Nidification of Indian Birds. 105 



The former wrote : — " The nest contained three eggs, was 

 of the same shape and size as that of Rhipidura albicollis 

 (Vieill.), the White-throated Fantail Flycatcher, Blanford's 

 No. 605, and was made entirely of fine grass without any 

 lining ; it was fixed in the fork of the branch of a shrub. The 

 eggs were small, light blue, and without spots." According 

 to this account, therefore, the nest and eggs are exactly 

 like those of Zosterops, a bird about one-quarter to one-third 

 the bulk of Rimator, which is a larger form than its nearest 

 allies Corythucichla and Turdinulus. My description of the 

 nest and eggs which had been brought to me by a Naga, 

 together with one of the parents, was as follows: — " The 

 nest is an ill-formed globe of dead leaves, grasses, a few old 

 fern-fronds and bents, very loosely interwoven and lined with 

 more dead leaves, the colour of all the material being of a 

 dark or blackish brown. In height the nest is about 8V', 

 while at its widest part, close to the base, it is about 6" across. 

 The entrance, high up near the top, is about 2" in diameter." 



The eggs were four in number and very hard-set, but just 

 able to be blown. The ground-colour was very faint pinky 

 white, the pink having a sienna tinge. The markings, rather 

 profuse at the larger end, though sparse elsewhere, con- 

 sisted of small points and blotches of reddish brown, mostly 

 surrounded by a pale washed-out shade of the same, looking 

 as if the colour had run. Here and there also were a few 

 scrawly and entangled lines of very deep red- brown. The 

 markings formed ill-defined caps or rings at the larger ends. 



" In shape the eggs were very regular ovals, neither par- 

 ticularly long nor broad in proportion to their size. The 

 surface was not very smooth, but had a very faint gloss, and 

 the texture was fine and close. 



"The nest was placed on the ground among the dead 

 leaves and other rubbish at the foot of a large tree standing 

 in a forest composed principally of small trees, and having a 

 dense undergrowth of Begonia, bracken, and miscellaneous 

 green bushes. It was taken on the 24th of June on a peak 

 near Hungrum, at about 6000 feet elevation/' 



To this I can onlv add the size of the eggs, which 



