218 DICETJBIDJB.

not distinctly see how many. The nest was fixed towards the end
of a branch of a tree, at a considerable height from the ground, and
was almost impossible to get at. Had there been eggs in it I
could not have taken them.

" The breeding-season I should say was from the beginning of
April to the end of May.

"Three nests, each containing three eggs, were brought to me
this season on the 10th and 26th April, and 9th May, 1880, by
Cooroobahs (the jungle-tribes in these forests); and although the
eggs in each nest vary considerably from one another, there is no
doubt in my nrind that the eggs belong to one and the same species
of bird.

" It is a bird so well known in these forests that it would be
impossible to mistake it for any other.

" In one case only was the nest brought to me, and this, which
unfortunately I did not keep, was loosely made of twigs and
roots."

Professor H. Littledale, quoting Mr. J. Davidson, informs us that
this species breeds in the east of G-odhra, and therefore probably
throughout the Panch Mehals.

Mr. J. Tnglis, writing from Cachar, says:—" The Bhimraj is
very common, frequenting thick jungle ; it often goes in company
with other birds, which it mimics to perfection. It lays about four
eggs in a shallow nest made of grass similar to the above; it is very
easily tamed. The hill-tribes use the long tail-feathers for orna-
menting their head-dresses."

Mr. Gates writes from Pegu:—" I have taken the eggs of this
species 011 all dates, from the 30th April to the 16th June.

" The nest is placed in forks of the outer branches of trees at all
heights from 20 to 70 feet, and in all cases they are very difficult
to take without breaking the eggs.

" The nest is a cradle, and the whole of it lies below the fork to
which it is attached. It is made entirely of small branches of
weeds and creepers, finer as they approach the interior. The egg-
cup is generally, but not always, lined with dry grass.

" The outside dimensions are 6 inches in diameter and 3 deep.
The interior measures 4 inches by 2. In one nest the sides are
bound to the fork by cotton thread in addition to the usual
weeds and creepers.

"The eggs have very little or no gloss, and differ among them-
selves a good deal in colour. In one clutch the ground-colour is
white, spotted and blotched, not very thickly, with neutral tint
and inky purple, chiefly at the larger end. Other eggs are pinkish
salmon, and the shell is more or less thickly or thinly covered with
pale greyish purple or neutral tint, and brownish-yellow or orange-
brown spots and dashes.

" They vary in size from 1*2 to 1-06 in length, and -85 to *8 in
breadth."

^Major 0. T. Bingham has the "following note:—" About five
miles below the large village of Meplay, in the district of that name,