228 SYLVIIDJE. 



this sounds very cruel ; but if a bird must be shot for scientific 

 purposes, it is surely preferable to kill it outright than to let it die 

 a lingering death. Thus it was that I eventually succeeded, even 

 at the expense of being devoured alive by midges and mosquitoes ; 

 bat then had I not the satisfaction of knowing that to become the 

 happy possessor of authentic eggs of Acrocephalvs dumetorum was 

 in itself sufficient to repay me for my hill excursion! 



" I cannot, however, pretend to lay claim to originality in the 

 discovery of the breeding-habits of this bird, for Hutton's de- 

 scription of the nest and eggs taken by him so fully accords with 

 my own experience, that it is but fair to couclude he was correct 

 in his identification. I would add, however, with reference to his 

 remarks, that the nest above alluded to was more elliptical than 

 spherical, being about the size and shape of an Ostrich's egg, that 

 it was constructed throughout of the largest and coarsest blades of 

 various kinds of dry grass, the egg-cavity being lined with grass- 

 bents of a finer quality, and that it was domed over, having a 

 lateral entrance about the middle of the nest. The whole struc- 

 ture was so loosely put together as to fall to pieces immediately it 

 was removed. 



" The eggs, four in number, are pure white, beautifully glossed, 

 and well covered with rufous or reddish-brown specks, most 

 numerous at the obtuse end. Owing to its similarity to a number 

 of eggs, particularly to those of the Titmouse group, it is just one of 

 those that I would never feel comfortable in accepting on trust. 



" It was a remarkable coincidence that the very day I took this 

 nest my post brought me part iv. of the P. Z. S. for 1874, con- 

 taining Mr. Dresser's interesting paper on the nidification of the 

 Hypolais and Acrocephalus groups ; and if I understand him rightly, 

 he is certainly correct in his surmise as to the eggs of Acrocephalus 

 dumetorum approaching those of the Hypolais group. 



" My good luck, as regards Blyth's Reed- Warbler, did not end 

 here, for on the following day, at Bagesur, at an elevation of only 

 3000 feet, I again encountered a pair of these birds, finding their 

 nest on the banks of the Surjoo. The position, shape, and archi- 

 tecture of this nest were identical with the one I have above de- 

 scribed, but the eggs unfortunately had not been laid. The little 

 birds, on this occasion, were quite fearless, hopping from stem to 

 stem of the dense undergrowth which throughout the Bagesur 

 valley fringes both banks of the river, every now and again making 

 a temporary halt for the purpose of picking insects off the leaves, 

 with an occasional ' tchich,' which Hutton resembles to the 

 ' sound emitted by a flint and steel,' but all the time enticing me 

 away from the site of their dwelling-place. In this way they led 

 me a wild-goose chase several times up and down the river-bank 

 before I was able to discover the whereabouts of their nest." 



Captain Hutton sent me three eggs of this species. The eggs 

 are otherwise unknown to me, and I describe them only on 

 Captain Hutton's authority. The eggs are rather broad ovals, very 

 smooth and compact in texture, but with little or no gloss. They 



