Letters, Announcements, ^c. 131 



with dark reddish-brown, more thickly towards the larger end, 

 and sometimes in the form of a zone. In all the specimens I 

 have, the reddish markings are sparingly intermixed with others 

 of a light purplish-grey. The egg of the English ChifFchaflf 

 [Phyllopneuste rufa), though larger, will give a very good notion 

 of the colouring of that of the Fantail. 



I am at a loss to understand how Mr. Swinhoe got his idea 

 of the egg being " of a clear greenish-blue," or what eggs have 

 been figured in Dr. Bree's work for those of the Fantail. I am 

 afraid this is not the only mistake as to the colour of birds' 

 eggs, as so many collectors are quite ready to take on trust any 

 specimens brought by peasants or natives. 



The Fantail breeds during the rainy season, as soon as the 

 grass has nearly grown to its full height. The first nest I took 

 about the 12th of August, and the last late in October. 



I am, &c., 



W. E. Brooks. 



*** We believe that the eggs of iev^r birds vary so much as 

 do those of this species, and we do not doubt that both Mr. 

 Swinhoe and jNIr. Brooks are each right in their descriptions of 

 the specimens which have come to their knowledge, as well as 

 Dr. Bree in those he figures. M. Lunel, in the ' Bulletin de la 

 Societe Ornithologique Suisse' (i. pp. 9-30), to which we before 

 referred (Ibis, 1865, p. 531), gives a good monograph of this 

 species, in the course of which he especially mentions the varia- 

 tion in the colour of its eggs, of which he figures four speci- 

 mens, each very unlike the other. — Ed. 



Sir, — I am desirous of making a few remarks onCapt.Beavan's 

 paper on " The Avifauna of the Andaman Islands " (Ibis, 1867, 

 pp. 314-334). 



1. Hainatornis cheela. The live birds sent to the Zoological 

 Gardens by Mr. Grote belong not to this species, as stated, but 

 to the next, H. elgini, which Mr. Gurney considers to be iden- 

 tical with H. bacha of the Malay countries, described by me, from 

 Ceylon, as H. spilogaster {Cf. Ibis, 1866, pp. 242, 243). 



15. CoUocalia affinis is apparently the same as C. linchi, which 

 is common in the Nicobars. 



