•jm JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL LUST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



nest was somewhere in the vicinity, [ stationed men to watch the spot 

 for several days, but in spite of a most diligent and exhaustive search, 

 the nest could not be located, and the birds subsequently deserted this 

 portion of the stream. 



The following year one of my hunters reported on the 24th April that 

 he had found a nest of this si^ecies by the side of a stream, about three 

 miles from Simla in a southerly direction, near the Behar village in Keon- 

 thal territory, and that it probably contained eggs, as the old bird was 

 sitting hard. On the 26th instant, accompanied by my friend, Mr. W. A. 

 Sughes, I visited the spot — an ideal haunt for this intrepid little bird. 

 I'he water from the stream rushed down a wall of rock fully 126 feet or 

 more in height, and fell below with a deafening noise in a dense mass of 

 foam and spray. Here about -^O feet above us, in a small niche in the face 

 of the wall by the side of the water, and over which a small slab of stone 

 projected, was placed the Forktail's nest. Some moss was growing below 

 it, and as the sides of the latter were composed of the same material, it 

 blended admirably with its surroundings. So well was concealment 

 effected, that it would have been utterly impossible to have discovered 

 the nest, unless betrayed by the birds themselves; and, indeed, its exact 

 position had only been determined by watching their movements. 



On our arrival, only one bird was noticed searching actively for food along 

 the slippery wall of rock, and just as we got to the bottom of the Fall, the 

 other one, apparently alarmed by our j)resence, hurriedly left the nest. J 

 had decided that the shooting of the bird (for although by now the iden- 

 tification was complete, yet I wished to leave no grounds for doubt), should 

 devolve on Mr. Hughes, and right well did he do his share of the business. 

 After leaving the nest, the old bird (it turned out subsequent^ to be the 

 hen) flew down stream for a few yards, and settled on a prominent stone, 

 thus affording an excellent shot, and which my friend readilj^ availed 

 himself of. Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker, F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., very kindly 

 identified the skin for me, and unhesitatingly j)ronounced it to belong to 

 our bird. 



The nest was reached bjr means of a rope thrown from above, and con- 

 tained one egg on the point of hatching off', and one young, about a couple 

 of days old. 



The egg measured -H' X •()" : and its weight was 31 grains. 

 Now, curious as it may appear, among the eggs of the Western Spotted 

 Forktail (LTcnictirus maculatus) two distinct types of colouration are gene- 

 rally to be found in the »ain/' nest, viz., those having a greenish-white 

 ground colour, marked with yellowish-brown (and the majority are of this 

 *yP^)? ^^^ those having a dingy pink ground colour, marked with 

 reddish-brown. The egg of our bird bore a faint resemblance to the latter 

 type. 



