Mr. A. Hume on Indian Omithulugy. 403 



nests. I was walking slowly, and, if it must be confessed, foot- 

 sore and somewhat despondent, amid the loose blocks and I'ocky 

 shingles of the southern flanks of the Taragurh Hill, when a 

 female suddenly sprang up and darted off from within two 

 inches of my foot. I looked down ; and there, on the sloping 

 hill-side, half overhung by a moderate-sized block of greyish 

 quartz, was a little nest, from which the bird had risen, and on 

 which I had been within an ace of stepping. Close at hand 

 were two or three small tufts of yellow withered grass; but 

 these were several inches distant from the nest. This latter 

 (which, laid on the hill-side, was some three or four inches thick 

 on the valley side and barely three quarters of an inch towards 

 the hill) was composed at the base, and everywhere externally, 

 of small thorny acacia-twigs and very coarse roots of grass. 

 This, however, was a mere foundation and casing, on and in 

 which the true nest was constructed of fine grass-stems, some- 

 what loosely put together, the bottom being lined with soft 

 white feathers. The egg-cavity was circular and cup-shaped, 

 about 2'25 in. in diameter and 1'25 in. in depth, and contained 

 two tiny, yellow-gaped, dusky-bluish, fluffy chicks, apparently 

 just hatched, and one (as it proved) rotten egg. 



We drew back a few paces ; the female bird returned (we saw 

 nothing of the male), and one of my men adroitly captured her. 

 I took the egg, and, having made sure of the species, left the 

 mother with her young ones. We had not moved five yards 

 away before she vvas again sitting on her nest as unconcernedly 

 as possible. 



Scarcely twenty yards further, on a slightly sloping slab of 

 stone, partly overhung by a huge block, between two tufts of 

 dry grass springing from the line of junction of the slab and 

 block, I found a second, precisely similar nest, containing two 

 fresh eggs, round which both parents flitted closely all the time 

 I was occupied in examining and securing the eggs and nests, 

 exhibiting no apparent signs of fear. 



The three eggs thus obtained were regular, moderately broad 

 oval, slightly compressed towards one end, but somewhat obtuse 

 at both. The shells were very delicate, and had a slight gloss. 

 The ground-colour differed somewhat in all three : in one it was 



