BIRDS OF THE BUFFALO BASIX 87 



SO tightly as to prevent tlie nest retaining a loose uppeac 

 ance, and several of the bvoad grass-blades are left trail- 

 ing in a way that makes the nest resemble a casna' 

 rnbbish-heai>. The rounded entrance is immediately 

 under the i)edicel, and is margined- with the very fines! 

 vegetable material, but no special skill is displayed in 

 the Aveaving of the lip margin and a straggling blade of 

 grass projecting over the entrance keeps up the general 

 rubbish-hea]) appearance. The pericel itself is also of 

 fine material, with a distinct flap falling down over th^* 

 entrance. Whether this flap is actually intended to be 

 loose and form a screen over the entrance, or whether 

 its side attachments have been destroyed could hardly 

 be determined after the handling it has received from the 

 boys. The Interior is a cosy little cradle of the slender 

 tops of Galopiiw circacoidcs with fine plant threads and 

 a mass of feathers; some of the feathers — up to 86 mm. 

 long — are very large in proportion to the size of the 

 nest. 



Most of our honey suckers lay two eggs only, bat the 

 ])resent species sometimes lays three. The eggs, 16 mm. 

 by 11, are creamy-white in ground colour, but the mark 

 ings vary greatly both in extent and in intensity ; in .s'ome 

 eggs, they form at the larger end a broad blotchy band of 

 brown with underlying violet markings, and elsewhere 

 on the shell much more sparing streaks and blotches of 

 brown ; in other eggs the indefinite markings of brownish 

 grey are so thickly set. with or without a clearly-defined 

 zonal band of a darker shade, as well-nigh to obliterate 

 the ground-colour. 



