286 JOUli.VAL, no\rB AY NATURAL HIS r. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVI. 



The calf though possessing a rather light skin at birth and pearl eyes 

 failed to fultil these conditions, having only eighteen toes and a tail that 

 was not up to the requirements. It was therefore at once pronounced to 

 be not a genuine SINPYUDAW. 



The colour has since grown perceptibly darker and on reaching maturity 

 is not likely to differ in any way from the ordinary. 



The fact that the " whiteness " of an elephant depends as much on the 

 possession of certain points as on its colour may be of interest to your 

 readers, a» most people appear to believe in the existence of a milk white 



animal. 



While on the subject of elephants it may be worth correcting a misprint 

 in our Journal, XXV., p. 475, where there is a reference to a " fine onmuath 

 (tuskless male)." The Burmese words are— 

 HINE=tuskless male. 

 TAI= single tusked male. 

 I have no doubt that the writer originally wrote HINE which was altered 

 to ' fine ' through a misapprehension. I have seen a similar mistake before. 



Bombay, May 1918. H. MACNAGHTEN. 



No. IX.— THE WHITE-CHEEKED BULBUL {MOLPASTES 



LEUCOGENYS). 



I found a pair of these birds nesting, and when I thought the nest was 

 complete, I visited it on several occasions, to get the eggs. I was not 

 however successful and came to the conclusion that the bird had deserted. 

 Quite ten days later or possibly more, I had another look and to my 

 surprise found two eggs. This was on a Tuesday, I left them till Friday, 

 when there were three. 1 tonk the clutch. On proceeding to blow them, 

 I found the first difficult and in the end it burst, just as bad eggs are apt to 

 do. On examining it the yolk was intact and right down at the small end, 

 more or less adhering to the shell. I put the other two eggs into water to 

 test them. To my surprise, instead of sinking as fresh eggs do they 

 floated ! ! I blew them all right and the yolks showed absolutely no signs 

 of incubation, but they gave me the impression that they were "muzzy," 

 like eggs become which have been kept sometime. I have had many years 

 experience in birds' nesting, but I have never before come across fresh 

 eggs, as these must have been, floating. A fresh egg, even though 

 unimpregnated sinks. 



As the nest in this instance remained untenanted for so long a period, 

 can it be possible that the Bulbul laid new eggs elsewhere, without sitting, 

 and then carried them to it ? 



R. M. BETHAM, Brig .-General. 



Flag Staff House, Lansdowne, U. P. 

 15th June 1918. 



No. X.— THE PLUMAGE OF THE PURPLE HONEYSUCKER 

 (ARACHNECTHRA ASIATIC A). 



In Vol. XVII, No. 2, p. 540, I have come across a query by Mr. D. Dewar 

 on the plumage of the male Purple Honeysucker [Arachnecthra asiaticn). 



He apparently was surprised to find that Jerdon in his " Birds of India." 

 Vol. i, p. 370 (correctly) described the winter plumage and calls in Oates 

 in the " Fauna " to bear him witness that the purple plumage of the 

 breeding season is never lost when once assumed. He is however somewhat 



