rk, was in a pineapple plant between the stalk
of the fruit and one of the leaves, almost on the ground."

The eggs are regular ovals, moderately elongated, only very slightly
compressed towards the smaller end, which is only just appreciably
smaller.

The shell is very fine and delicate, excessively smooth and fragile,
but with only a faint gloss. The ground is a dead white, with perhaps
the least possible pinkish tinge. The markings consist of _tiny_
specks of brownish or purplish red and pale yellowish brown, thinly
scattered over the rest of the surface, but comparatively densely
clustered round the larger end, where they form a rather conspicuous
though irregular and imperfect zone, apparent enough in all, but much
more strongly marked in one egg than in the others.

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 par