(289) Alcippe poioicephala brucei.
THE BOMBAY QUAKER-BABBLER.
Alcippe brucei Hume, JT. A. S. B., xxxix, p. 122 (1870) (Mahabaleshwar).
Vernacular names. Chit Karuvi (Tel.).
Description, A larger and much greyer bird than the last; the head and neck paler than in that bird and grading into, not contrasting with, the colour of the back ; there is no rufous tinge on the rump and upper tail-coverts and the quills and tail-feathers are light brown rather than chestnut.
Colours of soft parts as iu the last.
Measurements. Wing 72 to 75 mm.; bill 14 to 15 mm.
Distribution. " Mahbaleshwar, "Western Ghats from Rajkot in Khathiawar to Belgaum ; the Central Provinces ; Pachmarhi and the Paresnath Hill, Lower Bengal" (Harington).
Nidification as in the last. Nearly all the eggs I have seen of this race have the ground-colour pale salmon, whilst the markings consist of smears and blotches of light red and reddish brownr often covering the greater part of the surface of the whole egg. Ten eggs measure about 19.1 x 14.6 mm.
Habits do not differ from those of the Nilgiri and the Arrakan Quaker-Babblers.
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