20 Mr. J. Davidson—^ Short 



39. AcRiDOTHEREs TRisTis (Linn.). 



Common along the Jhelum Valley as far as Baramulaj and 

 also in the Valley proper of Kashmir ; it does not, however, 

 seem to enter the Sind Valley, though there were a pair or 

 two at Gandarbal, its mouth. 



40. Hemichelidon sibirica (Gm.). 



This was one of the latest migrants. We saw a pair near 

 Gund, evidently passing through, on the 23rd May, and we 

 found small flocks and pairs at Sonamurg on the 1st June. 

 These increased in numbers later on, and we discovered nests 

 half built on the 3rd. They, however, take a long time to 

 build, and the nests we found on that date did not contain the 

 full clutch of four until the 16th, but Ave also saw other nests 

 only in process of building on this later date. With one ex- 

 ception, all the nests found were on the horizontal branches of 

 large spruce firs in very open forest, and generally 30 or 40 

 feet from the groutid. The nests were large, solid, cup-shaped 

 structures of moss, and were placed about halfway along the 

 branch on the upper side. The number of eggs was either 

 three or four. The birds might be said almost to breed in 

 colonies, as in one place we found five nests in a circle with 

 a radius of less than fifty yards. The birds were constantly 

 on the wing, and looked then very much like some small 

 species oi Artamus. The eggs are of a darkish green, mottled 

 with microscopic dull red spots, giving the eggs a reddish 

 hue, mainly over the larger end. We do not think this bird 

 bred under 9000 feet. 



41. SiPHIA HYPERYTHRA Cab. 



Common at about an elevation of from 6000 to 7000 feet 

 in the Sind Valley, but not noticed elsewhere. We took 

 nine nests in the neighbourhood of Gund and Kulan, from 

 the 23rd May to the 17th June ; this last was, however, 

 no doubt a second nest of a pair previously robbed, as it was 

 in the tree adjoining the former one. These were all in holes 

 in the trunks or boughs at varying heights. Of these two 

 were within 6 feet of the ground, three from 10 to 15 feet, 

 and the others from 20 to 40 feet. Thev were as a rule 



