1848.] Notes on the Nidification of Indian Birds. 7 



noisy flocks, but appearing usually, according to my observation, in 

 pairs. Ifbreeds in May, in which month I took a nest at about 6,500 

 feet, in a retired and wooded glen ; it was composed of small twigs 

 externally, and lined with the fine black fibres of lichens, like the preced- 

 ing. The nest was placed on a horizontal bough about 7 feet from the 

 ground, and contained 3 pure white eggs. Diameter 1 T \ % \\ ; and 

 shape ordinary. The stomach of the old bird contained sand, seeds 

 and the remains of wasps. 



No. 8. — " Trochalopteron ? setifer, (Hodgson and Gray, Zool. Misc.) 

 Cinclosoma setifer, Hodgson. 

 C. lineatumy Vigors? 



If the colour of the eggs affords any generic character, this and the 

 foregoing species cannot well rank together, for while in that the eggs 

 are pure white, as in Crateropus, in this they are pale greenish blue 

 (like those of " Acridotheres tristis.")* The nest is loosely and rather 

 slovenlily constructed of coarse dry grasses and stalks externally, lined 

 sometimes with fine grass, — sometimes with fine roots. It is placed 

 near the ground in the midst of some thick low bush, — or on the side 

 of a bank amidst overhanging coarse grass, and not unfrequently in 

 exposed and well frequented places. The eggs are 3 in number, and 

 in shape and size exceedingly variable, being sometimes of an ordinary 

 oval — at others nearly round. Diameter varying, — 1-o-Xrf; — or 

 1 inch % \\ ; or |f % \\. The most usual measurement however is the 

 second one, or 1 inch % \\ inches. 



In these three species, which have sometimes been placed in Cinclo- 

 soma, — sometimes in Garrulax, — and again in Crateropus, — there 

 are several points both of similarity and dissimilarity, in their habits 

 and manners. 



In the number of eggs they agree, and there is a general similitude in 

 the construction of the nest, more so between the two first — less so 

 between them and the last ; — in the colour of the eggs they all differ 

 very materially ; the first congregates into large and noisy flocks, — 

 turning up the dead leaves and screaming and chattering together in 

 most discordant concert. The second is most usually in pairs — some- 

 times in a family of 4 or 5 ; — the last in pairs or family of 4 or 5, and 

 to be seen under every bush. Its mode of flight and its note are totally 

 unlike the other two. Any one observing the birds in their native 

 * So in Ruticilla ■phoenicurus the eggs sye blue ; in R. tithys, white.— E. B. 



