Lieut. Burgess on the Habits of some Indian Birds. 459 



instances was formed of the flower-stems of the silk-grass, which is 

 abundant in the beds of streams; it was lined with feathers and the silky 

 seeds of the grass ; its shape was that of a hollow ball. The largest num- 

 ber of eggs I have found was six, but I see that Col. Sykes found as 

 many as ten. The eggs are very small and of a pure white colour, 

 rather more than ^ths of an inch long by j^ths of an inch wide. 

 These little birds are often to be seen on the ground picking up 

 grass-seeds, and so close together that several may be killed at a shot : 

 they do not take long flights, but merely from bush to bush. I saw 

 numbers of them in the leafless Caper on the banks of the river 

 Bheema. 



Subfamily Fringillin^. 



Genus Pyrgita, Swain. 



Pyrgita domestica. House-sparrow. 



Common enough in India. It breeds during the monsoon. I saw 

 them building in the month of August, and its habits, mode of 

 building its nest, &c., are similar to those of the Sparrow at home. 



Pyrgita flavicollis, Frankl. Yellow-necked Sparrow. 



Of the time of breeding or nesting habits I know nothing, but 

 Dr. Jerdon in his Catalogue says, *' It is said to breed in holes of 

 trees. The egg is of a greenish-white, much streaked and blotched 

 with purple-brown : I obtained one from the body of a female." 



Genus Emberiza. 

 Emberiza melanocephala, Jerdon. 



This handsome Bunting is very common in the Deccan when the 

 grain crops are becoming ripe. The Patel or headman of the town 

 of Jintee, near the river Bheema in the Deccan, assured me that these 

 birds, or some of them, remain to breed in the thick babool copses 

 that clothe the banks of the river near that town, but I did not ob- 

 tain the nests or eggs. I believe that the greater part migrate much 

 about the same time as the Rose-coloured Pastor. 



Subfamily Alaudin^e. 



Genus Alauda. 

 Alauda deva, Sykes. 



I have some eggs which I believe to be those of this lark, though 

 on account of the similarity of the two or three species that inhabit 

 the Deccan it is very difficult to state this positively. I obtained the 

 eggs on the 1 1th of September ; the nest was composed of a few stems 

 of grass collected together, and forming a very slight receptacle for 

 the eggs. Birds of this species breed twice during the year ; I have 

 obtained their eggs during the months of May, September, and Oc- 

 tober. They lay but two eggs, of a pale mottled brown colour, 

 with a band of the same round the larger end ; they are rather 

 more than ^V^hs of an inch long by nearly j^ths of an inch wide. 



