184 Mr. J. D. D. La Touclie on the 



of the egg-cavity is about 2| inches. The total outer length 

 is about 10 inches. The four eggs are ovate in shape and 

 measure 0*90 by 0*68 inch. 



16. Proparus GUTTATicoLLis La Tonche. 



The only place where this pretty little bird has as yet been 

 obtained is the forest on the summit of Mount David. It 

 lives there in small flocks, probably coming down to a lower 

 level during the winter snows. I met with it once on the 

 very top of the mountain on the 15th April. There was only 

 a pair, busy exploring the branches of the still bare trees, 

 and their ways resembled those of the Tits, while they con- 

 stantly uttered a plaintive " tzi tzee,^^ not unlike the call of 

 Acredula concinna. The food of this bird consists of small 

 insectSj caterpillars, and one of those shot had a tiny snail 

 and butterfly's (?) eggs in its stomach. The soft parts are as 

 follows : — Iris greyish hazel ; bill black ; gape yellow ; legs 

 reddish grey. 



S . Bill 0-45 in. ; wing 2-26 in. ; tail 2-08 in.; tarsus0-91in. ; length 4-90 in. 

 5. „ 0-4o „ „ 2-17 „ „ 2-04 „ „ 0-91 „ „ 4-84,, 



Eleven specimens were measured. 



A nest and three eggs were found by our collectors in the 

 high forest on the 25th May, 1897. The ground-colour of 

 one of the eggs is a light sea-green, with a cap of blotches of 

 several shades of brownish green over a few underlying grey 

 spots, with short hair-lines of a very dark brown distributed 

 over the whole; the rest of the egg has a very few minute 

 specks. The shape is a slightly rounded ovate. It measures 

 0-70 by 0-55 inch. The other eggs are similar. 



On the 18th May last, two days before our departure, two 

 of the hunters who had, notwithstanding the bad weather, 

 ventured up the mountain, brought me another nest with four 

 fresh eggs and the remains of the parent bird. This nest 

 they also found in the forest on the top of our mountain. 

 Like the preceding, it is a neat and strong little cup made of 

 coarse grasses and bamboo-leaves, and bound with moss. A 

 bunch of long grass hangs from its base. The edge of the 

 nest is neatly finished, and there is a thick lining of soft. 



