438 TETKAOXID^. 



" The nest and its contents I found on the ground in a field of 

 llliar and JtasJiiya, i. e. thatching or serrated grass and spontaneous 

 sugar-grass (Andropogon serratus and Saccharam spontaneum re- 

 spectively), close to the margin of a dry tank covered with dense 

 jungle, and about half a mile from the nearest human habitation. 



" The nest is evidently constructed of the thatching-grass here 

 specified. The eggs, five in number, were all fresh, warm, and 

 apparently recently laid. 



" The nest is rather neatly formed and circular in shape, about 

 7 inches in diameter, 1^ inch thick on the sides of, and half an mc-li 

 below, the central depression, where the eggs were deposited, and 

 which is, say, 4 inches in diameter and a couple of inches deep." 



The eggs are broad ovals, slightly pointed towards one end, and 

 one or two of them slightly compressed there. The shell is stout, 

 full of pores, but withal glossy. In colour the eggs are a pale 

 eafe-au-lait, and all exhibit somewhat more or less distinctly a pale 

 purplish or purplish-brown speckling or stippling about the larger 

 end ; one or two of them also show signs of similar markings in 

 other portions of the egg. 



These five eggs vary from 1-44 to 1*5 in length, and from 1-16 

 to 1-23 in breadth. 



Perdix hodgsoniae, Hodgs. Mrs. II ode/son's Partridge. 

 Perdix hodgsoniee, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. fy E. no. 823 his. 



To Colonel C. H. T. Marshall I am indebted for an egg of this 

 rare and beautiful bird, Mrs. Hodgson's Partridge. 



Captain Barnes, of the 10th Bengal Lancers, found a nest, when 

 after big game in Thibet, containing ten eggs, but, not knowing 

 the value of the prize he secured, he unfortunately only preserved 

 a couple. 



Captain Barnes has himself most kindly favoured me with the 

 following note on the subject. He says : 



" This is what you may rely on, as I noted the facts at the time. 

 I flushed the bird myself oif the nest on the 12th July, 1872. The 

 nest was at an observed elevation of 16,430 feet. / think (but 

 am not now quite sure) that the nest was a mere indentation in 

 the ground, it was in grass amongst low dwarf bushes. It con- 

 tained ten eggs, all perfectly fresh. The Pass on which I found 

 the nest leads from the Pangong Valley to the Indus Valley and is 

 very high. I did not take the elevation, but estimated it at 19,000 

 feet, as my camp, after crossing the summit and descending some 

 considerable distance, was pitched that night at 17,745 feet. 

 There was a great deal of snow on the summit, which is perpetual ; 

 the snow-line at that season, I should say, was about 18,500 feet. 

 The name of the Pass is the Oong Lung La. The birds were 

 neither scarce nor plentiful, but there were enough to make it a 

 matter of certainty in obtaining a specimen if required." 



The egg is in shape a long oval, obtuse at one end and sharply 



