180 Mr. R. Hall ow Bhils 



this Snipe and shot the parent bird. Later he found three 

 more, one at the Monastery (65° 40' N. lat.) and the other 

 two on the tundra. Two of these four nests eontaincd 

 four eggs each and the others only two. The e;rgs he 

 deseribcs as differing considerably from those of Gallinago 

 coelestis, in being larger, in having the ground-colour as 

 in eggs of Gallinago major, and in being much more richly 

 marked, the spots being in almost all cases very profuse at 

 the larger end and in some cases confluent. The measure- 

 ments of these eggs were ]'59 by 124, 1'61 by 1*12, 1*66 

 by 1*2, and 1*74 by 1*18 inches respectively. Mr. Popham 

 has also given (Ibis, 1898, p. 514) some particulars of the 

 habits of the bird, which I need not repeat here. On his 

 third visit to the Yenesei River in 1900 he took four more 

 nests of this Snipe. 



On Plate VI. I have figured four of the eggs, in order 

 to shew the variations as clearly as possible. These were 

 all taken on the Yenesei. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI. 



Figs. 1 & 2. Eggs of Chettusia leucura, from Transcaspia. 

 3-6. Eggs of Gallinaijo stenura, from the Yenesei. 

 Fig. 3. From clutch No. 352. June 26th, 1897. 



4. „ „ No. 495. May 25th, 1900. 



5. „ " „ No. 178. May 20th, 1897. 



6. „ „ No. 497. June 27th, 1900. 



XIII. — On a Collection of Birds from Western Australia. 

 By Robert Hall. 



[Concluded from p. 143.] 



34. Melithreptus chloropsis. Western Lunulated 

 Honey-eater. (HalPs Key, p. 38.) 



A, B, C. Ad. sk. Sept. 25th, 2Gth, and 27th, 1899. 

 Denmark. 



D. Young. 



These specimens difl'er decidedly, in so far as the eye- 

 region is concerned, from all those previously referred to. 

 The question that has interested ns most of late is whether 



