ACEOCEPHALUS. — TEIBUEA. 229 



are pure ^hite, very thinly speckled with reddish and yellowish 

 brown, the markings being most numerous towards the large end, 

 and even there somewhat sparse and very minute. They measure 

 respectively 0-65 by 0-52, 0'65 by O-ol, and <>G2 by 0-51. 



367. Acrocephaliis agricola (Jerd.). The Paddy-field lieed- 

 Warhler. 



Acrocephaliis afi:ricolus (Jerd.), Jerd. B. Ind. n, p. 1-56. 

 Calanicdyta agricola {Jerd.), Jfmne, Rou(jh Draft N. Sj- E. no. 517. 



The Paddy-field Eeed- Warbler nests apparently occasionally in 

 May and June in the valleys of the Himalayas, the great majority 

 probably going further north-west to breed. 



Very" little is known about the matter. I have shot the birds 

 in the interior of the hills in May, but I have never seen a 



nest. 



Mr. Brooks, however, says:— "Near Shupyion (Cashmere) I 

 found a finished empty nest of this truly aquatic warbler in_a 

 rose-bush which was in'tergrown with rank nettles. This was in 

 the roadside where there was a shallow stream of beautifully clear 

 water. On either side of the road were vast tracts of paddy 

 sv\amp, in which the natives were busily engaged planting the 

 young rice-plants. The nest strongly resembled that of Currnca 

 fjarrula. The male with his throat puffed out was singing on the 

 bush a loud vigorous pretty song like a Lesser Whitethroat's, but 

 more varied. I shot the strange songster, on which the female 

 flew from the nest. This was the only pair of these interesting 

 birds that I met with. I think, therefore, that their breeding in 

 Cashmere is not a common occurrence." 



This nest, now in my collection, was found on the 13th June, 

 at an elevation of about 5500 feet, in the Valley of Cashmere. It 

 is a deep, almost purse-like cup, very loosely and carelessly put 

 together, of moderately fine grass, in amongst v\hich a quantity 

 of wool has been intermingled. 



371. Tribura thoracica (Blyth). The Sifted Bush-Warhler. 



Dimieticola affinis (Ilodys.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 158. 

 Dumeticola brunneipectus, Bl, Hume, Bough Draft N. 8)- E. 

 no. 519 bis. 



Mr. Hodgson gives a very careful figure of a female bird of this 

 species, together with its nest and egg, but he labels it underneath 

 affinis. As we know, he described affinis as having spots on the 

 breast ; but he further notes that at the same place at which he 

 obtained the female, nest, and eggs, he also got a male bird with 

 spots on the breast ; in fact, in other words, he seems to have come 

 to the conclusion that Dumeticola affinis was the male and that 

 Dmnetkola &r^<?^ne^peo<MS, which he did not separately name, though 

 he has beautifully figured it, was the female. I have specimens of 



