86 The Oologists' Record, December i, 1921. 



A certain number of old and empty nests were also found, 

 and all were situated on the hill-sides, either about half-way up or 

 nearer to the crest. I imagine the first eggs are laid about the 

 end of April or in early May, and that probably two broods are 

 brought up in a season. 



Persian Desert Bullfinch — Rhodospiza ohsoleta. 



On the 14th June, 1918, a small nest was brought in to me 

 which contained three fresh eggs, but all so damaged as to be 

 impossible to save. One I measured was -79 x -53 (inches). This 

 nest, taken in the Judean Hills (2,300 feet) a few miles north-west 

 of Jerusalem, was made of fine twigs and rootlets, thickly lined with 

 wool, some horsehair and feathers, and not unlike a Greenfinch's 

 nest. The nest was placed in an evergreen bush on a hill-side, 

 quite well concealed and about 4 feet above the ground. The eggs 

 were whitish, elongated and oblate, and marked at the top of the 

 larger end with surface specks and spots of deep maroon and 

 purplish-brown, and fine shell markings of pale mauve. I showed 

 the remains of these eggs to E. C. Stuart-Baker, M.B.O.U., and he 

 was inclined to think that they were the eggs of R. obsoleia. I 

 must confess that I did not come across any of these birds in the 

 Judean Hills during the summer, but in 1920 I had reason to believe 

 that a few pairs remained to breed in Palestine. My experience of 

 these birds is that they are winter visitors to the Coastal Plain, 

 and they put in an appearance after the first heavy rain of the 

 year. In igi8 they were first noted at the very end of December, 

 while in 1919 the 17th December was the earliest date. They 

 are very local, and roost in the eucalyptus groves, while their 

 pretty little purring note of " Prrut-prrut " is quite unmistakable. 

 $ birds are a good deal commoner than (^ "s in these flocks, which 

 are present throughout the winter and which are evidently joined 

 in March and April by large flocks on passage. It was very curious 



