50 NATURAL HISTORY. 



530. — Orthotonus sulorius : Forst. 

 The Indian Tailor Bird breeds from July to the end of September. 

 The bird selects a largish leaf and manages to fasten the edges to- 

 gether by a few shreds of cotton, and in the cavity thus formed it 

 constructs a nest, composed almost exclusively of cotton, with only 

 just sufficient hairs in it to give it elasticity and to keep it in shape. 

 This is the most common type of nest, but often they sew two or more 

 leaves together. The eggs, three in number, are longish ovals, 

 generally whitish with a few blotches of bright rusty red. Occasionally 

 the eggs are pale greenish-white with the rusty red markings Less 

 bright. They measure 0'64 inch in length by about 0"45 in breadth, 



534. — Prinia socialis : Sykes. 

 The Ashy Wren Warbler breeds about the same time and in a 

 somewhat similar manner to the Tailor Bird, but the nest is not so 

 neatly made, and grass and fibres are oftener used in its construction. 

 The eggs, four in number, are broadish ovals of a glossy brick red or 

 mahogany colour. They measure 64 inch in length by about 

 0-47 in breadth. 



535. — Prinia stewarti : Blyth. 

 Stewart's Wren Warbler breeds in a precisely similar manner to 

 the Ashy Wren Warbler, and I could discover no constant difference 

 either in the shape, size, or colour of the eggs. 



543. — Drynmca inornata : Sykes. 

 The Earth-brown Wren Warbler breeds during the monsoon, that 

 is, from July to the end of September. A favourite site for a nest is 

 under the broad leaf of a shrub that grows very commonly in the 

 district. It constructs a purse-shaped nest, with fine shreds or strips 

 of grass. The leaf which forms a roof to the nest is pierced through 

 and through with these shreds, and here and there a strip of grass is 

 fastened to an adjoining leaf or stalk. Another common type of nest 

 is formed by attaching strips of grass to thorny twigs, so as to form 

 a sort of framework, and then carefully weaving other strips between 

 them, the nest necessarily taking the shape of the framework. 

 Another kind of nest is simply a rather less neatly woven purse, 

 attached to the stems of growing corn or sedges. The nest is never 

 lined. The eggs, four, sometimes five, in number, are oval in shape, 

 and glossy pale greenish-blue in colour, with blotches and spots of deep 

 chocolate and reddish-brown, and an intricate tracery of closely inter- 

 laced delicate lines round the large end ; occasionally these lines are 

 absent. They measure 0"6 inch in length by about 0*45 in breadth. 



