63 to 0.7, and in breadth from 0.5 to 0.56;
but the average of twenty-four eggs now before me is 0.67 by 0.53.

136. Dumetia albigularis (Blyth). _The Small White-throated
Babbler_.

Dumetia albogularis (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind_ ii, p. 26; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 398.

Miss M.B. Cockburn, writing from Kotagherry, tells me that "the
White-throated Babbler builds its nest in the month of June. One was
found by my nest-seekers on the 17th of that month in the year 1873.
It was constructed on a coffee-tree, and contained three eggs, which
were white, profusely covered with reddish spots of all sizes. The
bird was very shy, and would not return to the nest for some hours
after it had been discovered; when, however, she did so, she was shot.
This year (1874) I found another similar nest on the 9th of June, also
containing three eggs."

The nest with which she favoured me was small and nearly globular (say
at most 4 inches in external diameter), composed entirely of broad
flaggy grass without any lining or any admixture whatsoever of other
material. The nest was loosely put together, and had a comparatively
narrow circular entrance near the top.

From Mysore Mr. Iver Macpherson writes:--"This is an exceedingly
common bird in parts of this district, and their nests are so
plentiful that I never now take them.

"I send you all the eggs I have at present, but can procure you any
number more next season.

"The birds are to be found in all kinds of wooded country except the
heavy forests, and appear to breed from the middle of April to the end
of July, and possibly later.

"The nest is a largish globular structure loosely made of either
bamboo-leaves or blades of grass, and all that I have ever seen have
been lined inside with a few fine fibres.

"Four appears to be the usual number of eggs, but very often there are
only three.

"The nests are always built near the ground, sometimes almost touching
it, and are fixed in either small bushes, tufts of grass, or young
bamboo-clumps."

Mr. J.L. Darling, Jun., states that this bird is very common in
Culputty in the Wynaad, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, and that
he has found the nests from the end of May to the middle of October.
The nest is built in high grass nearly on the ground, or in
date-palms, or in arrowroot in the jungle up to heights of 3 feet.
The nest is built entirely of grass, lined with finer grass; a nearly
round ball 6 inches in diameter outs