MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 799 



dose to Simla, and as high as 7,000 feet. Jones has actually taken two nests 

 at this altitude, and he thus describes his finds: — 



" IQth May 1909. — This morning whilst searching the hillside for 

 Pipits' eggs, I had the good fortune to flush a Brown-Rock Pipit 

 ( A. similis) from her nest, and found 4 slightly incubated eggs 

 in it. The nest was beautifully concealed under a tussock of 

 grass, and had I not seen the bird leave the spot, I should never 

 have found its abode. The eggs resemble very closely the eggs 

 of the Upland Pipit (0. sylvanus). The speckling is, however, 

 appreciably finer, and the ground colour more of a stone or greyish- 

 green tinge. Nest of grass blades : lining, fine grass stems. Eleva- 

 tion 7,000 feet." 

 " 27iA Jwwe 1909. — A nest and 4 hard set eggs of A. similis. Nest 

 well concealed, and placed under a small creeping plant. Structure 

 made of grass, and more substantial than the one mentioned 

 above. Female shot and identified. Eggs finely speckled and 

 closely resembling the former clutch. The ground colour was, 

 however, a pale creamy-white : elevation 7,000 feet." 

 The following is an extract from my diary, relating to a nest of this 

 Pipit, taken on the 22nd June in Keonthal territory, about six miles 

 from Simla, N. W. Himalayas : — 



The result of to-day was, among other eggs, a beautiful clutch' of 

 4 eggs of the Brown-Rock Pipit (A. similis). We had just emerged from 

 a 'deodar' forest, and were traversing a steep grassy slope, bordering on 

 some fields, when a male of the Brown-Rock Pipit flew past OA^erhead, 

 uttering his characteristic note. This immediately put us on the alert, 

 and he had scarcely proceeded a few steps further, when our attention 

 was diverted to the curious behaviour of another Brown-Rock Pipit, which 

 was tumbling and fluttering about, close to us, on the ground, in a most 

 extraordinary manner. The dogs at our heels soon cavTght sight of this 

 rolling ball of feathers, and were instantly in hot pursuit after it ; but, 

 of course, loe knew what these " injury feigning" tactics meant, and quite 

 disregarding the bird and its attempts to divert us from the spot, 

 commenced making a thorough search for its nest, which we shortly 

 afterwards discovered. It was placed in a hole of the bank under a tuft 

 of grass, and, as already stated, contained 4 eggs, which were slightly 

 incubated. 



The nest was a shallow cup, composed exteriorly of coarse grass-stems, 

 roots, pieces of sticks, with some moss attached here and there to its sides, 

 and lined with very fine grass stems. It measured : — diameter of egg- 

 cavity 3" : depth of ditto 1*25" : external diameter 4*25 : thickness of sides 

 •65" : thickness of bottom -5". 

 ■ The altitude of the spot was fully 6,000 ft. 



On comparing 10 eggs of this Pipit with 16 authentic specimens of the 

 Upland Pipit [Oreocorys sylvanus), taken in the neighbourhood of Simla, I 

 find the following differences : — 



(a) The eggs of Anthus similis are smaller than those of Oreocorys 

 sylvanus : 10 specimens of the former, average •83"x"65"; while 15 

 of the latter, average -89" x -68". 



(b) The markings are diff'erent. The eggs of Anthus similis are finely 

 and profusely speckled and spotted all over with various shades of 

 dark and dull sienna-brown and pale inky-purple, some of the 

 eggs are so heavily marked that they closely resemble the very 

 dark type of eggs of Passer domesticus. On the other hand the 

 ground colour on most of the eggs of 0. sylvanus is clearly visible, 

 and the markings are, on the whole, much bolder and "more spotty.''^ 



