20 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



worked into a small nest in which was placed a lining of moss roots. 

 Outside the moss hung down over it, perfectly screening it from view, 

 and there was no opening but merely the natural one between the 

 moss-fronds and the tree-trunk. Had not the bird flown out, when 

 I was only a few feet away from the tree, I do not think I could have 

 ever found it. 



It contained three eggs, white like all eggs of the genus Crypto- 

 lopha, but more glossy than the eggs of any other species that I have 

 seen. In shape they are like those of C. xanthoschista, and they mea- 

 sure -62"X'49", -WX-b", and -59">r49". 



(177) 0. castaneiceps.— The Chestnut-headed Fly-catcher Warbler. 

 Oates, No. 437 ; Hume, No. 578. 

 This little bird is not by any means rare to the east of the district, 

 though it seems to be confined to a very small area. In the Laisung 

 Valley I took several nests, all of just the same description as those of 

 C. xanthoschista. In texture and shape, the eggs are also precisely 

 similar, but are, of course, much smaller, measuring only '53" X '4''. 



It has a wonderfully pretty little song, which it constantly utters 

 during the breeding season and generally in close proximity to the nest. 



(178) 0. contator. — Tickell's Fly-catcher Warbler. 

 Oates, No. 438 ; Hume, No. 576 Bis. 

 I have seen a specimen of this bird said to have been got in North. 

 Cachar ; personally I have never met with it. 



(177) Abrornis superciliaris. — The Yellow-bellied 



Fly-catcher Warbler. 



Oates, No. 440 ; Hume, No. 574, No, 577 Bis. 



This is by far the commonest fly-catcher warbler to be found in 

 these hills, and is fairly common from the level of the plains up to the 

 highest peaks. 



The song is short, but very sweet and clear, and the bird is very fond 

 of uttering it. This, more than any other species of Abrornis or Cryp- 

 tolopha, takes its prey on the wing just like the fly-catchers, and I 

 have often watched it for some half hour or so, alternately fluttering 

 into the air and capturing some insect and then sitting on a twig and 

 singing his cheerful little song. 



All the eggs I have seen were blotched with reddish, thickly scat- 

 tered everywhere and forming a deep-coloured cap at the larger end. 



Fifteen eggs measure "57" X "43". In shape they resemble the eggs 

 of the last species, occasionally being somewhat longer in proportion* 



