PHYLLOSCOPUS.	263
male bird incessantly repeats it as he feeds from tree to tree near
where the female is sitting upon her nest,"
Nests of this species obtained in Cashmere towards the end of May
and during June near Goolmerg, and brought me by Mr. Brooks,
were certainly by no means worthy of this pretty little Warbler.
They are very loosely made, more or less straggling cups of some-
what coarse grass, only slightly lined interiorly with fine moss-roots.
The egg-cavity is very small compared with the size of the nest, some
of which look like balls of grass with a small hole in the centre.
They average from 4 to 5 inches in external diameter, and from
2 to 3 inches in height. The e$rg cavity does not exceed 2 inches
in diameter, aud seems often to be less, and is from an inch to half
an inch in depth.
Prom Cashmere, when in the thick of the nests of this species,
Mr. Brooks wrote to me as follows :—
" From G-oolmerg, which is at the foot of a snowy range, I went
up to the foot of the snows through pine-forests. The pines ceased
near the snow and were replaced by birch wood on tremendously
rocky ground, which bothered me greatly to get over. 1 had missed
P. Jiumii after leaving the foot of the hill, where water was plentiful,
but here again the bird became abundant. I could not, however,
find a nest here, though I watched several pairs. I think in the
cooler country they breed later. Mowers which had gone out of
bloom below I again met with up here in full flower.
" Blyth says : 'E. sujperciliosus has not any song, unless a sort
of double call, consisting of two notes, can be called a song/ This
the males vigorously uttered all day long, but I did not notice this
much ; bat as soon as the female sharply and rapidly uttered the
well-known bell-like call, I knew she was disturbed from her nest,
or had left it of her own accord. Whichever of us heard this rushed
quickly to the spot, and the female once sighted was kept in view
as she flitted from tree to tree, apparently carelessly feeding all the
while ; soon she came lower down to the bushes below, and now her
note quickened and betokened anxiety; generally before half an
hour would elapse she would make a dash at a particular spot, and
wish to go in but checked herself. This would be repeated two or
three times, and now the nest was within the compass of 2 or 3 yards.
At last down she went and her note ceased. When all had been
quiet for a minute or two, the male meanwhile continuing his double
note in the trees above, I cautiously approached the place. Some-
times the nest was very artfully concealed, but other times there
it was—the round green ball with the opening at one side. I often
saw the female put her head out and then partially draw it in again.
Her well-defined supercilium was very distinct. I thought I could
catch her on the nest once, and went round above her, but out came
her head a little further, and she bolted as I brought down my
pocket handkerchief on the nest. I shot one or two from the nest,
but this I found unnecessary. In every case the female shouted
vigorously on leaving the nest or immediately after, and by her very
peculiar note fully authenticated the eggs." *