G06 Mr. J. A. Bucknill on the 



southern range, and is more common than elsewhere on 

 the highest portions. I found it in plenty in the neighbour- 

 hood of the hill-station near the summit of Troodos, singing 

 gaily, from the commencement of July (the date of my 

 arrival there) until the end of September. It breeds in April 

 and May, but though Miss Bate heard of a nest on the 

 southern slopes, I am not aware that its nidification and 

 eggs have been hitherto described. Mr. Nicolls, whose 

 duties cause him to visit Troodos in early spring, wrote to 

 me : " I have found the nest of this bird almost every spring 

 on Troodos, although, as a rule, too late to take the eggs. 

 I have nearly always found the nest fixed in the side of a 

 road-cutting, sometimes well, sometimes poorly concealed. 

 It is built of dead bracken and moss and lined with fine 

 material : it is exactly similar in size and shape to that of 

 the English Wren, only apparently the bird has not that 

 facility for local disguise which the English species has.^^ 



In 1909, on the 27th of April, Mr. Nicolls found two nests 

 at Karbouna (about 4000 feet), one containing two and the 

 other seven eggs ; the former was made of dark moss placed 

 against a white rock background, and the latter of the same 

 material against a dark rock background. Mr. Nicolls 

 brought me one egg ; it was rather glossy, pure white, and 

 measured '7 X "51 inch. 



A few days later Mr. Nicolls found a third nest built 

 under the verandah of Government House on Troodos, 

 between the rafter and the corner wall. 



Horsbrugh met with the Wren in some numbers during 

 his stay in the forest, i. e,, from May the 10th to 30th, 1909, 

 and obtained nests, eggs, and birds. The first nest he 

 discovered on May the 12th at an altitude of between 3000 

 and 4000 feet on the western side of the Troodos range, but 

 it was empty ; it was built on the crest of a bank. On the 

 same day he found a second, not far off, in the side of a 

 bank, with four well-fledged young. On the 29th, on Troodos, 

 he took a nest with five fresh eggs from a cleft in a rock close 

 to a stream at an altitude of about 5200 feet. These eggs 

 are rather small, their average size being '647 x '511 inch : 



