were only three slightly set eggs, all the
nests contained four more or less incubated ones. All the nests were
placed in amongst the twigs of low brushwood at heights of from 1 to
3 feet from the ground, and all present the invariable characteristic
feature of this species, namely, a greater or less admixture of
feathers in the lining of the cavity. Examining the nests carefully,
it will be seen that they are composed of three layers--exteriorly
everywhere coarse blades of grass and straw loosely put together,
inside this a mass of extremely fine panicle-stems of flowering grass,
and then inside this the lining of moderately fine grass mingled
with feathers. The nests vary a good deal in size, according to the
thickness of the coarse outer layer and the extent to which this
straggles; but they seem to be generally from 4 to 5 inches in
diameter, and 2.5 in height, whilst the cavity is about 2 inches in
diameter, and 1, or a little more than 1, in depth.

The eggs (each nest contained four) are _sui generis_, moderately
broad regular ovals, with a decided but not brilliant gloss, and of
a nearly uniform chocolate-purple. The eggs of one nest are of a a
slightly deeper shade than those of another, probably in consequence
of one set being more incubated than the other. They vary in length
from 0.66 to 0.69, and from 0.49 to 0.52 in breadth.

I do not entertain the slightest doubt of these nests and eggs.

Mr. Mandelli has sent me many more eggs of this species, mostly deep
chocolate-purple, but here and there an egg somewhat paler, what might
be called a pinkish chocolate. They vary from 0.61 to 0.70 in length,
and from 0.48 to 0.53 in breadth; but the average of fifteen eggs is
0.67 by 0.51 nearly.

450. Horornis pallidus(Brooks). _The Pale Bush-Warbler_.

Horeites pallidus, _Brooks, Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 527 bis.

The Pale Bush-Warbler breeds in Cashmere, according to Mr. Brooks,
during May. I know nothing either of the bird or its nidification
myself. I have never even closely examined a specimen, and merely
accept the species on Mr. Brooks's authority.

He tells me that he found a nest on the 25th May at Kangan in
Cashmere.

Mr. Brooks writes:--"The nest of _Horornis pallidus_, which I found
near Kangan in Cashmere, up the Sind Valley, was placed in tangled
brushwood, and about five feet above the ground. It was on a slightly
sloping bank, and close to the edge of a patch of jungle, not far from