Letters, Announcements, <Sfc. 139 



sprinkled with numerous specks and tiny spots of pale brownish- 

 red j they measured "58 by '46 m.." 



Of another set of eggs I wrote : — " The ground had a faint 

 pearly tinge, and there was a well-marked, though irregular and 

 ill-defined, zone towards the large end, formed by the agglome- 

 ration there of multitudinous specks, which in places were almost 

 confluent/^ 



Of a third set : — " The eggs were much glossier, and had a 

 China-white ground ; but instead of a multitude of small specks 

 over the whole surface, they had nearly the whole colouring- 

 matter gathered together at the large end in a cap of bold, almost 

 maroon, red spots, only a very few specks of the same colour 

 being scattered over the rest of the egg." 



The eggs of this species measure from 'SS to '62 in. in length, 

 and from "45 to "48 in. in breadth ; but the average dimensions 

 of a large number measured were "59 by '46 in. 



Walking through patches of grass one often disturbs a pair 

 of these little birds, chiefly during the hot weather and the rainy 

 season. The male rises in the air by jerks, each flap of his 

 wings raising him two or three feet ; and every flap is accom- 

 panied by his feeble song, which consists of a single note. 

 When he has mounted fifty or sixty yards, his little song ceases, 

 and he comes down with a rapid circular rush, to start again on 

 his upward course, singing all the time. He seldom leaves the 

 female for any length of time ; and when she is disturbed and 

 flies a short distance dropping suddenly into the grass, he flies 

 above her, hovers for an instant to see that she is all right, and 

 then soars again. After a time he gets tired of singing and of 

 his upward jerking flight, and drops suddenly down into the 

 grass, out of which it is no easy job to drive him before he has 

 had a good rest. The rate at which this tiny bird soars up is 

 really surprising. He mounts more quickly, I think, than any 

 soaring Lark. 



2nd. The eggs brought to Capt. Bulger (Ibis, 1869, p. 161) 

 as those of Eumyias melanops, certainly never belonged to that 

 bird, whose eggs I proceed to describe : — 



In shape they are moderately broad ovals, somewhat 

 compressed towards the smaller end. The ground-colour is 



