.
Colours of soft parts. Iris brown or hazel-brown; bill slaty-blue, darker on terminal half; legs and feet pale yellowish brown.
Measurements. Length about 200 mm.; wing 114 to 119 mm.; tail about 68 to 70 mm.; tarsus about 23 mm.; culmen about 25 to 28 mm.
The female is like the male but has a more decided tinge of buff or chestnut-buff on the breast, the chestnut of the flanks, thighs, etc., may not be quite so deep and the head also is greyer in some individuals.
Distribution. Hills of Central Burma, Shan States and Yunnan, apparently from about 3,000 feet upwards.
Nidification and Habits. There is nothing on record about this fine Nuthatch, now represented by good series from Rippon, Thompson and Craddock in the British Museum. It has been found so far between 4,000 and 6,000 feet and seems to be a forest bird.
(116) Sitta neumayer tephronota.
The Turkestan Rock-Nuthatch.
    Sitta tephronota Sharpe, A. M. N. H., (4) x, p. 450 (1872) (Ferghana, Turkestan); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 305.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Whole upper plumage, wing-coverts and secondaries ashy-blue; the usual black eye-baud; primaries pale brown; central tail-feathers pale ashy-blue, the others brown broadly edged with pale ashy on the outer webs, this colour gradually changing to pale fulvous, the outermost feather having the inner web brown with a fulvous tip and the outer web fulvous with a brown tip; sides of the head and lower plumage fulvous, darker and becoming strongly tinged with pink on the flanks, lower abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts, these last having ashy centres.
Colours of soft parts. Iris brown; bill horny-brown or slaty-brown, darker at the tip; legs clay-slate.
Measurements. Length about 160 to 170 mm.; wing 75 to 90 mm.; tail about 50 to 60 mm.; tarsus 21 to 24 mm.; culmen 20 to 23 mm.
Distribution. Baluchistan and Afghanistan to Ferghana in Turkestan and the Tianschan. Birds from the Tianschan seem to have more of a dull rufous tinge on the breast and lower throat as well as being rather bigger, and should possibly be kept separate; I cannot, however, distinguish S. n. obscura from North, and East Persia.
​Nidification. This bird breeds both in Afghanistan and Baluchistan from early March to the end of April or early May. The nest-hole may be either in a tree or in a rock but in the very great majority of cases it will be in the latter. The hole is lined, sometimes partially, sometimes throughout, with a clay which becomes very hard when set, and this lining is continued until it projects in a cone beyond the entrance for from 6 to 9 or 10 inches. In addition to this, however, the bird decorates the face of the rock or the bark of the tree all round the entrance for some distance with feathers stuck in the crevices of the rock or bark. The lining to the nest is generally fur or hair, sometimes with a few feathers, but underneath this is often a bed of leaves, chips of bark, touch-wood or similar material. The eggs vary from four to six or rarely seven in number; the ground is a white of a purer, harder tint than that of most Nuthatches and the spots of brown are sparser and more definite. They are generally rather scanty in number but more numerous at the larger end than elsewhere. The normal shape is a broad, blunt oval, and twenty-four Indian eggs average about 21·2 × 16·0 mm. These were all taken by General Betham at Quetta.
Habits. This bird is common in Baluchistan, where Betham took many nests, and extends in some numbers along the frontier in suitable localities between 3,000 and 7,000 feet, ascending yet higher than this in the northern portion of its range. In general habits, flight, voice and food it is a typical Nuthatch, but rocks form its principal hunting-ground rather than trees, though it does resort to these also on occasions. It is never, however, a forest bird and frequents bare hillsides with but little cover of any sort just as often as it does those a little less bare which have a few scattered trees and an odd ravine or so with bush or tree forest. It is said not to be a shy bird or to shun observation.
(117) Sitta leucopsis leucopsis.
The White-cheeked Nuthatch.
    Sitta leucopsis Gould, P. Z. S.. 1840, p. 113 (Himalayas); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 306.
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Forehead, crown, nape and a part of the sides of neck glossy black; upper plumage, closed wings and central tail-feathers slaty-blue; other tail-feathers black, tipped with slaty-blue, the three outer pairs with a subterminal white patch on the inner web and the outermost pair with a white band also on the outer web; sides of the head and lower plumage white, more or less tinged with pale fulvous; flanks and under tail-coverts rich chestnut. Sexes alike.
Colours of soft parts. Iris hazel-brown to dark brown; bill black, the base of the lower mandible whitish-horny or pale grey-horny; legs yellowish- or greenish-brown.
​Measurements. Total length about 140 mm.; wing 74 to 79 mm.; tail about 42 mm.; tarsus about 18 mm.; culmen about 15 mm.
Distribution. The whole of the North-West Himalayas from the Baluchistan boundaries where well forested, Afghanistan, N. Kashmir to the hills next the plains as far as the pines continue and as far east as Garhwal.
Nidification. This Nuthatch breeds freely throughout its range. Rattray took many nests in the Murree Hills in June, and says that a favourite site is high up in a tall fir-tree that has been struck by lightning and cracked down the centre, a convenient place in this crack being selected for the nest. They lay from four to eight eggs, which are just like those of the various forms of Chestnut-bellied Nuthatches and measure on an average for 50 eggs about 18·2 × 13·7 mm. The nest is ditiicult to find, both from its position and the cautious habits of the birds.
Habits. This is a bird of high elevations, being found principally between 7,000 and 12,000 feet and, according to Rattray and others, seldom below 8,000 feet. Its range, however, seems to be decided by the forest growth and it will not frequently be found outside the regions of firs, pines and other coniferous trees. Stoliczka says that it feeds principally on the seeds of Pinus girardiana and that its voice is a loud, uniform, melancholy call, uttered while it is busily engaged in securing a pine-seed in the bark of a large tree. Whitehead likens its call to the French word "pain," and he and Davidson both say that the monotonous, wailing cry is to be heard in the forests all day long.
(118) Sitta formosa.
The Beautiful Nuthatch.
    Sitta formosa Blyth, J. A. S. B., xii, p. 938 (184.3) (Darjiling); Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 306.
Vernacular names. Dao-mojo-gadeba (Cachari); Tishe Kuyi gumbo (Lepcha).
Description. Upper plumage black, streaked with pale blue on the upper back and the sides of the neck and with brilliant cobalt-blue elsewhere; sides of the head and chin fulvous white, the feathers round the eye and over the ear-coverts blackish at their bases; lesser wing-coverts, primary-coverts, primaries and secondaries bright blue; edges of the median and greater coverts and of the inner secondaries white; remainder of wing blue; scapulars, louer back and rump verdigris-blue; central tail-feathers blue with black bases and black next the shafts; the next two pairs black edged with blue; the others black with progressively larger white tips, blue-edged on the exterior margins; lower plumage dull chestnut.
​Colours of soft parts. Iris red-brown or dark brown; bill black with base and gonys black; legs greenish horny (Jerdon) or yellowish brown.
Measurements. Length about 185 mm.; wing 114 to 118 mm.; tail about 58 to 60 mm.; tarsus about 21 mm.; culmen about 17 mm.
Distribution. Himalayas from Sikkim to the Miri and Arbor Hills in Eastern Assam. Also hill-ranges in South Assam as far East as Lakhimpur. The Salween-Mekong watershed in the N.E. Shan States.
Nidification. The few nests found by me in the Khasia and North Cachar Hills were all on the highest ranges from 5,000 feet upwards. They were placed in trees at considerable heights from the ground and contained from four to six eggs or young. The eggs only vary from those of S. c. cinnamoventris in being larger and broader ovals. Sixteen eggs average 20·6 × 15·2 mm. and vary between 18·0 × 14·7 and 22·6 × 15·8 mm.
Habits. The Beautiful Nuthatch, well named from its lovely colouring, seems to be a rare bird everywhere. I never saw it but in pairs or in family parties after the young had hatched, and it is the most shy and elusive of all the Nuthatches found in Assam. Its actions when on trees, rather slow and deliberate for this genus, reminded one of Woodpeckers and its note also differed from all other Nuthatches in its low, rather sweet tone, On the wing it was exceptionally swift, and its beauty when the sun caught it in flight could only be likened to that of the Ruddy Kingfisher under similar circumstances.
(119) Sitta frontalis frontalis.
The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch.
    Sitta frontalis Horsf., Trans. Linn. Soc., xiii, p. 162 (1821) (Java);. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 307.
Vernacular names. Dao-mojo-buku-gajao (Cachari).
Description. Forehead and supercilium black; whole upper plumage and exposed parts of wings and tail purplish blue: inner webs of all primaries, outer webs of the first two and concealed portions of rectrices blackish brown; ear-coverts lilac; chin and throat whitish; lower plumage greyish, more or less suffused with dull lilac.
Colours of soft parts. Iris yellow, brown in the young and sometimes in the adult female; eyelids plumbeous; bill coral-red, black in the quite young with a pinkish gape and base; legs fleshy-brown or reddish brown, never red.
Measurements. Total length about 125 to 130 mm,; wing 70 to 75 mm.; tail about 40 mm,; tarsus 17 to 18 mm.; culmen 12 to 13 mm.
SITTA F. FRONTALIS. The Velvet-fronted Blue Nuthatch. $^2$⁄$_3$ life size.
​ Female differs from the male in having no black supercilium and, like the rest of the genus, in being a trifle smaller.
Distribution. Ceylon, the whole of India west of Bombay, Gwalior and Kumaon; Assam, practically the whole of Burma in suitable localities, Siam, Malay Peninsula to Java.
Nidification. This little Nuthatch breeds all over its habitat, chiefly between 1,000 and 4,000 feet elevation. In the southern portions of both Burma and India it lays in February and March, but in the northern districts it does not lay until April, continuing through May and even into June. It selects some natural hollow or one made and deserted by a Barbet or Woodpecker. Though it very seldom uses clay to reduce the size of the entrance, it does, on the other hand, often enlarge crevices sufficiently to allow it to make its nest in some enviable hollow. The nest itself is made of moss, generally green and fresh, worked into a solid pad, and above this may be fur, fur and feathers or, very rarely, feathers alone. This lining or superstructure is always soft and plentiful, almost hiding the eggs which number from three to six. These are typical Nuthatches' eggs, but are rather more densely and uniformly covered with blotches than is usual and they are also longer ovals in shape than are those of most Nuthatches. Fifty eggs average 17.2 x 13.2 mm. and the extremes are: maxima 18.0 X 13.4 and 17.9 x 13.8 mm., minima 16.0 X 12.3 mm.
Habits. The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch is a bird of the plains and lower hills where there are forests and woods, but it is not found in quite open tracts and sparsely wooded areas. It frequents both the higher and smaller trees in flocks of half-a-dozen to a dozen or more, and is the quickest and most active of all the Nuthatches in its ways. Its note is a constant mouse-like cheep.