a remarkable coincidence that the very day I took this nest
my post brought me part iv. of the P.Z.S. for 1874, containing Mr.
Dresser's interesting paper on the nidification of the _Hypolais_
and _Acrocephalus_ groups; and if I understand him rightly, he is
certainly correct in his surmise as to the eggs of _Acrocephalus
dumetorum_ approaching those of the _Hypolais_ group.

"My good luck, as regards Blyth's Reed-Warbler, did not end here, for
on the following day, at Bagesur, at an elevation of only 3000 feet,
I again encountered a pair of these birds, finding their nest on the
banks of the Surjoo. The position, shape, and architecture of this
nest were identical with the one I have above described, but the eggs
unfortunately had not been laid. The little birds, on this occasion,
were quite fearless, hopping from stem to stem of the dense
undergrowth which throughout the Bagesur valley fringes both banks of
the river, every now and again making a temporary halt for the purpose
of picking insects off the leaves, with an occasional '_tchick_,'
which Hutton resembles to the 'sound emitted by a flint and
steel,' but all the time enticing me away from the site of their
dwelling-place. In this way they led me a wild-goose chase several
times up and down the river-bank before I was able to discover the
whereabouts of their nest."

Captain Hutton sent me three eggs of this species. The eggs are
otherwise unknown to me, and I describe them only on Captain Hutton's
authority. The eggs are rather broad ovals, very smooth and compact in
texture, but with little or no gloss. They are pure white, very thinly
speckled with reddish and yellowish brown, the markings being most
numerous towards the large end, and even there somewhat sparse and
very minute. They measure respectively 0.65 by 0.52, 0.65 by 0.51, and
0.62 by 0.51.

367. Acrocephalus agricola (Jerd.). _The Paddy-field Reed-Warbler_.

Acrocephalus agricolus (_Jerd.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 156.
Calamodyta agricola (_Jerd.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 517.

The Paddy-field Reed-Warbler nests apparently occasionally in May and
Jane in the valleys of the Himalayas, the great majority probably
going further north-west to breed.

Very little is known about the matter. I have shot the birds in the
interior of the hills in May, but I have never seen a nest.

Mr. Brooks, however, says:--"Near Shupyion (Cashmere) I found a
finished empty nest of this truly aquatic warbl