MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1159 



took several days as she went up fully 1,500 feet to her nest and the mist 

 (which was incessant over 14,000 feet) made it very difficult to follow her. 

 I kept the young alive for six days on white moths and ants' eggs when 

 they died very suddenly. One other nest with two young was seen. Up to 

 June 25th these birds were about in small flocks of from 5 to 10, feeding at 

 14,000 and some of them must have been building at that time fully 2,000 

 feet above their feeding grounds, so it would seem they do not separate 

 into pairs when building, and this makes the nest more difficult to find. 



Accentor nepalensis. — Eastern Alpine Accentor. — Two nests were found 

 with two and three eggs on June 27th and July 4th both in precisely simi- 

 lar situations, being placed well under flat stones, at nearly 15,000 feet. 

 The nests were beautifully made of moss throughout, no other material 

 being used. The eggs were, of course, blue and unspotted. Later on 

 several nests with young were seen. The dimensions of several specimens 

 I secured are much less than those given in the Birds of India, all I 

 measured being 6 inches in length with a wing of 3' 3 as against 7 inches 

 and 4 inches, and it would almost seem that this is a smaller race. 



Propasser thura. — White-browed Rose Finch. — Two nests of this bird 

 were taken at 13,000 feet at the end of July, the nests were placed low 

 down in juniper bushes and built solidly of dry grass with an inner lining 

 of hair. The eggs are clear greenish blue, sparingly spotted with black, 

 not with brownish grey as mentioned by Mandelli. The clutch appears to 

 be four. 



Propasser ambigwus. — Hume's Rose Finch. — Two nests were found at 

 12,000 feet, and I watched the birds building from a few yards off. The 

 nest and eggs do not differ from those of Propasser pulcherrimus and the 

 females are practically inseparable, though ambigitus is slightly the 

 smaller, the specimens I got being 5'6 in length with a wing of 2 - 8, 

 and I never got a female pulcherrimus under 5"8 in length with a wing 

 under 3 - 0. 



Propasser pulcherrimus. — Beautiful Rose Finch. — This bird was exceed- 

 ingly common, and I saw over 30 nests, all placed low down in prickly 

 bushes and made of dry grass and lined with hair. The clutch was 

 usually four, but sometimes five and many full clutches were laid by July 

 20th. The hen sits very close and can be examined on the nest once the 

 full clutch is laid, until then she is wary enough. 



Propasser rhodochrous. — Pink-browed Rose Finch. — This species was not 

 so common as pulcherrimus, but a good many nests were seen. I should 

 consider the eggs of ambiguus, pulcherrimus and rhodochrous as quite 

 inseparable, a clear greenish blue with black spots, but rhodochrous is 

 easily recognised on the nest by the broad supercilium, which shows up 

 well while the bird is sitting. 



Fringillauda sordida. — Stoliczka's Mountain Finch. — This was a common 



