Nidification. A nest taken by me in N. Cachar on the 17th May, 1890, was similar to that of a Titmouse, a pad of moss with dense lining of cotton-down, placed in a crevice in a big bough of an oak. The eggs, seven in number, are like those of a Machlolophus and measure about 19·2 × 15·3 mm. They were on the point of hatching.
Habits. The Sultan Tit goes about in small flocks of half-a-dozen or so very much like the birds of the genus Machlolophus and have the same manner of searching for insects in the branches of trees, but their actions are somewhat slower and more deliberate. They eat both insects and fruit and seeds, principally the first-named, and their call is a loud, rather shrill note bearing a resemblance to the note of the Great Tit.
They are low-level birds, being found principally at and below 2,000 feet, though they ascend sometimes as high as 4,000 feet. They may be found both in evergreen and deciduous forest, preferring the former, and they also frequent bamboo-jungle and scrub and secondary growth. They are not shy birds.
(88) Melanochlora sultanea flavocristata.
The Malay Sultan Tit.
- Parus flavocristatus Lafres., Mag. de Zool., Cl. 2, p. 80 (1837) (Iles de la Sonde).
Vernacular names. None recorded.
Description. Similar to the last but with the yellow paler and less rich.
Measurements. Rather smaller than true sultanea with a wing under 110 mm.
Distribution. Peninsular Siam and Burma to Sumatra.
Nidification unknown.
