41. Machlolophus spilonotus (Bl.). _The Blade-spotted Yellow Tit_. Machlolophus spilonotus (_Bl._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 281. Mr. Mandelli found a nest of this species at Lebong in Sikhim on the 15th June in a hole in a dead tree, about 5 feet from the ground. The nest was a mere pad of the soft fur of some animal, in which a little of the brown silky down from fern-stems and a little moss was intermingled. It contained three hard-set eggs. One of these eggs is a very regular oval, scarcely, if at all, pointed towards the lesser end; the ground-colour is a pure dead white, and the markings, spots, and specks of pale reddish brown, and underlying spots of pale purple, are evenly scattered all over the egg; it measures 0·78 by 0·55. 42. Machlolophus xanthogenys (Vig.). _The Yellow-cheeked Tit_. Machlolophus xanthogenys (_Vig._) _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 279; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 647. The Yellow-cheeked Tit is one of the commonest birds in the neighbourhood of Simla, yet curiously enough I have never found a nest. I have had eggs and nest sent me, and I know it breeds throughout the Western Himalayas, at elevations of from 4000 to 7000 feet; and that it lays during April and May (and probably other months), making a soft pad-like nest, composed of hair and fur, in boles in trees and walls; but I can give no further particulars. Captain Hutton tells us that it is "common in the hills throughout the year. It breeds in April, in which month a nest containing four fledged young ones was found at 5000 feet elevation; it was constructed of moss, hair, and feathers, and placed at the bottom of a deep hole in a stump at the foot of an oak tree." Writing from Dhurmsala, Captain Cock says:--"Towards the end of April this bird made its nest in a hole of a tree just below the terrace of my house. Before the nest was quite finished a pair of _Passer cinnamomeus_ bullied the old birds out of the place, which they deserted. After they had left it I cut the nest out and found it nearly ready to lay in, lined with soft goat-hair and that same dark fur noticed in the nest of _Parus monticola_."