36 Messrs. La Touclie and Rickett on the 



over the eye, and on being shown the plate in Anderson's 

 'Yunnan Expedition/ stated that he was sure that it was the 

 same bird. The nest was placed low down in a young pine, 

 and was partly concealed by the rank grass growing round it. 

 In shape it was a long blunt oval, with a large opening near 

 the top, and was of flimsy construction. Its measurements 

 were as follows : — Height at back 8 inches, external 

 diameter 3^, depth of egg-cavity 2f . 



The materials used were moss and the seeding tops of 

 grasses, with a few dead leaves and some cocoon-silk. 



The eggs (which were very heavily incubated) were pale 

 green marked with tiny red specks, most numerous at the 

 larger end, where they formed a small zone. 



Prinia inornata Sykes : Ibis, 1898, p. 360. 



This common resident breeds on the plains and low hills of 

 the Province. The well-known nests are built in clumps of 

 coarse grass, bamboos, and wheat-fields. 



There are two types of eggs : — 



(a) With the usual light greenish-blue ground-colour. 



(b) With a green ground-colour. 

 The markings do not vary much. 



Thirty eggs average *59x'44 in.: the largest '63x*45, 

 the smallest -56x'40. 



Prinia sonitans Swinhoe: Ibis, 1898, p. 359. 



Common on the low hills. 



The nest is, as a rule, a little less flimsy-looking than that of 

 P. inornata. It is composed of the seed-spikes and down of 

 grasses or of fine dry grass, with occasionally some cobwebs, 

 cocoon-silk, or a few leaves intermixed, and is always slightly 

 lined at the bottom of the egg-cavity with very fine dry 

 grass, roots, or hair. The shape varies somewhat — one nest 

 was a perfect oval with what might be described as a piece 

 diagonally sliced off at one end ; another had two openings 

 opposite to each other, and resembled a small deep basket 

 with a handle. The structure is usually placed in bamboos 

 or among coarse grass, and is 5 or 6 inches in height, 3 or 

 4 inches broad, and from 2 to 3 inches deep. 



