GYMNORHIS. 157 



exquisitely fine and delicate, aud the yolk shows through quite 

 planily. It is this that gives a certain greenish tinge to the 

 unljlown egg, for when blown the shell is a very delicate pale 

 hhush white. In shape they are moderately broad ovals, consider- 

 ably pointed at one end." 



Mr. Hodgson's notes inform us that our Indian Siskin breeds in 

 the central hilly region of Nepal from April to July. Its nest is 

 built in open forests or groves, between three or four slender 

 branches, and is compact and cup-shaped, composed of moss and 

 moss-roots, and closely lined with the latter. One nest, of which 

 he gives the dimensions, measured externally 3-5 in diameter and 

 2 inches in height, internally 2-1 in diameter and 1-1 in depth. 

 The eggs, he says, are three or four in number ; the one he figures 

 IS a very regular broad oval, measuring 0-75 by 0-59, a uniform 

 pale green, unspotted : all / have ever found were spotted. Above 

 I have given the description that I wrote when I took the eggs ; 

 below I subjoin an exact description of them as they now appear 

 in my collection. They have slightly changed colour. 



The eggs are oval, slightly pointed towards the small end ; the 

 shell is delicate and glossless ; the ground-colour is a ^■ery delicate 

 pale sea-green, and the only markings are a number of black specks, 

 almost without exception contained within a broad zone at the 

 large end. One egg, besides these black specks, has intermingled 

 with them very faint reddish-purple specks. I have never seen°the 

 egg of the European Siskin, but the figure of it in Mr. Hewitson's 

 3rd edition does not appear to me to resemble very closely those 

 of our bird. 



In size they vary from 0-6G to 075 in length, and from 0-51 

 to 0-55 in breadth ; but 0-69 by 0-52 is, I think, an avera-e 

 dimension. ° 



775. Gymnorhis flavicollis (Frankl.). The Yelloiu-throated 

 'Sjxtrroiv. 



Passer flavicollis (Frankl.), Jerd. B. Lid. ii, p. 368. 



Gymnoris flavicollis (Frankl.), Hume, Eoucjh Draft N. ^- E. uo. 711. 



The Tellow-throated Sparrow breeds pretty well throughout 

 India, except in the extreme south, and again in Orissa and Bengal 

 proper. I'rom Behar to Sindh, and from Dehra Dhoon at any 

 rate to Bangalore, it may be found nesting, I beheve ; but the bird 

 is unfortunately so common that few of my correspondents have 

 thought it worth while mentioning it. In the Himalayas west of 

 the Beas it occurs up to elevations of 4000 or 5000 feet. 



In the plains it breeds in April and May ; in the hills about 

 Murree, according to Colonel C. H. T. Marshall, in July. 



I have taken scores of nests of this species ; all were, without 

 exception, placed in holes in trees. Old mango-trees, for instance, 

 are very often chosen, and in these the nests may be found at 

 30 feet from the ground, though usually they are at heights of 



