882 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII- 



and haunts every ravine in the vicinity of Shillong. The main reason 

 for the want of success is probably that whereas canorus frequently 

 selects nests of birds who build in conspicuous places, saturates seems 

 almost invariably to select the nests of birds which build in holes and 

 hollows, in ravines and dark places. A ravine, with rocky banks, which 

 runs past my bungalow was haunted continually for three months by 

 many of these birds and in this I found two eggs which I put down to 

 the Himalayan Cuckoo. The first of these was taken in the nest of 

 Stoparola melanops (The Verditer Flycatcher) on the 17th May. 

 Tiiis egg U of the same general type in shape and texture as those I 

 have already described, but in colour is a very pale pink with a sort of 

 flush of darker pink at one end and a very few tiny specks of black 

 scattered here and there over the whole egg. 



The three Flycatcher's eggs were strongly marked specimens, broad 

 ovals, with well defined smaller ends, quite different to the supposed 

 Cuckoo's egg. 



An egg taken in the nest of Pomatorhinus ruficollis (the Rufous- 

 necked Scimitar Babbler) is exactly like those already described, but 

 the markings are of bright reddish. This was taken on the 3rd June 

 in a ravine near that above mentioned. 



The second egg taken in that ravine was found on the 17th June in 

 a nest of Niltava sundara (The Beautiful Niltava) built in a hole in 

 some rocks just below my bungalow. I had known for some time that 

 the birds were building there and also that some Himalayan Cuckoos 

 were taking a great interest in their work, but I quite failed to find the 

 nest. It, however, was eventually found by one of my chaprassies 

 placed under a rock actually on the ground, whilst I had carefully 

 searched the many suitable hollows in the rocky scarp above. It con- 

 tained one Niltava' s egg, one pure white with a speck or two of black 

 like the normal eggs of the Himalayan Cuckoo, and a third egg which 

 I can put down to nothing in particular, but which is probably merely 

 an abnormal egg of the Flycatcher itself. Colonel Rattray has also 

 been so good as to send me a beautiful typical egg of this bird taken in 

 the nest of Ianthia rujilata together with two eggs of the foster-parent. 



CUCULUS POLIOCEPHALUS. 

 The Small Cuckoo. 

 Since I finished my article on this little Cuckoo 1 have obtained 

 considerably more information about it. 



