Chapter VI: Part 6

The Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in Sikhim, at an elevation of 5000 or 6000 feet. Its nest is placed about a foot or 2 feet above the ground, in a bamboo-clump or some thick bush, and is firmly wedged in between the twigs and shoots. It is composed internally of dried bamboo-leaves, grass, and vegetable fibres, outside which bamboo-sheaths are bound on with creepers and fibres of different kinds. The nest is more or less egg-shaped, with the longer diameter horizontal, some 7 inches or so in length and 5 inches in height, and with the entrance at one end, measuring some 3 inches in diameter. Four or five eggs are laid, elongated ovals, somewhat pointed towards the small end, pure white, and measuring about 1·08 by 0·7.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took a nest of this bird on the 19th May, at an elevation of about 5000 feet. It was placed on the ground, among low scrub, near the outskirts of a large forest, and was neatly made, for a _Pomatorhinus_, of bamboo-leaves and long grass, with a thin lining of fibry strips torn from old bamboo-stems. In shape it was a cone laid on its side. Externally it measured 9 inches in length by the same in height at front, while the egg-cavity measured 3·5 inches across, and 1·75 in depth. The entrance, which was at the end, measured 3 inches in diameter.

"Next to the lining was a layer of broadish grass-blades, placed lengthways, _i.e._ from base to apex of the cone, then came a cross layer of broad bamboo-leaves succeeded by a second layer of bamboo-leaves placed lengthways. By this arrangement the nest was kept perfectly water-tight. So nicely were these simple materials put together that they held each other in their places without the assistance of a single fibre.

"The nest contained four partially incubated eggs: three of them pointed and exactly alike, but the fourth rounded, and apparently of a different texture, so that it may have been introduced by a Cuckoo."

Two eggs sent by Mr. Gammie are moderately elongated ovals, somewhat obtuse even, at the smaller end. The shell is very fine, pure white, and has a fine gloss. They measure 1·1 by 0·83, and 1·06 by 0·78.

125. Pomatorhinus ruficollis, Hodgs. _The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus ruficollis, _Hodgs., Jerd, B. Ind._ ii, p. 29; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 400.

The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler breeds in Nepal, the Himalayas eastward of that State, and in the various ranges running down from Assam to Burmah.

The breeding-season appears to be April and May. They lay five, or sometimes only four, eggs.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"This species breeds, I think, from the middle of April to the middle of May; but I have only as yet taken a single nest, and this I found at Rishap on the 5th May, at an elevation of about 4500 feet. The nest was placed on the ground in open country, but partially concealed by overhanging grass and weeds, and immediately adjoining a deep humid ravine filled with a dense undergrowth. The nest was composed of dry grass, fern, bamboo, and other dry leaves put loosely together and lined with a few fibres. In shape it was domed or hooded, and exteriorly it measured 5·7 inches in height and 5 in diameter. Interiorly the cavity was 2·6 in diameter, and had a total depth of 3·8 measured from the roof, but of only 2 inches below the lower margin of the aperture. This nest contained five eggs, much incubated; indeed, they would have hatched off in one or two days."

The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson, in the central portion of Nepal in April and May, building a large, coarse, globular nest of dry grass and bamboo-leaves on the ground in some thick bush or bamboo-clump. The opening of the nest is at the side. They lay four or five white eggs, measuring as figured 0·9 by 0·68.

The eggs sent me by Mr. Gammie are rather elongated ovals, a good deal pointed towards one end, pure white, the shells very fine and fragile, and with a fair amount of gloss.

Ten eggs varied from 0·85 to 1·02 in length, and from 0·62 to 0·74 in breadth, but the average was 0·95 by 0·68.

129. Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, Vigors. _The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, _Vig., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 31; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 405.

The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler breeds from April to June in the Himalayas, at any rate from Darjeeling to the Valley of the Beas, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet. It may be _met_ with at double this latter altitude, but I doubt if it _nests_ higher.

As a rule, the nest is placed on the ground, in some thick clump of dry fern or coarse grass, amongst dead leaves and moss, but at times I have seen it placed in a thick bush 2 or 3 feet from the ground. It is very common near Kotegurh and below Narkunda, where we found nearly a dozen nests, almost all, however, containing young ones. Typically the nest is domed, and is loosely constructed of the materials at hand--coarse grass, dry fern, dead leaves, moss-roots, and the like, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 inches high, with a broad entrance on one side, a good deal above the middle. In some cases, however, where a dense bunch of grass or fern completely curves over the spot selected for the nest, the latter is a mere broad, shallow saucer. There is no regular lining to the nests, but a good many fine roots are at times incorporated in the interior of the cavity. All the nests that I have seen were placed near the edges of clumps of brushwood or scrubby jungle.

I ought here to mention that I am by no means certain that the Nepalese and Sikhim, in fact the eastern race of this species (_P. ferrugilatus_ Hodgs.), will not have to be separated from the more western _P. erythrogenys_ of Gould. Long ago Blyth remarked ('Journal Asiatic Society,' 1845, p. 598) that "there seems to be two marked varieties of _P. erythrogenys_, one having white under-parts, with merely faint traces of darker spots, the other with the throat and breast densely mottled with greenish olive," or, as I should call it, dingy olive-grey. This is perfectly true, and, as far as I can make out, the latter variety is not one of sex or age, but is local and confined to Kumaon (where the other form also occurs) and the hills eastward of this province. My own remarks above given refer to the true _P. erythrogenys_, and so do Hutton's; but Hodgson's and Mr. Gammie's birds both appear to have been, and the latter's certainly were, grey-throated examples. The eggs are undistinguishable, as, indeed, though they vary somewhat in shape and size, are those of most of the _Pomatorhini_.

Captain Hutton says that this species is "common from 3500 feet up to 10,000 or 12,000 feet, always in pairs, turning up the dead leaves on copsewood covered banks, uttering a loud whistle, answering and calling each other. It breeds in April, constructing its nest on the ground of coarse dry grasses and leaf-stalks of walnut-trees, and is covered with a dome-shaped roof, so nicely blended with the fallen leaves and withered grasses, among which it is placed, as to be almost undistinguishable from them. The eggs are three in number, and pure white; diameter 1·12 by 0·81 inches, of an ordinary oval shape. When disturbed, the bird sprung along the ground with long bounding hops, so quickly that, from its motions and the appearance of the nest, I was led to believe it a species of rat. The nest is placed in a slight hollow, probably formed by the bird itself."

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes, this species would appear to breed at heights of from 2000 to 8000 feet. It lays in May and June. On the 20th May, and again on the 6th June, Mr. Hodgson found nests of this species in thick bushes 3 or 4 feet above the ground. They were broad saucer-shaped nests of coarse vegetable fibres, grass, and grass-roots, 7 inches or so in diameter, and the cavity, which had no lining, was about 4 inches in diameter by 2 inches in depth. They contained three and four white eggs respectively. One figured measures 0·98 by 0·73. On June 8th he found two more nests at Jaha Powah, on the ground, on edges of brushy slopes close to grassy open plains, the nest a large mass of grass, oven-shaped, open at one and in one case at both ends, protected by the root of a tree. There were two and three white eggs in the nests respectively. The eggs of these nests are figured as measuring 1·08 by 0·73.

Mr. Gammie remarks:--"I found a nest of this species below Rungbee, at an elevation of about 2000 feet, on the 17th June. It was placed on, and partially in a hole in a bank, and contained two hard-set eggs. It was a large, loose pad of fine grass and dead fern, with a few broad flag-like grass-leaves incorporated towards the base, and overhung by a sort of canopy of similar materials. The basal portion was some 6 inches long and 5 inches broad, and about 2 inches thick in the thickest part, with a broad shallow depression for the eggs of about half that depth."

Writing again this year (1874) he says:--"I have only found two more nests this year, and both in the last week of April; the one contained three partially incubated eggs, the other three young birds. These nests were at Gielle, at an elevation of about 2500 feet. As a rule, these birds nest in open country, immediately adjoining moist thickly wooded ravines, in which they feed, and take refuge if disturbed from the nest. The nest is usually placed on sloping ground, more or less concealed by overhanging herbage, and is composed, according to my experience, of dry grass sparingly lined with fibres. It is large; one I measured _in situ_ was 8 inches in height and 7 inches in diameter; the vertical diameter of the cavity was 4 inches and the horizontal 3½ inches. I have not yet found more than three eggs or young ones in any nest."

Dr. Scully remarks of this bird in Nipal:--"It lays in May and June; two nests, taken on the 30th May and 6th June, were large loosely-made pads, not domed, and with the egg-cavity saucer-shaped, each nest contained three pure white eggs."

The eggs of this species are long, and at times narrow, ovals, pure white and fairly glossy, but occasionally almost glossless, without any marks or spottings.

In length they vary from 1·0 to 1·2, and in breadth from 0·73 to 0·85, but the average of twenty eggs is about 1·11 by nearly 0·8.

133. Xiphorhamphus superciliaris (Blyth). _The Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler_.

Xiphorhamphus superciliaris (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 33; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 406.

The Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in Sikhim, at elevations of 3000 to 6000 feet, during the months of May and June. The nest is a large globular one, composed of dry bamboo-leaves and green grass, intermingled and lined with fine roots and fibres. The entrance, which is about 2 to 2·5 inches in diameter, is at one end. A nest containing four eggs, obtained on the 12th June, measured about 7 inches in diameter externally, and it was placed in the crown of a stump from 2 to 3 feet from the ground. Sometimes the nests are placed in tufts of high grass or in thick bushes, but never at any great elevation above the ground. They lay three or four eggs, which are pure white, and one of which is figured as a broad oval, measuring 0·95 by 0·7.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took a nest of this Scimitar Babbler on the 29th May, in the middle of the large forest on the top of the Mahalderam ridge, at about 7000 feet elevation. It was built on the ground, on top of a dry bank by the side of a path, and was overhung by a few grassy weeds. In shape it was a blunt cone laid on its side, with the entrance at the wide end. It was loosely made of the dead leaves of a deciduous orchid (_Pleione wallichiana_), small bamboo, chestnut, and grass, intermixed with decaying stems of small climbing-plants. It measured externally 6 inches long, with a diameter of 5·5 at front, and of 1·75 at back. The cavity was quite devoid of lining and measured 3·5 in length by 2·5 wide at entrance, slightly contracting inwards. It contained three partially incubated eggs."

Two eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie are elongated ovals, pure white, and with only a faint gloss. They measure 0·99 and 1·05 in length, by 0·68 and 0·75 in breadth respectively.

Subfamily TIMELIINAE.

134. Timelia pileata, Horsf. _The Red-capped Babbler_.

Timelia pileata, _Horsf., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 24; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 396.

Mr. Eugene Oates records that he "found the nest of this bird at Thayetmyo on the 2nd June with young ones a few days old. The nest was placed on the ground in the centre of a low but very thick thorny bush."

Subsequently he wrote from Pegu, further south:--"The nest is placed in the fork of a shrub, very near to, or quite on, the ground, and is surrounded in every case by long grass. A nest found on the 4th July, on which the female was sitting closely, contained three eggs slightly incubated. The breeding-season seems to be in June and July.

"The nest is made entirely of bamboo-leaves and is lined sparingly with fine grass. No other material enters into its composition. It is oval, about 7 inches in height and 4 in diameter, with a large entrance at the side, its lower edge being about the middle of the nest.

"When the bird frequents elephant-grass, where there are no shrubs, it builds on the ground at the edge of a clump of grass, and I have found two nests in such a situation, only a few feet from each other.

"In looking for the nest a good deal of grass is necessarily trodden down; the consequence is that if you do not find eggs, there is little chance of their being laid later on. I have found some ten nests, more or less completed, but only three eggs."

And again, later on:--"This bird would appear to have two broods a year, for I procured two sittings of three eggs each this year in April, former nests having been found in June and July. With many eggs before me I find that the density of the markings varies considerably. The size is very constant; for the length of numerous eggs varies only from ·75 to ·72, and the breadth from ·6 to ·54 inch."

I was, I believe, myself the first to obtain the eggs of this species, but the first of my contributors who sent me eggs, nest, and a note on the nidification of this species was Mr. J.C. Parker. Writing to me in September 1875, he said:--

"On the 14th August I took a nest of _Timelia pileata_ on my old ground in the Salt Lakes. I discovered this by a mere accident, for I happened to see a female _Prinia flaviventris_ (whose eggs I was in quest of for you) perched on the top of a bush inland about 10 feet from the bank of the canal, and from her movements I thought she must have a nest near at hand.

"Accordingly I landed, although not in trim for wading through a bog. Sure enough I was not mistaken; the _Prinia_ had a nest, but it contained only _one_ egg. Close by, however, I saw a nest, from out of which a bird flew, and although I did not shoot it I am quite sure it was _Timelia pileata_. The jungle was particularly thick just about where I stood, indeed impenetrable, and I could not follow the bird, but I soon heard the male bird talking to his mate in that extraordinary way which these birds have, and which once heard cannot be mistaken.

"The nest was placed on the spikes growing from the joints of a species of grass very thick and stiff, and forming a secure foundation for the nest. This latter is 6 inches high and 4 inches broad. Egg-cavity 2 inches, entrance-hole 1½ by 2. The nest itself is very loosely put together with the dead leaves of the tiger-grass twisted round and round, and lined roughly with coarse grass. The nest was quite open to view and about three feet from the ground. I suppose the birds never expected that such a wild swampy spot as they had selected would be invaded by any oologist."

Mr. J.R. Cripps writing from Eastern Bengal says:--"Pretty common. Permanent resident. Oftener found in the patches of cane brushwood jungle found in and around villages than in unfrequented jungle and thickets as Dr. Jerdon says. I have, however, once seen it in a field of jute, which was alongside a village. Its well-known note can be heard a long way off. I have several times found nests in course of construction, but only once secured a clutch of eggs. When the nests are being built, if the bush is at all disturbed the nest is deserted. The earliest date on which I found a nest was the 1st April, 1878; it was half finished, and as I pulled the cane-leaves asunder to see if there were eggs, the birds deserted it. After this I found four nests in cane-clumps on the sides of roads, but they were empty, and as the birds abandoned them in due course I despaired of getting any eggs; but on the 15th June, while going along a road, the edges of which were bounded by the small embankments natives throw up round their holdings, and which are always overgrown with 'sone' grass, I saw one of these birds with a straw in its bill disappear at the root of a small date-tree. The nest could be discerned from the road. On the 20th June I returned and found two fresh eggs; the nest was placed at the junction of the frond and the stem of the date-tree about five inches from the ground, and was an oval deep cup and measured externally 5 inches deep by 3¾ broad. Egg-cavity 2 broad and 1¾ deep, composed exclusively of 'sone' grass with no lining."

The eggs of this species are broad ovals with a tolerably fine gloss. The ground-colour is pure white. The whole of the larger end of the egg is pretty thickly speckled and spotted with brown, varying from an olive to a burnt sienna intermingled with little spots and clouds of pale inky purple, and similar spots and specks chiefly of the former colour, but smaller in size, scattered thinly over the rest of the egg. In size they vary from 0·69 to 0·75 in length, and from 0·55 to 0·6 in breadth.

135. Dumetia hyperythra (Frankl.). _The Rufous-bellied Babbler_.

Dumetia hyperythra (_Frankl.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 26; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 397.

The Rufous-bellied Babbler breeds throughout the Central Provinces, Chota Nagpoor, Upper Bengal, the eastern portions of the North-West Provinces, parts of Oudh, and even in the low valleys of Kumaon.

It lays from the middle of June to the middle of August, building a globular nest of broad grass-blades or bamboo-leaves some 4 or 5 inches in diameter, sparingly lined with fine grass-roots or a little hair, or sometimes entirely unlined. The nest is placed sometimes on the ground amongst dead leaves, some of which are not unfrequently incorporated in the structure; sometimes in coarse grass or some little shrub a foot or two from the ground, but by preference, according to my experience, in amongst the roots of a bamboo-clump.

Four is the usual number of eggs laid.

Mr. Brooks writes:--"On the 26th June, 1867, in the broken ground above Chunar, I took two nests in the foot of a thick bamboo-bush about 2 feet from the ground. The nests were made of bamboo-leaves rolled into a ball with the entrance at the side, and no lining except a few hairs. There were two eggs in one nest and three in the other. They were all fresh. The eggs in the two nests varied somewhat: the ground of the one was nearly pure white, and it was finely speckled with reddish brown, which at the large end was partly confluent: the other nest had the eggs with a pinkish-white ground, the spots larger and less neatly defined, and with a rather large confluent spot at the large end."

Writing from Hoshungabad, Mr. E.C. Nunn remarks:--"I found two nests of this species, each containing two eggs, on the 20th July and 6th August, 1868. Both nests were ball-shaped, of coarse grass very firmly and compactly twisted together, and with numerous dead leaves incorporated in the body of the nest and towards the base, forming the major portion of the material. They were thinly lined inside with fine grass-roots. One was placed at the root of a small thorny bush: the other on the ground in a thick clump of rank grass." The nest Mr. Nunn sent to me was peculiarly solidly made. The cavity was small, about 2·25 inches in depth and 1·5 in diameter. The bottom of the nest was some 2 inches and the sides 1·25 inch thick.

From Raipoor Mr. F.R. Blewitt tells us that "in July and August four nests of this Babbler were taken; in two there were four eggs each, in the third, three, and in the fourth, two--thirteen in all. The nests were carefully made on the ground, at the base of clumps of long grass growing very near to bamboo thickets. Three are made exclusively of the dry leaves of the bamboo; the fourth of coarse grass. They were nearly globular, about 4 inches in diameter, and without any regular lining, although in the interior of the cavity a good deal of fine grass-stems had been incorporated in the nest. They were well hidden in the grass."

Mr. Henry Wenden writes:--"On July 18th, about 15 miles from Bombay, on the line of railway, I found a nest and eggs of the following description: nest, a rough loose ball of soft flat grasses, lined with hard but fine grass-stems, entrance at side near top; situated in a thorny bush in cactus-hedge, by a narrow lane, not 4 feet wide, through which numerous people passed. The nest, about 3 feet from the ground, was in no way concealed. On the 18th there were two eggs, and on the 20th, when there were four eggs, the bird was snared and nest taken."

The eggs are short, broad ovals, very slightly compressed towards one end. The ground-colour is white or pinkish white, and it is streaked, spotted, and speckled most thickly at the large end (where there is a tendency to form an irregular confluent cap or zone), and thinly towards the small end, with shades of red, brownish red, and reddish purple, varying much in different examples. In some the markings are pretty bold and blotchy, in others they are small and speckly; in some they are smudgy and ill-defined, in others they are clear and distinct. Some of the eggs are miniatures of some types of _Pyctorhis sinensis_, but many recall the eggs of the Titmouse. They are much about the size of those of _Parus caeruleus_ and _P. palustris_, but a trifle less broad than either of these. The eggs have a faint gloss.

In length they vary from 0·63 to 0·7, and in breadth from 0·5 to 0·56; but the average of twenty-four eggs now before me is 0·67 by 0·53.

136. Dumetia albigularis (Blyth). _The Small White-throated Babbler_.

Dumetia albogularis (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind_ ii, p. 26; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 398.

Miss M.B. Cockburn, writing from Kotagherry, tells me that "the White-throated Babbler builds its nest in the month of June. One was found by my nest-seekers on the 17th of that month in the year 1873. It was constructed on a coffee-tree, and contained three eggs, which were white, profusely covered with reddish spots of all sizes. The bird was very shy, and would not return to the nest for some hours after it had been discovered; when, however, she did so, she was shot. This year (1874) I found another similar nest on the 9th of June, also containing three eggs."

The nest with which she favoured me was small and nearly globular (say at most 4 inches in external diameter), composed entirely of broad flaggy grass without any lining or any admixture whatsoever of other material. The nest was loosely put together, and had a comparatively narrow circular entrance near the top.

From Mysore Mr. Iver Macpherson writes:--"This is an exceedingly common bird in parts of this district, and their nests are so plentiful that I never now take them.

"I send you all the eggs I have at present, but can procure you any number more next season.

"The birds are to be found in all kinds of wooded country except the heavy forests, and appear to breed from the middle of April to the end of July, and possibly later.

"The nest is a largish globular structure loosely made of either bamboo-leaves or blades of grass, and all that I have ever seen have been lined inside with a few fine fibres.

"Four appears to be the usual number of eggs, but very often there are only three.

"The nests are always built near the ground, sometimes almost touching it, and are fixed in either small bushes, tufts of grass, or young bamboo-clumps."

Mr. J.L. Darling, Jun., states that this bird is very common in Culputty in the Wynaad, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, and that he has found the nests from the end of May to the middle of October. The nest is built in high grass nearly on the ground, or in date-palms, or in arrowroot in the jungle up to heights of 3 feet. The nest is built entirely of grass, lined with finer grass; a nearly round ball 6 inches in diameter outside and 5 inside, with a hole on the side. The eggs are laid at the rate of one a day, and three are usually found in one nest, occasionally only two. On one occasion after securing the female bird, he found the cock bird sitting on the eggs and he continued to sit there for three days.

Mr. J. Davidson tells us that he found a nest of this bird on the 15th July at Kondabhari with four fresh eggs.

Colonel Legge writes in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"The breeding-season lasts from March until July, the nests being built in a low bush sometimes only a few inches from the ground."

In shape the eggs are moderately elongated ovals. The shell is very fine and smooth, and has in some a rather bright, in some only a very slight gloss. The ground is a China-white. The markings consist of a profusion of specks and spots of a very bright red, which, though spread over the whole surface, are gathered most densely into an imperfect, more or less confluent, cap or zone at the larger end, where also a few purplish-grey spots and specks not usually found on any other part of the egg, are noticeable.

In length the eggs vary from 0·66 to 0·78, and in breadth from 0·5 to 0·55. The average of 28 eggs is 0·72 by 0·53.

139. Pyctorhis sinensis (Gm.). _The Yellow-eyed Babbler_.

Pyctorhis sinensis (_Gm.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 15; _Hume, Rough Draft N.& E._ no. 385.

The Yellow-eyed Babbler breeds throughout the plains of India, as also in the Nilghiris, to an elevation of 5000 feet, and in the Himalayas to perhaps 4000 feet. It lays in the latter part of June, in July, August, and September. Gardens are the favourite localities and in these the little bird makes its compact and solid nest, sometimes in a fork of the fine twigs of a lime-bush, sometimes in a mangoe-, orange-, or apple-tree, occasionally suspended between three stout grass-stems, or even attached to a single stem of the huge grass from which the native pens are made. I have taken a nest, hung between three reeds, exactly resembling in shape and position the Reed-Warbler's nest (_Salicaria arundinacea_), figured in Mr. Yarrell's vignette at page 313, vol. i. 3rd edition.

The nest is typically cone-shaped (the apex downwards), from 5 to 6 inches in depth, and 3 or 4 in diameter at the base; but it varies of course according to situation, the cone being often broadly truncated. In the base of the cone (which is uppermost) is the egg-cavity, measuring from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and from 2 to 2·5 inches in depth. The nest is _very_ compactly and solidly woven, of rather broad blades of grass, and long strips of fine fibrous bark, exteriorly more or less coated with cobwebs and gossamer-threads. Interiorly, fine grass-stems and roots are neatly and closely interwoven. I once found some horse-hair along with the grass-roots, but this is unusual.

The full number of eggs is, I believe, five. I have repeatedly taken nests containing this number, and have comparatively seldom met with a smaller number of eggs at all incubated.

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall says:--"I found a nest of this species at Roorkee in the early part of July. It contained three eggs and was beautifully made, a deep cup fixed on to an artichoke-stock, and at a little distance much resembled an artichoke."

Mr. E.C. Nunn, writing from near Agra on the 26th September 1867, says:--"I got a _Pyctorhis_' nest yesterday, suspended between two stalks of jowar (_Holcus sorghum_), the nest firmly bound with strips of fibrous bark, at two opposite points of its circumference, to the two stems. This is, I imagine, something out of the usual order of things with these birds. The nests which I have hitherto found have been situated in young mangoe-trees, rose-bushes, or peach- and orange-trees."

From Futtehgurh the late Mr. A.A. Anderson sent me the following note:--"The nest and eggs of this bird are very beautiful. A pair once built in a pumplenose-tree (_Citrus decumana_) in my garden, laying five long eggs. The nest, still in my collection, was placed in the fork of _four_ small upright twigs; it was composed entirely of dry grass-stems (no soft material inside), and laced outwardly, in and out of the twigs, with dry fibre belonging to the plantain-tree.

"The eggs are small for the size of the bird, and scarcely so large as those of the Hedge-Sparrow."

Captain Hutton remarks:--"This likewise is a Dhoon bird; its nest was found there on the 1st July, when it contained four eggs of a dull white colour, thickly speckled and blotched all over with ferruginous spots, forming also an open darker coloured ring at the large end, and intermixed with brown.

"The nest is a deep cup, placed in the trifurcation of the slender upright branch of a low shrub, and is constructed externally of coarse grass-blades held together by cobwebs and seed-down, the lining being fine grass-seed stalks. Diameter of the top 2½ inches; depth within 2 inches; externally 3½ inches."

Mr. F.R. Blewitt tells us that "the Yellow-eyed Babbler breeds from July to September, or, I should say, up to the middle of September. Its selection of a tree for its nest is not confined to any one species, but by preference the bird selects those of small growth, and even frequently high-growing brushwood. The nests are very neatly made, and what is singular is that, as regards build and shape, they are always almost exactly alike. If I have seen one, I must have seen at least fifty this year, all with the same exterior material of closely interlaced vegetable fibre over grass, and the inner lining of fine grass, deep cup-shaped, and in diameter, outer and inner, varying but little. Where it could be effected, the nest was suspended to, or rather fastened between, two forks; or where these were not available, between three twigs. The outer diameters of the nests were from 2·7 to 2·9 inches, inner from 2·3 to 2·5. Four is the regular number of eggs, though occasionally five in one nest have been obtained."

Mr. R.M. Adam remarks:--"This species builds about Agra in May, June, and July. The nest is a beautiful deep cup-shaped structure, almost always fastened to a branch of a low bush. The normal number of eggs appears to be four."

From Kotagherry, near Ootacamund, Miss Cockburn records that "this bird builds a neat cup-shaped nest, generally choosing a branch consisting of three upright sprigs, at the bottom of which the building is placed. The nests (one of which is now before me) are begun with broad grass-leaves, and the inside compactly lined with fine fibres of the same material: to render the whole firm, a few cobwebs are added to the outside, thus fixing the nest securely to the sprigs. These birds build in the months of June and July, and, as far as I have observed, lay only three eggs."

Mr. Philipps, quoted by Dr. Jerdon, says that this bird "_generally_ builds on banyan-trees." This is clearly a mistake. I have known of the taking, or have myself taken, altogether upwards of fifty nests in the North-Western Provinces, whence Mr. Philipps was writing, and never yet heard of or saw a nest of this species on a banyan.

Mr. H. Wenden writes:--"At Egatpoora, the top of the Thull Ghât incline, I noticed, on 30th September, a partly-built nest of this species. Watching for some time, I ascertained that both birds shared in the labour of construction. It was situated in the trifurcated stalk of that plant which bears a clover-like blossom (called Kessara-Hind and Koordoo-Mhar), about 3 feet above the ground, the stalks passing through the side-walls of the nest, which cannot have a better description than that given by Mr. Hume (page 238, 'Rough Draft'). The first egg was laid on 2nd October, and another each succeeding day until there were five. On the 10th the hen-bird was shot and the nest taken.

"On 30th October, in a garden near the same place, another nest was found, on the twigs of a pangra tree, containing three young birds and one egg."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden say:--"Tolerably common in the Sholapoor District; more so in the better-wooded parts, and breeds."

Finally, Colonel Butler sends me the following note:--

"Belgaum, 14th September, 1880.--A nest in sugar-cane about 2 feet from the ground, containing five fresh eggs. 17th September: another nest in a sugar-cane field, containing five eggs about to hatch. In both instances the nest was built, not on the blades of sugar-cane, but on a solitary green-leaved weedy-looking plant growing amongst the sugar-cane.

"The Yellow-eyed Babbler breeds during the rains. I have taken nests on the following dates:--

"July 26, 1875. A nest containing 4 fresh eggs.
"July 30, 1875. " " 3 fresh eggs.
"Aug. 14, 1875. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"Aug. 21, 1875. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"July 18, 1876. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"July 20, 1876. " " 3 fresh eggs.
"July 28, 1876. " " 4 fresh eggs.

"From this date to the end of August I found any number of nests containing eggs of both types. The nest is usually built in the fork of some low thorny tree from 3 to 7 feet from the ground. The outside of the nest is usually smeared over with cobwebs, reminding one of the nest of a _Rhipidura_"

Mr. Oates writes:--"Breeds abundantly throughout Pegu in June, and probably in the other months of the rains up to September."

The eggs vary a good deal in size and shape, and very much in colouring. They are mostly of a very broad oval shape, very obtuse at the smaller end. Some are, however, slightly pyriform, and some a little elongated. There are two very distinct types of coloration: one has a pinkish-white ground, thickly and finely mottled and streaked over the whole surface with more or less bright and deep brick-dust red, so that the ground-colour only faintly shows through, here and there, as a sort of pale mottling; in the other type the ground-colour is pinkish white, somewhat _sparingly_, but boldly, blotched with irregular patches and eccentric hieroglyphic-like streaks, often Bunting-like in their character, of bright blood- or brick-dust red. The eggs of this type, besides these primary markings, generally exhibit towards the large end a number of pale inky-purple blotches or clouds. There is a third type somewhat intermediate between these, in which the ground-colour, instead of being finely freckled all over as in the former, or sparingly blotched as in the latter, is very coarsely mottled and clouded, as if clumsily daubed over by a child, with a red intermediate in intensity between that usually observable in the two first-described types. Combinations of these different types of course occur, but fully two thirds can be separated distinctly under the first and second varieties. Though much smaller, many of the eggs recall those of the English Robin. The eggs have often a fine gloss. I have one or two specimens so uniformly coloured that, though perhaps slightly shorter and broader in form, they might almost pass for the eggs of Cetti's Warbler.

In length they vary from 0·65 to 0·8, and in breadth from 0·53 to 0·68; but the average of seventy-seven eggs measured is 0·73 by 0·59.

140. Pyctorhis nasalis, Legge. _The Ceylon Yellow-eyed Babbler_.

Pyctorhis nasalis, _Legge, Hume, Cat._ no. 385 bis.

Colonel Legge writes in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"In the Western Province this Babbler commences to breed in February; but in May I found several nests in the Uva district near Fort Macdonald; and that month would thus seem to be the nesting-season in the Central Province. The nest is placed in the fork of a shrub, or in a huge tuft of maana-grass, without any attempt at concealment, about 3 or 4 feet from the ground. It is a neatly-made compact cup, well finished off about the top and exterior, and constructed of dry grass, adorned with cobwebs or lichens, and lined with fine grass or roots. The exterior is about 2½ inches in diameter by about 2 in depth. The eggs are usually three in number, fleshy white, boldly spotted, chiefly about the larger end, with brownish sienna; in some these markings are inclined to become confluent, and are at times overlaid with dark spots oil brick-red. They are rather broad ovals, measuring, on the average, from 0·76 to 0·79 inch in length, by 0·56 to 0·59 in breadth."

142. Pellorneum mandellii, Blanf. _Mandelli's Spotted Babbler_.

Pellorneum nipalensis (__Hodgs._), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 399 bis.

This species, originally described by Hodgson as _Hemipteron nipalensis_, was confounded by Gray and others with _P. ruficeps_, Swainson, and subsequently rediscriminated and described by Blanford as _P. mandellii_.

Mandelli's Spotted Babbler, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, begins to lay in April, the young being ready to fly in July. They build a large, more or less oval, globular nest, laid lengthwise on the ground in some bush or clump of rush or reed, composed of moss, dry leaves, and vegetable fibres, and lined with moss-roots. The entrance, which is circular, is at one end. A nest measured by Mr. Hodgson was 6·75 inches in length and 5 in height. The aperture, at one end of the egg-shaped nest, was about 2 inches in diameter, and the cavity was about 2·5 in diameter and nearly 4 inches deep. The eggs are three or four in number, and are figured as broad ovals pointed towards the small end, measuring about 0·86 by 0·65, and having a greyish-white ground, thickly speckled and spotted with more or less bright red or brownish red, and most thickly so at the large end, where the markings are nearly confluent.

A nest said to belong to this species, and found near Darjeeling in July, at an elevation of about 4000 feet, was placed on the ground on the side of a bank--a very dirty untidy nest, more or less cylindrical in shape, composed of dead leaves, including a good many of those of the bamboo, dead twigs, and old roots, and very sparsely lined with black moss-roots. The nest is about 4 inches in diameter externally, and the cavity about 2-5 in diameter.

It contained three fresh eggs, very regular, moderately broad, ovals; the shell fine and compact, with a slight gloss. The ground-colour is white, and the egg everywhere very finely speckled with chocolate- or purplish brown, the markings being by far most dense at the large end, where they form a more or less irregular, and more or less conspicuous, speckly cap.

Two eggs measure 0·86 and 0·9 in length, and 0·65 and 0·66 in breadth.

Another nest, found on the 5th June in Native Sikhim, contained four fresh eggs. It was placed on the ground, and precisely resembled that obtained near Darjeeling in July.

In some eggs the markings are rather bolder and coarser, and in these there are generally some few pale lilac or inky-purple spots intermingled where the markings are densest. Closely looked into, many of the spots in some eggs are rather a pale yellowish brown.

The eggs are clearly all of the same type, and vary very little.

Four eggs varied from 0·84 to 0·9 in length, and from 0·65 to 0·68 in breadth.

144. Pellorneum ruficeps, Swains., _The Spotted Babbler_.

Pellorneum ruficeps, _Swains., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 27; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 399.

Writing from Kotagherry Miss Cockburn says:--"Spotted Babblers are exceedingly shy. They associate in small flocks except during the breeding-season, when they go about in pairs. I have only known them to frequent small woods and brushwood, a little higher than the elevation of the coffee-plantations.

"Three nests of these birds were found in the months of March and April 1871. The first was placed on the ground, close against a bush. The nest, consisting of dry leaves and grass, appeared to be merely a canopy for the eggs, which, were almost on the bare ground, having only a _very few_ pieces of straw under them. The eggs were three in number, and covered profusely with innumerable small dark spots, making it difficult to say what the ground-colour really was. The nest was not easily found. The bird left it so quietly as not to be heard, and dropped down the hill like a ball. When the eggs were discovered the bird did not return to them for fully three hours, after which she came very cautiously, but only to meet her doom, poor thing, as she was then shot. The second nest was built in the same way under a bush, and contained three eggs, which were put into my egg-box lined with cotton, but were hatched on the way home. The third nest was constructed under a large stone and with the same materials, and contained two young ones."

An egg of this species, received from Miss Cockburn, is a moderately broad and very regular oval. The ground-colour is a slightly greenish white, and the whole surface of the egg is excessively finely freckled and speckled with lilac or pale purplish grey and a more or less rufous brown. The egg has a slight gloss.

It measures 0·88 by 0·65.

145. Pellorneum subochraceum, Swinh. _The Burmese Spotted Babbler_.

Pellorneum subochraceum, _Swinh., Hume, Cat._ no. 399 sex.

The Burmese Spotted Babbler breeds pretty well over the whole of Pegu and Tenasserim. Mr. Oates writes:--"On the 3rd May I found a nest on the ground near Pegu. A good many bamboo-leaves had fallen and the nest was imbedded in these. It was formed entirely of these leaves loosely put together, the interior only being sparingly lined with fine grass. The structure _in situ_ was tolerably firm, but it would not stand removal. In height it was about 7 inches, and in breadth about 5, the longer axis being vertical. Shape cylindrical with rounded top. Entrance 2½ inches by 1½, placed about the centre. The interior of the nest was a rough sphere of 4 inches diameter.

"There were three eggs, slightly incubated. The ground-colour is pure white, and the whole surface is minutely and thickly speckled with reddish-brown and greyish-purple spots, more closely placed at the thick end, where they coalesce in places and form bold patches.

"On the 29th June, I found another nest of similar construction, placed on the ground in thick forest, at the root of a shrub."

Mr. W. Davison in 1875 gave me the following note:--"On the morning of the 25th March I took at Bankasoon a nest of this species in thick forest; it was placed on the ground and was composed externally of dead leaves, with a scanty lining of fine roots and fibres. It measured externally about 5 inches high by about 4 wide. The egg-cavity was hardly 3 inches in diameter. The nest was only partially domed, and was very loosely and carelessly put together.

"The nest contained three eggs, but these were so far incubated that it was impossible to blow two of them."

The single egg of this species obtained by Mr. Davison is in shape a moderately broad oval, a little pointed towards the small end; the shell is fine, but has little gloss. The ground-colour, so far as this is visible through the thickly-set markings, is white, and it is very finely but densely stippled and freckled (most densely at the large end, where the markings are not unfrequently confluent or nearly so) with dull to bright reddish brown; here and there, especially about the large end, more or less faint grey or red specks, spots, or tiny clouds may be traced underlying as it were the brown or purplish markings.

The egg sent me from Pegu by Mr. Oates is of precisely the same size and type, but the markings are much less dense and are brighter coloured. The ground-colour is white, and the egg is pretty thickly speckled with a reddish-chocolate brown. Here and there a moderately large irregularly-shaped spot is intermingled with the finer specklings. The markings are rather most dense at the large end, where there is a tendency to form a zone, and here a number of pale purplish-grey streaks and specks are also intermingled.

Major C.T. Bingham says:--"Early on the morning of the 7th April, moving camp from the sources of the Thoungyeen, on the side of a hill at the foot of a bamboo-bush not two feet from the road, I flushed and shot a female of the above species off her nest; a little loosely-put-together round ball of dry bamboo-leaves, unlined, though domed over, with the entrance at the side, and containing two fresh eggs, white, thickly speckled with brick-red and obscure purple. On the 12th of the same month, I found a second nest behind the zayat or rest-house at Meeawuddy. This was similar to the nest above described, and contained three similar eggs."

The eggs measure from ·78 to ·88 in length, and from ·58 to ·65 in breadth; but the average of twelve eggs is ·82 by ·62.

147. Pellorneum fuscicapillum (Bl.). _The Brown-capped Babbler_.

Pellorneum fuscocapillum (_Bl), Hume, Cat._ no. 399 quint.

Captain Legge writes, in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"The nest of this species is exceedingly difficult to find, and scarcely anything is known of its nidification. Mr. Blyth succeeded in finding it in Haputale at an elevation of 5500 feet. It was placed in a bramble about 3 feet from the ground, and was cup-shaped, loosely constructed of moss and leaves; it contained three young."

149. Drymocataphus nigricapitatus (Eyton). _The Black-capped Babbler_.

Drymocataphus nigricapitatus (_Eyton), Hume, Cat._ no. 396 sex.

Mr. W. Davison writes:--"I got one nest of this bird at Klang. I was passing through some very dense jungle, where the ground was very marshy, when one of these birds rose from the ground about a couple of feet in front of me, and alighted on an old stump some few feet away. On examining the place from which the bird rose, I found the nest placed at the base of a small clump of ferns, and concealed by a number of overhanging withered fronds of the fern. The base of the nest, which rested on the ground, was composed of a mass of dried twigs, leaves, &c.; then came the real body of the nest, composed of coarse fern-roots, the egg-cavity being lined with finer roots and a number of hair-like fibres. It looked compactly and strongly put together, but on trying to remove it, it all came to pieces. When the bird saw me examining the nest it fluttered to within a couple of feet of me, twittering in a most vehement manner, feigning a broken wing to try and draw me away. The nest contained only two eggs, which were slightly set."

These eggs are extremely regular ovals, scarcely smaller, if at all, at one end than at the other. The shell is very fine and fragile, but has only a slight gloss. The ground-colour appears to have been creamy white, but the markings are so thickly set that little of this is anywhere visible. First, pale inky-purple spots and clouds are thickly sprinkled over the surface, and over this the whole egg is freckled with a pale purplish brown. They measured 0·82 in length by 0·62 and 0·63 in breadth.

151. Drymocataphus tickelli. _Tickell's Babbler_.

Trichastoma minus, _Hume_; _Hume, Cat._ no. 387 bis.

Major C.T. Bingham found the nest of this bird in the valley of the Meplay river, Tenasserim, and he says:--"On the 15th March I found a little domed nest made of dried bamboo-leaves, and lined with fine roots, placed in a cane-bush a foot or so above the ground. It contained three tiny white eggs, with minute pink dottings chiefly at the larger end; one egg, however, is nearly pure white."

One of these eggs taken by Major Bingham on the 15th March is a very regular, somewhat elongated oval. The shell very fine and delicate, and fairly glossy. The ground is china-white, and it is everywhere speckled and spotted, nowhere very thickly, but most so in a zone near one end, with pale ferruginous. It measured 0·67 by 0·51.

160. Turdinus abbotti (Bl.). _Abbott's Babbler_.

Trichastoma abbotti (_Bl.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 17.

Abbott's Babbler breeds throughout Burma in suitable localities. Writing from Kyeikpadein, in Southern Pegu, Mr. Oates says:--"On the 22nd May I found a nest with two eggs nearly hatched, and on 23rd of same month another with two eggs, one of which was fresh and the other incubated. This bird builds in thick undergrowth, and the nest is built at a height of about 2 feet from the ground. I have found very many of their nests, but, with the above exceptions, the young had flown. It is generally attached to a stout weed or two, and consists of two portions. First, a platform of dead leaves about 6 inches in diameter and 1 deep, placed loosely, and on this the nest proper is built. This consists of a small cup, the interior diameter of which is 2 inches, and depth 1½. It is formed entirely of fine black fern-roots well woven together. Stout weeds appear favourite sites, but I have found old nests in dwarf palm-trees at the junction of the frond with the trunk, and in one instance I found an old nest on the ground, undoubtedly belonging to this bird. Three eggs measured ·84 by ·66, ·82 by ·67, and ·87 by ·65. They are very glossy and smooth. The ground-colour is a pale pinkish white. At the cap there are a few spots and short lines of inky-purple sunk into the shell, and over the whole egg, very sparingly distributed, there are spots and irregular fine scrawls of reddish brown. A few of the marks are neither spots nor scrawls, but something like knots. The cap is suffused with a darker tinge of pink than are the other parts of the shell.

"A third nest, found on the 10th June, contained three eggs, and differed from those above described in being very massive. It was composed of dead leaves and fern-roots, and measured about 5 inches in exterior diameter, with the egg-cup about 2½ inches broad and 2 inches deep. It was placed on some entangled small plants about 2 feet from the ground. Of these eggs I noted that before being blown the shell was of a ruddy salmon colour. The marks are much as in the others described above."