CKYPTOLOPHA. 271 



the shells are very fine and compact. The eggs are moderately 

 broad ovals, much pointed towards the sm;ill end, and vary from 

 0-6 to 0-65 in length, and from 0'4S to O52 in breadth ; but the 

 average of twenty eggs measured is 0*63 by 0*5 nearly. 



435. Cryptolopha jerdoni (Brooks). Brookes Grey-headed 

 Flycatcher- Warbler. 



Abrornis xanthoschistos (Hodgs.}, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 202 ; Hume, 

 Rowjh Draft N. $ E. no. 572. 



This Warbler breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes *, both 

 in Xepal and Sikhim up to an elevation of 6000 or 7000 feet. 

 They lay in May three or four pure white eggs. They make 

 their nest on the ground in thick bushes, or in holes in banks, or 

 under roots of trees. The nest is a large mass of moss and 

 dry leaves, somewhat egg-shaped, with the entrance at one end, 

 some 6 inches in length, 4 inches in breadth, and 3-5 in height 

 externally, and with an oval entrance about 1'5 high and 2'25 

 wide. Inside it is carefully lined with moss-roots. Both sexes 

 assist in hatching and rearing the young, which are ready to fly in 

 July. 



From Sikhim Mr. Gammie says : " I found one nest of this 

 species at Kishap, at an elevation of 5000 feet, on the 20th May. The 

 nest was in thin forest, near its outer edge, and placed on the ground 

 beside a small stem. It was domed, and composed entirely of moss, 

 with the exception of a few fibres in the hood or dome portion, and 

 was lined with thistle-down. The exterior diameter was 3-3, the 

 height 3-2: the cavity was 1-6 in diameter, and only an inch in 

 depth below the lower margin of the entrance, which was the rim 

 of the true cup, over which the hood was drawn. The nest con- 

 tained four fresh eggs." 



Several nests of this species that have been sent me from Sikhim 

 were all of the same type beautiful little cups, some placed on the 

 ground, some amongst the twigs of brushwood a little above the 

 ground, composed entirely of fine moss and a little fern-root, and 

 with the interior of the cavity not indeed regularly lined but dotted 

 about with tufts of silky seed-down. 



The eggs are very similar to but smaller than those of the pre- 

 ceding species very broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards one 

 end, pure white, and faintly glossy. In length they vary from 

 0-53 to 0-58, and in breadth from 0-45 to 0'49. 



* Mr. Hodgson's specimens in the British Museum are C\ xanthoschista ; but 

 ('. i-.rdoni also occurs in Nepal, and Mr. Hodgson may have found the nests of 

 both. I leave the note as it appeared in the ' Rough Draft,' as the two species 

 are not likely to differ in their habits, and it matters little to which species 

 Mr. Hodgson's note refers, provided the above remarks are borne in 

 mind. ED. 



