380 Notes on the Birds of the Sambhiir Lake Sf its vicinity. 



plumag-G is a dark-brown, with the head and throat soriiewhat 

 darker colored; wing spot, white, 



I found a nest of this bird on the 23rd June 1873. The nest 

 was in a hole in the bank of an open well. The hole appeared 

 to have been made in the loose sand by the bird and measured 

 about 3 "5 in diameter. The outer lining of the nest consisted 

 of a few pieces of coarse grass, while in the egg cavity there 

 were a few pieces of fine roots carelessly placed together and not 

 rounded. The nest contained three eggs of a pale greenish 

 color, with a zone of rust-colored spots at the broad end, and 

 a few spots and freckles of the same color on the body of the 

 egg. Length, '62 ; breadth, 0-5. ^ , 



483.— Pratincola rubicola, I>. t>i^C4^ c^ 



This bird is not very common. 



488.— Dromolsea opistholeuca, SfricM. 



This species is not common. The black on the middle tail 

 feathers measures 1'6, and not, as Jerdon mentions, about half an 

 inch. 



489. — Dromolsea picata, £li/th. 



Common during the cold weather. Mr. Hume considers this 

 species aad Saxicola capistrata (490) to be diflFerent stages of 

 the same bird. I cannot pretend to oifer any opinion on the 

 subject, for capistrata is not common here. I have, however, 

 obtained five specimens of it, with the head varying in color 

 from white to dark-brown black. Irides, dark-brown. 



491 « — Saxicola isabellina, Buppell. 



Very common on the sandy plains during the cold weather. 



492. — Saxicola deserti, Buppell. 



This species is more plentiful, if anything, than the preceding. 



494.— Cercomela fusca, Blt/th. 



The brown rock-chat is very common, and is generallj? seen 

 in pairs about old buildings, near villages, or the loose stony 

 portions of the hills. On the 23rd March I found a nest in the 

 Sambhur Fort in a wall of an inner roona. It was about 5 feet 

 from the ground. It was cup-shaped, the outside measuring 

 4^ inches in diameter, and the egg receptacle about 2^. The 

 nest was composed of fine grass, loosely rounded together, and 

 had for a lining a layer of goat^s hair worked carelessly round 

 into the shape of the nest. The eggs are blue with pale, or 

 sometimes dark, reddish-brown spots near the thick end. 



