NESTING IN WESTERN IND1V. 239 



of Nassick, (elsewhere unknown) during the rains, itis very common. 

 Mr, Davidson is of opinion that they arrive in the latter district 

 about the beginning- of May, and leave at the end of the rains, after 

 breeding, some few birds remaining later. In Ratnagiri it appears 

 to be a fairly common permanent resident. They breed during the 

 ruins, on trees and bushes, at all beiglit3 from the ground, from 

 four to twenty feet. The nests, composed of green moss and twigs, 

 are of the usual blackbird type, and are large and rather clumsy. 

 The eggs, three or four in number, (generally three), are oval in 

 shape, pinched in at one end, measuring 1*1 inches in length by 

 about 0*9 in breadth ; in colour they are greenish-white, boldly 

 blotched with various shades of bright reddish-brown, with an 

 occassional underlying cloud of faint inky -purple. The markings 

 are usually most dense at the larger end, where they often form an 

 irregular cap. Some of them resemble eggs of the Missel Thrush. 

 Mr. Davidson, C.S., obtained a great number of eggs from Sap- 

 tashring, Nassick. I found a half- finished nest at A boo in June, 

 but had to leave the hill before the eggs were laid, and a nest con- 

 taining three slightly incubated eggs at Khandalla in July. I have 

 received the eggs from the Pachmari Hills, in the Central 

 Provinces. 



Saptashring 8f GJidts, Nassiek, June 8f July. J. Davidson, C.S. 



Khandalla, July. H. E. Barnes. 



Aboo (nest only) June. Do. 



385.- THE YELLOW-EYED BABBLER. 



Pyctoris sinensis, Gm. 



The Yellow-eyed Babbler occurs more or less commonly through- 

 out Western India, breeding during the rains, making typically a 

 solid, compact, cone-shaped nest (often broadly truncated), with 

 the apex downwards. It is composed of broad blades of grass, 

 neatly lined with fine grass roots and stems, coated on the exterior 

 with spider webs. 



Itis usually placed in a slender fork in a small tree or bush, 

 sometimes between the upright stems of reeds, &c. I have never 

 found the nest on a Banyan tree, as stated by Jerdon, on the autho- 

 rity of Mr. Phillips. 



The eggs, four or five in number, vary much in colour ; one type 

 (the commonest) has the ground colour a delicate pinkish-white, 

 thickly freckled with specks of brick-red; another, the same 



