Letters, Announcements, Sfc. 531 



he had not the slightest idea when he brought them that they 

 were of any value. He collected at or about the same locality 

 the eggs of some thirty species of birds^ which he brought with 

 the parents, with all of which I was previously acquainted, and 

 all of which were correct. The nest was found at Chimbla, 

 beyond Kotegurh, some five marches north of Simla, in the 

 Himalayahs, at an elevation, as far as I can judge, of about 

 7000 feet. It was placed on, or in, a low flat branch of a fir- 

 tree, and was almost globular in shape, and composed of moss, 

 lichen, and some kind of hair or fur. It contained five fresh 

 eggs, which are of about the same size as those of the Willow- 

 Wren or the Chifi'chafF, and have something of the same 

 general character as the eggs of these two species, but they are 

 slightly more pointed towards the small end than either. The 

 ground-colour is a very delicate greenish-white ; and they are 

 thinly speckled and spotted, chiefly towards the large end, with 

 a sort of burnt-umber brown, which in some spots is almost 

 black, and in others excessively diluted and pale. The eggs 

 have scarcely any gloss. They vary from '68 to *7 in. in 

 length, and from "54 to "55 in. in breadth. They were procured 

 on the 24th May 1870. Of course, after all, these eggs may 

 not be genuine ; but there are prima facie strong grounds for 

 believing them to be so. 



Another species, which is a novelty, at any rate in the plains of 

 India, is Alauda pispoletta, Pallas. Amongst a large collection 

 formed for me this cold weather in the Sirsa district by Nizam 

 Oodeen Khan, I found three specimens of this Lark. I had never 

 seen it before, but recognized it at once by its very short conical 

 bill, its short feet and claws, like the Short-toed Lark, and its 

 breast striated like the Sky-Lark's. I cannot understand how this 

 Lark ever could have been united by Bonaparte with Alaudula 

 raytal. There must have been some mistake, because the colouring 

 of the two is so very distinct. The general tint of the latter is 

 greyish-white, while that of the former is more that of the 

 Short-toed Lark — a sort of pale fawn-colour with a slightly 

 ashy shade. I mention this particularly, because Dr. Stoliczka, 

 the only other Indian ornithologist who has ever before noticed 

 this species, has, in my opinion, wrongly identified his spe- 



2 p2 



