ewhere
only pale lilac specks are visible. Occasionally together with
a well-defined zone numerous specks, spots, and a few hair-line
scratches of black are intermingled with faint purplish-grey spots,
and pretty thinly scattered everywhere.

The eggs vary from 0.53 to 0.68 in length and from 0.46 to 0.51 in
breadth; but the average of a very large number is 0.61 by 0.49.

402. Sylvia affinis (Blyth). _The Indian Lesser White-throated
Warbler_.

Sylvia curruca (_Gm.), apud Jerd. B.I._ ii, p. 209.
Sterparola curruca (_Lath.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 583.

Of the nidification of the Lesser Whitethroat within our limits, I
only know that it was found in May, breeding abundantly in Cashmere
in the lower hills, by Mr. Brooks. He did not notice it comparatively
high up; for instance at Goolmerg, which, though not above 9000 feet
high, is at the base of a snowy range, he did not see it at all.

It builds a loose, rather shallow, cup-shaped nest, composed chiefly
of grass, coarser on the exterior and finer interiorly, which it
places in low bushes and thickets at no great elevation from the
ground. The nest is more or less lined with fine grass and roots.

It lays four or sometimes five eggs.

Mr. Brooks writes:--"I found this Whitethroat tolerably numerous in
Cashmere, where it appears generally distributed, occurring at from
5500 to 6500 feet elevation or thereabouts, It frequents places where
there is abundance of brushwood or underwood, especially along the
banks of rivers or near them.

"I found several nests, and they were all placed in small bushes, and
from 4 to 6 feet above the ground. One was in a bush on a small island
in the Kangan River, which runs into the Sind River; and this nest
I well remember was just so high that I could not look into it as I
stood. The nests precisely resembled in size and structure those of
_C. garrula_ which I have seen at home, being formed of grasses,
roots, and fine fibres, and I think scantily lined with a few black
horsehairs; but I forget this now. They were slight, thinly formed
nests, very neat but strong, and had bits of spider's web stuck about
the outside here and there. This appears to be the decoration this
bird and _C. garrula_ are partial to. They were not added, I think,
for the purpose of rendering the nest inconspicuous, for there were
just enough to give the nest a spotted appearance.

"The song of this species strongly resembles that of its congener