BIRDS' NESTING IN TEE TONS VALLEY. 471 



of about 15 feet from the ground, and the other two on wild cherry trees 

 at heights of about 30 to 10 feet. The eggs are almost exact counter- 

 parts of pale specimens of the eggs of jEgithaliscus erythrocephalus, 

 but the spots are not clearly defined, as they sometimes are in the latter, 

 but form merely a pale purplish zone at the larger end. 



The shells are, moreover, terribly thin and fragile, far more so than 

 those of any other eggs I know. 



They measured as follows : — 



Largest egg -59" X "44" 



Smallest egg -54" X "42" 



Mean of 6 eggs 58" X '44" 



26. (639). Ruticilla frontalis. — The Blue-fronted Redstart. 



This is one of the commonest birds at high elevations (between 

 10,000 and 14,000 feet) in the Tons Valley. It has a pretty song, and 

 the males are very pugnacious in the breeding season. I found a 

 number of their nests between the 1st and 21st of June, some with 

 eggs and others with young. The nest is generally placed in a hole 

 in a steep bank or hill-side or in a niche in a rock, more rarely at the 

 root of a tree. It is always visible from the outside, though often well 

 concealed by plants, grass, &c. It is a rather shallow cup composed 

 externally of moss and fine grass and lined with hair (chiefly burhel 

 and musk deer), and sometimes a few feathers. 



The eggs, three or four in number, remind one somewhat of those of 

 Myiophoneus in colour. The ground-colour, where visible, is very 

 pale greenish or white, and the eggs are mottled and spotted, sometimes 

 all over but oftener in a cap at the larger end, with pale pinkish-brown. 

 There are also sometimes a few grayish specks apparently under- 

 lying the above. 



The eggs gave the following measurements : — 



Largest egg -82" X -58" 



Smallest egg -69" X '56" 



Mean of 26 eggs *76" X "55" 



The blue colour of the eggs of all species of Ruticilla has hitherto 

 been assumed a rule with no exception. We are therefore now forced 

 to one of two conclusions : (1) That the blue colour of the eggs of 

 Ruticilla is not a generic character ; or (2) that the blue-fronted redstart 

 is not in its proper place in this genus. 



