2?42 BOMBAY NATURAL HI9T011Y SOCIETY. 



398.— THE WHITE-THROATED WREN BABBLER, 



Dumetia albogularis, Blyth. 



The White-throated Wren Babbler is much more generally dis- 

 tributed in Western India than I once thou o-ht. It occurs all alono- 

 the Sahyadri range, is not uncommon at Mount A boo, is fairly com- 

 mon at and in the vicinity of Baroda, and I myself have found it 

 breeding on the slopes under the cliffs, at Sion, near Bombay. 



It is a permanent resident at all these places, and breeds at the 

 end of the hot weather and during the early part of the monsoon. 



The nest is globular in shape, having the entrance near the top, 

 and is composed of broad-leaved grasses and sedges, and is placed 

 on the ground, occasionally in low bushes. 



The eggs, usually four in number, are oval in shape, pinched in 

 a little at one end, and measure 73 inches iu length \>y about 0'51 

 in breadth. The ground colour is china-white (sometimes pinkish- 

 white), freckled and spotted with bright red; the markings are usually 

 much denser at the larger end, where they often form a cap or 

 zone, and having an occasional spot of lilac or clayey-brown inter- 

 mingled. 



Mr. Davidson, C.S., took a nest towards the end of May, contain- 

 ing seven eggs, but as they belonged to two distinct types, and as 

 he, after waiting a short time, saw three birds flitting towards the 

 nest ; they were possibly the joint produce of two females. 



Sion, mar Bombay, 10th May. II E. Barnes. 



Baroda, July and August. II. Litthdale, B A. 



Bangs 8f Hills in Nassieli, June and July. J. Davidson, C.S. 

 Khondabhari Ghat, Khandesh, July &f August. Do. 

 Dhulia, Khandesh, April. Vo. 



3'JD.THE SPOTTED WREN BABBLER. 



Pellorneum rujiceps, Su-s. 



I have never met with this bird in the flesh, and I am indebted to 

 Mr. J. Davidson for the following note : — li This bird is common in 

 the Kanara jungles, and I have noticed it through all the hill-parts 

 of Nassick. It is, however, about the shyest bird in the jungle, and 

 is often overlooked. It breeds in April and May in Kanara, making 

 its nest on the ground, in thick evergreen jungle, where there 

 is no grass. The nest is a large ball of leaves with the entrance 

 at the side. The number of eggs I have found have always been 



