AVIFAUNA OF THE DECCAN. 81 



295.— Culicicapa ceylonensis, Swains. 



Very common in Satara, and undoubtedly breeds there. 



297.— Alseonax latirostris, Baffles. 



Procured at Sholapoor in October, and at Egutpoora iu the 

 same month. 



301.— Stoporala melanops, Vigors. 



A visitant at Sholapoor in rains and cold weather. 



305.— Cyornis tickelli, Blyth. 



A few come to Sholapoor in the rains and cold weather. W. 

 procured a specimen as late as March. 



307.— Cyornis ruficauda, Swains. 



A single specimen obtained at Sholapoor in July. 



323 bis.— Erythrosterna parva, Bechst. 



A specimen procured at Sholapoor in February. It is not 

 rare in the cold season. 



342.— Myiophoneus horsfieldii, Vigors. 



Scattered all over the Deccan in suitable localities. W. 

 got two nests, one on the Bhore Ghat on 5th August, 

 and one on the Thull Ghat on 17th of same month. That on the 

 Bhore Ghat was built on a ledge of rock some 15 feet in from 

 the face of a Railway tunnel where 30 or 40 trains daily pass- 

 ed within a few feet of it. That on the Thull Ghat was in a 

 cutting at the entrance of a tunnel and about the same height 

 above and from the rails as the one on the Bhore Ghat. In 

 both cases the eggs were much discolored by the smoke from 

 engines, but on being washed, W. observed that one of the 

 three eggs in each nest was of a decidedly greenish blue, finely 

 speckled and splashed with pinky brown, while the others were 

 of the pale salmon-pink, as described in Mr. Hume's Rough 

 Draft of " Nest and Eggs." The male bird was sitting on one 

 of the nests and was shot. W. saw numerous other nests, some 

 high up on cliffs, beyond the reach of a 15-foot ladder. Two 

 nests in holes in trees were reported to him, but he could not 

 go to examine them. The nests were about 4 inches diameter by 

 2^ inches deep, inside, and 8 to 10 inches broad outside, and not 

 more than 10 inches high. The foundation portion contained a 

 great deal of clay and earth which seemed to be necessary to 

 secure the nests in positions so exposed to the heavy gusts of 

 winds which prevail on these ghats during the monsoon. 



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