183 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. VIII. 
with greyish or greenish. Typically they are thickly stippled and 
freckled with rufous-brown and purplish-brown, the latter marks being 
sometimes almost black. They are most numerous towards the larger 
end, where they occasionally form a ring or a cap. 
“ Tn addition to these markings, there are in most eggs a few rather 
larger underlying dots of pale lavender and pale dull purplish. In 
the majority the first-mentioned marks strongly predominate, but in 
a few these latter gave the prevailing tint to the eggs. 
“In about one egg in five there are a very few large blotches of 
one or two of the colours already mentioned. Ina few specimens the 
prevailing colour of the markings is a ruddy brown or ruddy pink, and 
these eggs are almost undistinguishable from those of some bulbuls. 
On one occasion I had taken four bulbuls’ nests and one nest belong- 
ing to this bird, and for some reason—I now forget what—had placed 
all the eggs in the same box. On my return home it was with the 
greatest difficulty I was able to distinguish between one clutch of 
bulbuls’ eggs and the eggs of P. mandellii. I have about four clutches 
in which the markings are more than usually dark and are very 
minute. In three there isa very distinct broad ring round the top 
of the larger end, within which are scattered a few brown and purple 
spots ; in the fourth clutch the freckles form a small dark cap, many 
of them coalescing, and all more or less indistinctly divided from one 
another. 
‘A solitary clutch in my possession has all four eggs marked with 
rather light umber-brown, only here and there one of purple and 
a few of raw sienna. Many eggs have the markings at the smaller 
end rather lighter than those of the large end. In shape the eggs 
are rather broad and very regular ovals, in many cases the difference 
in size between the two ends being barely perceptible. Abnormal 
specimens generally incline to the peg-top shape, a few being met 
with rather longer and with the smaller end somewhat compressed. 
The surface is very fine and close, and the greater number of eggs 
have a slight but appreciable gloss ; in some this is absent, in others 
rather highly developed. In proportion to the size of the egg the 
shell is rather fragile. In the hundred and eighteen eggs which I 
have measured the length only varies between °85" and :93”; the 
