66 TUEDID^E. 



colour, with pale reddish brown, the markings being denser towards 

 the larger end of the egg. This I take to be the typical coloration 

 of the egg. The other set of eggs were of the same ground-colour, 

 but the spots and blotches were larger and more open and distinct, 

 allowing considerable portions of the ground-colour to be seen. 

 Towards the large end the spots somewhat coalesced in the form 

 of a zone, and at this part of the egg they were mixed with other 

 spots of a reddish grey. This latter set of eggs much resembled 

 the better marked ones of Pratincola caprata. 



" One nest was about 50 feet above the water-level of the river, 

 while the other was fully 100 feet. This bird was tolerably abun- 

 dant along the course of the Bhagiruttee from Batwari to above 

 Deralee; and so was Choemarrliornis Jeucocephala ; but although I 

 spent much time in watching the old birds, I never succeeded in 

 finding the eggs of the latter, so very careful is it not to disclose 

 the whereabouts of its nest." 



Dr. Stoliczka remarks that he " found it breeding near Losar, 

 in the Spiti Valley, at an elevation of 13,000 feet. It lives here 

 during the summer, but migrates to the lower hills about October, 

 when the young birds are full-grown." 



A lovely nest of this species taken by Mr. Gammie at an ele- 

 vation of 4000 feet near Eungbee, in Sikhim, on the 17th April 

 contained three hard-set eggs. It was, for the size of the bird, a 

 massive nest composed entirely of moss and moss-roots finely 

 felted together and sparingly lined with silky vegetable fibre, 

 extremely fine, some of it white and some red. The nest was 5*5 

 in diameter and 3 inches in height exteriorly, the cavity 2'5 in 

 diameter by 1*25 in depth. 



Canon Tristram remarks that the eggs otRuticilla are never spotted, 

 though the ground-colour varies from pure white (in the single 

 instance of R. titliys} to the most delicate white with a faint bluish 

 tinge (in R. moussieri) up to the very dark blue of 11. semirufa. If 

 this generalization be correct, it constitutes another proof that the 

 present species cannot be classed as a Rutidlla-, indeed, in. its 

 habits it most closely approaches the Forktails, especially Henicurus 

 scouleri, in whose company it is so commonly found, and its eggs 

 are not unlike, so far as coloration is concerned, many varieties of 

 those of Motacilla maderaspatana. 



As regards character and colour of markings, and even as to 

 shape (though those of the present species are considerably smaller), 

 Mr. Eewitson's figure of the egg of Calandrella brachydactyla 

 faithfully represents the most typical form of the Plumbeous 

 Red start's eggs. 



More or less broad ovals iu shape, somewhat pointed or com- 

 pressed towards the small end, the faintly greenish-white ground 

 is almost entirely obscured in most specimens by a dense mottling 

 and freckling of somewhat pale and dingy yellowish or reddish 

 brown. Except for the faint tinge of green in the little of the 

 ground-colour that appears, some of these eggs are very similar to 

 those of several species of our Indian Larks, unless indeed a somewhat 



