MERTTLA. 95 



that " before he left, Home sent me two eggs of Merula boulboul. 

 They measure 1*33 by *9 inch and 1'22 by '91 inch ; ground-colour 

 pale greenish, very thickly speckled and mottled all over (almost 

 hiding the ground-colour) with brownish red ; the markings quite 

 confluent and darker on the large end. These two eggs are the 

 richest coloured Thrushes' eggs I have ever seen. These eggs 

 were taken at Binsar, 12 miles from Almorah, on the 8th August. 

 I never found the nest, but Home found several, the earliest in 

 April. Indeed I myself shot a full-sized young one in June. 

 Home told me that the nest was sometimes placed on a rock-side, 

 Eiug-Ouzel-fashion, and sometimes in low trees, and was composed 

 principally of moss and lined with grasses." 



From Mahasoo, near Simla, it is recorded, I think, by Sir E. C. 

 Buck : " June 30th. Nest on a branch of a pollard holly, 12 feet 

 from the ground, in fork between branch and trunk, constructed 

 externally of moss and lichen, internally lined with strong dry 

 grass and with a layer of mud below, between external and internal 

 layers. Eggs half-set." 



Colonel C. H. T. Marshall tells us that this bird " breeds all over 

 the Murree Hills, from middle of April till July." 



Colonel Gr. F. L. Marshall writes : " I have found several nests 

 of this species ranging from 7000 feet above the sea at Naini Tal, 

 to 4000 at Bheem Tal. They were all either wedged into forks of 

 the larger branches of moss-covered oaks, or built against the 

 trunk at a natural swelling, and seldom at any great elevation from 

 the ground; the end of May and June are the chief times of 

 breeding in this part of the country. The birds are excessively 

 wary, except just when the young are hatched, leaving the nest 

 long before it is approached. 



" Merula boulboul breeds in Kumaon in June; I have found 

 nests at elevations varying from 4000 to 7000 feet. The nest and 

 eggs are of the usual Blackbird type, and are to be found in situa- 

 tions similar to those in which M. vulgaris breeds." 



In their style of colouring the eggs most recall those of Merula 

 unicolor, and are very different from those of the Xilghiri Black- 

 bird. The ground-colour, where visible, is a pale dingy green, but 

 is at all times thickly streaked, mottled, and clouded with dull 

 brownish red, and in some eggs so closely as to entirely obscure 

 the ground-colour. One egg before me is an almost uniform dull 

 red, here and there mottled slightly paler. In another egg a good 

 deal of the ground-colour shows through, except at the large end, 

 where the markings form a confluent irregular cap. The eggs are 

 slightly glossy and differ little in size from those of the European 

 and Xilghiri Blackbird, but they appear to be less commonly 

 pointed and more commonly obtuse ovals than those of either of 

 these species. 



In length thev vary from 1*1 to 1*33 inch, and in breadth from 

 0-83 to 0-92 inch. 



