MYIOPHONEIJS. 125 



fibre with a little green moss intermixed. The female lays two to 

 four eggs, and both birds assist in the incubation." 



Mr. T. Fulton Bourdillon records the finding of eggs on the fol- 

 lowing dates : — 



" April 29, 1873. Two hard-set eggs. 

 " May 15, 1873. Three „ 

 " May 15, 1874. One fresh egg. 

 " May 30, 1874. Two slightly set eggs." 

 Col. Butler sent me a splendid nest of this species taken in the 

 cliffs at Purandhur, 15 miles south of Poona. It was placed in 

 the angle between two rocks ; it measures in front 7 inches wide, 

 and 1"5 in. high ; posteriorly it slopes away into an obtuse angle 

 fitting the crevice in which it was deposited ; the cavity is 4 in. 

 in diameter, perfectly circular, and 2 - 25 in depth. The compact- 

 ness of the nest is such that it might be thrown about without 

 being damaged. It is composed throughout of fine black roots, 

 only a stray piece or two of light coloured grass being intermixed, 

 and the whole basal portion is cemented together with mud. 



He gives the following account of the mode in which he ac- 

 quired it : — 



" I got this nest in rather a singular way which is perhaps worth 

 relating. At a dance last year in Karachi, in a short conversation 

 I had with Colonel Benny, who was then commanding the Artillery 

 in Sind, he mentioned that he had three Blue-winged Thrushes in 

 his house that he had procured at Purandhur the year before. The 

 following day I went over to his bungalow, and after inspecting 

 them and satisfying myself of their identity, ascertained from him 

 where the nest they were taken from was situated and the season 

 at which it was found. Possessed with this information I wrote 

 in May to the Staff Officer at Purandhur, and told him where and 

 when the bird built and asked him if he would kindly assist me in 

 procuring the eggs. In reply I received a very polite letter saying 

 ' that he knew nothing about eggs or birds himself, but that he 

 would be most happy to offer me any assistance in his power in 

 procuring the eggs referred to, and that he would employ a shikarri 

 to keep the hill-side that I had mentioned watched when the 

 breeding-season arrived.' I wrote and thanked him, sending him 

 at the same time a drill and blowpipe by post, with full instructions 

 how to blow the eggs, in ease he got any ; and to my delight, at 

 the end of July a bhanghy parcel arrived one morning with the nest 

 and eggs above described. 



" Colonel Benny told me that the birds built on this cliff-side 

 every monsoon." 



Mr. E. Aitken has furnished me with the following note : — 

 " Of this bird I have seen two nests — one containing two hard-set 

 eggs on April 29, 1872, situated in a hole in a tree overhanging a 

 stream about 20 feet from the ground ; the other containing three 

 hard-set eggs on May 22nd, 1872, and situated on a ledge of rock 

 in the bed of a stream ; both the nests were rather coarsely made 

 of roots. My brother says he has also found three other nests, 

 two placed in holes of trees and the other on a rocky ledge, but 



