In some eggs the markings are all rather bright red and dull purplish grey; some have a very fair amount of gloss, and a very pure china-white ground.

The eggs vary in length from 0.65 to 0.71, and in breadth from 0.5 to 0.53.

177.  Mixornis gularis (Raffl.). The Sumatran Yellow-breasted Babbler.

Mixornis gularis (Horsf.), Hume, cat. no. 395 bis.

The eggs[A] are very similar to those of M. rubricapillus, but are, perhaps, as a rule, better marked.  They are very regular ovals, typically rather slightly elongated, often slightly compressed towards the small end; the shell is very fine and fragile, and has usually a fair amount of gloss.  The ground is usually pure white, at times with a pinkish tinge.  Round the large end is a more or less conspicuous, more or less continuous zone of specks, spots, and small irregular blotches of two colours, the one varying in different eggs from almost brick-red to brownish orange, the other from reddish purple to purplish grey.  In some cases a very few, in others a good many, specks and tiny spots of the same colours are scattered about the other portions of the egg.  The eggs measure 0.7 by 0.51.

[Footnote A:  I cannot find any note about the nest of this species.  Mr. Davison was probably the finder of the eggs described.—­ED.]

178.  Schoeniparus dubius (Hume). Hume’s Tit-Babbler.

Proparus dubius, Hume; Hume, cat. no. 622 bis.

Mr. W. Davison has furnished me with the following note:—­“On the 21st of February I took a nest of this species on Muleyit mountain containing two eggs, and out of the female which I shot off the nest I took another egg ready for expulsion which was in every particular precisely similar to those in the nest.

“The nest was a large globular structure, composed externally of dried reed-leaves, very loosely put together, the egg-cavity deep and lined with fibres.  It was placed on the ground close to a rock, and at the foot of a Zingiberaceous plant, and rather exposed to view.  The nest was not unlike that of Pomatorhinus, but of course considerably smaller, not so much domed, and with the mouth of the egg-cavity pointing upwards.

“A few days later, on the 25th, I took a second nest, quite similar in shape and materials to the first one, but placed several feet above the ground, in a dense mass of creepers growing over a rock.  It was quite exposed to view, and from a distance of 3 or 4 feet the eggs were quite visible.

“There were three eggs in the nest, similar to those in the first nest.  Both parent birds were obtained.  The first nest measured 5 inches long by 4.5 wide, the egg-cavity 3.8 deep by 2.75 wide at the entrance.  The other was about half an inch smaller each way.

“The measurements of the six eggs varied from 0.76 to 0.81 in length by 0.56 to 0.6 in width, but the average was 0.78 by 0.59.”