Birds of North-west Fohkien. 201 



more distinctly and heavily freckled with light reddish 

 brown than the eggs just described, and the shell is not so 

 polished. Two of them mcasiu-e O'StLxO-GO and 0-82 X 

 0"57 inch. The fourth e2^g, as already stated, is bluish 

 green, with a cap of reddish brown, two thirds of the egg 

 being lightly freckled, with the same colour. It nieasures 

 0-81 X 0-57 inch. 



34. Oreicola fkrrea (Hodgson), 



This Bush-Chat breeds commonly on the mountains 

 about Kuatun, at an altitude of 4000 feet and above. The 

 nest is generally found in bamboo-plantations close to open 

 ground, in tea-fields, and also occasionally in the open. 

 Of the nine nests taken during the last trip, three were 

 found on the ground in hollows under tussocks of grass in 

 lightly planted bamboo-groves; one was taken from under a 

 stone on the edge of a bamboo-plantation, one from a niche 

 in a bank on the edge of a bamboo-plantation, one from a 

 stone-bank in a tea-field close to a wood, and one from an 

 earth-bank near a path on a grass-covered mountain^ but, 

 again, quite close to a wood. The other nests were brought 

 to me by natives. Besides these nine, we have three taken 

 by our men in the spring of 1897. The following arc the 

 dates of the nests collected at Kuatun : — 



ated. No. 34, '98 coll. 



44 



„ 70, „ 



„ 84, 



„ 94, 



}f ""> }i 



It has been stated that the eggs of this Chat are spotted. 

 With us this is certainly not always the case. The three 

 clutches taken in 1897 are of a plain turquoise-green, or of 

 a greenish blue, rather greener and darker than the eggs of 



SER. VII. VOL. V. p 



