150 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY 
The nests are made up of fine twigs and fibres of plants, loosely 
put together externally. The egg cavities are lined with fine 
fibres with which horse hair and a little wool is interwoven. 
The eggs vary in shape from a broadish almost perfect oval 
to a longish oval moderately compressed at one end, and have a 
little gloss. The ground color is stone grey, and sparingly 
scattered over the surface are bluish grey spots, streaks, and 
cloudings (all rather faint) which unite to forma bluish grey 
- gone or cap at the larger end of the eggs. ‘ 
In length the eggs vary from 0°8 to 0°88 and in breadth 
from 0°6 to 0°65, but the average of fifteen eggs is 0°83 by 
0-61. 
583.—Sylvia curruca, Gmelin. 
3? Shot at Koshtak, 8th August.—Length, 5; expanse, 7°5 ; 
wing, 2°45; tail, 2-4; tarsus, 0°8 ; bill, from gape, 0°53 ; closed 
wings fall short of tail, 1:3; weight, 0-4 oz. Bill, brownish 
black, greyish at base below; irides, hazel ; legs and feet, greyish 
dusky ; claws, black. 
Two nestlings captured at Sughuchak in June.—Uensth, 3:2 to 
3:4; expanse, 6:0 to 6°3; wing, 1°5 to 1°95; tail, 1:1; tarsus, 
0:75 to 0°8; bill, from gape, 0°45 to 0°5 ; closed wings short of 
tail, 0°7. Bill, dusky ; yellow or horny at base ; edge of gape 
yellow; irides, brown; legs and feet, greyish fleshy ; claws, 
dusky. 
The Lesser Whitethroat arrives in the plains of Kashgharia 
about April, and migrates southwards towards the end of Octo- 
ber. I shot a specimen on the 5th of the latter month in a 
field near Posgam. It isa very common bird and seems chiefly 
to frequent short bushes growing in waste ground, but I never 
observed it in trees. This species breeds in May and June: 
two young nestlings, unable to fly, were captured in waste 
ground near Yarkand on the 20th June. 
591.—Motacilla personata, Gould. 
Three males, Yarkand, March and April_—Length, 7:9 to 
8; expanse, 11°5 to 11°75; wing, 3°75 to 4; tail, 3°7 to 4:2 ; 
tarsus, 0°95 to 1:0; bill, from gape, 0°7 to 0°75 ; closed wings 
fall short of tail, 2°5 to 2°6; weight, 0:7 oz. to 0°8 oz. Bill, 
legs, feet, and claws, black ; irides, dark brown and brown. 
Two females, Yarkand, March, Ui Toghrak, August.— 
Length, 7°6; expanse, 11:1 to 11:4; wing, 3°6 to 3:7; tail, 
3:7; tarsus, 0°95 to 1:0; bill, from gape, 0°7 to 0°75; closed 
wings fall short of tail, 24. Bill, black—in the August speci- 
men brownish at base ; irides, brown and dark brown; legs, 
feet, and claws, black. 
