226 Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker on the 



consist of numerous^ rather bold and rich^ tliougli small, 

 blotches and spots of brownish red, with others, secondary 

 to them, of pale neutral tint and pinkish grey^ the pink 

 tinge varying considerably in intensity. In shape they are 

 broad regular ovals, the smaller end differing but slightly 

 from the larger. The texture was much like that of the 

 eggs of Machlolophiis, yet even more chalky and decidedly 

 more fragile ; but it must, of course, be taken into con- 

 sideration that the eggs were very much incubated, and under 

 ordinary circumstances the fresh eggs would be far less 

 delicate. There is no gloss on their surface. The five eggs 

 average 0""76 x 0"'6. 



Another clutch of eggs, said to belong to this bird, were 

 brought to me by a native, but they were so hard-set, in 

 addition to being damaged, that I found it impossible to 

 preserve them. They differed from those described above 

 only in being much larger, 0"*83 x 0"'65, and in being 

 slightly more compressed at the small end. 



27. Hemixus flavala. (Oates, op. cit. i. p. 263.) 

 This bird builds a nest which generally bears a character 

 distinct from those of all other Bulbuls. The typical nest 

 of the species is composed either entirely or nearly so of 

 grasses, the major portion of these being rather stout and 

 strong ends, fi'om which all seeds and flowers, with their 

 attaching stems, are stripped. The lining is almost in- 

 variably made of these, and the body of the nest with these 

 and other grasses^ stems, and leaves intermixed ; sometimes 

 strips of ekra-leaves and other broad-bladed grasses, at other 

 times thin yellow shreds from the bark of the stems and 

 other fine materials. Other nests have various materials 

 mixed with the grass, such as bamboo-leaves or a very few 

 small elastic twigs, and in one nest I took there were 

 several scraps of moss and a few fern-roots. In shape the 

 nest is a compactly made and rather deep cup, averaging some 

 3^ inches across by about 2^ deep. The inner diameter is 

 something under 3 inches, and the depth from li to 2. 

 It is generally a neatly built nest, the component parts 



