MYIOPHONEUS. 125

fibre with a little green moss intermixed. The female lays two to
four eggs, and both birds assist in the incubation.''

Mr. T. Pulton Bourdillon records the finding of eggs on the fol-
lowing dates:—

" April 29, 1873. Two hard-set eggs.

" May 15, 1873. Three „

" May 15, 1874. One fresh egg.

" May 30, 1874. Two slightly set eggs."

Col. Butler sent me a splendid nest of this species taken in the
cliffs at Purandhur, 15 miles south of Poona. It was placed in
the angle between two rocks; it measures in front 7 inches wide,
and 1*5 in. high; posteriorly it slopes away into an obtuse angle
fitting the crevice in which it was deposited; the cavity is 4 in.
in diameter, perfectly circular, and 2-25 in depth. The compact-
ness of the nest is such that it might be thrown about without
being damaged. It is composed throughout of fine black roots,
only a stray piece or two of light coloured grass being intermixed,
and the whole basal portion is cemented together with mud.

He gives the following account of the mode in which he ac-
quired it:—

" I got this nest in rather a singular way which is perhaps worth
relating. At a dance last year in Karachi, in a short conversation
I had with Colonel Benny, who was then commanding the Artillery
in Sind, he mentioned that he had three Blue-winged Thrushes in
his house that he had procured at Purandhur the year before. The
following day I went over to his bungalow, and after inspecting
them and satisfying myself of their identity, ascertained from him
where the nest they were taken from was situated and the season
at which it was found. Possessed with this information I wrote
in May to the Staff Officer at Purandhur, and told him where and
when the bird built and asked him if he would kindly assist me in
procuring the eggs. In reply I received a very polite letter saying
' that he knew nothing about eggs or birds himself, but that he
would be most happy to offer me any assistance in his power in
procuring the eggs referred to, and that he would employ a shikarri
to keep the hill-side that I had mentioned watched when the
breeding-season arrived.' I wrote and thanked him, sending him
at the same time a drill and blowpipe by post, with full instructions
how to blow the eggs, in case he got any; and to my delight, at
the end of July a bhanghy parcel arrived one morning with the nest
and eggs above described.

" Colonel Benny told me that the birds built on this cliff-side
every monsoon."

Mr. E. Aitken has furnished me with the following note :—
" Of this bird I have seen two nests—one containing two hard-set
eggs on April 29, 1872, situated in a hole in a tree overhanging a
stream about 20 feet from the ground; the other containing three
hard-set eggs on May 22nd, 1872, and situated on a ledge of rock
in the bed of a stream; both the nests were rather coarsely made
of roots. My ^brother says he has also found three other nests,
two placed in holes of trees and the other on a rocky ledge, but