84 CEATEEOPODID^. 



120. Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, Sykes. The Southern Scimitar 



Babbler. 



Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, Sykes, Jerd. B. Ind. \\, p. 31 ; Hume, 

 Rough Draft N. 8f E. no. 404. 



The Southern Scimitar Babbler breeds throughout the liilly 

 tracts of Southern India, up to an elevation of fully 7000 feet. 

 They are common in Ootacamund, and even on Dodabet as high 

 up as it is wooded. They seem to breed less plentifully about 

 Kotagherry than they do at Ootacamund itself, Coonoor, Neddi- 

 vattam, &c. 



They lay from February to May, building a largish globular nest 

 of grass, moss, and roots, placed on or very near to the ground in 

 some bush or clump of fern or grass. They lay five eggs. 



A nest of this species which I owe to Mr. Carter, and which was 

 found at Coonoor on the 7th April, 1869, is a huge globular mass 

 of moss and fine moss-roots some 7 inches in diameter, with, on 

 the upper side, an entrance to a small egg-cavity some 3| inches 

 in diameter, and 2 inches in depth. It is a most singular nest, 

 a great compact ball of soft feathery moss and very fine moss- 

 roots, which latter predominate in the interior of the cavity, and 

 so form a sort of lining to it. The great body of the nest is below 

 the cavity, the overhanging dome-like covering of the cavity being 

 comparatively thin. 



Mr. Davison remarks : — " The nest of this bird is very peculiar 

 in structure, more like the nest of a field-mouse than of a bird, 

 being in fact merely a ball of grass rather loosely put together, the 

 grass on the exterior being intermingled with dry leaves and other 

 rubbish. The nest is generallj^ placed either in a clump of fern, 

 or at the roots of some grass-grown bush. The eggs are pure 

 white, very elongated, and with a remarkably thin and delicate 

 shell. The normal number appears to be five. The breeding- 

 season is, I think, the latter end of April and May." 



Later, he writes : — " It must, I think, breed twice, as I found a 

 nest on the 10th March with fully-fledged young, and late in April 

 another nest with perfectly fresh eggs." 



Writing of this species Dr. Jerdon says : — " I procured its nest 

 near Neddivattam on the Nilghiris, on a bank on the roadside, 

 made with moss and roots, and containing four white eggs of a 

 very elongated form." 



Miss Cockburn, of Kotagherry, furnishes me with the foIloAving 

 note on the nidification of this species : — " These birds build rather 

 large nests, among the roots of bushes, and generally prefer those 

 which grow on the slopes of steep hills. Their nests are composed 

 of coarse grass, a few roots of the same, and the bark of a bush, 

 which cracks when dry and is very easily pulled off. These 

 materials are put together into a round nest, and also form a 

 covering above, which makes the inside look very snug indeed. 

 But if any attempts are made to remove the nest, it generally falls 

 to pieces, the materials having no tenacity. This bird commonly 



