MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, 54 
be | 
is pale-green with faint reddish-brown markings (rather streaky) sparingly scat- 
tered over the whole egg but decidedly thicker at the large end. The texture of 
the shell is fairly smooth and glossy. The birds are fearfully shy, at least the 
cock is, as I have only had a very fleeting glimpse of him, whereas the hen will 
let me up to the nest within about fifteen feet. I fancy incubation is fairly far 
advanced though I cannot really tell until I blow my egg. 
When placed in water the egg sank with the large end up, which rather pointed 
to advanced incubation. I should very much like to know whether this bird 
has been classed as the same species as Oreocincla nilgiriensis Jerdon, or 
whether it is a good sub-species peculiar to Ceylon. I don’t think any 
records of its nest being found in Ceylon are mentioned either in Hume’s Nests 
and Eggs or Legge’s Birds of Ceylon, and I don’t think Mr. W. E. Wait out 
here has any records of it either, he is at home at present so I cannot consult 
him. I must say it is the first time I have seen this thrush out here, though 
I thought I saw a pair one day close to where the nest is now, no doubt I was 
right. I actually found this nest in July when it was half finished but thought 
it was an old one so did not look at it again until yesterday, when I saw a 
bird in the vicinity which I did not know as it looked too big for Geocichla 
spiloptera (The Spotted Thrush ) which I know well as they are a fairly 
common, though little seen, bird up-country. As I thought the bird I saw 
was a thrush, I immediately connected it with the nest I had found in July 
and it turned out that I was right, but ! little expected to hit on sucha rare 
find, especially at this time of the year and as this is a very wet district, our 
average rainfall being well over 200 inches. The elevation here is about 3,800. 
T. E, TUNNARD. 
CEYLON, 
10th August, 1921. 
[Stuart Baker, in his “Hand List of Indian Birds ” Vol. XXVII, No. 4, p. 720, 
classes O. nilgiriensis and O. imbricata as races of the Small-Billed Mountain 
Thrush, O. dawma. The Nilgiri Thrush, O. nilgiriensis, as a sub-species is distinct 
from O. imbricata which is confined to Ceylon. Hume’s Nests and Eggs of Indian 
Birds contains no record of the nidification of this Bird.—Ebs. ] 
No. XV.—OCCURRENCE OF THE MALAY BITTERN (GORSACHIUS 
MELANOLOPHUS) AT OOTACAMUND, 8. INDIA. 
It may be of interest to some of our readers to hear that yesterday, while out 
shooting small game, my beaters dreve out of a shola, on the top of the Sijur ghat, 
at an elevation of roughly 7,200 feet, a fine specimen of the Malay Bittern (Gor- 
sachius melanolophus) which I secured. 
I notice in the Fauna of British India that Blanford says it is a rare bird, found 
only in the hill forests near the Malabar Coast where it is also said to breed, but 
nothing appears to be known of its nidification. 
The description of the bird as given in the Fauna of British India tallies well 
with my bird though it appears to be somewhat more spotted and freckled with 
black and white than as stated by Blanford, and he omits one rather curious 
item from his description, namely a conspicuous, though thin, pinkish-red curved 
line in the centre of the lower eyelid reaching from front to rear. 
I have never seen or heard of this bird in this Presidency before, and my shikari 
and older beaters, who have been at the job for over 30 years, also tell me they 
have never before seen such a bird on these hills. I should deem it a favour if 
