THE SCARLET ROSE-FINCH. 49 



and carefully made, although it is so slender as to 

 be semi-transparent when held up to ,the light. 

 The inside diameter is two inches and a quarter. 



" Five is the usual number of eggs ; but some- 

 times only four are laid, and, occasionally, as 

 many as six. They vary in length from "g to "73, 

 and in i breadth from '63 to "55. The ground- 

 colour is greenish blue, not so pale as that of the 

 eggs of the Bullfinch ; the spots are also fewer, 

 smaller, and blacker than in typical eggs of the 

 latter species. They are smaller than the eggs of 

 the Bullfinch, and are not likely to be mistaken 

 for the eggs of any other bird." 



The following is Colonel Biddulph's account 

 of the breeding of the species in Gilgit : — 

 " Several nests were found, all situated within 

 a foot of the ground, either in low bushes 

 or among the stems of coarse grass, about 

 2 feet high, in scrub-jungle. The nest is a 

 neat cup-shaped structure of grass, lined with the 

 finer roots and stems only, except in one instance, 

 in which a good deal of hair was mixed with the 

 lining ; the interior is from 2 to 2^ inches wide, 

 and i^ deep. The eggs are blue ; of a purer and 

 slightly deeper shade than those of Trochalopteron 



4 



