254 Mr. W. Raw on the [Ibis, 



in May. I once found fre.sh eggs o£ this species in a House- 

 Sparrow's nest, eight feet from the ground, in an orange- 

 tree. Nothing had apparently been added to the sparrow's 

 nest by the Rufous Warljlers. I had previously taken the 

 eggs of both pairs of birds. 



[In 1909-10 I found four eggs the normal clutch for first 

 layings, and May 10 the best date for fresh eggs. In the 

 Fuyuin a nest had four fresh eggs on 5 May, 1910. — R. S.] 



&d>. Scotocerca inquieta inquieta. Scrub-Warbler. 



Although not occurring at Abu Zabal, where the desert 

 is too void of rocks and bushes to suit its requirements, I 

 found this species breeding in the Wadi Hof, about twenty 

 miles south of (Jairo, and it also occurs in the wadis behind 

 the citadel. Mr. M. J. Nicoll has found eggs in the Wadi 

 Hof as early as the first of March, and Major J. W. Borman 

 found them there, I think, equally early. I, however, found 

 one full clutch of five fresh eggs, one of four, and a single 

 egg in the same place on 24 March, 1918. Several nests 

 were then seen, yet unfinished. 



This bird is very tame whilst breeding, and the nuile has a 

 pleasing song. The nest, whicli resembles that of a Long- 

 tailed Tit minus the lichen trimmings, is lined with feathers, 

 pieces of string, or soft rag, and is to be found in the 

 largest of the bushes which find an existence in the bottom 

 of the wadi. The nest is usually about two feet from the 

 ground, and not well concealed, 



[In the Wadi Hof I found two nests wath one and two 

 fresh eggs respectively on 13 March, 1910, and another 

 with four hard-set eggs on 6 April, 1910. One nest was 

 lined entirely with Woodcocks' feathers, probably collected 

 from a dead migrant. — R. S.] 



69. Prinia gracilis gracilis. Fayum Graceful Warbler. 



This species does not occur at Abu Zabal, but I secured 

 its eggs in the Fayum, where it is abundant, on 14 March, 

 1917. The nest, eggs, and habits differ in no way from the 

 two following subspecies. 



