MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 347 



found both their nests this season, my notes on them may be of interest to 

 those who follow birds' nesting as a pleasure. 



I found the Yellow-browed Bulbul fairly common on the Sahayadris, south 

 of Satara and also at Ootacamund. This year, not far from Khandalla, I came 

 on it again, though not in numbers. It is a shy, retiring bird ; the best way of 

 obtaining a view is to sit quiet in the jungle, when it is sure to be seen. The 

 bird has a low soft whistle and moves rapidly, flying low from one shrub to 

 another. I found a nest on the 9th April, which unfortunately contained two 

 young birds a few days old. It was placed in the fork of a sapling about 12 to 

 15 feet from the ground, being swung cradle-like similar to the Oriole. It was 

 quite visible, no attempt being made to select a site concealed by leaves. The 

 small tree, on which it was built, was in a dense jungle, so far as shade was 

 concerned, though there was no undergrowth to speak of. I watched by the nest 

 till the parent appeared. She was evidently fidgetty, as it took her some little 

 while to approach the nest and feed the young. 



The Spotted Babbler is also a very timid, shy bird ; it usually clears off as 

 soon as possible if any one is about ; hence it has probably been overlooked a 

 good deal. I came on any number at Matheran. The bird is fond of thick 

 jungle, in which it wanders about on the ground, very like a lark, and turns over 

 leaves in search of moths, several of which I saw captured. It possesses some 

 rather good notes, not unlike the Nilgiri Flycatcher, which it utters at intervals. 

 It was some time before I was able to discover the owner of these notes, as the 

 bird usually stops on any one approaching. I found a nest on the 20th May at 

 Matheran, by the bird darting out from almost under my feet. It was situated 

 on the ground against a small rock, nicely sheltered, not far from a path. The 

 nest is round with an entrance at one side, not unlike that of the Southern 

 Scimitar Babbler (P. IwrsfieldW) and composed of dry leaves, lined with fine grass 

 stems and roots ; as it was more or less embedded in leaves it is a nest difficult 

 to find unless the bird betrays it by leaving on one's approach. There were three 

 fresh eggs, which I left for a day, but no more were laid. They have a greyish- 

 white ground and are thickly speckled with brown and lilac, so much so that the 

 ground colour is difficult to distinguish. They are not unlike some types of 

 Thamnohia. The dimensions of the three eggs approximately are as follows : — 

 •8G"X'65"; -85"x-66"; -82" x 65". 



R. M. BETHAM, Major, 



8th Bombay Infantry. 

 Poona, 25th May, 1903. 



No. V.— FOOD OF DRYOPHIS MYCTERIZANS. 



The following note on the food of Dryophis mycterhans may be of some 

 interest. 



When out shooting on the 7th April (evening) my attention was attracted by 

 something movingjn a bush close to the path along which I was going ; on going 

 up to see what the cause of it was, I found a very large specimen of Dryojrfiis 

 mycterhans tackling a fair-sized Tropidonotus stolatus. I watched the pair for 

 some time, in fact until I had satisfied myself that mycterhans by having got the 



