204 MR. E. C. STUART BAKER ON 
¢ Pak Jong, E. Siam, 20. 8. 15. 
2 ¢ 2 Samkok, C. Siam, 29. 8. 15. 
It was with no Jittle surprise that when I came to examine the 
series Of Prinia in Mr. Herbert’s collection, I saw at once that they 
belonged to some form with which I was quite unacquainted, 
One would naturally have expected something closely allied to 
P. i. blanfordi, its nearest neighbour in Tenasserim and the peninsular 
portion of Siam itself. It seems, however, to have nothing 
to do with this very rufous race, but to be nearest to P. i. burmanica, 
the type of which came from Tounghoo. From this latter bird it is 
easily distinguishable by its much darker upper parts, its paler, less 
rufescent tone below, and by the very big dark spots at the tips of the 
tail feathers. 
In addition to the differences in colour, it is also a much bigger 
bird. The type of burmanica has a wing of 51 mm., but is an 
exceptionally big bird, the average of 8 specimens being only 47.5 
inm., whilst the average of 9 birds collected by Messrs. Williamson and 
Herbert is exactly 53 mm. The tails average 55 mm. in burmanica 
and 64.5 mm. in herberti. The bills of the two races measure respec- 
tively 12 and 15 mm. 
This Warbler seems to be extraordinarily common round about 
Bangkok, and both Mr. Williamson and Mr. Herbert have been fortu- 
nate enough to obtain good series of their nests and eggs, some of 
which they have been so kind as to give to me. 
The nest is described as being every similar to that of other 
members of this species, i-e., a long purse-shaped nest with the 
entrance near the top, woven from very fine strips of grass and lined 
with the same; it measures about 5 to 7 inches in length by 24 to 3 
inches in diameter. It is as a rule attached to the flowering stems of a 
coarse sedge-like grass growing in or alongside water, or in stretches 
of low-lying grass-land. 
The eggs are amongst the most beautiful known. Instead of 
having a bright blue ground with chocolate and black blotches like 
normal eggs of inornata and hurmanica, they are like, but even 
brighter than, those of P. i. blanfordi. In ground colour they vary 
from a pale creamy white to a deep reddish pink, boldly blotched 
and spotted with blood-red, chocolate red and blackish red, profusely 
JOURN. NAT, HIST. SOC, SIAM 
