TEE BIRDS OF NORTH GACHAR. 13 



They appear to be early breeders, April and May being the chief 

 breeding months, though I have taken eggs as late as the 4th July 

 in 1891. The eggs are very beautiful, pale bright blue, blotched 

 boldly with light brown or reddish-brown, or sometimes with deep 

 purply-black ; in the former case the markings are rather large 

 irregular blotches ; in the latter, generally, small spots and specks 

 only. The surface is very mooth, close and glossy, and the shell is 

 stout for so small an egg. Eighteen eggs average *57" X '46", and 

 range between "55" and *6" in length and between *45" and *48" in 

 breadth. 



This little bird has a most remarkable cry compounded of two 

 distinct sounds. The first is a prolonged plaintive note sounding like 

 chee-e-e-ah, and the second, uttered after a distinct interval, is a 

 beautiful bell-like note. A peculiar thing, too, is the fact that, where- 

 as it is always easy to fix the locality of the first sound, it is nest to 

 impossible to locate the second even approximately correctly. I was 

 for a long time under the impression that the notes, though both 

 uttered by this species, were made by different birds, but a male bird 

 caught on the nest was brought to me in a small wicker cage and 

 whilst in my hut repeatedly uttered both sounds, and I noticed then 

 that the bell-like note seemed sometimes to come from under my 

 table, where the bird was lying, and sometimes from right away out- 

 side the hut. 



The female seems seldom to utter the second note. This genus is, 

 I think, stronger on the wing than any other warbler I know. Their 

 flight is very quick and very level as well, and, when disturbed, they 

 will fly a long way at a time. I do not think this bird sits on its eggs 

 at all during the day unless it is raining. I spent several days in 1891 

 hunting for nests, and all which I obtained when the day was fine 

 were found by accident, for the birds were never noticed on the 

 nests, not one being found through the bird being disturbed from it. 

 On one day, when it was raining, however, the only two nests I 

 obtained were both found by noticing the bird fly away. She did 

 not leave the grass from close to the nest, but crept out of it through 

 the grass for a couple of yards before taking wing, and then, when 

 once she did fly, she went right away out of sight, instead of keeping 

 close by and showing any anxiety as to the fate of her property. 



