Reguloides humii, _Brooks, Hume, cat._ no. 565 bis.
Reguloides superciliosus (_Gm), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 565.
Mr. Brooks and Captain Cock are the only persons I know of who have
taken the eggs and nests of this species. The nest and eggs sent to
and described by me in 'The Ibis' as belonging to this bird cannot
really have pertained to it.
Mr. Brooks tells us that _P. humii_ "is very abundant in Cashmere, and
I believe in all hills immediately below the snows. It would be
vain to look for this bird at elevations below 8000 feet, or at any
distance from the snows. It was common even in the birch woods above
the upper line of pines. I found many nests. It builds a globular nest
of coarse grass on a bank side, always on the ground, and never up a
tree. The nest is lined with hair in greater or lesser quantities.
The eggs, four or five in number, average ·56 by ·44, are pure white,
profusely spotted with red, and sometimes have also a few spots of
purplish grey. On the 15th June I found a nest with four young ones on
the south side of the Pir-Pinjal Pass. This bird has no song, only a
double chirp in addition to its callnote. The double chirp, which
is very loud, is intended for a song, for the male bird incessantly
repeats it as he feeds from tree to tree near where the female is
sitting upon her nest."
Nests of this species obtained in Cashmere towards the end of May
and during June near Goolmerg, and brought me by Mr. Brooks, were
certainly by no means worthy of this pretty little Warbler. They are
very loosely made, more or less straggling cups of somewhat coarse
grass, only slightly lined interiorly with fine moss-roots. The
egg-cavity is very small compared with the size of the nest, some of
which, look like balls of grass with a small hole in the centre. They
average from 4 to 5 inches in external diameter, and from 2 to 3
inches in height. The egg cavity does not exceed 2 inches in diameter,
and seems often to be less, and is from an inch to half an inch in
depth.
From Cashmere, when in the thick of the nests of this species, Mr.
Brooks wrote to me as follows:--
"From Goolmerg, which is at the foot of a snowy range, I went up to
the foot of the snows through pine-forests. The pines ceased near the
snow and were replaced by birch wood on tremendously rocky ground,
which bothered me greatly to get over. I had missed _P. humii_ after
leaving the foot of the hill, where water was plentiful, but here
again the bird became abundant. I could not, however, find a nest
here, though I watched several pairs. I think in the cooler country
they breed later. Flowers which had gone out of bloom below I again
met with up here in full flower.
"Blyth says: '_R. superciliosus_ has not any song, unless a sort of
double call, consisting of two notes, can be called a song,' This the
males vigorously uttered all day long, but I did not notice this much;
but as soon as the female sharply and rapidly uttered the well-known
bell-like call, I knew she was disturbed from her nest, or had left it
of her own accord. Whichever of us heard this rushed quickly to the
spot, and the female once sighted was kept in view as she flitted from
tree to tree, apparently carelessly feeding all the while; soon she
came lower down to the bashes below, and now her note quickened and
betokened anxiety; generally before half an hour would elapse she
would make a dash at a particular spot, and wish to go in but checked
herself. This would be repeated two or three times, and now the nest
was within the compass of 2 or 3 yards. At last down she went and her
note ceased. When all had been quiet for a minute or two, the male
meanwhile continuing his double note in the trees above, I cautiously
approached the place. Sometimes the nest was very artfully concealed,
but other times there it was--the round green ball with the opening at
one side. I often saw the female put her head out and then partially
draw it in again. Her well-defined supercilium was very distinct. I
thought I could catch her on the nest once, and went round above her,
but out came her head a little further, and she bolted as I brought
down my pocket handkerchief on the nest. I shot one or two from the
nest, but this I found unnecessary. In every case the female shouted
vigorously on leaving the nest or immediately after, and by her very
peculiar note fully authenticated the eggs."
Elsewhere Mr. Brooks has remarked:--"Goolmerg is one of those mountain
downs, or extensive pasture lands, which are numerous on the top of
the range of hills immediately below the Pir-Pinjal Range, which is
the first snowy range. It is a beautiful mountain common, about
3000 feet above the level of Sirinugger, which latter place has an
elevation of 5235 feet. This common is about 3 miles long and about a
couple of miles wide, but of very irregular shape. On all sides the
undulating grass-land is surrounded by pine-clad hills, and on one
side the pine-slopes are surmounted by snowy mountains. On the side
near the snow the supply of water in the woods is ample. The whole
hill-side is intersected by small ravines, and each ravine has its
stream of pure cold water--water so different from the tepid fluid we
drink in the plains. In such places where there were water and old
pines _P. humii_ was very abundant: every few yards was the domain of
a pair. The males were very noisy, and continually uttered their song.
This song is not that described by Mr. Blyth as being similar to the
notes of the English Wood-Wren (_P. sibilatrix_) but fainter--it is a
loud double chirp or call, hardly worthy of being dignified with the
name of song at all. While the female was sitting, the male continued
vigorously to utter his double note as he fed from tree to tree. To
this note I and my native assistants paid but little attention;
but when the female, being off the nest, uttered her well-known
'_tiss-yip_,' as Mr. Blyth expresses the call of a Willow-Wren, we
repaired rapidly to the spot and kept her in view. In every instance,
before an hour had passed, she went into her nest, first making a few
impatient dashes at the place where it was, as much as to say--'There
it is, but I don't want you to see me go in.'
"The nest of _P. humii_ is always, so far as my observation goes
placed on the ground on some sloping bank or ravine-side. The
situation preferred is the lower slope near the edge of the wood, and
at the root of some very small bush or tree; often, however, on quite
open ground, where the newly growing herbage was so short that it only
partially concealed it. In form it is a true Willow-Wren's nest--a
rather large globular structure with the entrance at one side.
Regarding the first nest taken, I have noted that it was placed on a
sloping bank on the ground, among some low ferns and other plants, and
close to the root of a small broken fir tree which, being somewhat
inclined over the nest, protected it from being trodden upon. It was
composed of coarse dry grass and moss and lined with finer grass and a
few black hairs. The cavity was about 2 inches, and the entrance about
1½ inch in diameter. About 20 yards from the nest was a large, old,
hollow fir tree, and in this I sat till the female returned to her
nest. My attendant then quietly approached the spot, when she flew
out of the nest and sat on a low bank 2 or 3 yards from it: then she
uttered her '_tiss-yip_,' which I know so well, and darted away among
the pines. My man retired, upon which she soon returned, and having
called for a few minutes in the vicinity of the nest, she ceased her
note and quickly entered. Again she was quietly disturbed, and sat on
a twig not far from the nest. I heard her call once more, and then
shot her. There were five eggs, which were slightly incubated.
* * * * *
"My second nest was placed on the side of a steep bank on the ground.
The third was similarly placed, and composed of coarse grass and moss,
and lined with black horsehair. In each of these nests the number of
eggs was five.
"Another nest, taken on the 1st June, with four eggs, was placed on
the ground on a sloping bank, at the foot of a small thin bush. It was
composed as usual of coarse dry grass and moss, and lined with finer
grasses and a few hairs. The eggs were five or six days incubated.
"Another nest, with four eggs, was placed on the ground, under the
inclined trunk of a small fir. The same materials were used.
"Another nest, containing four eggs, was placed on a sloping bank and
quite exposed, there being little or no herbage to conceal it. It was
composed as before, with the addition of a few feathers in the outer
portion of the nest.
"Another nest was at the roots of a fern growing on a very steep bank.
The new shoots of the fern grew up above the nest, and last year's
dead leaves overhung it and entirely concealed it.
"Another was placed on a sloping bank, immediately under the trunk of
a fallen and decayed pine. On account of the irregularities in the
ground, the trunk did not touch the ground where the nest was by about
2 feet. This was again an instance of contrivance for the nest's
protection. It was composed of the same materials as usual.
"Another was among the branches of a shrub, right in the centre of the
bush and on the ground, which was sloping as usual.
"Another nest, with four eggs, taken on 3rd June, was placed in the
steep bank of a small stream, only 3 feet 6 inches above the water.
"The above examples will give a very fair idea of the situation of the
nest; and it now remains only to describe the eggs, which average ·56
long by ·44 broad. The largest egg which was measured was ·62 long
and ·45 broad, and the smallest measured ·52 long and ·43 broad. The
ground-colour is always pure white, more or less spotted with brownish
red, the spots being much more numerous and frequently in the form of
a rich zone or cap at the larger end. Intermixed with the red spots
are sometimes a few purplish-grey ones. Other eggs are marked with
deep purple-brown spots, like those of the Chiffchaff, and the spots
are also intermingled with purplish grey. Some eggs are boldly and
richly marked, while others are minutely spotted. The egg also varies
in shape; but, as a general rule, they are rather short and round,
resembling in shape those of _P. trochilus_. In returning from
Cashmere, on the south face of the Pir-Pinjal Mountain and close to
the footpath, I found on the 15th June a nest of this bird with four
young ones. This nest was placed in an unusually steep bank. Half an
hour after finding the nest, and perhaps 1000 feet lower down the
hill, I stood upon a mass of snow which had accumulated in the bed of
a mountain-stream."
Captain Charles R. Cock writes to me that he "took numbers of nests at
Sonamerg, in the Sindh Valley in Cashmere, during a nesting trip that
I took in 1871 with my valued and esteemed friend W.E. Brooks, Esq.
Although at the time of our finding the nest of this Warbler we were
about 80 miles apart, yet we both found our first nest on the same
day--the 31st May. I believe he was by a couple of hours or so the
winner, as I do not think the egg had ever been taken before.
"Breeds in May or June on the ground in banks; makes a globular nest
of moss, well lined with fine grass, musk-deer hair, or horse-hair. It
lays five eggs, white spotted with rusty red, inclining to a zone at
the larger end."
Typically the eggs of this species are broad ovals, slightly
compressed towards one end; the ground pure white and almost perfectly
devoid of gloss, speckled and spotted with red or purplish red, the
markings, most dense about the large end, often forming an irregular
mottled cap or zone. These are the general characters, but the eggs
vary very much in shape, size, colour, and density of markings. Some
eggs are almost spherical; others are somewhat elongated; others
slightly pyriform. As a body, alike in shape and coloration, they
remind one of the eggs of many species of Indian Tit, especially
those of _Lophophanes melanolophus_. In some eggs the markings are
a slightly brownish brickdust-red, moderate sized spots and specks
scattered pretty thickly over the whole surface, but gathered into
a dense, more or less confluent, zone or cap towards the large end.
Intermingled with these primary markings a few pale purple spots
are scattered towards the large end of the eggs. In other eggs the
markings are mostly mere specks, and in this type of egg the specks
are mostly brownish purple, in some almost black. Occasionally an
egg is almost entirely spotless, having only towards the large end a
clouded dingy reddish-purple zone. In some eggs again the colour of
the markings is pale and washed out. As a rule, the eggs in which the
markings are of the brickdust-red type have these larger, bolder, and
more numerous; while those in which the markings are purple have them
of a more minute character.
The shape of the eggs, as already noticed, varies much, being
sometimes longer than those of _P. trochilus_, and at other times very
much of the same rounded shape. Frequently they are more pointed at
the smaller end than those of _P. trochilus_ usually are. The texture
of the egg is similar to that of _P. trochilus_, with scarcely any
gloss. The ground-colour is always pure white, and the markings,
which are always more or less plentiful, are either reddish brown
or purple-brown, intermingled sparingly with lighter or darker
purple-grey.
Some eggs contain hardly a speck of the purple-grey, while others have
considerable blotches of that colour scattered amongst the red spots.
Some eggs are scantily marked, and have the spots very small; while
others are densely spotted and blotched, the spots often being more or
less confluent at the larger end. Frequently they accumulate round
the larger end in the form of a confluent zone. The variety with deep
purple-brown spots, which is the rarest, resembles those of _P.
rufa_ in miniature; but, as a rule, the egg bears a much stronger
resemblance to that of _P. trochilus_, though it is of course
much smaller. _As far as the colour goes_, the representations in
Hewitson's work of the eggs of _Parus cristatus, Parus coeruleus_,
and _Phylloscopus trochilus_ will give a very correct idea of the
different varieties of the egg of the present bird.
The greatest number of eggs found in any nest by Captain Cock and Mr.
Brooks was five; frequently, however, four was the number upon which
the bird was sitting; eggs partially incubated. On the Pir-Pinjal
Mountain, just below the snows, a nest with four young ones was found
on the 15th June, so that, though five seems to be the usual number,
the bird frequently lays only four.
In length the eggs vary from 0·52 to 0·62, and in breadth from 0·43 to
0·47; but the average of fifty eggs carefully measured was 0·56 full
by 0·44.
428. Acanthopneuste occipitalis, Jerd. _The Large Crowned
Willow-Warbler_.
Reguloides occipitalis (_Jerd.), Jerd. B.I._ ii, p. 196; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 563.
The Large Crowned Willow-Warbler breeds in Cashmere and the North-west
Himalayas generally, during the latter half of May, June, and the
first half of July, apparently at any elevation from 4000 to 8000
feet.
Mr. Brooks says:--"This is perhaps the commonest bird in Cashmere,
even more so than _Passer indicus_. It is found at almost all
elevations above the valley where good woods occur.
"I only took three nests, as the little bird is very cunning, and,
unlike the simple _P. humii_, is very careful indeed how it approaches
its nest when an enemy is near.
"The nest is placed in a hole under the roots of a large tree on some
steep bank-side. I found one in a decayed stump of a large fir-tree,
inside the rotten wood. It was placed on a level with the ground, and
could not be seen till I had broken away part of the outside of the
stump. It was composed of green moss and small dead leaves, a scanty
and loosely formed nest, and not domed. It was lined with fine grass
and a little wool, and also a very few hairs. There were five eggs.
"Another nest was also placed in a rotten stump, but under the roots.
A third nest was placed in a hole under the roots of a large living
pine, and in front of the hole grew a small rose-bush quite against
the tree-trunk. This nest was most carefully concealed, for the hole
behind the roots of the rose-bush was most difficult to find.
"The eggs, four or five in number, are of a rather longer form than
those of _P. humii_, and are pure white without any spots. They
average ·65 by ·5."
He added _in epist._:--"This is a much shier bird than _P. humii_. I
watched many a one without effect. The nest is a loose structure of
moss lined with a little wool, and would not retain its shape after
coming out of the hole. It is a most amusing bird, very noisy, with a
short poor song, and utters a variety of notes when you are near the
nest."
Certainly the nests he brought me are nothing but little pads of moss,
3 to 4 inches in diameter and perhaps an inch in thickness. There is
no pretence for a lining, but a certain amount of wool and excessively
fine moss-roots are incorporated in the body of the nest. _In situ_
they would appear to be sometimes more or less domed.
Captain Cock writes to me:--"I have taken numbers of nests of this
bird in Cashmere and in and about the hill-station of Murree. They
commence breeding in May and have finished by July. The nests are
placed under roots of trees, in crevices of trees, between large
stems, and a favourite locality is, where the road has a stone
embankment to support it, between the stones. The nest is globular,
made of moss, and the number of eggs is four. I have often caught the
old bird on the nest. The nests are easy to find, as the birds are
very noisy and demonstrative when any one is near their nests."
Colonel C.H.T. Marshall also very kindly gives me the following most
interesting note on the nidification of this species in the vicinity
of Murree. He says:--
"This little Willow-Warbler, so far as my own experience goes, always
prefers a pretty high elevation for breeding. Out of the dozen nests
found by Captain Cock and myself in the neighbourhood of Murree, none
were at an elevation of less than 6500 feet above the sea; and my
shikaree, who was always on the look out for me in the lower ranges,
never came across the nest of this species.
"The nest is generally placed in holes at the foot of the large spruce
firs. It is a difficult nest to find, as the bird selects holes into
which the hand will not go, and outside there are no signs of there
being any nest within.
"The cock bird spends most of his time at the tops of trees, coming
down at intervals. The only chance of success in taking the eggs is to
watch carefully any that may be flying low in the bushes, until they
disappear cautiously into the holes where they are breeding. I should
mention that we have also found some nests in the rough stone walls on
the hill road-sides.
"The nest is as neatly and carefully built as if it had to be exposed
on the branch of a tree. It is globular in shape, made of moss, and
lined with feathers. The eggs are pure white. They apparently rear two
broods in the year. In the first nest, which we found under the root
of an old spruce-fir on the 17th May, the eggs were quite hard-set;
and I may remark that immediately over this nest, about 8 feet up the
tree in a crack in the wood, a little _Muscicapula superciliaris_ was
sitting on five eggs. Later at the end of June we found _fresh_ eggs
in several nests. The eggs in our collection were all taken between
the 17th May and the 10th July."
They do not always, however, select such situations as those referred
to in the above accounts. Sir E.C. Buck, C.S., says:--"I found a nest
on 11th June in the roof of Major Batchelor's bungalow at Nachar, in
the Sutlej Valley; it contained young birds. I was not allowed to
disturb the nest, which was composed externally of moss. I noticed a
second half-made nest near the other."
The eggs of this species are, as might be expected, somewhat larger
than those of _P. humii_, and they are of a different character, being
spotless, white, and slightly glossy. In shape the eggs vary from
a nearly perfect, moderately elongated oval to a slightly pyriform
shape, broad at the large end, and a good deal compressed and somewhat
pointed towards the small end (_vide_ the representation of the eggs
of _Ruticilla tithys_ in Hewitson's work).
In length they vary from 0·63 to 0·68, and in breadth from 0·48 to
0·53; but the average of fifteen eggs measured is 0·65 by 0·5.
430. Acanthopneuste davisoni, Oates. _The Tenasserim White-tailed
Willow-Warbler_.
Reguloides viridipennis (_Blyth), apud Hume, cat._ no. 507[A].
[Footnote A: Mr. Hume is of opinion that this bird is the true _P.
viridipennis_ of Blyth. I have elsewhere stated my reasons for
disagreeing with him.--ED.]
It was on the 2nd of February, just at the foot of the final cone of
Mooleyit, at an elevation of over 6000 feet, that Mr. Davison came
upon the nest of this species. He says:--
"In a deep ravine close below the summit of Mooleyit I found a nest of
this Willow-Warbler. It was placed in a mass of creepers growing over
the face of a rock about 7 feet from the ground. It was only partially
screened, and I easily detected it on the bird leaving it. I was very
much astonished at finding a nest of a Willow-Warbler in Burmah, so
I determined to make positively certain of the owner. I marked the
place, and after a short time returned very quietly. I got within a
couple of feet of the nest; the bird sat still, and I watched her for
some time; the markings on the top of the head were very conspicuous.
On my attempting to go closer the bird flew off, and settled on a
small branch a few feet off. I moved back a short distance and shot
her, using a very small charge.
"The nest was a globular structure, with the roof slightly projecting
over the entrance. It was composed externally chiefly of moss,
intermingled with dried leaves and fibres; the egg-cavity was warmly
and thickly lined with a felt of pappus.
"The external diameter of the nest was about 4 inches; the egg-cavity
1 inch at the entrance, and 2 inches deep.
"The nest contained three small pure white eggs."
The three eggs here mentioned measured 0·59 and 0·6 in length, by 0·49
in breadth.
434. Cryptolopha xanthoschista (Hodgs.) _Holgson's Grey-headed
Flycatcher-Warbler_.
Abrornis albosuperciliaris, _Blyth, Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 202; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 573.
Throughout the Himalayas south of the first snowy ranges, and in all
wooded valleys in rear of these, from Darjeeling to Murree, this
Warbler appears to be a permanent resident.
I have received its nests and eggs from several sources, and have
taken them in the Sutlej and Beas Valleys myself. They lay in the last
week of March, and throughout April and May, constructing a large
globular nest of moss, more or less mingled exteriorly with dry grass
and lined thinly with goat's hair, and then inside this thickly with
the softest wool or, in one nest that I found, with the inner downy
fur of hares. The entrance to the nest is sometimes on one side,
sometimes almost at the top, and is rather large for the size of the
bird. The nest is almost without exception placed on a grassy bank, at
the foot of some small bush, and usually contains four eggs.
Talking of this species, and writing from Almorah on the 17th May, Mr.
Brooks said:--"I have just taken a nest. It was placed on a sloping
bank-side near the foot of a small bush. The bank was overgrown with
grass. The nest, which was on the ground, was a large ball-shaped one,
composed of very coarse grass, moss-roots, and wool, and lined with
hair and wool. It contained four pure white glossy eggs, which were
much pointed at the small end. I shot the bird off the nest. I had
already frequently met with fully-grown young birds of this species."
Writing from Dhurmsala, Captain Cock remarked:--"On the 8th April I
found a nest of this species containing four white eggs; it was placed
on the ground, under a bush, on a steep bank. The nest was globular,
with rather a large entrance-hole, and was made of moss, with dry
grass outside, then black hair of goats, and thickly lined with the
softest of wool: _no feathers_ in the nest. I caught the bird on the
nest; it is common here."
Colonel G.F.L. Marshall tells us:--"A nest found on the 22nd May at
Naini Tal, about 7000 feet above the sea, contained three hard-set
eggs. The eggs were pure white. The nest was a most beautiful little
structure of moss, lined with wool; it was globular, with the entrance
at one side, and placed on a bank among some ground-ivy, the outer
part of the nest having a few broad grass-blades interwoven so as to
assimilate the appearance of the nest to that of the bank against
which it lay. It was at the side of a narrow glen with a northern
aspect, and about four feet above the pathway, close to the spring
from which my _bhisti_ daily draws water, the bird sitting fearlessly
while passed and repassed by people going down the glen within a foot
or two of the nest."
The eggs are pure white, and generally fairly glossy. In texture the
shells are very fine and compact. The eggs are moderately broad ovals,
much pointed towards the small end, and vary from 0·6 to 0·65 in
length, and from 0·48 to 0·52 in breadth; but the average of twenty
eggs measured is 0·63 by 0·5 nearly.
435. Cryptolopha jerdoni (Brooks). _Brooks's Grey-headed
Flycatcher-Warbler_.
Abrornis xanthoschistos (_Hodgs.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 202; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 572.
This Warbler breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes[A], both in
Nepal and Sikhim up to an elevation of 6000 or 7000 feet. They lay in
May three or four pure white eggs. They make their nest on the ground
in thick bushes, or in holes in banks, or under roots of trees. The
nest is a large mass of moss and dry leaves, somewhat egg-shaped, with
the entrance at one end, some 6 inches in length, 4 inches in breadth,
and 3·5 in height externally, and with an oval entrance about 1·5 high
and 2·25 wide. Inside it is carefully lined with moss-roots. Both
sexes assist in hatching and rearing the young, which are ready to fly
in July.
[Footnote A: Mr. Hodgson's specimens in the British Museum are _C.
xanthoschista_; but _C. jerdoni_ also occurs in Nepal, and Mr. Hodgson
_may_ have found the nests of both. I leave the note as it appeared
in the 'Rough Draft,' as the two species are not likely to differ in
their habits, and it matters little to which species Mr. Hodgson's
note refers, provided the above remarks are borne in mind.--ED.]
From Sikhim Mr. Gammie says:--"I found one nest of this species at
Rishap, at an elevation of 5000 feet, on the 20th May. The nest was in
thin forest, near its outer edge, and placed on the ground beside a
small stem. It was domed, and composed entirely of moss, with the
exception of a few fibres in the hood or dome portion, and was lined
with thistle-down. The exterior diameter was 3·3, the height 3·2: the
cavity was 1·6 in diameter, and only an inch in depth below the lower
margin of the entrance, which was the rim of the true cup, over which
the hood was drawn. The nest contained four fresh eggs."
Several nests of this species that have been sent me from Sikhim
were all of the same type--beautiful little cups, some placed on the
ground, some amongst the twigs of brushwood a little above the ground,
composed entirely of fine moss and a little fern-root, and with the
interior of the cavity not indeed regularly lined but dotted about
with tufts of silky seed-down.
The eggs are very similar to but smaller than those of the preceding
species--very broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards one end, pure
white, and faintly glossy. In length they vary from 0·53 to 0·58, and
in breadth from 0·45 to 0·49.
436. Cryptolopha poliogenys (Blyth). _The Grey-cheeked
Flycatcher-Warbler_.
Abrornis poliogenys (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 203.
From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"A nest of the Grey-cheeked
Flycatcher-Warbler, taken on the 8th May in large forest at 6000 feet,
contained three hard-set eggs. It was suspended to a snag among the
moss growing on the stem of a small tree at five feet up. The moss
supported it more than did the snag. It is a solid cup-shaped
structure, made of green moss and lined with very fine roots.
Externally it measures 3½ inches across and 2¼ deep; internally 2
inches wide and 1¾ deep."
The eggs of this species, like those of _C. xanthoschista_ and _C.
jerdoni_, are pure white. They are not, I think, separable from the
eggs of these two species. Those sent me by Mr. Gammie measure 0·66
and 0·67 in length by 0·5 in breadth.
437. Cryptolopha castaneiceps (Hodgs.). _The Chestnut-headed
Flycatcher-Warbler_.
Abrornis castaneiceps, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii. p. 205; _Hume.
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 578.
According to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures, the Chestnut-headed
Flycatcher-Warbler breeds in the central hill-region of Nepal from
April to June, laying three or four eggs, which are neither figured
nor described. The nest itself is a beautiful structure of mosses,
lichens, moss- and fern-roots, and fine stems worked into the shape
of a large egg, measuring 6 and 4 inches along the longer and shorter
diameters; it is placed on the ground in the midst of a clump of ferns
or thick grass, with the longer diameter perpendicular to the ground.
The aperture, which is about halfway between the middle and the top of
the nest, and on one side, is oval, about 2 inches in width and 1·75
in height. Both sexes are said to assist in hatching and rearing the
young.