HO JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



an egg. On inquiry the snipe of course turned out to be Rostratula capen- 



sis. Mr. Jackson kindly sent me the egg which he had kept. Although it was 



in a highly putrid condition when it arrived and had a couple of fork holes in 



it, I managed to clean it out and make some sort of specimen of it. 



H. N. PACKARD, Capt., R. A. 

 OOTACAMDND, January 1903. 



No. X— BIRDS NESTING IN SOUTHERN SHAN STATES 



OF BURMA. 



The following notes may be of interest to some of our readers : — 



A'os. 458, 459 and 451. Suya crinigera (The Brown Hill-Warbler), 

 atrigularis (The Black-throated Hill-Warbler) and superciliaris (Ander- 

 son's Hill-Warbler). The above three, according to Col. Rippon's List 

 of Birds in the Ibis, October 1901, are all found up here, the last being 

 stated as very common. — I have found a good many nests of Suyas up here, 

 but so far have failed to identify the birds as they all seem very much alike 

 with slight variations, some having a superciliura, others indistinct ones, and 

 again some without any signs of one at all, while again some have black beaks 

 and others horn-coloured ones, the size also varying. — I have sent four skins 

 to the Society, which have so far I believe stumped even them. — I found one 

 nest on 1st June 1902 with two eggs, the bird agreeing with No. 461, Suya 

 superciliaris, the eggs being pinky white with dull red spots. I found another 

 nest on the 19th with four eggs, the bird agreeing with the same description 

 with the exception that it had indistinct subterminal patches, but the eggs are 

 pale green with dull red spots and a zone round the larger end. — I have other 

 eggs white with red spots and zones, in fact I have three distinct types of eggs, 

 but, unfortunately, the birds all seem to merge into each other. The nests are 

 all the same, cylindrical, of woven grass down with a hole at one side near the 

 top. If any kind friend can help me out of my difficulty I shall be very much 

 obliged. Egg collecting has its disadvantages in these parts when one is not 

 good at identifying species and has no specimens for reference, although I 

 have been very lucky in my first season in getting a good many compara- 

 tively speaking rare eggs. 



No. 611. Pratincola leucura (The White-tailed Bush-chat). I saw 

 three or four of these birds near Fort Stedman on the 29th July 1902, so they 

 must evidently breed round the lake. 



Uroloucha topela. This bird was first recorded from the Shan States by Col. 

 Rippon in the Ibis for October 1901, being the first record from within In- 

 dian limits. — I sent skins to the Calcutta Museum for identification. Mr. Finn 

 kindly wrote saying" they are certainly not the ordinary Munia (U.punctulata') 

 of India, butwhether they are U. topela of China or U. subundulata of Burma, 

 I caunot say." As it is highly improbable that two varieties are to be found 

 up here, I think I am quite safe in recording its breeding from within Indian 

 limits. It is extremely common up here during the rains, when it breeds from 

 August to October (a few nests may be found in November). It nests at all 



