490 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI. 



frequently attach themselves to a bungalow, and there bring up, in rapid 

 succession, a number of families in a hole somewhere about the roof. 

 This species has a sweet song. 



832. Motacilla melanope. — The Gray- Wagtail. — This bird does not 

 visit Madras in very larger numbers. 



833. Motacilla borealis. — The Grey-headed Wagtail. — Great flocks 

 of these birds visit Madras every cold weather. Their plumage is very 

 variable. 



839. Limonidromus indicus. — The Forest- Wagtail. — I saw this 

 species on two occasions. 



847. Anthas rufulus. — The Indian Pipit. — This bird does not 

 appear to be very common. 



861. Alauda guhjula. — The Indian Sky-Lark. — This is a common 

 bird . 



872. Mirafra ajjinis. — The Madras Bush-Lark. — As Jerdon re- 

 marks, this bird is to be found in every garden in Madras. 



879. Pyrrhulauda grisea. — The Ashy-crowned Finch-Lark. — This 

 bird is fairly common. 



894. Araclmechthra lotenia. — Loten's Sun-bird. — This beautiful bird 

 is very common in Madras. It has a fine voice. It nests in February 

 and March. The nest is much more bulky than that of A. zeyhnica. 

 It is usually commenced upon a cobweb at the end of a branch of a 

 bush. The entrance is protected by a porch. Two eggs are laid : these 

 have a whitish background, blotched with brown ; the brown marking? 

 occur chiefly at one end of the egg. 



895. Araclmechthra asiatica. — The Purple Sun-bird. — This bird is 

 not nearly so common about Madras as A. lotenia and A. zeylonica. 



901. Araclmechthra zeylonica. — The Purple-rumped Sun-bird. — 

 This is the commonest of the three honeysuckers. In March, numbers 

 of nests are to be seen. These are pear-shaped structures attached to 

 the end of a low hanging branch. The branch is usually an inner 

 one : so that the nest is likely to escape detection unless one passes under 

 the foliage of the tree from which it hangs. 



A pair of these birds built their nest at the end of a wire which hung 

 down from the roof of a fernery. The occupants of the house used to take 

 tea in the verandah every afternoon, within a couple of yards of the nest. 



The branch to which another nest in the same garden was attached, 

 broke and the nest fell to the ground. The broken end was then tied 



