282 SYLYIIDJE. 



little Venetian red. At the larger end they have an irregular zone 

 of small, more or less confluent, spots and specks of this red, 

 mingled with reddish or brownish purple, and a few specks and 

 spots of the red scattered over the rest of the surface of the 

 egg. 



This egg may also be well described, as regards colour and mode of 

 marking, by saying that it resembles the illustration in Hewitson's 

 work of the eggs of Parus cristatus, except that the egg of P. prore- 

 gulus has a distinct zone of nearly confluent spots, and their colour 

 is more of a brownish red than those shown in the plate above 

 referred to, which by-the-by do not correctly represent the colour 

 of the spots upon the eggs of P. cristatus which I have seen. 

 These spots are coloured with too much of a tendency towards 

 crimson instead of brownish red. 



Three of the eggs taken by Captain Cock varied from O53 to 

 0-55 in length, and from 0'43 to 0-44 in breadth. 



416. Phylloscopus subviridis (Brooks). Brooks s Willow-WarUer. { 

 Reguloides subviridis, Brooks, Hume, Cat. no. 500 bis. 



Colonel Biddulph remarks that this species is common in Gilgit 

 at 5000 feet in March, April, May, and beginning of June, and that 

 it breeds in the Nulter valley in July at 10,000 feet. Young birds 

 were shot in August fully fledged. 



Major Wardlaw Ramsay observes on the label of a specimen 

 procured by him at Bian Kheyl in Afghanistan in April, " evidently 

 breeding" ; and on that of another specimen shot in May at the 

 same place, " contained eggs nearly ready to lay." 



418. Phylloscopus humii (Brooks). Hume's Willow-Warbler. 



Reguloides humii, Brooks, Hume, Cat.no. 565 bis. 



Reguloides superciliosus (Gm.), Hume, liouyh Di'aft N. 8f JE. no. 565. 



Mr. Brooks and Captain Cock are the only persons I know of who 

 have. taken the eggs and nests of this species. The nest and eggs 

 sent to and described by me in ' The ibis ' as belonging to this bird 

 cannot really have pertained to it. 



Mr. Brooks tells us that P. humii " is very abundant in Cashmere, 

 and I believe in all hills immediately below the snows. It would 

 be vain to look for this bird at elevations below 8000 feet, or at any 

 distance from the snows. It was common even in the birch woods 

 above the upper line of pines. I found many nests. It builds a 

 globular nest of coarse grass on a bank side, always on the ground, 

 and never up a tree. The nest is lined with hair in greater or lesser 

 quantities. The eggs, four or five in number, average -56 by -44, 

 are pure white, profusely spotted with red, and sometimes have 

 also a few spots of purplish grey. On the 15th June I found a nest 

 with four young ones on the south side of the Pir-Piujal Pass. 

 This bird has no song, only a double chirp in addition to its call-note. 

 The double chirp, which is very loud, is intended for a song, for the 



