438 Mr. J. D. D. La Touche— Field-Notes on 



the nettle-beds resembled those from Kuatun, and were made 

 of coarse grass, reed, and bamboo-leaves, bound with cobwebs, 

 and lined with fine grass-stems. The two nests from the 

 reed-beds mentioned above were made of strips of whitish 

 reed-skin, bound with cobwebs, and lined with fine grass- 

 stems and a little hair. As in N.W. Fohkien, blue eggs are 

 the commonest at Chinkiang, but I have also obtained there 

 a number of the pale- coloured varieties. 



14. Paradoxornis heudei David. 

 Styan, Ibis, 1891, p. 336. 



This handsome Crow-Tit is very common in winter in the 

 reed-beds a few miles below Chinkiang. I have also seen it 

 in the bare reed-fields after the crop has been cut, and in 

 bushes and trees in the vicinity. When travelling and 

 feeding in the reed-beds, the birds' constantly repeated 

 trilling notes are heard a long way off, and this, coupled 

 with the loud noise made by their wings when flitting 

 about the reeds, betrays their presence at once. I was 

 unable to find any nests, nor did I see any specimens in 

 summer. They feed on the ground as well as ou the reeds. 



15. TllOCHALOPTERON CANORUM (L.). 



Styan, Ibis, 1891, p. 334; La Touche, Ibis, 1899, 

 p. 180. 



Common on the higher wooded hills, but also found in 

 copses on the plain. It breeds in April, May, June, and July. 



A nest which I took on May 5 was placed in a small 

 holly- bush in a wooded ravine. It contained four incubated 

 eggs. This nest was composed of leaves, coarse grass-blades, 

 and twigs, and had a lining of pine-needles. The measure- 

 ments were : outer diameter about 5^x6 in., outer depth 

 4^ in., inner diameter 3^ in., inner depth about 2f in. 

 Twelve eggs taken near Chinkiang average T04 x 081" ; 

 the largest is 1*10x0 83" and the smallest 0-95x0'80". 



16. Dryonastes perspicillatus (Gm.). 



Styan, Ibis, 1891, p. 334; La Touche & Rickett, Ibis, 

 1905, p. 28. 

 Abundant and resident. It breeds in the bamboo-copses 



