348 Notes on a Collection of Eggs made at Murree. 



more specimens are shot and earefully measm'ed and compareclj,- 

 I would not state tliat this is aconstant feature. 



On thie other hanci^ with regard to the iris> there is no doubt 

 whatever that in the female it is pure white^ aaid in the male 

 dark brown. In both cases that have come under my notice as 

 I have shewn the birds were pairs^ and in the adult state, Eveiy 

 naturalist knows how the eye changes in many immature birds 

 notably in Raptores^ but in the case of J^Tianicoj^hauB pyrrTioce^ 

 phakts, the diiference of colour above noticed is undoubted- 

 ly due to sex and not to age. The colour of the iris 

 seems to have been a problem since the bird was dis- 

 covered^ arising no doubt from the fact of single specimens 

 haying always been procured. The remarks of Mr. Holdsworth 

 in his catalogue above quoted bear me out in my experience. He 

 says : " Layard says^ the irides of this cuckoo are white y but in 

 the living bird"^ [a male) I had, they were hrown, and they are 

 marked as of that colour in specimens in Lord Walden^s collec- 

 tion. '* These latter are doubtless males. 



This- bird will no doubt be found to inhabit the forests round 

 the south-eastern and eastern slopes of the mountain zone as 

 well as those of the west, south-west^ and north-east in which 

 localities I have procured it. 



Sates m ^ Collatt^tt M Cggs 



Made in and ahout Murree. By Captains CocJc ^ C. H. T. MarsJmll.. 



In the spring of 1873 we went in for steady birds — nesting 

 all round Murree, from the middle of May to the end of July. 

 As we began rather late, we missed several of the early breeders. 

 To most of our Indian readers the situation of Murree is well 

 known, but for the benefit of those who do not know, it may be 

 as well to describe its whereabouts. It is the most north-wester- 

 ly hill station in British India, and is on the high road to 

 Kashmir, the highest point is about 7,500 feet. Most of the 

 nests were found at a lower elevation and a large number came 

 from a tract of thick jungle near the river Jhelum which flows 

 through a valley about fourteen miles from Murree towards 

 Kashmir. We did not go over a very large area, but as will be 

 seen below, there was plenty to be done, and we were well rewarded 

 as we obtained, in addition to several rare species, the eggs of 

 one or two birds about whose breeding habits we have seen no 



* One brought to him by some natives, who had captured it. 



