in rod as she left the nest. Another nest which I took in Deesa
on the 3rd September, 1876, was composed almost entirely of raw cotton
with a scanty lining of horsehairs and dry grass-stems. It was fixed
to the outside twigs of a lime-tree, two of the leaves of which were
sewn to it; two dead leaves were also attached to the nest, one being
sewn on each side as a support to the cotton. It was cup-shaped and
open at the top, much like a Chaffinch's nest."

Mr. Oates remarks:--"This is a common bird in Burma in the plains, and
possibly also on the hills, though I did not observe it on the latter.
I found the nest of this species containing young birds in the
Thayetmyo cantonment on the 12th August. In the Pegu plains it appears
to nest from the middle of May to the end of August."

The eggs are typically long ovals, often tapering much towards the
small end. The shells are very thin, delicate, and semi-transparent,
and have but little gloss.

The ground-colour is either reddish white or pale bluish green. Of the
two types, the reddish white is the more common in the proportion
of two to one. The markings consist of bold blotchings or sometimes
ill-defined clouds (in this respect recalling the eggs of _Prinia
inornata_,) chiefly confined to the large end; and specks, spots, and
splashes, extending more or less over the whole surface, typically of
a bright brownish red, varying, however, in different examples both
in shade and intensity. The markings have a strong tendency to form a
bold, irregular zone or cap at the large end, and in some specimens
the markings are entirely confined to this portion of the egg's
surface.

The eggs, which have a reddish-white ground, though smaller and of
a much more elongated shape, closely resemble those of _Suya
fuliginosa_.

In length the eggs vary from 0.6 to 0.7, and in breadth from 0.45 to
0.5; but the average of fifty eggs measured is 0.64 by 0.46.

375. Orthotomus atrigularis, Temm. _The Black-necked Tailor-bird_.

Orthotomus atrigularis, _Temm., Hume, cat._ no. 530 bis.

Mr. Mandelli sends me a nest which he assures me belongs to this
species, and the bird he sent me for identification certainly did so
belong. The nest was found near the great Ranjit River on the 18th
July, and then contained three fresh eggs. The nest, which is a
regular Tailor-bird's, composed entirely of the finest imaginable
panicle-stems of flowering grass, is a deep cup placed in between two
livin