52 TUBDID.E. 



We hear from Captain Huttou from Mussoorie that he " took 

 its nest on the 30th June at about 6000 feet elevation ; it was 

 placed on the ground well concealed among short grass on the side 

 of an open hill free from forest. It was a shallow flattish cup in 

 shape, composed of dry grass rather thickly disposed at the sides, 

 and lined with horsehair. Eggs three, of a pale greenish colour 

 minutely speckled with rufous, chiefly so at the larger end. In 

 some there is a faint indication of a ring at the larger end." 



Mr. Hodgson's notes contain the following record as to its nidi- 

 fication in Nepal : 



"May ls<, Jaha Poivali. Female and nest ; nest saucer-shaped, 

 of fine grass and a little moss ; no lining ; on ground in open Held 

 against a small clod, only partially hid by grass ; three eggs. 



"June 6th. One nest with male and another with female, both 

 on the ground half under bank of a field ; nests of the ordinary 

 shape, of soft dry grass with sparse lining of hair; internal 

 diameter 3 inches, depth less than 1 ; eggs two in one nest, four in 

 the other. Of the latter nest a Cuculus canorus was eating the 

 eggs, and ate two out of the four while watched." 



Dr. Scully writes from Nepal : " A nest of this species, taken 

 on the 14th June, contained three eggs, of which one undoubtedly 

 belonged to a Cuckoo." 



Writing from Sikhim Mr. Gamrnie says : " I have often found 

 the nest of this species. On the 23rd of last May I found one in 

 a hole in a bank by the roadside ; this was above Eishap, at an 

 elevation of about 5000 feet. The nest was a very compact little 

 cup, measured externally 3*75 in diameter and 2'5 in height ; in- 

 ternally 2*5 in diameter and 1*5 in depth. Internally it was 

 smoothly lined with black hair ; externally composed of fine twigs, 

 fine dry grass, a little moss, and moss-roots. It contained four 

 hard-set eggs." 



Occasionally I have seen a nest composed entirely of fine black 

 fibrous rootlets, well felted together and lined with soft brown 

 rootlets, and with a little moss woven into the outer surface on the 

 sides of the cup. 



The eggs, although as a body averaging slightly larger, and also, 

 I think, varying less in dimensions, are almost facsimiles of those 

 of Pratincola maura. They may be, as a whole, somewhat deeper 

 coloured ; but I can discover no such difference as would necessi- 

 tate a separate description of them. In length they vary from 

 0-68 to 0-76, and in breadth from 0-53 to 0-6 ; but the average of 

 twenty-one eggs measured (and I much regret that I have measured 

 so few out of the great numbers that I have taken and received) is 

 0-72 by 0-57 nearly. 



618. Saxicola picata, Blyth. The Pied Chat. 

 Saxicola picata, BL, Jerd. JB. 2nd. ii, p. 131 ; Hume, Cat. no. 489. 



Professor Valentine Ball thus writes regarding this Chat's habits 

 in the Suliman Hills, west of Dera Ghazi Khan : " The Pied Stone- 

 Chat was perhaps the most abundant bird which I met with in the 



