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this sounds very cruel; but if a bird must be shot for scientific
purposes, it is surely preferable to kill it outright than to let it die
a lingering death. Thus it was that I eventually succeeded, even
at the expense of being devoured alive by midges and mosquitoes ;
but then had I not the satisfaction of knowing that to become the
happy possessor of authentic eggs of Aerocephalirs dumetorum was
in itself sufficient to repay me for my hill excursion !

" I cannot, however, pretend to lay claim to originality in the
discovery of the breeding-habits of this bird, for Hutton's de-
scription of the nest and eggs taken by him so fully accords with
my own experience, that it is but fair to conclude he was correct
in his identification. I would add, however, with reference to his
remarks, that the nest above alluded to was more elliptical than
spherical, being about the size and shape of an Ostrich's egg, that
it was constructed throughout of the largest and coarsest blades- of
various kinds of dry grass, the egg-cavity being lined with grass-
bents oE a finer quality, and that it was domed over, having a
lateral entrance about the middle of the nest. The whole struc-
ture was so loosely put together as to fall to pieces immediately it
was removed.

" The eggs, four in number, are pure white, beautifully glossed,
and well covered with ruFOILS or reddish-brown specks, most;
numerous tit the obtuse end. Owing to its similarity to a, number
of eggs, particularly to those of the Titmouse group, it is just one of
those that I would never feel comfort able in accepting on trust.

" It was a remavkable coincidence that the very day I took this
nest my post brought me part iv. of the P. Z. IS. for 1874, con-
taining Mr. Dresser's interesting paper on the mdiflcation of the
Hypolais and Acrocephalus groups; and iŁ I understand him rightly,
he is certainly correct in his surmise as to the eggs of Acrocephalus
dumetorum approaching those of the Hypolais group.

" My good luck, as regards Blyth's Beed-Warbler, did not end
here, for on the following day, at Bagesur, at an elevation of only
3000 feet, I again encountered a pair of these birds, finding their
nest on the banks of the Surjoo. The position, shape, and archi-
tecture of this nest were identical with the one I have above de-
scribed, but the eggs unfortunately had not been laid. The little
birds, on this occasion, were quite fearless, hopping from stem to
stem of the dense undergrowth which throughout the Bagesur
valley fringes both banks of the river, every now and again making
a temporary halt for the purpose of picking insects off the leaves,
with an occasional {tcJiick,' which Hutton resembles to the
c sound emitted by a flint and steel,' but all the time enticing me
away from the site of their dwelling-place. In this way they led
me a wild-goose chase several times up and down the river-bank
before I was able to discover the whereabouts of their nest/'

Captain Hutton sent me three eggs of this species. The eggs
are otherwise unknown to me, and I describe them only on
Captain Hutton's authority. The eggs are rather broad ovals, very,
smooth and compact in texture, but with little or no gloss. They