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



feet near the head waters of the Tons river in Tehri-Garhwal— N. W. Hima- 

 laya.) In the spring and early summer it feeds largely on the honey secreted 

 by the flowers of the various species of rhododendron found in these hills. The 

 nidification of this species in North Cachar has been described by Mr. Stuart 

 Baker on page 4 of Vol. X of the Journal, but as the nests and eggs therein 

 described differ materially from mine, I think it as well to describe them. On 

 the 27th May while descending a steep wooded slope at an elevation of 11,000 

 feet through a forest of silver fir, birch and rhododendron, with an undergrowth 

 of dwarf bamboo {Arundinaria aristata) I came on the nest of this species 

 suspended about 3 feet above the ground from a latteral branchlet of a bam- 

 boo which had been incorporated into the nest. It is oval in shape, 6" high by 

 4" in diameter, with a small round hole 14/' across near the top. It is composed 

 externally of moss interwoven with black rhizomorph. Next comes a layer of 

 thin pink papery rhododendron bark followed by a lining of fine grass flowers 

 and feathers. 



The eggs, 2 in number, are long ovals, white, mottled and freckled uniformly 

 all over, with a fairly dark shade of brown. 



They measure '74" X '50'' and -75" x "50" respectively, which would make 

 them almost exactly double in volume the eggs of this species described by 

 Mr. Stuart Baker, which measured -55" x '42" and -54" x -41" ! 



1105. Cuculus saturatus, — On the 3rd June I found the nest of Niltava sundara 

 at an elevation of 6,300 feet, on a steep bank. It contained 4 eggs, 3 of the 

 ordinary Niltava type, and one differing from these both in shape and colour 

 which evidently belonged to some cuckoo. Again, on 13th June at 6,000 feet 

 elevation I visited another nest of Niltava sundara which I had observed some 

 days before, and found it contained a single cuckoo's egg similar to the one in the 

 first nest. There were bits of the shell of one or more Niltava eggs lying below 

 the nest which had presumably been ejected by the cuckoo when depositing her 

 egg. These eggs are ellipsoidal in shape, white, with a number of minute brown 

 specks, chiefly in a rink towards the largo end. 



They measured "85" x '60'' and -81" x '58" respectively. 



Mr. Stuart Baker, to whom I sent one of these eggs, informed me that they 

 belonged to the above cuckoo. It seems, however, almost incredible that so large 

 a bird should lay so small an egg. 



1106. Cuculus poliocephalus. — This is the commonest cuckoo in these hills, 

 especially from 5,000 to 8,000 feet. It is rare in the N.-W. Himalayas, being 

 confined to the inner ranges near the snows, and at high elevations only between 

 8,000 and 11,000 feet. 



On June 1st I shot a cuckoo at about 7,000 feet which turned out to belong to 

 this species, being in the rufous phase of plumage. As she lay dying in my hand 

 she laid an egg, which had, however, been smashed unfortunately by a pellet of 

 shot. This egg was of a uniform pale terra-cotta colour. 



A fortnight later I found a nest of Drymochares cruralis at 7,500 feet placed up, 

 against a moss-covered rock in dense forest. It contained 2 eggs, one pure white 



