Occasionally the markings, which seem always to be small and speckly, are very sparsely set, leaving comparatively large portions of the surface unmarked; and occasionally eggs are met with in which the primary markings are wholly wanting, and there is nothing but a pale reddish-purple cloudy mottling over the greater portion of the surface of the egg.[A]

[Footnote A: PYCNONOTUS PLUMOSUS, Bl. The Large Olive Bulbul.

Ixus plumosus (Bl.), Hume, cat. no. 452 sept.

Mr. W. Davison writes:—"I found one nest of this Bulbul at Kossoom: it was of the ordinary Bulbul type and placed in a small but dense clump of cane, about 18 inches from the ground. The parent birds were very vociferous when the nest was approached."

The eggs of all these Bulbuls, though they are separable when individually compared, follow so closely the same type of colouring that, it is almost impossible to make their distinctions apparent by any verbal descriptions.

The eggs of the present species are like those of so many others, moderately broad ovals, obtuse at the large end, somewhat compressed towards the small end, at times slightly pyriform. The shell very fine, smooth and thin, but strong, and generally with an appreciable though not at all conspicuous gloss.

The ground-colour is pink or pinky white, and they are very thickly speckled and spotted everywhere, but extremely densely so, and there blotched also in a broad irregular zone, round the large end with rich reddish maroon and dull greyish or inky purple—the rich colour predominating in some eggs, the dull colour in others; and in some the markings being all extremely fine and speckly, while in others they are rather bolder. Two eggs measure 0.9 by 0.66.

PYCNONOTUS SIMPLEX, Less. Moore's Olive Bulbul.

Ixus brunneus (Bl.), Hume, cat. no. 452 oct.

Mr. W. Davison says:—"I took a nest of P. simplex in some rather thick jungle at Klang. The nest, of the ordinary Bulbul type (in fact it might easily have passed for a nest of Olocompsa), was placed in the fork of a small sapling about 6 feet from the ground. The nest contained two eggs. The female was shot from the nest."

The eggs are moderately elongated, rather regular ovals, some specimens having a slight pyriform tendency. The shell is fine and compact, and seems to have generally an appreciable but not striking gloss. The ground-colour appears to have been creamy pink, and it is very thickly freckled and speckled all over with a rich maroon, in amongst which tiny clouds of pale purple may be faintly discerned; dense as are the markings everywhere, they are generally most so in a zone round the large end. Very possibly this species will be found to exhibit somewhat different types of coloration, as the eggs of all Bulbuls vary very much; but certainly typically the markings of this species are much more speckly than in most of the others, forming a universal stippling over the entire surface. The two eggs measure 0.9 and 0.88 in length by 0.62 in breadth.]



Family SITTIDAE.

315. Sitta himalayensis, Jard. & Selby. The White-tailed Nuthatch.

Sitta himalayensis, J. & S., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 385; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 248.

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes and drawings this species begins to lay in April, constructing a shallow saucer-like nest of moss lined with moss-roots, in holes of trees at no great elevation from the ground. One such nest, the measurements of which are recorded, was 3.25 inches in diameter and 2 in height externally; the cavity was 2.25 inches in diameter and 1.25 inch in depth. They lay three or four pure white eggs slightly speckled with red, which measure about 0.72 inch in length by 0.55 inch in width. They breed once a year, and both sexes assist in incubating the eggs and rearing the young.

Mr. R. Thompson says:—"In Kumaon the White-tailed Nuthatch breeds in May and June, laying five or six eggs, in holes in trees, especially in oaks."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:—"This bird is an early breeder in Naini Tal; a nest found on the 25th April contained half-fledged young. It was in a natural hollow of a tree about 10 feet from the ground in a thick trunk; the hole was closed up with a kind of stiff gummy substance, leaving only a circular entrance about an inch in diameter, just as I have seen in nests of Sitta europaea. The old birds were busily engaged in feeding the young. Another nest containing young was found on the 28th April in an oak tree at about 7000 feet elevation; both birds were feeding the young, and the nest was similar to the last except that in this case it was so low down in the trunk that, sitting on the ground, I could put my ear against the hole. From a third nest, found on the 2nd May, the young had apparently just fled. My experience bears out Mr. Hodgson's observations: I have often been up here in May and June searching closely and never found a nest; this year I came up for the first time in April, and within a few days find three nests with young. I may add that after the 10th May all the Nuthatches I have seen were in small parties, apparently parents with their young."

316. Sitta cinnamomeiventris, Blyth. The Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch.

Sitta cinnamomeoventris, Bl., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 387.

Writing from Sikhim, Mr. Gammie says:—"I lately took the nest of Sitta cinnamomeiventris at 2000 feet. It was 20 feet from the ground in a soft decaying bamboo on the edge of large jungle. The birds had made a small hole just below an internode, and from the next internode below had filled up the hollow of the bamboo with alternate layers of green moss and pieces of tree-bark of about an inch or more square to within a few inches of the entrance-hole. Each layer of moss was about an inch thick, but the bark layer not more than a quarter of an inch, the thickness of the bark itself. On the top of this pile, which was a foot high, was a pad three inches wide by two in depth, of fine moss, fur, a feather or two, and a few insects' wings intermixed, for the eggs to rest on. The fur looks like that of a rat. There were four hard-set eggs, which, unfortunately, got broken in the taking. One of them only was measurable, and it was 0.65 inch by 0.5. I send the shell-fragments to show the coloration."

317. Sitta neglecta, Walden. The Burmese Nuthatch.

Sitta neglecta, Wald., Hume, cat. no. 250 bis.

The Burmese Nuthatch probably breeds throughout Pegu and Tenasserim. Of its nidification in the latter division Major C.T. Bingham writes:—"On the 21st March, wandering about in a deserted clearing, I saw a couple of Nuthatches (Sitta neglecta) flying to and from a tree, carrying food apparently. Watching them closely with a pair of binoculars, I saw them disappear near a knot in a branch. The tree was a dead dry one and rather difficult to climb, but a peon of mine went up and reported five young ones unfledged, the nest-hole being 6 inches deep, and the opening, which was originally a large one, and probably caused by water wearing into the site of a broken branch, narrowed by an edging of clay. The young lay on a layer of broken leaves. As they were featherless, blind little things I left them alone, and was delighted to see the parents continuing to feed them."

321. Sitta castaneiventris, Frankl. The Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch.

Sitta castaneoventris, Frankl., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 386.

The late Captain Cock furnished me with the following note a long time ago regarding the breeding of this Nuthatch:—"A very common bird at Sitapur in Oudh, every mango-tope containing one or more pairs. They pair early and commence making their nests in February, laying their eggs in March. The nests are in cavities of trees, at no great height from the ground, and unless observed in course of construction are difficult to find—the bird filling the whole cavity up with mud consolidated with some viscid seed of a parasitical plant, and merely leaving a small round hole for entrance. This composition hardens like pucca masonry in a very short time, and secures the nest from all marauders except the oologist. The nest consists of a few dry leaves at the bottom of the cavity at no great depth, and upon this four eggs are laid. The birds sit close and do not easily desert their nests, as the following instance will show. In 1873 I found a Sitta's nest in a mango-tree, and after watching the birds for some days, when the eggs had been laid I took the nest, placing my handkerchief in the nest to prevent bits of mud falling in on the eggs. I opened out the cavity, cleaning away the mud, and putting in my hand I caught the female bird. I looked at her and let her go. In 1874 curiosity induced me to look at the place again, and to my surprise I saw the cavity had been built up again. I caught a bird on the nest and took four eggs; it may have been a different bird, but there was only one pair in that tope of trees, and was probably the same bird I caught in 1873. I found another nest in my garden about 2 feet from the ground, and I often used to flash the sunlight from a small hand-mirror, that I use out birds' nesting, onto the hen bird while she sat on her eggs. Our collection contains a large series of these eggs, the produce of some five-and-twenty nests taken by myself at Sitapur."

Major C.T. Bingham writes:—"At Allahabad I found two nests of this little Nuthatch, one in July and one in September. I regret to say neither contained any eggs, though the birds were going in and out constantly. The nests were in tiny holes in mango-trees, the entrances being still more contracted by earth being plastered round."

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall observes:—"A nest of the Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch was pointed out to me at Umballa in the next garden to mine. It was about 12 feet above the ground in an old mango-tree; the locality chosen was the stump of a branch which had been cut off and had rotted down. Outside there was a great deal of masonry work as hard and firm as that on white-ant hills, in the middle of which was a neat circular hole just large enough for the passage of the bird. The masonry continued down inside the hole as far as I could see; I did not break it open, as there were nearly fledged young ones inside. I knew this because the parent birds had been seen for some days carrying in food. I did not see the nest till the end of May. The following spring I found another nest at Kurnal in a bokain tree; it was constructed after the same fashion; the nest itself, which consisted only of dead leaves, was not very far down. I was unfortunately this time (March 15th) too early for the eggs. The holes are not easy to see from the ground, as they are most skilfully concealed from view."

The eggs of this species are very regular, slightly elongated ovals, scarcely compressed or pointed towards the small end at all. The shell is fragile, and is either entirely glossless or has only a trace of gloss. The ground-colour is white, with at times a faint pinkish tinge, and the markings consist of spooks, spots, and splashes (always most numerous at the large end, where they usually form a more or less conspicuous though irregular cap) of dull or bright brick-red, more or less intermingled in most specimens with dull reddish lilac. The arrangement and size of the markings are very variable. In some eggs they are all mere specks, forming a small speckly cap at the large end, and elsewhere very thinly scattered about the surface; in others many of the spots are (for the size of the egg) large, the majority are well-marked spots and not mere specks, and the whole surface of the egg is pretty thickly studded with them, while the broad end exhibits a large blotched and mottled cap. The majority of the eggs are intermediate between these two extremes.

In length the eggs vary from 0.61 to 0.72 and in breadth from. 0.5 to 0.54, but the average of numerous specimens is 0.67 by 0.52.[A]

[Footnote A: SITTA TEPHRONOTA, Sharpe. The Eastern Rock-Nuthatch

Sitta neumayeri, Mich., Hume, cat. no. 248 quint.

The Eastern Rock-Nuthatch is abundant in Baluchistan, and without doubt breeds there. The following note by Lieut. H.E. Barnes will therefore be interesting. He writes from Afghanistan:—"This Nuthatch is very common on the hills. It appears to choose very different localities to build in. In some instances a hole in the face of a rock is selected, and this it lines with agglutinated mud and resin, continuing the lining-case until it, projects in the shape of a cone to fully 8 inches. It seems fond of decorating its little palace with feathers to a distance of 2 or even 3 feet, and it is thus a conspicuous object; but most nests are found in holes in trees, and even here feathers are stuck into crevices all around. They are usually well lined with camel-hair.

"They breed in March and April. The eggs are usually four in number (I have sometimes found five), oval in shape, more or less glossy white, and more or less densely or sparsely (generally most densely towards the large end) spotted and blotched with varying shades of chestnut to reddish brown, more or less intermingled with pale purple and occasionally purplish grey. Some eggs are very richly marked. Some are almost pure white. They average 0.87 by 0.57."

The eggs of this species are typically moderately broad ovals, slightly pointed towards the small end, but elongated and more or less blunt-ended pyriform examples occur. The shell is extremely fine and smooth, but has only moderate amount of gloss in any specimen that I have seen and in some specimens has only a trace of this. The ground colour is pure white, and the eggs are generally thinly speckled, spotted, or blotched, about the broad end only, with a pale red; occasionally a few greyish-purple spots and blotches are intermingled with the other markings, and specks and tiny spots of both red and grey sometimes extend to the smaller end of the egg also. I have seen no such examples myself, but very probably in some eggs the principal markings may be at the small end. Eighteen eggs vary from 0.81 to 0.91 in length by 0.61 to 0.69 in breadth.]

323. Sitta leucopsis, Gould. The White-cheeked Nuthatch.

Sitta leucopsis, Gould, Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 385; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 249.

Captain Cock took the eggs of the White-cheeked Nuthatch late in May and early in June (1871) in Kashmir at Sonamurg.

Captain Wardlaw Ramsay says, writing of Afghanistan:—"I observed it hanging about a nest-hole on the 21st May, but on returning to take the eggs some days later was unable to find the tree:" and he adds, "On the 21st of June I shot a young bird just fledged near the Peiwar Kotul."

The eggs of this species vary somewhat in size. In shape some are moderately elongated, some are somewhat broad ovals, and all are, more or less, compressed towards the smaller end, which, however, is obtuse and not at all pointed. The ground is white and has a slight gloss. The markings consist of small spots and minute specks, some eggs exhibiting only the latter. In all cases the markings are most dense towards the large end, where they generally form an irregular and ill-defined mottled cap or zone. In colour the markings are red and pale purple, the red varying from bright brickdust-red to brownish and even purplish red, and the purple being sometimes lilac and sometimes grey, and here and there in a single speck, almost black. In length the eggs vary from 0.67 to 0.75 inch, and in breadth from 0.5 to 0.55 inch.

323. Sitta frontalis,, Horsf. The Velvet-fronted Blue Nuthatch.

Dendrophila frontalis (Horsf.), Jerd. B. Ind. p. 388; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 253.

The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, lays from the middle of February to the end of May. It breeds in the forest-tracts of the Sub-Himalayan ranges, in the Central Indian forests, the Ghats of Southern India, and the well-wooded slopes of the Nilghiris, Palnis, &c.

It builds a compact little nest of moss and feathers in a tiny hole in a tree, selecting, I believe, generally a natural cavity, but certainly trimming the entrance and interior itself.

Mr. B. Thompson says:—"This species is common in all the low densely-wooded valleys of the Sub-Himalayan ranges of Kumaon, at an elevation of from 1500 to 2500 feet. It breeds in May and June in hollows of trees. Any small hole suits for a nest, and it lays four or five eggs, for I have seen it with as many young, though I never took the trouble of getting out the eggs themselves."

Mr. Davison says:—"This Nuthatch breeds on the Nilghiris as high up as Ootacamund, nesting in holes of trees, and laying three or four eggs, spotted with chestnut, pinkish red, or reddish brown. The nest is composed of moss, moss-roots, &c., and lined with feathers. I am not quite certain how long the breeding-season lasts, but I think that it is from the middle of April to the early part of May."

Miss Cockburn, of Kotagherry, sends me the following account of the first nest she took of this species:—

"After having wished for some years to obtain the eggs of this bird, I was delighted to hear from my brother that he had seen a Nuthatch go into a small hole in a tree, and that, on looking into it, he had seen something like a nest. I went prepared with a chisel and hammer, but wished first to ascertain fully who the owner of the nest was. After watching at a respectful distance for a long time, an Indian Grey Tit flew to the hole and peeped in. My first thought was one of great disappointment at having ridden many miles with such high expectations to find only a Common Titmouse's nest; but it did not last long; the inquisitive Grey Tit found the hole too small for him, and flew off just as happily as he had flown to it. I continued to watch, and was quite repaid by seeing a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch fly to the top of the tree containing the nest, and descend rapidly down the trunk (which was about 12 or 13 feet high), as if it knew where the wee hole was, and disappear into it. This was sufficient proof as to the proprietor of the nest; I walked quietly up to the tree, and when within a foot of it out flew the bird. My handkerchief was stuffed into the hole to prevent any chips breaking the eggs, should there be any: and making use of the chisel and hammer, I soon made the hole large enough to admit my hand. The nest contained three eggs, which I most carefully extracted one by one. The nest was then brought out, and consisted of a quantity of beautiful green moss, feathers (many of which belong to the bird), some soft fine hair, and a few pieces of lichen. This nest was discovered on the 10th February. The tree it was found in grew nearly alone, at the side of a road not much frequented.

"The eggs were quite fresh, and most probably the bird would have laid at least one more; but these were sufficient to show the colour of the eggs, which were pure white, with dark and light red spots and blotches, chiefly at the thick end, besides a circle of spots like a Flycatcher's eggs."

Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan, writing of South India, says, in 'The Ibis':—"It breeds in holes of trees, preferring the deserted ones excavated by Megalama caniceps. The nest is built of moss, and lined with the fluff of hares and soft feathers. The eggs are always four in number, spotted with pinkish red on a white ground, the spots being more numerous towards the larger end. They breed in March. Dimensions, 0.71 inch long by 0.57 broad,"

Mr. Mandelli sent me a small pad-like nest of this species found on the 4th May in Native Sikhim. It was placed in a hollow of a trunk of a large tree about 3 feet from the ground. It is composed of very fine moss felted together with a little fine vegetable fibre, and the upper surface coated with a little fine short silky fur, probably that of a rat.

Major Bingham, writing from Tenasserim, says:—"Fairly common in the Thoungyeen valley. On the 18th February I found a nest in a hole in a branch of a pynkado tree (Xylia dolabrifomis), but I was too early for eggs."

One egg of this very beautiful species was sent me by Miss Cockburn. It is intermediate in size and colour between those of the European Creeper and Nuthatch, while at the same time it strongly recalls the eggs of Parus atriceps. In shape the egg is a broad oval (not quite so broad, however, as those of the European Nuthatch are), slightly compressed towards one end. The ground-colour is white, and the egg is blotched, speckled, and spotted, chiefly, however, in a sort of irregular zone round the large end, with brickdust-red and somewhat pale purple. The shell is fine and compact, but devoid of gloss. The egg measures 0.08 by 0.55 inch.

Three other eggs from the Sikhim Terai measure 0.68 by 0.51.



Family DICRURIDAE.

327. Dicrurus ater (Hermann). The Black Drongo.

Dicrurus macrocercus (V.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 427. Buchanga albirictus, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 278.

The Black Drongo or Common King-Crow lays throughout India, at any rate in the plain country; it does not appear to breed either in the Himalayas or the Nilghiris at any height exceeding 5000 feet.

A few eggs may be found towards the close of April, and again during the first week of August, but May, June, and July are the months.

It builds usually pretty high up in tall trees, in some fork not quite at the outside, constructing a broad shallow cup, and lays normally four eggs, although I have found five. Elsewhere I have recorded the following in regard to its nidification:—

"Close at our own gate is a pretty neem tree, the 'Melia azadirachta,' a species now naturalized in Provence and other parts of the south of France. High up in a fork a small nest was visible, and projecting over it on one side a black forked tail that could belong to nothing but the King-Crow. Of this bird we have already taken during the last six weeks at least fifty nests, and in many cases where we had left the empty nest in statu quo, we found it a week later with a fresh batch of eggs laid therein. Many birds will never return to a nest which has once been robbed, but others, like the King-Crow and the Little Shrike (Lanius vittatus) will continue laying even after the nest has been twice robbed. The very day after the nest has been cleared of perhaps four slightly incubated eggs, a fresh one that otherwise would assuredly never have seen the light is laid, and that, too, a fertile egg, which, if not meddled with, will be hatched off in due course. It might be supposed that immediately on discovering their loss, nature urged the birds to new intercourse, the result of which was the fertile egg, and this, in some cases, is probably really the case; Martins and others of the Swallow kind being often to be seen busy with 'love's pleasing labour' before their eggs have been well stowed away by the collector. But this will not account for instances that I have observed of birds in confinement, who separated from the male before they had laid their full number, and then later, just when they began to sit deprived of their eggs, straightway laid a second set, neither so large nor so well coloured as the first, but still fertile eggs that were duly hatched. But for the removal of the first set, these subsequent eggs would never have been developed or laid. Now, the theory has always been that the contact of the sperm- and germ-cells causes the development and fertilization of the latter. In these cases no fresh accession of sperm-cells was possible, and hence it would seem as if in some birds the female organs were able to store up living sperm-cells, which only work to fertilize and develop ova in the event of some accident rendering it necessary, and which otherwise ultimately lose vitality and pass away without action.

"The nest of the King-Crow that we took was of the ordinary type; in fact I have noticed scarcely any difference in the shape or materials of all the numerous nests of this common bird that I have yet seen. They are all composed of tiny twigs and fine grass-stems, and the roots of the khus-khus grass, as a rule, neatly and tightly woven together, and exteriorly bound round with a good deal of cobweb, in which a few feathers are sometimes entangled. The cavity is broad and shallow, and at times lined with horsehair or fine grass, but most commonly only with khus. The bottom of the nest is very thin, but the sides or rim rather firm and thick; in this case the cavity was 4 inches in diameter, and about 11/2 in depth, and contained three pure white glossless eggs. In the very next tree, however (a mango, and this is perhaps their favourite tree), was another similar nest, containing four eggs, slightly glossy, with a salmon-pink tinge throughout, and numerous well-marked brownish-red specks and spots, most numerous towards the large end, looking vastly like Brobdingnagian specimens of the Rocket-bird's eggs. The variation in this bird's eggs is remarkable; out of more than one hundred eggs nearly one third have been pure white, and between the dead glossless purely white egg and a somewhat glossy, warm pinky grounded one, with numerous well-marked spots and specks of maroon colour, dull-red, and red-brown or even dusky, every possible gradation is found. Each set of eggs, however, seems to be invariably of the same type, and we have never yet found a quite white and a well coloured and marked egg in the same nest.

"These birds are very jealous of the approach of other birds even of their own species to a nest in which they have eggs, and many a little family would this year have been safely reared, and their ovate cradles have escaped the plundering hands of my shikaries, had not attention been invariably called to the thereabouts of the nest by the pertinacious and vicious rushes of one or other of the parents from near their nest at every feathered thing that; passed them by."

Captain Hutton says:—"This species, which appears to be generally diffused throughout India, is not uncommon in the Dehra Doon, but does not ascend the hills; it breeds in June, laying four eggs of somewhat variable size. They are pure white, thus differing widely from those of the supposed D. longcaudatus of Mussoorie.

"It is evident likewise that the eggs which Captain Tickell assigns to this species do not belong to it. (Vide Journal As. Soc. vol. xvii. p. 304.)

"The nest differs from that of our hill species, being larger and far less neatly made; it is placed in the bifurcation of the smaller branches of a tall tree, and is composed exteriorly of two hard semi-woody stalks of various plants, plastered over with cobwebs. Another one was constructed entirely of fine roots, like the khus-khus used for tatties, and plastered over like the former with cobwebs. It is flattened or saucer-shaped, and about 3 inches in diameter."

Mr. F.R. Blewitt remarks:—"It breeds from the middle of May well into August. I do not think it has two broods in the year, at least close observation has not proved the fact. Trees of various sizes are chosen indiscriminately for the nest, from the lofty mango and tamarind to the low-growing roonji, &c.

"The nest is a peculiarly slight-formed structure (occasionally I have seen it otherwise, but this is the exception), always neatly made. The exterior of the nest is composed of small fine twigs, roots, and grass, with generally a good deal of spider's web round the outer surface. The average exterior diameter of the nest is about 5.5 inches. The cavity is frequently lined with horsehair. On three or four occasions I have seen very fine khus substituted for the hair. The average inner diameter of the nest is about 3.4 inches.

"The regular number of eggs is four; in colour they are a light reddish white, with a few spots or blotches, here and there of a purplish red or red-brown. The eggs often differ much in size.

"I happened to find in one nest two eggs, one of the usual size, the other only about one third of the size. What is more surprising, it was perfectly formed, as regards the white and yolk."

The instance of sagacity related by Mr. Phillips, and quoted by Jerdon, was related to him by the late Mr. Davis, my old Collector of Customs.

"I have on two or three occasions myself witnessed similar instances of sagacity. This bird, during the breeding-season, is pugnacious to a degree, fearlessly attacking every bird that approaches the tree on which the nest may be."

Writing from the Sambhur Lake, Mr. E.M. Adam says:—"Very common here. The King-Crow breeds here in June and July. The eggs vary much with regard to colouring; some are pure white without spots, some have dark brown spots on the white ground, whilst others have a pale rufous ground darker at the broader end, with spots of deep rust-colour and lilac."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:—"At Bheera Tal, fully 4000 feet above the sea, I found two nests of this species on the 24th May, one contained four eggs, and the other three; the eggs varied much in size, and out of the seven, six were pure white, almost like Barbet's eggs, and the seventh had only a faint sprinkling of tiny dark spots at one end. The birds, all four of which I shot, were typical D. ater, with the white spot well developed. On the same day, and in the same place, I found eggs of D. longicaudatus. I record this, as it is not usual to find D. ater breeding at this elevation. It may be noticed that the eggs of this species found by Hutton in the Doon were all pure white, while in the plains I think white is more exceptional."

Dr. Scully says:—"In Nepal it breeds freely at elevations of from 4000 to 5000 feet. Three nests were taken in the valley, in May and June; these contained each three or four pure white eggs."

Major C.T. Bingham remarks:—"I have found many nests of the King-Crow both at Allahabad and Delhi. In both places they begin laying towards the end of May, and I got fresh eggs at Allahabad as late as the 13th August. The nests and eggs have been nearly always of the same type. The former, a shallow, but well-made saucer, rather small sometimes for the size of the bird, of grass-roots and twigs, and absolutely without lining; the latter white, when fresh with a pink tinge, spotted, chiefly at the larger end, rather scantily with claret-colour and dark brown. I have never found a pure white egg."

Lieut. H.E. Barnes, writing of Rajputana in general, tells us:—"The King-Crow breeds during May and June. A few nests may be found in July, but by far the greater number are to be found during the latter part of May and the commencement of June."

Colonel Butler informs us that "The Common King-Crow breeds in the neighbourhood of Deesa during the rains. I have taken nests on the following dates:—

"June 6, 1875. A nest containing 4 fresh eggs. June 7, 1875. " " 4 fresh eggs. June 9, 1875. " " 2 fresh eggs. " " " " 4 young birds. June 10, 1875 " " 4 fresh eggs. June 11, 1875. " " 4 fresh eggs. June 13, 1875. " " 3 fresh eggs. " " " " 4 fresh eggs. July 8, 1875. " " 4 fresh eggs. July 12, 1875. " " 4 fresh eggs.

"The nest consists of a broad shallow saucer about 31/2 inches in diameter measured from the inside, composed of dry twigs and fine roots, and is invariably fixed in the fork of a tree. The bottom of the nest, though strongly woven, is often so thin that the eggs are visible from below. The eggs, usually four in number, are of the Oriole type, being white or creamy buff:, sparingly spotted and speckled with deep chocolate or rusty brown, with, occasionally, markings of inky purple. The markings of the eggs of this species, like those of the Oriole, are apt to run if washed."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden, writing from the Deccan, say:—"Common and breeds."

Mr. Vidal remarks of this bird in the South Konkan:—"Abundant. Breeds in May."

Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan, writing from South India, says in 'The Ibis':—"Breeds from March to the end of May, constructing a slight cup-shaped nest in a tree. The nest is composed of fine twigs bound together with cobwebs, and is rather a flimsy concern, the eggs often being visible from below. It is generally placed in the fork of a branch, at from 10 to 30 feet from the ground. The eggs are three in number, occasionally only two, and vary very greatly in colour, some being almost of a pure white, whilst others again are spotted and blotched, especially at the larger end, with claret and light purple on a rich salmon-coloured ground. The birds are very noisy in the breeding-season, keeping all intruders off, not hesitating to attack Kites and Crows. They seem to have an especial antipathy to the latter."

Mr. Benjamin Aitken states that in Madras "the King-Crow, so conspicuous on the backs of cattle, telegraph-wires, &c., all through the cold and hot seasons, is conspicuous by its absence during the breeding-season. Many of them retire to woods and gardens to breed, but even when they do not, they keep very quiet while they have their nests. Last June there was a nest in a tree in the Thieves' bazaar at Madras, but the birds hardly ever showed themselves out of the tree."

Mr. J. Inglis informs us that in Cachar "this King-Crow is extremely common. It breeds all through the summer. It lays four or five pure white eggs on the top of a few grasses placed in the fork of a tree. It is very pugnacious, and attacks birds of all sizes if they approach it."

There are two very distinct types of this bird's eggs. The one pure white and spotless, the other a pale salmon-colour, spotted with a rich brownish red. These eggs unquestionably both belong to the same species, as I have taken them times without number myself and can positively certify to their parentage; moreover connecting links are not wanting in a large series. I have one egg perfectly white, with the exception of three or four blackish-brown spots, another with more of these spots, another with almost as many as the ordinary spotted eggs have, the ground-colour in all these being still pure white, and the spots being blackish or very deep reddish brown. Then I have others similar to those just described, but showing a faint salmon-coloured halo round one or two of the largest spots, others in which the halo is further developed, and others again with the entire ground-colour an excessively pale salmon throughout, and so on a complete series gradually increasing in intensity of colour till we get the pure rich salmon-buff which is at the other end of the scale. I am particular in this description, because the eggs of this bird have been a subject of almost as many contradictions between Indian naturalists as the chameleon of pious memory. In shape the eggs are typically a rather long oval, somewhat pointed towards one end. Very much elongated varieties are common, recalling in this respect the eggs of Chibia hottentotta. Spherical varieties, if they occur, must be very rare, the enormous series I possess containing no example. In the colour of the ground, as above remarked, there is every possible, variety of shade between pure white and a very rich salmon-colour. In the intensity and number of the markings there is an equally great variety. The markings, always spots and specks, the largest never exceeding 0.1 inch in diameter, are invariably most numerous towards the large end, where they are sometimes, though rarefy, slightly confluent. They vary from only two or three to a number too large to count, and in colour through many shades of reddish, blackish, and purplish brown, the latter being rare and abnormal.

The eggs are entirely devoid of gloss, as a rule, though here and there a slight trace of it is observable. It is this want of gloss alone that distinguishes some of the larger white, black-spotted varieties from the eggs of the common Oriole, which they occasionally exactly resemble not only in shape, colour, and character of marking, but even (though generally smaller) in size.

In length they vary From 0.87 to 1.15 inch, and in breadth from 0.7 to 0.85, but the average of 152 eggs measured is 1.01 by 0.75 inch. I have two dwarf eggs of this species not included in the above average which I myself obtained in different nests, measuring only 0.78 by 0.5 inch, and 0.87 by 0.62 inch.

328. Dicrurus longicaudatus. A. Hay. The Indian Ashy Drongo.

Dicrurus longicaudatus, A. Hay, Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 430. Buchanga longicaudata (A. Hay), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 280.

The Indian Ashy Drongo, a species that, with the really large series before me from all parts of India, I find it impossible to subdivide into two or more species, breeds alike in the plains, in well-watered and wooded districts, and in the Himalayas up to an elevation of 6000 to 7000 feet, and lays during the months of May and June.

They build generally in large trees, at a considerable height from the ground, placing their somewhat shallow cup-shaped nests in some slender fork towards the summit or exterior of the tree.

The nest is neatly and firmly built, of fine grass-stems, slender twigs, and grass-roots, closely interwoven, and externally bound together with cobwebs, in which, as in the body of the nest, lichens of several species are much intermingled. Exteriorly the nests are from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, and from 2 to 21/2 in height. Interiorly they are lined with moss, roots, hairs, and fine grass; the cavity measuring from 3 to 3.5 inches in breadth, and from 1.1 to 1.4 inch in depth. The normal number of the eggs is four.

Mr. Brooks says:—"The nest is usually fixed on the upper surface of a thin branch about 15 to 20 feet from the ground, and at its junction with another branch, the nest being partly embedded in the fork of two horizontal branches. It is composed of grass, fibres, and roots, and lined with finer grasses and a few hairs. The nest is broader and much shallower than that of D. ater; outside it is covered with spiders' webs and small bits of lichen.

"The eggs are four in number, sometimes only three, and vary much in size, shape, and colour; size 1.0 by 0.7 inch: some are buff, blotched with light reddish brown and pale purple-grey; others are lighter buff, almost white in fact, spotted and marked more sparingly than the first described with the same two colours, but each of a darker tint; others are white, marked sparingly with spots and blotches of dark purple-brown and reddish brown, and intermixed with larger blotches of deep purple-grey, the markings principally forming a zone at the larger end. Others, again, are pale purplish white, spotted with dark and light purple-brown, and intermixed with spots and blotches of purple-grey. The shape of the egg varies as much as the colouring, some being of a fine oval form, while others are quite pyriform. Laying in Kumaon from the middle to end of May."

As I shall notice further on, I think that Mr. Brooks is mistaken about some of his eggs.

Captain Hutton remarks:—"This species, the only one that visits Mussoorie, arrives from the Doon about the middle of March, and retires again about September. It is abundant during the summer months, and breeds from the latter end of April till the middle of June, making a very neat nest, which is placed in the bifurcation of a horizontal branch of some tall tree, usually an oak tree; it is constructed of grey lichens gathered from the trees, and fine seed-stalks of grasses, firmly and neatly interwoven; with the latter it is also usually lined, although sometimes a black fibrous lichen is used; externally the materials are kept compactly together by being plastered over with spiders' webs. It is altogether a light and elegant nest. The shape is circular, somewhat shallow; internal diameter 3 inches. The eggs are three or four, generally the latter number, and so variable in colour and distribution of spots that until I had got several specimens and compared them narrowly, I was inclined to think we had more than one species of Dicrurus here. I am, however, now fully convinced that these variable eggs belong to the same species. Sometimes they are dull white with brick-red spots openly disposed in form of a rude ring at the larger end; at other times the spots are rufescent claret, with duller indistinct ones appearing through the shell; others are of a deep carneous hue, clouded and coarsely blotched with deep rufescent claret; while again some are faint carneous with large irregular blotches of rufous clay with duller ones beneath the shell."

Some of Captain Hutton's eggs which he sent me were clearly those of Hypsipetes psaroides (of which also be sent me specimens), and the fact is that in thick foliage where the Red-bill is not seen nothing is easier than to mistake this bird for D. longicaudatus. I have taken a great many of these nests, and I never found eggs other than of the two types to be below described.

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:—"In Kumaon this species breeds from 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea; the eggs are laid in the last week of May. I have never seen a nest at Naini Tal itself (6000 to 7000 feet), but at Bheem Tal (4000 feet) I found numerous nests within three days, in the first week of June; all without exception had young. The next season I visited the place in the last week of May, and found the eggs just laid.

"The nests were of the usual Dicrurus type, wedged in a fork at heights varying from fifteen to fifty feet from the ground, but as far as my experience goes always in conspicuous places and generally on trees almost or quite bare of leaves. The nests are usually only to be obtained by sawing off the bough they are built on."

Long ago Captain Cock, writing from Dhurmsala, said:—"I took a nest on the 8th of May, containing four eggs. The eggs are regular, roundish ovals, somewhat pointed towards one end. The ground-colour is white, here and there suffused with a faint pinkish tinge, and it is spotted and blotched with purplish red and pale lilac, most of the spots being gathered into an irregular zone about the large end."

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall, writing from Murree, says:—"Breeds in May, in almost inaccessible places, about 7000 feet up, choosing a thin fork at the outermost end of a bough about 50 or 60 feet from the ground, and always on trees that have no lower branches. The nest is almost invisible from below, as it is very neatly built on the top of the fork; and when the female sits on it, she places her tail down the bough so as entirely to hide herself. The eggs are only to be obtained either by climbing higher up the tree than the nest is, and extracting the eggs by means of a small muslin bag at the end of a long stick, or else by lashing the bough on which the nest is to an upper bough as the climber goes along so as to make it strong enough to support him. The nest is much neater than that of D. ater; the eggs are light salmon-coloured, with brick-red blotches sparsely scattered over them, and are .95 by .7 inch."

Dr. Scully records the following note from Nepal:—"This species lays in the valley in May and June, the nest being placed high up in trees, often in Pinus longifolia. The eggs are usually four in number, fairly glossy, in shape moderate ovals, smaller at one end. The ground-colour is pinkish white, with a tinge of buff, sparingly spotted and blotched with brownish red, chiefly at the large end, where the marks tend to coalesce, so as to form an irregular incomplete ring. Four eggs taken on the 28th May measured 1.09 to 1.12 in length, and 0.75 to 0.76 in breadth. The race which I identify with D. himalayanus was found, in very small numbers, on the summit of Sheopuri, at an elevation of about 7500 feet, and was breeding at the time I shot my specimen, viz. the 20th May."

Mr. Gammie found a nest at Mongpho, near Darjeeling, at an elevation of about 3500 feet on the 13th May. It was placed on an outer branch of a tall tree and contained only one partially incubated egg. The nest was a beautifully compact, but shallow cup, placed on the upper surface of the bough, composed externally of roots and coated with a little lichen and a great deal of cobweb. Interiorly lined with the finest grass and moss-roots. The cavity measured about 3 inches in diameter and scarcely more than 1 inch in depth. At the bottom, where it rested on the bough, the nest was not above 1/4 inch thick, and consisted only of the lining materials. Laterally it was about 3/4 inch thick.

The egg was a broad oval, slightly compressed towards one end, but not at all pointed. The shell very fine and with a slight gloss, the ground-colour a delicate salmon-pink, and with a broad ring of deep brownish-pink spots and blotches intermingled with pale purple subsurface-looking clouds and spots round the large end. The rest of the egg with some half-dozen similar spots.

He subsequently sent me the following note:—"This species is common in the Darjeeling district up to 4000 feet or so. It rather affects the neighbourhood of bungalows, and is a very lively neighbour, especially in the mornings and evenings. These birds are continually quarrelling among themselves, sallying after insects, or making their best attempts at singing. They are dead on Kites, Crows, and such-like depredators. For several days an Owl (Bulaca newarensis) was flying about near the Cinchona Bungalow at Mongpho, and being a stupid creature at the best, and doubly so during daylight when it had no business to be abroad, was evidently considered fair game by the Long-tailed Drongo and Swallow-Shrikes, and so awfully 'sat upon' by them, that its life must have become a burden to it until it left the place in despair of ever getting either peace or comfort about Mongpho.

"They lay in April and May, and have but one brood in the year. The nest is generally either built against a tall bamboo, well up, supported on the branch of twigs at a node, or near the extremity of a branch of a tree, sometimes on quite slender branches of young trees, which get so tremendously wafted about by the wind as to make the retention of the eggs or young in the nest appear almost miraculous. When anyone meddles with the nest, the owners make bold dashes at the head of the robber. The Darjeeling birds are not so knowing as their fellows of Murree, the females of whom are said to sit on the nests with their tails along the boughs so as to entirely conceal themselves. I have seen dozens of the nests here, and never once saw the female in this position, but always with her tail across the bough. The nest is a compact shallow cup, measuring externally 4.5 inches across by 1.75 in height, while the cavity is 3 inches in diameter by about 1.2 in depth. It is made of twigs bound up with cobwebs, among which a few lichens are intermingled. The lining is a mixture of straw-coloured root-fibres and fine branchlets of the same coloured grass-panicles."

Mr. Mandelli sent me nests of this species, which were taken, at Ging, near Darjeeling, on the 26th April and on the 22nd May, the one contained one fresh egg, the other three. They were both placed on branches of large trees at heights of about 20 feet from the ground. They are broad shallow cups, from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, about 2 in height, compactly composed of fine twigs and grass-stems, bound together with cobwebs and with many pieces of lichen and some tiny dry leaves worked in on the outer surface. Interiorly, they are lined with very fine hair-like grass-stems. The saucer-like cavities are about 3 inches in diameter and about 11/4 in depth.

Dr. Jerdon says:—"I found its nest on one occasion, in April, in Lower Malabar. It was shallow and loosely made with roots, and lined with hair, about 20 feet from the ground, on the fork of a tree; and it contained three eggs of a pinkish-white colour, with some longish rusty or brick-red spots."

There are two very strongly marked types of this bird's eggs. The eggs of both types are moderately broad, or, at most, somewhat elongated ovals, and comparatively devoid of gloss. The first, in its colouring, exactly resembles the eggs of Caprimulgus indicus; a pinkish salmon-coloured ground, streaked, blotched, and clouded, but nowhere densely (except towards the large end, where there is a tendency to form a cap or zone), with reddish pink, not differing widely in hue from, though deeper in shade than, the ground-colour. Here and there, where the markings are thickest, under-clouds of very faint purple occur, but these are too feeble to attract attention, unless the egg is looked into closely. In the other type of egg, the ground-colour is pale pinkish white, pretty boldly blotched and spotted almost exclusively towards the large end, where there is a broad irregular imperfect zone, with brownish red, intermingled with blotches of very faint inky purple. My description possibly fails to make this as apparent as it should be, but no two eggs can, to a casual observer, appear more distinct than these two types. There is yet, according to Mr. Brooks, a third type of this bird's eggs; of this he has given me a single example. In shape it is excessively long and narrow, of the type of the eggs of Chibia hottentotta, but its coloration and character of markings are unlike those of any Shrike or Drongo with which I am acquainted, and exactly resemble those of many types of the eggs of the several Bulbuls. The ground-colour is pinkish white, and is thickly speckled and spotted throughout with primary markings of rich brownish red, and feeble secondary ones of excessively pale inky purple. This egg, moreover, possesses a degree of gloss never observable in those of the Dicruri, and therefore, well assured though Mr. Brooks is of the parentage of this egg which he took with his own hands, I feel confident, having since obtained many eggs of Hypsipetes psaroides which are exactly similar to this last described egg, that in, perhaps, indifferent light he mistook this bird for a Dicrurus. I may add that the first described type, of which I have procured numerous specimens from different parts of the Himalayas, taking several nests with my own hands, is most characteristic of this species.

In the type with the pinky-white ground, large or small spots often occur about the large end of a deep purple colour, so deep as to be almost black, and but for the absence of gloss some of these paler eggs are very close to those of some of the Orioles. Intermediate varieties between the two types above described occur, but in not one of more than sixty specimens that I have examined has there been any perceptible gloss.

The eggs vary in length from 0.85 to 1.01 inch, and in breadth from 0.7 to 0.75 inch, but the average of fifty-one eggs is 0.95 by 0.74 inch.

329. Dicrurus nigrescens, Oates. The Tenasserim Ashy Drongo.

Dicrurus nigrescens, Oates; Oates, B.I. i, p. 315.

Mr. Oates found the nest of this Drongo in Pegu. He says:—"I found one nest on the 27th April at Kyeikpadein, near the town of Pegu, on a small sapling near the summit. It contained four eggs[A]; they are without gloss; the ground-colour in all is white. In three eggs the whole shell is marked with spots of pale purple; these are perhaps more numerous at the thick end, but not conspicuously so. The fourth egg is blotched, not spotted, with the same colour.

[Footnote A: I recorded the nest and eggs of this bird under the name of Buchanga intermedia (S.F. v, p. 149). The parent birds of these eggs are fortunately still in the British Museum, and I am able to identify them with this species, which occurs generally throughout Tenasserim and many parts of Lower Pegu.—ED.]

"The nest is composed of fine twigs and the dry branches of weeds; it is lined very firmly and neatly with grass. Exterior diameter 5 inches and depth 2; egg-chamber 31/2 inches across and 11/4 deep. The outside of the nest is profusely covered with lichens and cobwebs. The eggs measure from .83 to .95 in length, and .68 to .71 in width."

330. Dicrurus caerulescens (Linn.). The White-bellied Drongo.

Dicrurus caerulescens (L.), Jerd B. Ind i, p. 432. Dicrurus caeruleus (Muell.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 281.

I have never seen a nest of the White-bellied Drongo. Mr. R. Thompson says:—"This bird's breeding-habitat is from 2500 to 6000 feet in the Himalayas. It is common on the south-eastern slopes of Nyneetal. It lays in May and June, placing its shallow cup-shaped nest in some little fork near the top of a moderate-sized oak-tree, if breeding on a mountain-side, but of some tall Alnus nipalensis, Acacia elata, or Acer oblongum, if nesting in deep dells or valleys. The nest appeared to be exactly like that of D. ater; but I can say nothing very positive about it or the eggs, as, though continually seeing them, I never, I think, took the trouble of getting one down."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall, commenting on Mr. Thompson's remark that this Drongo is common near Naini Tal, says:—"My experience on this point is negative; I have carefully searched the south-eastern slopes of Naini Tal for four years without even seeing the bird, so that I do not think it can be classed as a common breeder here."

Mr. J. Davidson informs us that on the 16th July he saw a brood of Dicrurus caerulescens on the Kondabhari Ghat, just able to fly. Referring to Western Khandeish, he tells us that he saw only two nests. They were on adjoining trees in the Akrani; they were largish nests, not like those of D. ater, but more resembling those of D. longicaudatus described in 'Nests and Eggs.' One nest contained three young ones, the other was only building; and nothing could have been more plucky than the way the old ones defended their nest.

331. Dicrurus leucopygialis, Blyth. The White-vented Drongo.

Buchanga leucopygialis (Bl.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 281 bis.

Colonel Legge gives us the following account of the breeding of this Drongo, which is confined to Ceylon:—"The breeding-season of this Drongo is from March until May; and the nest is almost invariably built at the horizontal fork of the branch of a large tree, at a considerable height from the ground, sometimes as much as 40 feet. It is a shallow cup, measuring about 21/4 inches in diameter by 1 in depth, and is compactly put together, well finished round the top, but sometimes rather loose on the exterior, which is composed of fine grass-stalks and bark-fibres, the lining being of fine grass or tendrils of creepers. The number of eggs varies from two to four, three being the most common. They vary much in shape, and also in the depth of their ground-tint; some are regular ovals, others are stumpy at the small end, while now and then very spherical eggs are laid. They are either reddish white, 'fleshy,' or pure white, in some cases marked with small and large blotches of faded red, confluent at the obtuse end, and openly dispersed over the rest of the surface, overlying blots of faint lilac-grey; others have a conspicuous zone round the large end, with a few scanty blotches of light red and bluish grey on the remainder; in others, again, the markings are confined to a few very large roundish blotches of the above colours at one end, or, again, several still larger clouds of brick-red at the obtuse end, with a few blotches of the same at the other. Dimensions from 1.0 to 0.86 inch in length, by 0.72 to 0.68 in breadth. I once observed a pair in the north of Ceylon very cleverly forming their nest on a horizontal fork by first constructing the side furthest from the angle, thus forming an arch, which was then joined to the fork by the formation of the bottom of the structure.

"The parent birds in this species display great courage, vigourously sweeping down on any intruder who may threaten to molest their young."

334. Chaptia aenea (Vieill.). The Bronzed Drongo.

Chaptia aenea (V.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 433; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 282.

The Bronzed Drongo breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, in the central hills of Nepal, or rather in the plains near to these hills, rarely quitting large woods. They begin to lay in March, and build a broad somewhat saucer-shaped nest some 4 or 5 inches in width and 2 to 3 in depth externally. The nest is placed in some slender horizontal fork, to one at least of the twigs of which it is firmly attached by vegetable fibres; it is composed of fine twigs and grass, and bound round with, cobwebs in which pieces of lichen and small cocoons are often intermingled. Mr. Hodgson specially notes:—"June 6th, valley. Female, nest and eggs; nest on fork of upper branch of large tree, 4.5 inches wide by 2.25 deep, cup-shaped, made of fibres of grass bound with cobweb, lining none; three eggs, obtusely oval, the ground fawn tinged white, blotched (especially at larger end) with fawn or reddish brown,"

It appears that four is the maximum number of eggs laid; both sexes participate in the work of incubation and rearing the young, but they are very jealous of the approach of any birds when they have eggs or young, driving all such intruders away with the utmost bravery. The eggs measure from 0.88 to 0.95 inch by 0.65.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:—"I have found the Bronzed Drongo breeding from April to June in the low hot valleys at about 2000 feet above the sea. It suspends its nest in a slender horizontal fork at 10 feet or more from the ground, and appears, like its frequent neighbour Dicrurus longicaudatus, to prefer a bamboo-clump to breed in. The nest is a compact cup, neatly made of fine grass-stalks, with an outer coating of dry bamboo-leaves plastered over with cobwebs; it is fastened to the supporting branches by cobwebs. Externally it measures 3.5 inches wide by 2 inches deep, internally 2.5 by 1.5.

"The usual number of eggs is three."

Major M. Forbes Coussmaker, writing from Bangalore, tells us:—"I took the nest of this bird on 6th April in the Shemagah District, Mysore. It was built on the fork of a bare branch about 20 feet from the ground in big tree-jungle, and was composed of fine grass, fibre, and a few dry bamboo-leaves woven together with cobwebs, making a small compact cup-like nest which measured 3 inches in diameter externally, 2.5 internally, and 1.4 deep.

"From where I stood I saw the bird come and sit on the nest and fly off again a dozen times at least. The eggs, three in number, measured .9 by .65, and were pinkish white with darker pink and light purple blotches and spots all over, principally at the larger end."

Mr. J.R. Cripps informs us that at Furreedpore, in Eastern Bengal, this species is "rather common; generally to be found perching on the dead branches of high trees overlooking water, especially whenever there is a dense undergrowth of jungle. On the 1st June, 1878, I secured a nest with three fresh eggs; it was built on a slender twig on the outer side of a mango-tree which was standing near a ryot's house, and was about 15 feet off the ground. External diameter 31/2 inches, depth 2; internal diameter 2-1/3, depth 1-1/8. Saucer-shaped; the outside consisted of plaintain-leaves torn up into slips, all of which were firmly bound together by fibres of the plaintain-leaf and jute, which were wound round the twigs and secured the nest. Inside lining was made of very fine pieces of 'sone' grass. The pair were very pugnacious, attacking any birds coming near their nest. These birds have a clear mellow ringing whistle."

Mr. Oates writes from Pegu:—"I procured one nest on the 23rd April. It was placed at the tip of an outer branch of a jack tree, and attention was drawn to it by the vigorous attacks the parents made on passing birds. The nest was suspended in a fork; the outside diameter is 4 inches and inside 3, total depth 21/2, and the egg-cup is about 11/2; deep. The nest is composed of fine grass, strips of plaintain-bark, and other vegetable fibres closely woven together; the edges and the interior are chiefly of delicate branchlets of the finer weeds and grasses. It is overlaid at the edges, where it is attached to the branches, with cobwebs, and a few fragments of moss are stuck on at various points.

"There were two fresh eggs; the ground-colour is a pale salmon-fawn, and the shell is covered with darker spots and marks of the same. They are only very slightly glossy. The two eggs measure 0.85 by 0.62."

Major C.T. Bingham writes from Tenasserim:—"On the 10th March, 1880, being encamped at the head-waters of the Queebawchoung, a feeder of the Meplay, and having an hour to spare, I took my gun and climbed up a steep hill to the very sources of the Queebaw. Here, hanging over the trickling stream, was a nest of Chaptia aenea firmly woven and tied on to a fork in the branch of a little tree, at a height of about 10 feet from the ground. The nest was of roots and grass lined by soft fine black roots, and held three eggs, of a rich salmon-pink, obscurely spotted darker at the large end; they measure 0.83 by 0.61, 0.82 by 0.61, and 0.80 by 0.61 respectively.

"On the 15th March, 1880, in the fork of a branch of a small zimbun-tree (Dillenia pentagyna), hanging over a pathway along the bank of the Meplay stream, I found a nest of the above species. A neat strongly-made little cup of vegetable fibres and cobwebs, containing two fresh eggs; ground-colour dull salmon, obscurely spotted with brownish pink. They measure 0.86 by 0.64 and 0.88 by 0.65."

Mr. J.L. Darling, Jun., records the following notes:—

"26th March. Found a nest of Chaptia aenea, building, when on the march from Tavoy to Nwalabo, some seven miles east of Tavoy, in the fork of a bamboo-branch 12 feet from ground.

"29th March. Took two fresh eggs of Chaptia aenea, and shot the bird off nest, about twenty-three miles east of Tavoy, in open bamboo-land, very low elevation. The nest was built in the fork of an overhanging branch of a bamboo some 50 feet from the ground.

"13th April. Found a nest of Chaptia aenea with two large young ones. Nest built in a tree some 40 feet from ground, in open forest about twenty miles east of Tavoy.

"22nd April. Found a nest of Chaptia aenea with two large young ones. Nest built at the end of a bough about 30 feet from ground, near Tavoy."

The nests of this species are quite of the Oriole type, more or less deep cups suspended between the forks of small branches or twigs of some bamboo-clump or tree. Exteriorly they are composed of dry flags of grass, bits of bamboo-spathes, or coarse grass, bound together with vegetable fibres and often with a good deal of cobweb worked over them; sometimes a tiny bit or two of moss may be found added, and often the fine thread-like flower-stems of grass. Interiorly they are generally lined with excessively fine grass. In one or two nests very fine black fern-roots are intermingled with the grass lining. The nests vary a good deal in size, but are all extremely compact, and while some are decidedly massive, nearly an inch thick at bottom, others are scarcely a quarter of this in thickness beneath. In one the cavity is 2.5 inches broad by 3 long, and fully 2 deep; in another it is about 2.5 inches in diameter by scarcely 1.25 inches in depth. In one nest four fresh eggs were found; in another three fully incubated ones. The nests were suspended at heights of from 10 to 30 feet from the ground.

The eggs sent by Mr. Gammie very much recall the eggs of Niltava and others of the Flycatchers. They are moderately elongated ovals, in some cases slightly pyriform, in others somewhat pointed towards the small end. The shell is fine and compact, smooth and silky to the touch, but they have but little gloss. The ground-colour varies from a pale pinkish fawn to a pale salmon-pink, and they exhibit round the large end a feeble more or less imperfect and irregular zone of darker-coloured cloudy spots, in some cases reddish, in some rather inclining to purple, which zone is more or less involved in a haze of the same colour, but slightly darker than the rest of the ground-colour of the egg.

The eggs vary in length from 0.76 to 0.88, and in breadth from 0.6 to 0.64. The average of fifteen eggs is 0.82 by 0.61.

335. Chibia hottentotta (Linn.). The Hair-crested Drongo.

Chibia hottentota (L.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 439; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 286.

Mr. R. Thompson says:—"The Hair-crested Drongo is extremely common as a breeder in all our hot valleys (Kumaon and Gurwhal). It lays in May and June, building in forks of branches of small leafy trees situated in warm valleys having an elevation of from 2000 to 2500 feet. The nest is circular, about 5 inches in diameter, rather deep and hollow; it is composed of fine roots and fibres bound together with cobwebs, and it is lined with hairs and fine roots. They lay from three to four much elongated, purplish-white eggs, spotted with pink or claret colour."

Dr. Jerdon remarks:—"The Lepchas at Darjeeling brought me the nest, which was said to have been placed high up in a large tree; it was composed of twigs and roots and a few bits of grass, and contained two eggs, livid white, with purplish and claret spots, and of a very elongated form."

The Jobraj, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures, begins to lay in Nepal in April. It builds a large shallow nest, 8 or 9 inches in diameter externally, with the cavity of about half that diameter, attached, as a rule, to the slender branches of some horizontal fork, between which it is suspended much like that of an Oriole, though much shallower than this latter; it is composed of small twigs, fine roots, and grass-stems bound together, and it is attached to the branches by vegetable fibre, and more or less coated with cobwebs; little pieces of lichen and moss are also blended in the nest. It lays three or four eggs, rather pyriform in shape, measuring 1.25 by 0.86 inch, with a whitish or pinky-whitish ground, speckled and spotted pretty well all over, but most densely towards the large end, with reddish pink.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:—"I took two nests of the Hair-crested Drongo this year in June, both at about an elevation of 1500 feet in wooded valleys, placed well up in the outer branches of tall, slender trees; they are of a broad saucer-shape, openly but firmly made of roots and stems of slender climbers, and destitute of lining. There is a good deal of cobweb on the outsides of the nests, and they were attached to the supporting branches by the same material. One was fixed in among several upright sprays, the other suspended in a slender fork after the manner of an Oriole. They measured about 6 inches broad by 21/4 deep externally, internally 4 by 13/4. One nest contained four fresh eggs, the other three partially-incubated eggs."

Mr. Oates, writing from Pegu, says:—"In the first week of May I took several nests of this bird, but in all cases the nests were situated in such dangerous places that most of the eggs got broken; there were three in each nest. The position of the nest and the nest itself are very much like those of D. paradiseus. Comparing many nests of both species together, the only difference appears to be that the nests of the Hair-crested Drongo are slightly larger on the whole.

"The only two eggs saved measure 1.10 by .8 and 1.11 by .81; they are slightly glossy, dull white, minutely and thickly freckled and spotted with reddish brown and pale underlying marks of neutral tint.

"I may add that at the commencement of May all the eggs were much incubated."

Major C.T. Bingham remarks:—"During the breeding season in the end of March and in April I saw a great number of nests round and about Meeawuddy in Tenasserim, but all inaccessible, as they were invariably built out at the very end of the thinnest branches of eng, teak, thingan (Hopea odorata), and other trees.

"Except during those two months, I have not seen the bird plentiful anywhere."

Mr. J.R. Cripps has written the following valuable notes regarding the breeding of the Hair-crested Drongo in the Dibrugarh district in Assam:—

"17th May, 1879. Nest with three fresh eggs, attached to a fork in one of the outer brandies of an otinga (Dillenia pentagyna) tree, and about 15 feet off the ground.

"15th May, 1880. Three fresh eggs in a nest 20 feet off the ground, and a few yards from my bungalow, in an oorian (Bischoffia javanica, Bl.).

"5th June, 1880. Nest with three partly-incubated eggs, in one of the outer branches of a jack (Artocarpus integrifolia) tree, and about 15 feet off the ground.

"27th May, 1881. Three fresh eggs in a nest on a soom (Machilus odoratissima) tree at the edge of the forest bordering the tea. The nests are deep saucers, 31/2 inches in diameter, internally 11/2 deep, with the sides about 1/4 thick; but the bottom is so flimsy that the eggs are easily seen from below, the materials being grass, roots, and fine tendrils of creepers, especially if these are thorny, when they are used as a lining. The nest is always situated in the fork of a branch."

The nests are large, shallow, King-Crow-like structures, often suspended between forks, sometimes placed between four or five upright shoots, at times resting on a horizontal bough against and attached to some more or less upright shoots. They are composed mainly of roots thinly but firmly twisted together, have sometimes a good deal of cobweb twisted round their outer surface, often a good deal of vegetable fibre used for the same purpose and, though they have no lining, are always composed interiorly of finer material than that used for the outer portion of the structure. Exteriorly the diameter varies from 6 to nearly 7 inches, the height from nearly 2 to 21/2; the cavity is usually about 4 inches in diameter and 1.5 to 1.75 in depth. I have taken the nests in May and June alike in small and large trees, at elevations of from 10 to 30 feet from the ground.

Typically the eggs are rather broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards the small end, but they vary a great deal both in size and shape, are occasionally very much elongated, and again, at times, exhibit the characteristic pointing but feebly. The ground-colour varies from greyish white to a delicate pale pink; as a rule the markings are small and inconspicuous frecklings and specklings of pale purple reddish where the ground, is pink, greyish where it is white, tolerably thickly set about the large end and somewhat sparsely elsewhere; but in some eggs these markings are everywhere almost obsolete. In many there is a dull pale purplish cloud underlying the primary markings, extending over the greater part of the large end of the egg. Not uncommonly a few specks and spots of yellowish brown are scattered here and there about the egg. In one egg before me the markings are larger, more decided, and fewer in number—distinct spots, some of them one tenth of an inch in diameter; and in this egg the spots are decidedly brownish red, while intermixed with, them are a few specks and clouds of inky purple. The ground in this case is a pale pinky white.

As a rule the eggs are entirely devoid of gloss, but one or two have a very faint gloss.

The eggs measure from 1.01 to 1.21 in length, and from 0.79 to 0.86 in breadth; but the average of twenty-nine eggs is 1.12 by 0.81.

338. Dissemurulus lophorhinus (Vieill.). The Ceylon Black Drongo.

Dissemuroides lophorhinus (V.), Hume, cat. no. 283 quat.

Colonel Legge says, in his 'Birds of Ceylon':—"This species breeds in the south of Ceylon in the beginning of April. I have seen the young just able to fly in the Opate forests at the end of this month; but I have not succeeded in getting any information concerning its nest or eggs."

339. Bhringa remifer (Temm.). The Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo.

Bhringa remifer (Temm.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 434. Bhringa tenuirostris, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 283.

Of the Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo Mr. R. Thompson says:—"This elegant Drongo is somewhat common in our lower Kumaon ranges. Its lively clear and ringing notes are one of the greatest charms of the spring season in our forests. It breeds in May and June, and builds upon lofty trees in dense forests, usually in some deep damp valley. The nest from below looks just like that of a common King-Crow—a broad shallow cup; but I never closely examined either nest or eggs."

Dr. Jerdon remarks:—"A nest with eggs were brought to me in June, said to be of this species. The nest was loosely made of sticks and roots, and contained three eggs, reddish white, with a very few reddish-brown blotches."

From. Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:—"I have taken but one nest of this Drongo. It was suspended between two small horizontal forking branches of a tall tree, some 20 feet from ground. It is a neat, saucer-shaped structure, somewhat triangular, to fit well up to the fork, built of fibry roots, and firmly bound to the branches by spiders' webs. The sides and bottom are strong, but so thin that they can everywhere be seen through. Externally it measures 4.5 inches across by 1.9 in height; internally 3.5 by 1.3. It was taken on the 15th May at 2500 feet, and contained three partially incubated eggs."

A nest of this species taken by Mr. Gammie at Rishap (elevation 4800) in Sikhim, on the 20th May, is a very broad shallow saucer, composed almost entirely of moderately fine dark brown roots, but with a few slender herbaceous twigs intermingled. It is suspended in the fork of two widely diverging twigs, to which either margin is attached, chiefly by cobwebs, though on one side at one place part of the substance of the nest is wound round the twig: the cavity, which is not lined, is oval, and measures 3.5 inches by 2.75, by barely 0.75 in depth. The female seated on the nest had long tail-feathers, so this species does not drop these for convenience in incubating.

Several nests of this species obtained in Sikhim by Messrs. Gammie, Mandelli, &c. are all precisely similar—broad saucers, suspended Oriole-like between the fork of a small branch. Exteriorly composed of moderately fine brown roots, more or less bound together, especially those portions of them that are bound round the twigs of the fork with cobwebs, and lined interiorly with fine black horsehair-like roots. They seem to be always right up in the angle of the fork, whereas in Chaptia they are often some inches down the fork, and consequently the cavity is triangular on the one side, and semicircular on the other. The cavities measure from 3 to nearly 4 inches in their greatest diameters, and vary from 1 to 11/2 inch in depth; though strong and firm, and fully 1/4 of an inch thick at bottom, the materials are so put together that, held up against the light, they look like a fine network.

The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie, though more elongated in shape and somewhat larger, very closely resemble in coloration the more ordinary type of the eggs of Dicrurus longicaudatus. In shape they are elongated ovals, a good deal compressed towards the smaller end. The shell is fine, but has scarcely any gloss. The ground-colour is a moderately warm salmon-pink. It is spotted, streaked, and blotched thickly about the large end (where there is a tendency to form a cap or zone), thinly elsewhere, with somewhat brownish red, or in some merely a darker shade of the ground-colour; where the markings are thickest about the large end, in some only one or two, in others numerous blotches and clouds of a dull inky purple are intermingled, and a few specks and spots of the same colour often occur elsewhere about the egg.

Two eggs measure 1.09 by 0.75, and a third measures 0.98 by 0.75.

340. Dissemurus paradiseus (Linn.). The Larger Racket-tailed Drongo.

Edolius paradiseus (L.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 435. Edolius inalabaricus (Scop.), Jerd. t.c. p. 437. Dissemurus malabaroides (Hodgs.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 284.

Of the Larger Racket-tailed Drongo Dr. Jerdon tells us that he has "had its nest brought him several times at Darjeeling; rather a large structure of twigs and roots; and the eggs, usually three in number, pinkish white, with claret-coloured or purple spots, but they vary a great deal in size, form, and colouring. They breed in April and May."

The solitary egg that I possess of this species, given me by Dr. Jerdon, is probably an exceptionally small one. It is a broad oval, tapering a good deal towards one end, a good deal smaller than the eggs of Chibia hottentotta, and not very much larger than some eggs of D. ater. Its coloration, however, resembles that of Chibia hottentotta, and differs conspicuously, when compared with them (though it may be difficult to make this apparent by description), from those of the true Dicruri. The ground-colour is a dead white, and it is very thinly speckled all over, a little more thickly towards the large end, with minute dots and spots, chiefly of a very pale inky purple, a very few only of the spots being a dark inky purple. The texture of the egg is fine and close, but it is devoid of gloss. This egg measures 1.1 by 0.87 inch.

Mr. Iver Macpherson writes from Mysore:—

"Kakencotte State Forest, Mysore District.—I send you six eggs, specimens from three different nests.

"This bird is very common in the heavy forests of the Mysore District, but the only nest I have ever found myself was on the 2nd May, 1880, and contained two or three young birds. I could 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 mind 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 Godhra, and therefore probably throughout the Panch Mehals.

Mr. J. Inglis, 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 ornamenting their head-dresses."

Mr. Oates writes from Pegu:—"I have taken the eggs of this species on 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 themselves 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 orangebrown spots and dashes.

"They vary in size from 1.2 to 1.06 in length, and .85 to .8 in breadth."

Major C.T. Bingham has the following note:—"About five miles below the large village of Meplay, in the district of that name, the main stream of the Meplay river is joined by a tributary, the Theedoquee. On the 4th April I was wading across the mouth of the latter, when my attention was attracted by seeing a pair of the above birds dart from a small tree growing at the very point of the fork where the streams met, and sweep down at my dog, not actually striking him, but nearly doing so. Of course, I made for the tree, and sure enough there, about 15 feet from the ground, in a fork, was a large mass of twigs, above which was placed a neatly made cup-shaped nest, lined with fine black roots, and containing three fresh eggs, densely spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with yellowish brown and sepia, on a ground-colour of dull greenish white. The whole time the peon I had sent up was climbing up and getting the nest, the two birds kept sweeping round and round with harsh cries. I secured them both for the identification of the eggs."

The eggs of this species are typically rather long ovals, generally a good deal pointed towards the small end. They are dull eggs, and never seem to have any perceptible gloss. The ground-colour varies from white to a rich warm pink. The markings are of all sizes and shapes, from large blotches to the tiniest specks, and they vary in every egg, being thickly set in some, thinly in others, but as a rule the largest and most conspicuous markings are about the large end. Again, in colour the markings vary very much: they are red, purplish red, reddish brown, pale purple, and inky grey; generally the eggs exhibit both coloured markings reddish and lilac, but sometimes the white-grounded eggs have only these latter. Some of the pink eggs are strikingly handsome, and remind one of those of some of the Bulbuls. Others are dull eggs with only a few irregular grey clouds about the large end, thinly interspersed with brownish-red spots, usually darker about the centre, and elsewhere excessively minutely and thinly speckled with spots too small to render it possible to say what colour they are.

An egg I received from Darjeeling measures 1.1 by 0.87; others received from Mynall from Mr. Bourdillon, and the Kakencotte Forest, Mysore, from Mr. I. Macpherson, vary in length from 1.16 to 1.1, and in breadth from 0.84 to 0.75. Three eggs, taken in Pegu by Mr. Oates, measure from 1.1 to 1.05 in length, by 0.83 to 0.81 in breadth, and are smaller than those the dimensions of which he himself records above.



Family CERTHIIDAE.

341. Certhia himalayana, Vigors. The Himalayan Tree-Creeper.

Certliia himalayana, Vig., Jerd B. Ind. i, p, 380; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 243.

Writing from Murree of the Himalayan Tree-Creeper, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall says:—"This is a most difficult nest to find, as the little bird always chooses crevices where the bark has been broken or bulged out, some 40 or 50 feet from the ground, and generally on tall oak-trees which have no branches within 40 feet of their roots. There were young in the few nests we found. Captain Cock secured the eggs in Kashmir; they are very small, being only 0.6 by 0.45; the ground is white, with numerous red spots. The nests we found were in the highest part of Murree, about 7200 feet."

Two eggs of this species which I possess measure 0.69 and 0.68 respectively in length, by 0.5 in breadth.

342. Certhia hodgsoni, Brooks. Hodgson's Tree-Creeper.

Certhia hodgsoni, Brooks, Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 243 bis.

Hodgson's Tree-Creeper is the supposed C. familiaris obtained by Dr. Jerdon in Cashmir, of which he gave me two specimens.

Mr. Brooks says:—"It was seen at Gulmurg and also at Sonamurg, where Captain Cock took a few nests. The egg is much more densely spotted than that of the English Creeper, so as almost to hide the reddish-white ground-colour. Size 0.59 to 0.65 inch long by 0.48 inch broad; time of laying, the first week in June."

The egg is of smooth texture, without gloss, of a purplish-white ground-colour, and fully spotted all over with light brownish red, especially at the larger end. Numerous spots of reddish grey or pale inky purple are intermingled with red ones.

In shape the egg varies from a somewhat elongated oval, more or less compressed towards the smaller end, to a comparatively broad oval, also slightly compressed towards the latter end. In all the eggs that I have seen, the markings were more or less confluent towards the large end. Their dimensions are correctly recorded by Mr. Brooks.

347. Salpornis spilonota (Frankl.). The Spotted-Grey Creeper.

Salpornis spilonota (Frankl.), Jerd. B.I. i, p. 382.

Mr. Cleveland found a nest of this species at Hattin, in the Gurgaon district, on the 16th April. The nest was placed on a large ber-tree in a patch of preserved jungle, at a height of about 10 feet from the ground. It was cup-shaped, placed on the upper surface of a horizontal bough at the angle formed between this and a vertical shoot, to which it was attached on one side, the other three sides being free. The nest itself is unlike any other that I have seen. It is composed entirely of bits of leaf-stalks, tiny bits of leaves, chips of bark, the dung of caterpillars, all cemented together everywhere with cobwebs, so that the whole nest is a firm but yet soft and elastic mass. The nest is cup-shaped, but oval and not circular; its exterior diameters are 4 and 3 inches respectively; its greatest height 2 inches; the cavity measures 2.6 by 2.2, and 1.1 in depth.

The texture of the nest, as I have already said, is extremely peculiar; it is extremely strong, and though pulled off the bough on which it rested and the off-shoot to which it was attached, is as perfect apparently as the day it was found, bearing on the lower surface an exact cast of the inequalities of the bark on which it rested; but it is soft, yielding, and flabby in the hand, almost as much so as if it was jelly. The nest contained two almost full-grown nestlings and one addled egg.

This egg is a very regular oval, slightly broader at one end, the shell fine and fairly glossy; the ground-colour is pale greenish white; round the large end there is an irregular imperfect zone of blackish-brown specks and tiny spots, and round about these is more or less of a brown nimbus, and over the rest of the egg a very few specks and spots of blackish, dusky, and pale brown are scattered. It measures 0.68 by 0.53.

Another nest was found about 15 feet up a tree. It was partly seated on and partly wedged in between the fork of two thick oblique branches, to the rough bark of which the bottom only was firmly cemented with cobwebs, the sides, as in the case of the first nest, being quite free and detached from its surroundings. As regards dimensions and composition, the latter nest was an exact counterpart of that first taken. It contained two partially fledged nestlings.

352. Anorthura neglecta (Brooks). The Cashmir Wren.

Troglodytes neglecta, Brooks, Hume, cat. no. 333 bis. Troglodytes nipalensis, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 333.

The Cashmir Wren breeds in Cashmir in May and June at elevations of from 6000 to nearly 10,000 feet. I have never seen the nest, though I possess eggs taken by Captain Cock and Mr. Brooks in Cashmir. The latter says:—"Only two nests of this bird were found (both at Gulmurg), one having four eggs and the other three. In the latter case the full number was not laid, as the nest, when first found, was empty; on three successive mornings an egg was laid and then they were taken.

"In shape they vary as much as do those of the English Wren, and like them they are white, sometimes minutely freckled with pale red and purple-grey specks, which are principally confined to the large end, with a tendency to form a zone. Other eggs are plain white, without the slightest sign of a spot; but these, I think, must be the exception, for the egg of the English Wren is usually spotted. The egg has very little gloss, and the ground-colour is pure white."

The eggs are very large for the size of the bird. There appear to be two types. The one somewhat elongated ovals, slightly compressed towards the lesser end; the others broad short ovals, decidedly pointed at one end. Some eggs are perfectly pure unspotted white; others have a dull white ground, with a faint zone of minute specks of brownish red and tiny spots of greyish purple towards the large end, and a very few markings of a similar character scattered about the rest of the surface. All the eggs of the latter type vary in the amount and size of markings; these latter are always sparse and very minute. The pure white eggs appear to be less common. The eggs have always a slight gloss, the pure white ones at times a very decided, though never at all a brilliant gloss.

In length they vary from 0.61 to 0.7 inch, and in breadth from 0.5 to 0.52 inch.

Mr. Brooks subsequently wrote:—"The Cashmir Wren is not uncommon in the pine-woods of Cashmir, and in habits and manners resembles its European congener. Its song is very similar and quite as pretty. It is a shy, active little bird, and very difficult to shoot. I found two nests. One was placed in the roots of a large upturned pine, and was globular with entrance at the side. It was profusely lined with feathers and composed of moss and fibres. The eggs were white, sparingly and minutely spotted with red, rather oval in shape; measuring 0.66 by 0.5. A second nest was placed in the thick foliage of a moss-grown fir-tree, and was about 7 feet above the ground. It was similarly composed to the other nest, but the eggs were rounder and plain white, without any spots."

355. Urocichla caudata (Blyth). The Tailed Wren.

Pnoepyga caudata (Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 490; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 331.

The Tailed Wren, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, lays in April and May, building a deep cup-shaped nest about the roots of trees or in a hole of fallen timber; the nest is a dense mass of moss and moss-roots, lined with the latter. One measured was 3.5 inches in diameter and 3 in height; internally, the cavity was 1.6 inch, in diameter and about 1 inch deep. They lay four or five spotless whitish eggs, which are figured as broad ovals, rather pointed towards one end, and measuring 0.75 by 0.54 inch.

356. Pnoepyga albiventris (Hodgs.). The Scaly-breasted Wren.

Pnoepyga squamata (Gould), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 488.

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:—"I found two nests of the Scaly-breasted Wren this year within a few yards of each other. They were in a small moist ravine in the Rishap forest, at 5000 feet above sea-level. One was deserted before being quite finished, and the other was taken a few days after three eggs had been laid. The two nests were alike, and both were built among the moss growing on the trunks of large trees, within a yard of the ground. The only carried material was very fine roots, which were firmly interwoven, and the ends worked in with the natural moss. These fine roots were worked into the shape of a half-egg, cut lengthways, and placed with its open side against the trunk, which thus formed one side of the nest. Near the top one side was not quite close to the trunk, and by this irregular opening the bird entered. Internally the nest measured 3 inches deep by 2 in width. I killed the female off the eggs; she had eaten a caterpillar, spiders, and other insects."

Mr. Mandelli found a nest of this species at Pattabong, elevation 5000 feet, near Darjeeling, on the 19th May, containing three fresh eggs. The nest was placed amongst some small bushes projecting out of a crevice of a rock about three feet from the ground. It was completely sheltered above, but was not hooded or domed; it was, for the size of the bird, a rather large cup, composed of green moss rather closely felted together and lined with fine blackish-brown roots. The cavity measured about 2 inches in diameter and 1 in depth.

The eggs of this species seem large for the size of the bird; they are rather broad at the large end, considerably pointed towards the small end. They are pure white, almost entirely devoid of gloss, and with very delicate and fragile shells.

The eggs varied from in 0.72 to 0.78 in length, and from 0.54 to 0.57 in breadth.



Family REGULIDAE.

358. Regulus cristatus, Koch. The Golderest.

Regulus himalayensis, Blyth, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 206; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 580.

All I know of the nidification of this species is that Sir E.C. Buck, C.S., found a nest at Rogee, in the Sutlej Valley, on the 8th June, on the end of a deodar branch 8 feet from the ground and partly suspended. It contained seven young birds fully fledged; no crest or signs of a crest were observable in the young. Both the parent birds and the nest were kindly sent to me.

The nest is a deep pouch suspended from several twigs, with the entrance at the top, and composed entirely of fine lichens woven or intervened into a thick, soft, flexible tissue of from three eighths to half an inch in thickness. Externally the nest was about 31/2 to 4 inches in depth, and about 3 inches in diameter.



Family SYLVIIDAE.

363. Acrocephalus stentoreus (H. & E.). The Indian Great Reed-Warbler.

Acrocephalus brunnescens (Jerd.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 154. Calamodyta stentorea (H. & E.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 515.

Both Mr. Brooks and Captain Cock succeeded in securing the nests and eggs of the Indian Great Reed-Warbler in Cashmere. Common as it is, my own collectors failed to get eggs, though they brought plenty of nests.

The nest is a very deep massive cup hung to the sides of reeds. A nest before me, taken in Cashmere on the 10th June, is an inverted and slightly truncated cone. Externally it has a diameter of 31/4 inches and a depth of nearly 6 inches. It is massive, but by no means neat; composed of coarse water-grass, mingled with a few dead leaves and fibrous roots of water-plants. The egg-cavity is lined with finer and more compactly woven grass, and measures about 13/4 inch in diameter and 21/4 inches in depth.

It breeds in May and June; at the beginning of July all the nests either contained young or were empty. Four is the full complement of eggs.

Mr. Brooks noted in epist.:—"Srinuggur, 10th June. I went out early this morning on the lake here to look for eggs of Acrocephalus stentoreus, but it came on to rain so heavily that I only partially succeeded. I took three nests, two with three eggs each, and one with four young ones, the latter half-hatched. The eggs very much resemble large and boldly-marked Sparrows' eggs. They are smaller than the eggs of A. arundinaceus, but very similar. The latter have larger clear spaces without spots than those of our bird. I neither saw nor heard any other aquatic warbler."

Later, in a paper on the eggs and nests he had obtained in Cashmere, he stated that this species "breeds abundantly in the Cashmere lakes. The nest is supported, about 18 inches above the water, by three or four reeds, and is a deep cup composed of grasses and fibres. The eggs are four, very like those of A. arundinaceus, but the markings are more plentiful and smaller."

Captain Cock writes to me that "the Large Reed-Warbler is very common in the reeds that fringe all the lakes in Cashmere. It breeds in June, builds a largish nest of dry sedge, woven round five or six reeds, of a deep cup form, which it places about 2 feet above the water. It lays four or five eggs, rather blunt ovals, equally blunt at both ends, blotched with olive and dusky grey on a dirty-white ground."

Mr. S.B. Doig, who found this bird breeding in the Eastern Narra in Sind, writes:—"On the 4th August, while my man was poling along in a canoe in a large swamp on the lookout for eggs, he passed a small bunch of reeds and in them spotted a nest with a bird on it. The nest contained three beautiful fresh eggs. A few days later I joined him, and on asking about these eggs he described the bird and said he had found several other nests of the same species, but all of them contained young ones nearly fledged. I made him show me some of these nests, all of which were situated in clumps of reed, in the middle of the swamp, and in these same reeds I found and shot the young ones which, though fledged, were not able to fly. These I sent with one of the eggs to Mr. Hume, who has identified them as belonging to this species. The nests were composed of frayed pieces of reed-grass and fine sedge, the latter being principally towards the inside, thus forming a kind of lining. The nests were loosely put together, were about 3 inches inner diameter, 11/4 inch deep, the outer diameter being 6 inches. They were situated about a foot over water-line in the tops of reeds growing in the water."