The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler breeds from April to June in the
Himalayas, at any rate from Darjeeling to the Valley of the Beas, at
elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet. It may be _met_ with at double
this latter altitude, but I doubt if it _nests_ higher.
As a rule, the nest is placed on the ground, in some thick clump of
dry fern or coarse grass, amongst dead leaves and moss, but at times I
have seen it placed in a thick bush 2 or 3 feet from the ground. It is
very common near Kotegurh and below Narkunda, where we found nearly a
dozen nests, almost all, however, containing young ones. Typically
the nest is domed, and is loosely constructed of the materials at
hand--coarse grass, dry fern, dead leaves, moss-roots, and the like,
some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 inches high, with a broad
entrance on one side, a good deal above the middle. In some cases,
however, where a dense bunch of grass or fern completely curves over
the spot selected for the nest, the latter is a mere broad, shallow
saucer. There is no regular lining to the nests, but a good many fine
roots are at times incorporated in the interior of the cavity. All
the nests that I have seen were placed near the edges of clumps of
brushwood or scrubby jungle.
I ought here to mention that I am by no means certain that the
Nepalese and Sikhim, in fact the eastern race of this species (_P.
ferrugilatus_ Hodgs.), will not have to be separated from the more
western _P. erythrogenys_ of Gould. Long ago Blyth remarked ('Journal
Asiatic Society,' 1845, p. 598) that "there seems to be two marked
varieties of _P. erythrogenys_, one having white under-parts, with
merely faint traces of darker spots, the other with the throat and
breast densely mottled with greenish olive," or, as I should call it,
dingy olive-grey. This is perfectly true, and, as far as I can make
out, the latter variety is not one of sex or age, but is local and
confined to Kumaon (where the other form also occurs) and the hills
eastward of this province. My own remarks above given refer to the
true _P. erythrogenys_, and so do Hutton's; but Hodgson's and Mr.
Gammie's birds both appear to have been, and the latter's certainly
were, grey-throated examples. The eggs are undistinguishable, as,
indeed, though they vary somewhat in shape and size, are those of most
of the _Pomatorhini_.