BIRDS' NESTING IN THE TONS VALLEY. 71 



much to my satisfaction, settle down comfortably upon what looked 

 like a little lump of moss on a small branch of the fir, not six feet from 

 where the willow wren's nest had been. I could not risk losing such 

 a treasure, so I climbed the tree myself and with no small difficulty 

 managed to draw in the branch upon which the nest was placed^ It 

 contained two eggs, unfortunately hard set, but still preservable, and 

 they with the nest were safely brought to the ground. 



The nest is in shape rather cylindrical, 2|" in external diameter, and 

 if across the egg-cavity. The depth of the cavity is 1" and that of 

 the nest 3". It consists of moss, firmly compacted together and 

 covered with grey lichens. It has a scanty lining of moss fruits (with 

 their stalks). 



The eggs are cream-coloured with a cap of faint markings towards 

 the broad end, similar in colour to, but of course much smaller than 

 those of the verditer flycatcher (Stoparola melanops). 



They are the smallest eggs in my collection, measuring *56 X '44 

 and '54" X 43", respectively. 



14 (191). Larvivora brunnba, Indian Blue-chat. 

 This is a very common bird throughout the Tons Valley, at elevation 

 of from 8,000 to 11,000 feet, but only in the wooded portions. 



In a former note written by me and inserted in this journal in 

 Vol. IX of 1894, I wrongly identified this bird as Ianthia indica. I 

 have since ascertained my mistake. 



I found two nests which I attribute to this bird, but unfortu- 

 nately I am not in a position to state the fact positively, as I never 

 saw the parent birds actually visit or leave the nests. Moreover 

 the eggs are so totally different from those described in Hume's 

 " Nests and Eggs " as belonging to this species, that I feel some- 

 what diffident in stating that I believe them to belong to Larvivora. 

 On the other hand the only bird I ever saw approach either of the 

 nests was a male of Larvivora brumiea, and this I saw on two separate 

 occasions. Moreover, it was evidently breeding at the time, and 

 showed evident signs of excitement when I approached the nest. 



The nests were built on a bank by a frequented footpath at about 

 8,000 feet elevation, and were exactly similar, both in position and 

 construction, to those of the English robin, but the eggs instead of 

 being " pale greyish-green thickly mottled with reddish-brown " as 



