Marshall at Murree from May to the end of July. I again
took them in July and August near Simla, and Captain Beavan found them
as late as the 6th of September near the same station.

So far as my own experience goes, the nests are always placed in
very thick bushes or in low thick branches of some tree, the Deodar
appearing to be a great favourite. Those I found averaged about 4 feet
from the ground, but I took a single one in a Deodar tree fully 8 feet
up. The bird, as a rule, conceals its nest so well that, though a
loose and, for the size of the architect, a large structure, it is
difficult to find, even when one closely examines the bush in which it
is. The nest is nearly circular, with a deep cup-like cavity in the
centre, reminding one much of that of _Crateropus canorus_, and is
constructed of dry grass and the fine stems of herbaceous plants,
often intermingled with the bark of some fibrous plant, with a
considerable number of dead leaves interwoven in the fabric,
especially towards the base. The cavity is neatly lined with fine
grass-roots, or occasionally very fine grass. The cavity varies from 3
inches to 3.5 in diameter, and from 2.25 inches to 2.75 in depth; the
walls immediately surrounding the cavity are very compact, but the
compact portion rarely exceeds from .75 to 1 inch in thickness, beyond
which the loose ends of the material straggle more or less, so that
the external diameter varies from 5.5 inches to nearly 10.

The normal number of eggs appears to me to be three, although Captain
Beavan cites an instance of four being found.

Captain Hutton tells us (J.A.S.B. xvii.) that in the neighbourhood of
Mussoorie "this bird is met with in pairs, sometimes in a family of
four or five, and may be seen under every bush. The nest 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; it is loosely and rather slovenly
constructed of coarse dry grasses and stalks externally, lined
sometimes with fine grass, sometimes with fine roots. The eggs are
three in number, and in shape and size exceedingly variable, being
sometimes of an ordinary oval, at others nearly round."

From Almorah and Nynee Tal my friend Mr. Brooks writes to me "that
this bird is common everywhere. The nest is generally placed in a low
tree or bush where the foliage is thick. It is composed of grass, and
lined wit