190 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HLST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



kindly examined the specimen, tells me it corresponds exactly with the 

 plate given in' Aves Przewalskiana/ i. pi. x, tigs. 3 and 4. Since only a few 

 specimens are known, the question naturally arises whether this is not an 

 aberration ? I think it is not ; firstly, Przewalski ap})arently obtained more 

 than one specimen in the same district, and, secondly, the white of the 

 head does not look to me like albinism, as it shades off into the grey of the 

 neck. I exhibit for comparison males in similar plumage of ilfoteo27Za/. 

 flava, M. f. beema, M.f. rari, M.f. thunhergi, and M.f. melanogrisens. (Bull. 

 Brit. Orn. Club, xxxv, p. 1.) 



No. VI.— SOME BIRDS IN HISSAR DISTRICT, PUNJAB. 



The following notes on some birds observed in the Hissar District of the 

 Punjab may prove of interest. 



The Bristled Grass- Warbler, C/iaetoi-nislocustelloides (Bljih.). Two speci- 

 mens were obtained in the Cattle Farm Bir at Hissar (1418 c? 30-7-1914 ; 

 1419 § 1-8-1914). The male had the testes rather enlarged, while the 

 female had a slight incubation patch and a well-developed egg in the 

 ovary. These birds were not a pair for they were met with in localities 

 some distance apart, but both were frequenting the same type of ground, 

 namely, bush jungle fdled with heavy grass and other herbage. This ground 

 is the habitat of great numbers of the Common Babbler {Argi/a caudata) 

 which the Bristled Grass-Warbler greatly resembles, so probably other 

 specimens of the latter were missed. The species has not been previously 

 recorded from the Punjab. 



The Thick-billed Flower Pecker. Pipri^oma squalidum (Burton). 



Oates remarks (Fauna. B. I. II, p. 383) that the western limits of this 

 species are difficult to define owing to want of specimens and records of 

 occurrence. It is said to be very common at Baroda, and then there 

 is a great gap up to Etawah and another up to Dehra. Hence it is worth 

 recording that I obtained a couple of specimens in my compound at Sirsa ; 

 both were females and were obtained on 11-1-1915 and 4-2-1915 respec- 

 tively. In behaviour and appearance they were similar to a Phylloscopus 

 or Lorterops, but my attention was attracted by the distinctive note ; the 

 shape of the bill also rather catches the eye. 



The Dessert Warbler, Sylvia nana, (Hemfu and Ehreb.) 



This interesting little bird was found to be very common in January in 

 the area about Chantala and Dabwali towards the Bikanir border ; an 

 odd bird or two were seen as far as Pipli, but none were actually noted at 

 Sirsa which is given as a locality for the species by Oates. All the above 

 places, however, are in the Sirsa sub-division. The country in these parts 

 consists of a wide, level plain of sandy soil, highly cultivated with corn and 

 chiefly gram, a certain amount of mustard being mixed with the other 

 crops. Here the Desert- Warbler was common, creeping about in the growing 

 crops, or in the bushes on the patches of fallow ground studded with leek 

 and wild caper. It is fairly bold in demeanour, perching on the top of a 

 wild caper bush (for preference) and allowing a near approach before flying 

 off low over the ground, or threading its way into the tangled interior of 

 the bush. 



It also settles freely on the ground, running with agility over the open 

 or under the cover of a bush. By the casual observer it may pass un- 

 noticed easily, as being perhaps FranMinia huchanani, which it somewhat 

 resembles in appearance (when not in the hand) and habits ; save that it is 

 a solitary bird. For so small a species this warbler is extraordinarily tough 



