ll end at all. The shell
is fragile, and is either entirely glossless or has only a trace of
gloss. The ground-colour is white, with at times a faint pinkish
tinge, and the markings consist of spooks, spots, and splashes (always
most numerous at the large end, where they usually form a more or less
conspicuous though irregular cap) of dull or bright brick-red, more
or less intermingled in most specimens with dull reddish lilac. The
arrangement and size of the markings are very variable. In some eggs
they are all mere specks, forming a small speckly cap at the large
end, and elsewhere very thinly scattered about the surface; in others
many of the spots are (for the size of the egg) large, the majority
are well-marked spots and not mere specks, and the whole surface of
the egg is pretty thickly studded with them, while the broad end
exhibits a large blotched and mottled cap. The majority of the eggs
are intermediate between these two extremes.

In length the eggs vary from 0.61 to 0.72 and in breadth from. 0.5 to
0.54, but the average of numerous specimens is 0.67 by 0.52.[A]

[Footnote A: SITTA TEPHRONOTA, Sharpe. _The Eastern Rock-Nuthatch_

Sitta neumayeri, _Mich., Hume, cat._ no. 248 quint.

The Eastern Rock-Nuthatch is abundant in Baluchistan, and without
doubt breeds there. The following note by Lieut. H.E. Barnes will
therefore be interesting. He writes from Afghanistan:--"This Nuthatch
is very common on the hills. It appears to choose very different
localities to build in. In some instances a hole in the face of a
rock is selected, and this it lines with agglutinated mud and resin,
continuing the lining-case until it, projects in the shape of a cone
to fully 8 inches. It seems fond of decorating its little palace
with feathers to a distance of 2 or even 3 feet, and it is thus a
conspicuous object; but most nests are found in holes in trees, and
even here feathers are stuck into crevices all around. They are
usually well lined with camel-hair.

"They breed in March and April. The eggs are usually four in number (I
have sometimes found five), oval in shape, more or less glossy white,
and more or less densely or sparsely (generally most densely towards
the large end) spotted and blotched with varying shades of chestnut
to reddish brown, more or less intermingled with pale purple and
occasionally purplish grey. Some eggs are very richly marked. Some are
almost pure white. They average 0.87 by 0.57."

The eggs o