Nidification of Indian Birds. 327 



showing anxiety as to the fate of their eggs or offspring. 

 Rarely a nest may be found by watching the cock bird as he 

 soars round and round, constantly uttering his plaintive 

 little cJiee-e-ah, then, after a short while, the note ceases and 

 the bird drops headlong down to the grass, and those un- 

 learned in his wiles would think he had settled where he 

 fell ; but not so, for if carefully watched he may be observed 

 skimming tlirough the tops of the grass, often for a distance 

 of from 20 to 50 yards before alighting. If this place is care- 

 fully marked — not an easy thing to do where all the grass 

 seems alike — the nest may be sometimes found, often even 

 then not until after a prolonged search. 



40. Phylloscopus mandellii. {Oates, op. cit. i. p. 411.) 



At the end of March, 1889, I had a nest and two eggs 

 brought to me, the latter of which I then identified as P. su- 

 j)erciliosus, but which were really P. mandellii. The nest 

 was said to have been taken from a steep bank composed 

 almost entirely of stones overgrown with moss, in between 

 some of which it had been placed. Outwardly it was made 

 of fresh green moss alone, but there was a little very fine 

 grass used in the lining in addition to numerous hair-like 

 roots, both of moss, maiden-hair fern, and similar plants. 

 In shape it was a completely domed oval, and, judging by its 

 appearance, it had been placed just at the entrance of some 

 natural hollow, as the sides were neatly rounded off and had 

 not been compressed or otherwise made so as to fit into the 

 sides and back of a hole. Vertically it was about 6^ inches, 

 horizontally about an inch less. The entrance was close to 

 the top and was a little over an inch in diameter. 



There were three eggs brought Avith the nest, which were 

 white, with somewhat numerous freckles and specks of rather 

 bright reddish scattered all over the surface, in one egg only 

 forming a distinct ring at the larger end. In shape they 

 are true ovals. In texture the shell is close and fine, and in 

 all three eggs there is a faint gloss perceptible. They mea- 

 sure 0"-61 X 0"-4;3, 0"-G X 0"43, and 0"-6 x 0"-42. 



The nest was taken on the Hengmai Peak, some 5700 feet 



