832 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



of the year. Never having taken a nest myself, I was very anxious to do 

 so and laid myself out to this end. I started in May, when I came on a 

 pair building. From this nest, I obtained 3 fresh eggs on the 21st. On 

 the 23rd, I found another with two half fledged young and on the 28th, 

 a third with 3 hard-set eggs. After this, I had many disappointments, 

 for although I marked down many nests being built, when one or two 

 eggs had been laid, they disappeared. In despair, I had to content myself 

 w^ith incomplete clutches, else I should have got very few. After the 

 middle of July, however, I did manage to get a few full clutches. On 

 the 27th July, I took 2 eggs from a nest and on j)assing on the 30th, 

 found the birds still there with another egg. This is the first time 1 have 

 ever known a bird, of this species, returning to a nest from which all the 

 eggs had been once taken. The nest is of the usual bulbul type, a flimsy 

 cup, placed within hand reach, in any convenient shrub or bush, no attempt 

 at concealment being made. Doubtless this is the reason why so many 

 disasters overtake them. They certainly have to struggle hard to raise a 

 family. E.H.A.'s remark that the bulbul performs the function of the domes- 

 tic fowl to crows and such like by providing the egg for the breakfast table 

 seems to be very near the mark ! ! 



The Long-tailed Grass Warbler, Laticilla burnesi, makes a very joyful 

 noise from his perch, with a full throat, but for this he would be 

 very difficult to spot for he is an adept at the art of lurking and slipping 

 away unseen. I have as yet found only one nest on the 10th August, 

 This was situated in the centre of a tussock of Sarkari grass, very low 

 down, well concealed and diflicult to find. It contained one egg. On 

 visiting it again on the 13th, I found the egg gone. The nest is a compact 

 cup, built on a bit of a foundation and well finished ofi". I think I shall 

 probably find some nests shortly for although I have been on the look out 

 for them throughout June, July and August, this is the only nest I have 

 found nor have I seen them building, so I fancy they are late breeders. 



The Black Partridge, Francolinus vulgaris, is very common. My shikari 

 has brought me in several clutches, but I have only found one nest myself. 

 This was on the 13th April, when I obtained 5 partially incubated eggs from 

 a nest, just a hollow, scra^jed out of the ground, with a few bits of grass as 

 lining, well concealed under a tussock of Sarkari grass. I discovered the 

 nest by the hen getting up, jiist under my feet and running away. 



The Punjab Eed-vented Bulbul, Molpastes intermedius. I have not 

 bothered much about this bird, but have found a few nests. The only one 

 I have taken was on the 13th August. It was built, about 20 feet from the 

 ground in the fort of a road side tree and contained 4 practically fresh 

 eggs. A pair built a nest in my garden. "When birds do this, unless they 

 are of an extremely rare species, I never molest them. As the nest was 

 about to be completed, I visited it, when I saw the bird perched on the 

 place where it had been sited, but it was not there. I was rather disgusted. 

 On looking round, I found it had been pulled out and thrown on to a 

 neighbouring shrub. It was practically uninjured, so I replaced it, to the 

 best of my ability, in exactly the same position it originally occupied. I 

 returned to the spot two days later and was delighted to find that it had 

 not been deserted and contained two eggs. However, a few days after I 

 found the nest empty. 



Towards the end of April, I spent a couple of days on the Sutlej after 

 terns and such like, I found the islands, on which breeding took place. 



