810 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIV. 



2. Acanthopneiiste virklanus. The G-reanish Willow-Warbler. — I found a 

 single nest of this species containing 2 partly-set eggs at an elevation of 11,C00 

 feet on the 31st May, 1902. 



The nest was domed with rather a large opening, twice as broad as high 

 towards the top and was placed on the ground on a fairly steep hillside near 

 a bush. It was composed externally of moss and dry grass, and roofed 

 internally with fine grass stalks, the egg-cavity being densely lined with a 

 thick felting of hair. The eggs were pure white, rather broad ovals with 

 little gloss. One of the two eggs (the other unfortunately got smashed) 

 measures 0-64"x0-50". 



The parent bird was shot off the nest and identified by me as the above, my 

 identification being subsequently confirmed in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. 



3. Horeites brunneifros. The Rufous-capped Bush- Warbler. — This bird is 

 common at from 10 to 11,000 feet on the Singalila ridge. It frequents 

 the low scrub consisting of dwarf bamboo (grazed down), berberis, &c., 

 in the more open portions of the Silver fir and Rhododendron forest. 

 It is a busy, noisy little bird with a strange unmistakeable call which it 

 constantly repeats and which consists of a few ordinary chirping notes 

 followed by a curious grating mouse-like sound, twice repeated, and of a 

 ventriloquistic nature. 



I found four nests of this species containing 4, 3, 3, and 2 eggs, respectively, 

 all in the first week in June, built in low scrub about a foot from the ground 

 at an elevation of about 10,000 feet. 



The nest is domed and rather oval in shape 6 or 7 inches high and 4 inchs:^ 

 thick, with a circular opening near the top about 1 J inches in diameter. It is 

 composed externally of moss, dry grass and dry bamboo leaves and lined 

 rather scantily with fine grass and lastly with feathers. 



The eggs are slightly glossy ovals. In colour they are peculiar, the ground 

 being terra-cotta with darker markings of the same colour chiefly at the big 

 end. 



Tlie average of 12 eggs gives the following: — 



Length 0-72" 



Breadth 0'49" 



The above description, it will be observed, does not tally at all with that 

 given either in the Fauna of British Lidia or in Humes Nests and Eggs, 

 As, however, these latter appear to refer to eggs brought from Native 

 Sikkim by native collectors, they are probably unreliable and belong to some 

 other birds. 



4. JSthopyga nepalensis. The Nepal Yellow-backed Sun-Bird. — The ac- 

 counts of the nesting of this species, given by Hodgson and Jerdon, are 

 somewhat conflicting. I give the following note on a nest found by me on 

 the 14th May, 1902, at Rungirum, elevation 6,200 feet, near Darjeeling. The 

 nest is ovul in shape, measuring externally bk" x2^". It was suspended from 

 the ends of a small Cryptomeria branchlet, overhanging a steep bank at ;; 



