and moss." This, of course, is wrong, as the eggs are now
well known to be spotted.

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"The Yellow-winged Laughing-Thrush
breeds from April to June at elevations from 5500 feet upwards. It
prefers scrubby jungle, and places its nest in bushes about six feet
or so from the ground. It is a broad, cup-shaped structure, neatly and
strongly made of fine twigs and dry grass-leaves, lined with roots and
with a few strings of green moss wound round the outside. Externally,
it measures about 6 inches wide, and 41/2 deep; internally 31/4 by 21/2.

"The eggs are usually three in number."

Six nests of this species found between the 4th May and 2nd July in
Native and British Sikhim were sent me by Mr. Mandelli. They were
placed in small trees or dense bushes at heights of from 3 to 8 feet,
and contained in some cases two, and in others three fresh or fully
incubated eggs, so that sometimes the bird only lays two eggs. Three
nests were also sent me by Mr. Gammie, taken in the neighbourhood of
the Sikhim Cinchona-Plantations. All are precisely of the same type,
all constructed with the same materials, but owing to the different
proportions in which these are used some of the nests at first sight
seem to differ widely from others. Some also are a good deal bigger
than others, but all are massive, deep cups, varying from 5.25 to 6.5
inches in diameter, and from 3 to fully 4 in height externally; the
cavities vary from 3 to 3.5 in diameter, and from 2 to 2.5 in depth.
The body of the nests is composed of grass; the cavity is lined first
with dry leaves, and then thickly or thinly with black fibrous roots.
Externally the nest is more or less bound together by creepers and
stems of herbaceous plants. Sometimes only a few strings of moss and a
few sprays of _Selaginella_ are to be seen on the outside of the nest;
while, on the other hand, in some nests the entire outer surface is
completely covered over with green moss, not only on the sides, but
on the upper margin, so as to conceal completely the rest of the
materials of the nest, and in all the nine nests before me the extent
to which the moss is used varies.

The eggs of this species are typically somewhat elongated ovals, some
are much pointed towards the small end, others are somewhat pyriform,
and others again are subcylindrical. The shell is fine and soft, but
has only a moderate amount of gloss. The ground-colour, which varies
very little in shad