the Birds of Cldnkiang. 623 



I saw or heard many pairs in the groves of tall trees which 

 line the long ponds at the back of the villages and hamlets 

 in the low-lying country. The short but harmonious and 

 powerful song of the male is to be heard in these localities 

 throughout the early summer. The nests are, however, 

 very difficult to find, and I secured only one with eggs. On 

 June 23, 1893, a nest-hole was discovered near the top of a 

 dead branch of a willow on the bank of a pond. It contained 

 one young bird just about to fly ; the others had already 

 done so, and were with their parents on a neighbouring- 

 tree. This young bird escaping from the hand of its captor 

 fluttered down and fell into the pond, and to our astonish- 

 ment struggled straight back towards the bank, where it was 

 rescued and replaced in the nest. The next nest-hole was 

 discovered on May 29 of the following year. It was in a 

 live branch of a Pride of India tree (Melia azaderach) , also 

 near a pond. We saw the female enter the hole with nesting- 

 material, but on returning a few days later to take the eggs 

 we found it empty save for one or two straws. The site, just 

 by a public path, was too much exposed. On June 5 following 

 another nest was found. It was, like the first, near the top 

 of a partly-decayed branch of a willow growing on the 

 side of a pond and was built in an old Woodpecker's hole. 

 It contained five eggs, somewhat incubated. These eggs are 

 of a pinkish cream-colour speckled with pale orange-red or 

 pale burnt-sienna over reddish-violet spots. One of them has 

 besides a few minute black specks on the larger end. The 

 markings are chiefly concentrated about the larger end of 

 the eggs. One egg has a ring of confluent specks round the 

 larger end, another having a lighter, and two others irregular 

 rings. They measure 0-67x0'51", 0'68 x 0-52", 0'69 X 

 0-53", 0-70 x 0-51", and 0'70 x 0-53". The nest was a very 

 fragile cup-shaped fabric of bamboo-leaves and fine roots, 

 lined with a little hair and fragments of fine roots and grass- 

 stems. The boy who climbed up the tree unfortunately 

 partly destroyed the nest in taking it out. The inner 

 diameter is about 2h in. 



This Flycatcher appears to be very pugnacious, and attacks 



