254 SYLVIID.E. 



doubt it is often mistaken for tliat species. 1 have invariably found 

 it during the rains in grass libeerlis overgrown with iow thorny 

 bushes {Ziziiphus jujuha, &c.). Whether it remaius the whole 

 year round 1 cannot say ; at all events, if it does, its close resem- 

 blance to A. ccnuhUa enables it to escape notice at other seasons." 



Mr. Cripps, writiug from Fureedpore, says : — "Very counnonin 

 long grass tields. Permanent resident. It utters its soft notes 

 wliile on the wing, not only in the cold season but the year through ; 

 it is very noisy during the breeding-time. Breeds in clumps of 

 grass a few inches above as well as on the ground. I found five 

 nests in the mouth of May from 23rd to 28th : one was on the 

 ground in a tield of indigo ; the rest were in clumps of ' sone ' grass 

 and from the same field composed of this grass. One nest con- 

 tained three half-tledged young, and the rest had four eggs 

 slightly incubated in each. AUhough they nest in ' sone ' grass 

 w hich is rarely over three feet in height, it is very difficult to 

 find the nest, as the grass generally overhangs and hides it. Only 

 when the bird rises almost from your feet are you able to discover 

 the whereabouts. On se\ eral occasions I have noticed this species 

 perching on bushes." 



The eggs, which, to judge from a large series sent me by Mr. 

 Cripps, do not appear to vary much in shape, are moderately broad 

 ovals, more or less pointed towards one end. The shell is fine and 

 fragile but entirely devoid of gloss ; the ground-colour is \\hite 

 with a very faint pinky or lilac tinge, and they are thickly speckled 

 all over with minute markings of two different shades — the one a 

 sort of purplish brown (they are so small that it is difficult to make 

 certain of the exact colour), and the other inky purple or grey. In 

 most eggs the markings are most dense at or about the large end, 

 and occasionally a spot may be met with larger than the rest, as big 

 as a pin's head say, and some of these seem to have a reddish tinge, 

 while some are more of a sepia. 



The eggs vary from 0-75 to 0'86 in length and from 0"59 to 0'(j2 in 

 breadth, but the average of twelve eggs is almost exactly 0*8 by 6. 



394. Hypolais rama (Sykes). >Si/kis's Tren-WarUer. 



Phyllopneuste rama (Syhes), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 180. 



Iduna caligata, Licht., Hume, Roittjh Draft N. tjj- J?, no. 553. 



I have never myself obtained the nest and eggs of Hykes's Tree- 

 Warbler, P. rama, a/nid Jerd* On the 1st April, at Etawah, my 

 friend Mr. Brooks shot a male of this species oft' a nest; and I saw 

 the bird, nest, and eggs within an hour, and visited the spot later. 

 The nest was placed in a low thorny bush, about a foot from the 

 ground, on the side of a sloping bank in one of the large dry ravines 

 that in the Etawah District fringe the River Jumna for a breadth 



* I reproduce the uote on this bird as it jippeared in the ' Rou^rli Dml't,' but 

 I think some mistake has been made, as Mr. ilume liiiiisell' suf^gests. Full re- 

 liance, liowever, mny be placed on Mr. Doig's note, wliicli is a most interesting 

 contribution. — Ei>, 



