254 SYLYIIDiE. 



doubt it is often mistaken for that species. 1 have invariably found 

 it during the rains in grass Bheerhs overgrown with low thorny 

 bushes (Zizyphus jujuba, &c). Whether it remains the whole 

 year round 1 cannot say ; at all events, if it does, its close resem- 

 blance to A. caudata enables it to escape notice at other seasons." 



Mr. Cripps, writing from Fureedpore, says : — " Very common in 

 long grass fields. Permanent resident. It utters its soft notes 

 while on the wing, not only in the cold season but the yea.r through ; 

 it is very noisy during the breeding-time. Breeds in clumps of 

 grass a few inches above as well as on the ground. I found five 

 nests in the month of May from 23rd to 28th : one was on the 

 ground in a field of indigo ; the rest were in clumps of ' sone ' grass 

 and from the same field composed of this grass. One nest con- 

 tained three half-fledged young, and the rest had four eggs 

 slightly incubated in each. Although they nest in ' sone ' grass 

 which is rarely over three feet in height, it is very difficult to 

 find the nest, as the grass generally overhangs and hides it. Only 

 when the bird rises almost from your feet are you able to discover 

 the whereabouts. On several occasions I have noticed this species 

 perching on bushes." 



The eggs, which, to judge from a large series sent me by Mr. 

 Cripps, do not appear to vary much in shape, are moderately broad 

 ovals, more or less pointed towards one end. The shell is fine and 

 fragile but entirely devoid of gloss ; the ground-colour is white 

 with a very faint pinky or lilac tinge, and they are thickly speckled 

 all over with minute markings of two different shades — the one a 

 sort of purplish brown (they are so small that it is difficult to make 

 certain of the exact colour), and the other inky purple or grey. In 

 most eggs the markings are most dense at or about the large end, 

 and occasionally a spot may be met with larger than the rest, as big 

 as a pin's head say, and some of these seem to have a reddish tinge, 

 while some are more of a sepia. 



The eggs vary from 0-75 to - 86 in length and from 0-59 to 0-62 in 

 breadth, but the average of twelve eggs is almost exactly 0-8 by 06. 



394. Hypolais rama (Sykes). Sykes's Tree- Warbler. 



Phyllopneuste rama (Sykes), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 189. 



Iduna caligata, Licht., Hume, Rough Draft N. 8f E. no. 553. 



I have never myself obtained the nest and eggs of Sykes's Tree- 

 Warbler, P. rama, apud Jerd.* On the 1st April, at Etawah, my 

 friend Mr. Brooks shot a male of this species off a nest ; and I saw 

 the bird, nest, and eggs within an hour, and visited the spot later. 

 The nest was placed in a low thorny bush, about a foot from the 

 ground, on the side of a sloping bank in one of the large dry ravines 

 that in the Etawah District fringe the River Jumna for a breadth 



* I reproduce the note on this bird as it appeared in the ' Rough Draft,' but 

 I think some mistake has been made, as Mr. Hume himself suggests. Full re- 

 liance, however, may be placed on Mr. Doig's note, which is a most interesting 

 contribution. — Ei>. 



