152 



753. Pyrrhospiza punicea, Hodgs. The Red-lreasted 

 Rose-Finch. 



Pyrrhospiza punicea, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 406 j Hume, Cat. 

 no. 747. 



The late Dr. Stoliczka remarked that this Pinch " comes only 

 occasionally in winter to Koteghur and Simla, but is more common 

 eastwards ; in summer it is found in Spiti and Ladak on eleva- 

 tions of 13,000 to 17,000 feet, searching after food at the camping- 

 grounds. I found the nest, made of coarse grass, in Rupshu, near 

 the Thsomoriri (lake) on the ground, in a little bush of the 

 Tibetan furze ; eggs dirty white or greenish, with some dark 

 brown spots/' 



754. Propasser thura (Bp. & Schl.). The White-browed 



Rose-Finch. 

 Propasser thura (Bp.}, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 401 ; Hume, Cat. no. 740. 



Mr. Mandelli sent me a nest of this species, taken on the 

 1st August in the Dolaka district of Nepal, at an elevation of about 

 12,000 feet. It was placed on a thorny bush at a height of about 

 6 feet from the ground, and contained three fresh eggs. The nest 

 is an extremely regular and compact cup 4 inches in diameter and 

 2 in height exteriorly ; it is mainly composed of fine grass-stems, 

 but very little of this is seen, as it is completely coated outside 

 with brown moss and very fine black moss and fern-roots, and it 

 is warmly lined with white hair, the fur of some animal ; the 

 cavity measures 2 inches in diameter, and a little over 1 in 

 depth. 



A single egg sent me by Mr. Mandelli very much recalls the eggs 

 of Carpodacus severtzovi, but is smaller and greener. In shape the 

 egg is a very regular, rather elongated oval. It has only a very 

 faint gloss. The ground-colour is a uniform pale bluish green, 

 and about the large end it has a very few minute specks of a very 

 fine hair-like character, and three tiny rings about the size of a 

 pin's head. These are the only markings, and they are black or 

 nearly so. 



Two eggs, also found on the 1st August, have the ground- 

 colour of a dull greenish blue ; the one egg has a few good-sized 

 spots and some specks of brownish grey scattered round the broad 

 end, the other has five or six tiny specks of the same colour on 

 different parts of the egg. A third egg, brought from Native 

 Sikhim along with one of the parent birds, has a clearer ground- 

 colour, and the markings consist only of a few almost invisible 

 specks of the palest reddish brown, confined to the broad end of 

 the egg. They measure 0-91 by 0-68 inch, 0-86 by 0-64, and 0-85 

 by 0-61. 



