RHYACOKNIS. 65 



of Redstarts hanging about an old tree-stump ; I shot the male, 

 and on searching the stump found the nest iu a crevice ; but, un- 

 fortunately, it contained no eggs. The nest had the appearance of 

 having been used ; so that it is possible that the young had flown." 

 Colonel J. Biddulph remarks : — " These birds go beyond Gilgit 

 to breed as a rule ; one female was shot off the nest with young at 

 10,000 feet elevation in the Gilgit district ; " and he subsequently 

 added " I procured a specimen as late as the 27th November. It 

 apparently breeds on the 8handur plateau, whence 1 received an 

 immature specimen in August." 



646. Rhyacornis fuliginosus (Vigors). The Plumbeous Redstart. 



Kuticilla fuliginosa ( Vic/.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 142, 



Nymphaius faiiginosus ( V'uj.)^ Hume, Rough Draft N. ^ E. no. 505. 



T have never myself taken the nest of this species, but I have 

 had it brought me by my collectors. 



The birds breed iu May and June (apparently at all elevations 

 in the Himalayas from 5000 to 13,00U feet), laying three, four, 

 and even five eggs, generally in the immediate vicinity of running 

 water. One nest found in a hole in a rock was composed of fine 

 grass and moss-roots Mith a little moss — a very shght nest, little 

 more than a lining to the hole. Another was described as far 

 more substantial, planted in a niche of a rock with, some few dry 

 leases and much moss intermingled in the structure. 



Writing from Dhurn)sala Captain Cock remarked that " the so- 

 called Water Eobin nidificates in May and June in the North-west 

 Himalayas. The nest is composed of moss, mixed with a little 

 dried fibre and lined with white goat's hair ; it is cup-shaped and 

 rather deep ; inner diameter of cup 2^ inches. The nest is 

 generally placed on a shelf of rock, where it is protected from the 

 rain and out of the reach of animals. It is always by the side of 

 a hill-stream. I have found two nests close together within 2 

 yards of each other. They lay four eggs, greenish-white, covered 

 with rusty freckles. 



" The eggs do not vary much either in size or colour." 

 Writing from the hills north of Mussoorie, Mr. Brooks says :— 

 "I found two nests bet\\een Batvvari and Dangulla on the 11th 

 May : one contained fresh eggs, and the other eggs deeply incubated. 

 The situation of both nests was the same, viz., in the crest on top 

 of the small steep bank formed by the excavation for the road on 

 the hill-side above the river. The top edge of the excavation was 

 about 7 or S feet abo\'e the footpath, and the nests were placed in 

 small shallow holes or cavities and overhung by tufts of gra«s. 

 They were con)posed of moss, fine roots, and fibres, and lined with 

 hair and wool. The number of eggs was five, and they measured from 

 0-73 to 0-76 long, by 0-6 broad ; 0-76 was, however, the average 

 length, and only one was so short as 0*73. 



" The eggs of one set were of a greenish-white grovmd-colour, 

 profusely mottled and spotted all over, almost hiding the ground- 



VOL. II. 5 



