PARUS. 33 



Lieut. H. E. Barnes notes from Chaman in Afghanistan : — 

 " This Tit is very common, and remains with us all the year 

 round. I found a nest on the 10th April, built in a hole in a tree ; 

 it was composed entirely of sheep's wool, and contained three incu- 

 bated eggs, white, with light red blotches, forming a zone at the 

 larger end. They measured '69 by -48." 



Mr. Benjamin Aitkin says : — 



" When I was in Poona, in the hot season of 1873, the Grey 

 Tits, which are very common there, became exceedingly busy about 

 the end of May, courting with all their spirit, and examining every 

 bole they could find. One was seen to disappear up the mouth of 

 a cannon at the arsenal. Finally, in July, two nests with young 

 birds were discovered, one by myself, and one by my brother. The 

 nests were in the roofs of houses, and were not easily accessible, 

 but the parent birds were watched assiduously carrying food to 

 the hungry brood, which kept up a screaming almost equal to that 

 of a nest of minahs. On the 27th July a young one was picked up 

 that had escaped too soon from a third nest. The Indian Grey 

 Tit does not occur in Bombay, and I never saw it in Berar." 



Speaking of Southern India Mr. Davison remarks that " the 

 Grey Tit breeds in holes either of trees or banks ; when it builds in 

 trees it very often (whenever it can apparently) takes possession of 

 the deserted nest-hole of Megalamia viridis ; when in banks a rat- 

 hole is not uncommonly chosen. All the nests I have ever seen or 

 taken were composed in every single instance of fur obtained from 

 the dried droppings of wild cats." 



From Kotagherry, Miss Cockburn sends the following interesting 

 note : — 



" Their nests are found in deep holes in earth-banks, and some- 

 times in stone \\alls. Once a pair took possession of a bamboo in 

 one of our thatched out-houses — the safest place they could have 

 chosen, as no hand could get into the small hole by which they 

 entered. These Tits show great affection and care for their young. 

 While hatching their eggs, if a hand or stick is put into the nest 

 they rise with enlarged throats, and, hissing like a snake, peck at 

 it till it is withdrawn. On one occasion I told my horse-keeper to 

 put his hand into a hole into which I had seen one of these birds 

 enter. He did so, but soon drew it out with a scTeam, saying a 

 ' snake bad bit him.' I told him to try again, but with no better 

 success ; he \\ ould not attempt it the third time, so the nest was 

 left with the bold little proprietor, who no doubt rejoiced to find 

 she had succeeded in frightening away the unwelcome intruder. 

 The materials used by these birds for their nests consist of soft 

 hair, downy feathers, and moss, all of which they collect in large 

 quantities. They build in the mouths of February and IMarch ; 

 but I once found a nest of young Indian Grey Tits so late as the 

 10th November. They lay six eggs, white with light red spots. 

 On one occasion I saw a nest in a bank by the side of the road ; 

 when the only young bird it contained was nearly fledged the road 

 had to be widened, and workmen were employed in cutting down 



VOL. I, 3 



