28 Mr. W. E. Brooks on the Breeding of certain 



moss, and lined with finer grasses and a few hairs. The eggs 

 were five or six days incubated. Another nest, with four eggs, 

 was placed on the ground, under the inclined trunk of a small 

 fir. The same materials were used. Another nest containing 

 four eggs was placed on a sloping bank, and quite exposed, 

 their being little or no herbage to conceal it. It was composed 

 as before, with the addition of a few feathers in the outer por- 

 tion of the nest. Another nest was at the roots of a fern 

 growing on a very steep bank. The new shoots of the fern 

 grew up above the nest; and last yearns dead leaves overhung it 

 and entirely concealed it. Another was placed on a sloping 

 bank, immediately under the trunk of a fallen and decayed 

 pine. On account of irregularities in the ground, the trunk 

 did not touch the ground where the nest was by about two 

 feet. This was again an instance of contrivance for the nest's 

 protection. It was composed of the same materials as usual. 



Another was among the branches of a small shrub, right in the 

 centre of the bush, and on the ground, which was sloping as 

 usual. Another nest, with four eggs, taken on the 3rd of June, 

 was placed in the steep bank of a small stream only three feet 

 six inches above the water. 



The above examples will give a very fair idea of the situation 

 of the nest; and it now remains only to describe the eggs, which 

 average "56 in. long by '44 in. broad. The largest egg which 

 was measured was -Q'i long and "45 broad; and the smallest 

 measured -53 long and -43 broad. The ground-colour is 

 always pure white, more or less spotted with brownish red — 

 the spots being much more numerous, and frequently in the 

 form of a rich zone or cap, at the larger end. Intermixed with 

 the red spots are sometimes a few of purple-grey. Other 

 eggs are marked with deep-purple-brown spots, like those of 

 the ChifiFchaff, and the spots are also intermingled with purple- 

 grey. Some eggs are boldly and richly marked, while others 

 are minutely spotted. The egg also varies in shape ; but as a 

 general rule they are rather short and round, resembling in 

 shape those of P. trochilus. In returning from Cashmere, on 

 the south face of the Pir Punjal mountain, and close to the 

 footpath, I found, on 15th June, a nest of this bird with four 



