538 Mr. H. F. Witherby— Ornithological 



It was then more or less cup-shaped and partially lined 

 ■with feathers. On the 14th I visited the nest again and 

 found it domed and nearly completed. I then saw that it 

 was almost in the form of a cylinder, with the opening 

 near the top of one end, and was built parallel to the 

 ground. As I had no idea what the birds were, and hoped 

 that either they or their eggs might be unknown, I determined 

 to leave them in peace and return later. This I did on 

 April 28th, making a two days' journey off my route for the 

 purpose. The nest was then finished, being plentifully lined 

 Avith feathers, and containing four eggs. The hen bird was 

 sitting, and while I watched she returned very quietly and 

 stealthily to the nest. The cock bird I never saw, although 

 I waited some four hours for him, so I secured the hen. 

 It was raining and blowing hard, and so small and inconspi- 

 cuous a bird it was difficult to see among the moving leaves. 

 The eggs were very slightly incubated, and the bird's ovaries 

 were small, so I presume that she had finished laying. The 

 time occupied by the building of the nest must have been a 

 fortnight or more. It was neatly woven of grass. 



The eggs are pure white, unspotted, and large for the size 

 of the bird, each measuring 150 X 101 mm. 



A nest and eggs described and figured by Lorenz under 

 the name of Phyllopneuste lorenzi Severtz. (Beitr. Orn. Nord. 

 Kaukasus, p. 28, pi. ii. fig. 2), if belonging to P. neglectus, 

 are very different from my specimens. The nest figured is 

 oven-shaped, like that of a Chiff chaff, and was placed 

 amongst small bushes on the ground, while the eggs are 

 described as of a white ground-colour, speckled and spotted 

 with reddish brown, and distinctly zoned. However, my 

 specimens are possibly abnormal. 



The late Mr. W. E. Brooks has described this bird as timid 

 and watchful and non-Phylloscopine. My acquaintance with 

 it is slight, but neither the birds that I watched at the nest 

 nor the female when shot later were shy. In habits they 

 were, in my opinion, quite characteristic of PhijUoscopus. 

 The nest, too, is Phylloscopine. 



