372 H^omoJL/. Zoological Society.-^ 



.//ohO hoajU 'Genus PRiNii.<<*J^'^^i^«i^^ aj/jioO 

 ^ Prinia inornata, Sykes. Common Wren Warbler. 



'>"'I believe that the nest and egg herewith forwarded, are the 

 nest and egg of this little Warbler, though, not having shot the 

 bird from her nest, I cannot say so positively. I think, however, 

 that Dr. Jerdon's observation, though it differs in not mentioning 

 the spots on the eggs, partly corroborates it. He says : " I once 

 procured the nest of this species ; it was open at the top, neatly 

 enough made of grass well interwoven, without any lining, and fixed 

 in a low bush very near the ground ; it contained four blue eggs." 

 The nest which I forward was found in the midst of some low jungle 

 shrub, about a foot from the ground, during the monsoon. The egg 

 is a little less than ^ths of an inch in length, by rather more than 

 .^j^ths in width, of a rich blue ground, blotched and spotted with two 

 .jdaades of red-brown and pale purple. iw mmb ia^uonm 



liri . t • I . ' 1X0 won obia aiifi 



toig « 8i A .sJon |lio J^^^ Conirostres. '" ''«7 SnhsJton. ban 



89fod sdt m Famil^r Corvid^. Subfamily CoRviNJtb^aid jsofM 

 «« s(imm aii f5(j.I jj .-i j . ... biiB b'^^t^T V» 



'So u\iij OBdi 9iom -i^Aim IV^n^s Corvus. ^j^^ ^-j^^ gg^,^ ^,, 



"' 'CoRi^tf^ m^ND^MM^'^ieill. Common Indian' CrowV '^^^"' '''' 



All the noise and impudence of the tribe appear to be concentrated 

 in the Common Indian Crow. They abound, I believe, in every part 

 of the Indian continent ; and when to their number is added their 

 thievish character, some idea may be formed of the nuisance they 

 are. There is, however, a redeeming point in their character, viz. 

 that they are very efficient scavengers. An officer of the Bombay 

 army told me an anecdote illustrative of their sagacity, which he 

 liimself witnessed. Some crows had been sitting near a young dog, 

 watching him whilst engaged with a bone. Havhig apparently con- 

 certed the plan, one of them alighted, stepped up and took a peck 

 at the dog's tail; the dog, irritated, made a snap at the bully; 

 on which a comrade, who appears to have been ready, made a dash 

 and went off with the prize. He told me that he had seen another 

 crow coolly walk off with a bit of bread, having actually taken it out 

 of the hand of a child who was eating it. No one who has not been 

 in India can form an idea of the noise which these crows make. In 

 the morning, in Bombay, the tops of some of the bungalows are 

 covered with them, squabbling and chattering, and it is reported that 

 these black gentry are not proof against the seducing influence of the 

 pots of toddy hanging up in the cocoa-nut trees. The juice of these 

 trees is harmless before the sun is hot, but if taken after, has a deci- 

 dedly inebriating effect. The common Crow begins to build at the 

 end of April, forming its nest of sticks. It lays four eggs, of a dull 

 greenish-blue, blotched and spotted with greenish-brown and grey, 

 I^^th in. in length by rather more than 1 inch in width. The eggs, 

 however, differ in size and colour. 



