192 JOURNAL,BOMBA Y NA TURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. X VIII. 



averaged -6" x '38". The clutch appears to be from five to eight. The young 

 resemble their parents, except that the colours are duller, and the black of the 

 chin and throat is replaced by a few indistinct dusky streaks. This bird is a 

 common winter visitor to the Samana Range, and a few descend to the Upper 

 Miranzai Valley ('2,500'— 3,500' alt.). 



Tichodroma muraria.- — The Wall Creeper. 



In the " Fauna of India, Birds" this is said to be merely a winter visitor to 

 India. However, though I did not actually find its nest, I came on 

 a lately fledged family on the 11th July, picking about amongst the rocks on 

 Sikaram (Kurram Valley) at 14,500' alt. The one I shot still had bits of 

 down sticking to its feathers, the wing and tail quills were not fully grown, 

 and the bill was quite soft and short. This bird is a fairly common winter 

 visitor to the Samana and the plains of Kohat. 



Phylloscopus sabviridis. — Brooks' Willow Warbler. 



This species breeds commonly on the wooded slopes of the Safed Koh 

 (Kurram Valley) between 7,000' and 9,000' alt. A nest found on July 13th 

 was placed in the bank of a nullah under a bush. It was of the usual Willow 

 Warbler type, made of coarse grass and thinly lined with goat's hair. The 

 eggs, four in number, were white, spotted with red, and measured "55"x'42". 



Mr. Bowdler Sharpe confirmed my identification of the parent. I arrived 

 too late last year to find more nests, but young ones, just able to fly, were seen 

 everywhere. It is a common winter visitor to Kohat, but is only found on 

 the Samana on migration. 



Saxicola capistrata. — The White-headed Chat. 



Colonel Rattray in his article on " Birds Collected and Observed at Thall" in 

 Vol. XII, page 337, writes that although this species is stated in the " Fauna 

 of Bulla, Birds," to be a constant resident in the plains of the Punjab, he had 

 never seen it there himself in the summer though he had looked out for it, but 

 that at Parachinar (Kurram Valley), alt. 5,700', he had found it common in 

 July, and that there were lots of young ones about then. Major Magrath and 

 I have also looked for it in vain in the summer in the plains, though in 

 autumn and winter (from the end of August till April) it is common. 



On arrival at Parachinar in mid June last year, I found it common on the 

 stony plain around (4,509' to 7,000' alt.) and nesting in the banks of the many 

 nullahs which cut up this plain. The nest is usually placed in a bush under a 

 stone or in a hole, but occasionally in a cairn, and is a slight cup-shaped 

 structure, made of grass. The eggs are pale bright blue, marked with red, 

 which varies a good deal in shade. In a clutch Major Magrath found this year 

 the markings were scarcely perceptible. The average measurements are 

 •78" x '00". The clutch is five and two broods are hatched out. A few pairs 

 ascend the Safed Koh to breed ; I saw one family at 9,000' and many (prob- 

 ably the majority) cross the Peiwar Kotal into Afghanistan. 



