1 88 CEATEEOPODID^. 



"FouTid a nest of Pi/nionotusjinlai/soni, with tA^'o fresh eggs, on 

 the IGtli JMarch. The nest was buih^ in a thin small sai)Hng, 54 feet 

 from ground, on llie top of a thinly wooded hill ; the nest was of 

 the ordinary Bulbul type, but better put together and neater. The 

 foundation was of broad fibrous bark and twigs, lined with fine 

 grass-stalks," 



The eggs vary in shape from broad ovals a good deal pointed to- 

 wards one end, to pyriform and elongated shaped, very obtnse even 

 at the small end. The shell is fine and compact, in some has a fine 

 gloss, in others it is rather dull. The ground-colour is a beautiful 

 pink, sometimes with a creamy tinge, and the markings are bold 

 blotches, spots, and streaks of a maroon of varying degrees in rich- 

 ness, and of a svibsurface-looking purple, varying to almost inky 

 grey. In some eggs the maroon, in some the purple or grey seems 

 to predominate ; in some eggs the markings seem pretty equally 

 distributed over the egg ; in others they form a moi'e or less con- 

 spicuous zone about the larger end. The eggs measure from 0-85 

 to 0-92 in length by 0-6 to 07 in breadth. 



300. Pycnonotus davisoni (Hume). Davison''s Stripe-throated 



Bulhul. 

 Ixus davisoni, Hume ; Hume, Cat. no. 452 quat. 



Mr. Gates writes from Kyeikpadein in Pegu : — " A nest of this 

 bird was found on the 1st June, and another on 6th of the same 

 month, each containing two fresh eggs. The females, which were 

 shot oif the nest, showed, however, no signs on dissection of being 

 about to lay moi'e. 



" The nest is a flimsy structure, built of the stems of small weeds 

 and lined with grass. A few fine black tree-roots are t\\isted round 

 tlie inside of the egg-chamber. The outside and inside diameters 

 measure 4 and 3 inches, and the depths are similarly 3 and 1|. 

 Both nests were placed low down about 4 feet from the ground — 

 one in a bush, and the other in a creeper. 



" The eggs vary much in size. One pair measure '92 and '88 by 

 •60 and -65, and the other -83 and -82 by '05 and -61 respectively ; 

 the ground-colour of all is a pinkish white. In one pair the shell- 

 blotches of washed-out purple are spread over the whole egg^ and 

 the surface-spots and dashes of carneous red are also equally spread 

 over the whole shell. In the other pair the shell-marks are grouped 

 round the larger end to form a broad ring, and the \\hole egg is 

 thickly speckled and spotted with bright reddish. The eggs are \'ery 

 slightly glossy." 



801. Pycnonotus melanicterus (Gm.). The Black-capped Bulhul. 



Rubigula xnelanictera {Gm.), Hume, Cat. no. 455 bis. 



Colonel Legge writes: — "In April 1873 I received from a 

 friend in Ceylon three eggs of this bird; but I was unable 

 to identify them initil lately, when 1 had an ojiportunily of 



