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.