OEATEEOPODIDjE. 



ground. It is very common near Kotegurh and below Narkunda, 

 where we found nearly a dozen nests, almost all, however, con- 

 taining young ones. Typically the nest is domed, and is loosely 

 constructed of the materials at hand — coarse grass, dry fern, dead 

 leaves, moss-roots, and the like, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter 

 and 5 or 6 inches high, with a broad entrance on one side, a good 

 deal above the middle. In some cases, however, where a dense 

 bunch of grass or fern completely curves over the spot selected for 

 the nest, the latter is a mere broad, shallow saucer. There is no 

 regular lining to the nests, but a good many fine roots are at times 

 incorporated in the interior of the cavity. All the nests that I 

 have seen were placed near the edges of clumps of brushwood or 

 scrubby jungle. 



I ought here to mention that I am by no means certain that the 

 Nepalese and Sikhim, in fact the eastern race of this species 

 (P. ferrugilatus, Hodgs.), will not have to be separated from the 

 more western P. erythrogenys of Gould. Long ago Blyth remarked 

 (' Journal Asiatic Society,' 1845, p. 598) that " there seems to be 

 two marked varieties of P. erythrogenys, one having white under- 

 pays, with merely faint traces of darker spots, the other with the 

 throat and breast densely mottled with greenish olive," or, as I 

 should call it, dingy olive-grey. This is perfectly true, and, as far 

 as I can make out, the latter variety is not one of sex or age, but 

 is local and confined to Kumaon (where the other form also occurs) 

 and the hills eastward of this province. My own remarks above 

 given refer to the true P. erythrogenys, and so do Hutton's ; but 

 Hodgson's and Mr. Gammie's birds both appear to have been, and 

 the latter's certainly were, grey-throated examples. The eggs are 

 undistinguishable, as, indeed, though they vary somewhat in shape 

 and size, are those of most of the Pomatorhini. 



Captain Hutton says that this species is " common from 3500 

 feet up to 10,000 or 12,000 feet, always in pairs, turning up the 

 dead leaves on copsewood covered banks, uttering a loud whistle, 

 answering and calling each other. It breeds in April, constructing 

 its nest on the ground of coarse dry grasses and leaf-stalks of 

 walnut-trees, and is covered with a dome-shaped roof, so nicely 

 blended with the fallen leaves and withered grasses, among which 

 it is placed, as to be almost undistinguishable from them. The 

 eggs are three in number, and pure white ; diameter 1*12 by 0-81 

 inches, of an ordinary oval shape. "When disturbed, the bird sprung 

 along the ground with long bounding hops, so quickly that, from 

 its motions and the appearance of the nest, I was led to believe it 

 a species of rat. The nest is placed in a slight hollow, probably 

 formed by the bird itself." 



According to Mr. Hodgson's notes, this species would appear to 

 breed at heights of from 2000 to 8000 feet. It lays in May and 

 June. On the 20th May, and again on the 6th June, Mr. Hodg- 

 son found nests of this species in thick bushes 3 or 4 feet above 

 the ground. They were broad saucer-shaped nests of coarse 

 vegetable fibres, grass, and grass-roots, 7 inches or so in diameter 



