Vol. xli.] U 



Female. Similar to the female of P. d. mdicus, but larger 

 and with a heavier bill. Wing 75-78*5 mm. ; tail 53-61 mm. 



Distribution. The Valley of Cashmere, and probably other 

 areas north of the outer ranges of the Western Himalayas. 

 A winter visitor to the plains of Punjab and Sindh. 



Nidification. Said by Davidson ('Ibis,' 1899, p. 29) to 

 breed in holes along the banks of the Jhelum River. 



Named in honour of Mr. Thomas Parkin, F.Z.S., 

 M.B.O.U., etc. 



The Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain exhibited a series o£ eight 

 clutches of eggs of the new species of Acrocephalus described 

 above by Dr. Ticehurst, all taken in the marshes near Basra 

 by Major Logan Home and Mr. A. G. Tomlinson. When 

 the nests and eggs were first received, they were at once 

 found to differ considerably from those of A. arundinaceus 

 and A. stentoreus. The nests are comparatively small and 

 slight, about 3-3| in. in depth, and about the same 

 diameter, totally unlike the deep and bulky edifices 

 constructed by the Great and Clamorous Reed-Warblers. 

 The eggs, three or more (usually four) in number, are also 

 smaller, averaging 19'5 x 14*6 mm. (23 measured), and 

 are very variable in colouring, some closely approaching 

 the type of A. palustris ; while others would almost pass 

 for A. scirpaceus, and two sets have a pale bluish-grey 

 ground and irregular streaks, spots, and blotches, chiefly at 

 the large end, of varying depths of sepia and ochreous-brown. 



Mr. Jourdain also exhibited 11 eggs of the remarkable 

 light type of egg of Charadrius alexandrinus, taken by 

 Captain P. W. Munn in Mallorca, and identified by him with 

 the greatest care. These eggs closely resemble the accepted 

 type of C. diddus. A clutch of three eggs of C. dubius^ 

 taken by C^olonel Sparrow in Southern Algeria, boldly 

 marked with black spots and with the dark ground, were 

 also shown, and had also been carefully identified. It 

 seems evident that though the ordinary types of eggs of the 

 two species are very different, varieties of each may be 

 found closely resembling the other, for in both the above- 

 mentioned cases only one species of Charadrius was present. 



