406 Uv. J. D. D. La Touche on the 



irregular spots aud blotches of more or less deep burnt sienna 

 and lilac over underlying paler lilac spots and blotches, 

 and are usually disposed about the large end of the egg. 

 The natives state that the pale eggs are those of young 

 birds^ and that the old birds destroy their eggs if they 

 notice that the nest has been discovered. The younger birds 

 are believed not to do this. There is much variation in 

 size^ and short broad eggs are more heavily marked than 

 the large elongated ones. The eggs of a clutch are all of the 

 same type. 



Thirty-one eggs of Liothrix lutea collected at Kuatun vary 

 in length from 0'75 to 0"92 inch, and in breadth from 0'58 

 to 0'66. The three eggs of the longest clutch measure 

 each 0*92 x 0*64 inch. The three eggs of the shortest clutch 

 measure 075 x OGl, 0-76 X 0-60, and 0-76 X 0-59 inch. The 

 broadest egg measures 0"86x0"68 inch, and the narrowest 

 eggs, a clutch of two, measure 0*86 X 0*58 and 0-80 X 0*58 

 inch. 



59. Staphidia torqueola (Swinhoe). 



This is about the commonest bird in the Kuatun Moun- 

 tains. During April, large flocks, often joined by parties of 

 Yuhina pallida and other small birds, were daily seen by us, 

 and nearly every day a flock used to pass under our windows 

 on its way up the mountain. The first indication we had of 

 their approach was their loud twittering, and the birds would 

 be seen on the bamboos below the village, whence they 

 would fly down to the tea-bushes of the small plantation 

 under the main path and gradually swarm over the neigh- 

 bouring bushes and trees. They explored the trees busily, 

 tearing off bits of bark and lichen, and held on to the branches 

 like Titmice. When they had finished with the tea-field and 

 the trees, they passed up the hill. Long after these birds 

 had mated, large flocks were occasionally met with. This 

 was generally during bad weather. The spring call is loud 

 and trisyllabic, something like " chichi-wheet." 



A live bird, brought to us with a nest, on being released 

 and placed on a window-sill, did not fly away at once, but 



