The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds Part 50

[Footnote A: I have transferred Hodgson's notes under this t.i.tle in the 'Rough Draft' to _Horornis fortipes_, to which bird Hodgson's account of the nidification undoubtedly relates, his type-birds No.

900 being _Neornis a.s.similis_.--ED.]

Neornis flavolivacea, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 188.

Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on the breeding of this bird at Darjeeling:--"Lays in the second week in July. Eggs three in number, blunt, ovato-pyriform. Size 069 by 055. Colour deep dull claret-red, with a darker band at broad end. Nest, a deep cup, outside of bamboo-leaves, inside fine vegetable fibres, lined with feathers."

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I have found this Tree-Warbler (though why it should be called a Tree-Warbler I cannot imagine, for it sticks closely to gra.s.s and low scrub, and never by any chance perches on a tree) breeding from May to July at elevations from 3500 up to 6000 feet. All the nests I have seen were of a globular shape with entrance near the top. Both in shape and position the nest much resembles that of _Suya atrigularis_, and is, I have no doubt, the one brought to Jerdon as belonging to that bird. It is placed in gra.s.sy bushes, in open country, within a foot or so of the ground, and is made of bamboo-leaves and, for the size of the bird, coa.r.s.e gra.s.s-stems, with an inner layer of fine gra.s.s-panicles, from which the seeds have dropped, and lined with feathers. Externally it measures about 6 inches in depth by 4 in width. The egg-cavity, from lower edge of entrance, is 2 inches deep by 1 wide. The entrance is 2 inches across. The usual number of eggs is three."

The eggs sent by Mr. Gammie are very regular, rather broad, oval eggs, with a decided but not very strong gloss. In colour they are a uniform deep chocolate-purple. In length they vary from 063 to 069, and in breadth from 049 to 052.[A]

[Footnote A: I cannot identify the following bird, which appears in the 'Rough Draft' under the number 552 bis. I reproduce the note together with some additional matter furnished later on by Mr. Gammie.

_Neornis a.s.similis_ is nothing but _Horornis fortipes_; but I cannot reconcile Mr. Gammie's account of the nest with that of _H. fortipes_, inasmuch as nothing is said about a lining of feathers, which appears to be an unfailing characteristic of the nest of _H. fortipes_.--ED.

No. 552 bis.--NEORNIS a.s.sIMILIS, _Hodgs._

Mr. Gammie sent me a bird unmistakably of this species--Blyth's Aberrant Tree-Warbler--together with the lining of a nest and three eggs.

He says:--"The nest, eggs, and bird were brought to me on the 18th May by a native, who said the nest was placed in a shrub, about 6 feet from the ground, in a place filled with scrub near Rishap, at about 3500 feet above the sea. I noted at the time the man's account, but as I did not take the nest myself, I kept no account of it. All I know about it is written on the ticket attached to the nest sent to you.

The bird was snared on the nest. Though I did not take it myself, I have little doubt that it is quite correct."

The lining of the nest is a little, soft, shallow saucer 2 inches in diameter, composed of the finest and softest brown roots.

The eggs are somewhat of the same type as those of _N. flavolivaceus_, but in colour more resembling those of some of the ten-tail-feathered _Prinias_. They are very short broad ovals, pulled out and pointed towards one end, _approximating_ to the peg-top type. They are very glossy and of a uniform Indian red; duller coloured rather than those of the _Prinias_; not so deep or purple as those of _N.

flavolivaceus_.

They measured 065 by 052.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes further:--"This bird, I find, does not build in bushes, but on the ground, or rather on low leaf or weed heaps. It not unfrequently takes advantage of the small weed heaps collected round the edges of native cultivations. On the tops of these heaps it collects a lot of dry leaves, and places its nest among them.

It sits exceedingly close, only rising when almost stepped on.

"The nest is a rather deep cup, neatly made of dry gra.s.s and a few leaves, and lined with fine roots, and the bare twigs of fine gra.s.s-panicles. It measures externally about 32 inches in diameter by 28 in depth; internally 2 inches by 175.

"The eggs are three or four in number, and are laid in May from low elevations up to about 3500 feet."

The eggs of this species, of which Mr. Gammie has now sent me two nests, are of the regular _Prinia_ type--typically broad ovals, approximating to the peg-top type, but sometimes more elongated and pointed towards the small end. They are very glossy and of a uniform dull Indian red, deeper coloured than any _Prinia's_ that I have seen.

They vary from 065 to 069 in length, and from 048 to 052 in breadth.]

448. Horornis fortipes, Hodgs. _The Strong-footed Bush-Warbler_.

Horornis fortipes, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 162.

Dumeticola fortipes, _Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 526.

According to Mr. Hodgson[A], this Tree-Warbler breeds from May to July in the central region of Nepal. They build a tolerably compact and rather shallow cup-shaped nest of gra.s.s and dry bamboo-leaves, mingled with gra.s.s-roots and vegetable fibre and lined with feathers.

[Footnote A: This note of Mr. Hodgson's refers to his plate No.

900. The birds in his collection bearing this number are _Neornis a.s.similis_, and are the same as _Horornis fortipes_.--ED.]

A nest taken on the 29th May measured externally 35 in diameter and 2 inches in height, and internally 2 inches in diameter by 137 in depth. It contained four eggs, which are figured as deep dull purple-red. Dr. Jerdon gave me two eggs, as I now feel certain, belonging to this species; there is no mistaking them, as they are the most wonderful coloured eggs I ever saw; but as he was not certain to what species they belonged, I unfortunately threw them away. Mr.

Hodgson figures the egg as a moderately broad oval, a good deal pointed towards one end, slightly glossy, and measuring 065 by 047.

Two nests and eggs, together with one of the parent birds, of the Strong-footed Bush-Warbler were sent me from Sikhim. Both nests were found in thick brushwood or low jungle, at elevations of 5000 to 5500 feet--the one at Lebong on the 12th June, the other on another spur of the same hill in July.

The nests were very similar--small ma.s.sive cups, composed exteriorly of dry blades of gra.s.s and leaves, and lined internally with fine gra.s.s and a few feathers. Both nests exhibit this lining of feathers, so that it is no accident but a characteristic of the bird's architecture. In one nest a good deal more of the fine flower-panicle stems of gra.s.ses are intermingled than in the other. Externally the nests are about 45 in diameter and 25 in height; the cavity 2 inches in diameter and about 125 in depth.

Five more nests of this species have been taken by Mr. Mandelli in the neighbourhood of Lebong, between the 18th May and 15th July; with one exception, where there were only three slightly set eggs, all the nests contained four more or less incubated ones. All the nests were placed in amongst the twigs of low brushwood at heights of from 1 to 3 feet from the ground, and all present the invariable characteristic feature of this species, namely, a greater or less admixture of feathers in the lining of the cavity. Examining the nests carefully, it will be seen that they are composed of three layers--exteriorly everywhere coa.r.s.e blades of gra.s.s and straw loosely put together, inside this a ma.s.s of extremely fine panicle-stems of flowering gra.s.s, and then inside this the lining of moderately fine gra.s.s mingled with feathers. The nests vary a good deal in size, according to the thickness of the coa.r.s.e outer layer and the extent to which this straggles; but they seem to be generally from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, and 25 in height, whilst the cavity is about 2 inches in diameter, and 1, or a little more than 1, in depth.

The eggs (each nest contained four) are _sui generis_, moderately broad regular ovals, with a decided but not brilliant gloss, and of a nearly uniform chocolate-purple. The eggs of one nest are of a a slightly deeper shade than those of another, probably in consequence of one set being more incubated than the other. They vary in length from 066 to 069, and from 049 to 052 in breadth.

I do not entertain the slightest doubt of these nests and eggs.

Mr. Mandelli has sent me many more eggs of this species, mostly deep chocolate-purple, but here and there an egg somewhat paler, what might be called a pinkish chocolate. They vary from 061 to 070 in length, and from 048 to 053 in breadth; but the average of fifteen eggs is 067 by 051 nearly.

450. Horornis pallidus(Brooks). _The Pale Bush-Warbler_.

h.o.r.eites pallidus, _Brooks, Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 527 bis.

The Pale Bush-Warbler breeds in Cashmere, according to Mr. Brooks, during May. I know nothing either of the bird or its nidification myself. I have never even closely examined a specimen, and merely accept the species on Mr. Brooks's authority.

He tells me that he found a nest on the 25th May at Kangan in Cashmere.

Mr. Brooks writes:--"The nest of _Horornis pallidus_, which I found near Kangan in Cashmere, up the Sind Valley, was placed in tangled brushwood, and about five feet above the ground. It was on a slightly sloping bank, and close to the edge of a patch of jungle, not far from the right bank of the river.

"It was composed of coa.r.s.e dry gra.s.s externally, with fine roots and fibres towards the inside of the nest, and was profusely lined with feathers. It was large for the bird, being 7 or 8 inches in external diameter, of a globular form, with the entrance at the side. I don't remember the size of the cavity of the nest, but its walls were very thick.

"In external appearance it was rough and clumsy, and looked more like a Sparrow's nest than that of a small Sylvine bird. The entrance was about 1 inch in diameter, and was with the interior of the nest neat and strong. _Horornis pallidus_ occurs at from 5600 feet elevation up to 7000 and even 8000 feet. It was abundant at Suki up the Bhagirutti Valley, and I heard of one even at Grangootree."

The shape of the egg is peculiar, being rather flattened in outline at the sides and then suddenly rounded at the smaller end. There is a considerable amount of gloss on the surface, which is of a dull purple-brown, rather darker in tint at the large end. There are a very few indistinct cloudy markings of brown scattered here and there over the egg. In general appearance the egg puts one in mind of a _Prinia's_.

The egg measured 064 by 049.

451. Horornis pallidipes (Blanf.). _Blanfords Bush-Warbler_.

h.o.r.eites pallidipes (_Blanf.), Hume, cat._ no. 527 quat.

Mr. Mandelli sent me two nests of this species. The one was found on the 24th May at Ging, near the Rungnoo River, Sikhim, and contained four fresh eggs; it was placed on the ground amongst coa.r.s.e gra.s.s. The other, which was similarly placed, was found on the 29th June below Lebong at an elevation of about 4000 feet, and contained three fresh eggs. Both nests are rather coa.r.s.e untidy little cups, some 3 inches in diameter, and 175 in height exteriorly, lined and mainly composed of very fine gra.s.s, but coated exteriorly everywhere with dry flags, bits of bamboo spathes, and with one or two dead leaves incorporated at the bottom of the structure.

452. Horornis major (Hodgs.). _The Large Bush-Warbler_.

h.o.r.eites major, _Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 529 (err.

629).

A nest said to belong to the Large Bush-Warbler was sent in with one of the parent birds in July from near Lachong in Native Sikhim, where it was found at an elevation of about 14,000 feet. It was placed at a height of about a foot from the ground in a stunted th.o.r.n.y shrub common at these high elevations. It was a very warm little cup, about 3 inches in diameter, composed of the finest fern and moss-roots, tiny fern-leaves, wool, and numbers of the coa.r.s.e white crinkly hairs of the burhel. It contained three fresh eggs, regular, slightly elongated ovals, a little pointed towards the small end; the sh.e.l.l fine and compact, but with scarcely any gloss.