HOEORNIS. 



279 



448. Horornis fortipes, Ilodgs. The Strong-footed 

 Bush- Warbler. 



Horornis fortipes, Hodgs., Jercl. B. Ind. ii, p. 162. 



Dumeticola fortipes, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. 8f E. no. 526. 



According to Mr. Hodgson *, this Tree-Warbler breeds from 

 May to July in the central region of ]S"epal. They build a tolerably 

 compact and rather shallow cup-shaped nest of grass and dry 

 bamboo-leaves, mingled with grass-roots and vegetable fibre and 

 lined with feathers. 



A nest taken on the 29th May measured externally 3-5 in 

 diameter and 2 inches in height, and internally 2 inches in diameter 

 by 1-37 in depth. It contained four eggs, which are figured as 

 deep dull purple-red. Dr. Jerdon gave me two eggs, as I now 

 feel certain, belonging to this species ; there is no mistaking them, 

 as they are the most wonderful coloured eggs I ever saw ; but as he 

 was not certain to what species they belonged, I unfortunately 

 threw them away. Mr. Hodgson figures the egg as a moderately 

 broad oval, a good deal pointed towards one end, slightly glossy, 

 and measuring 0-65 by 0-47. 



Two nests and eggs, together with one of the parent birds, of 

 the Strong-footed Bush-Warbler were sent me from 8ikhim. Both 

 nests were found in thick brushwood or low jungle, at elevations 

 of 5000 to 5500 feet — the one at Lebong on the 12th June, the 

 other on another spur of the same hill in July. 



The nests were very similar — small massive cups, composed 

 exteriorly of dry blades of grass and leaves, and lined internally 

 with fine grass and a few feathers. Both nests exhibit this lining 

 of feathers, so that it is no accident but a characteristic of the 

 bird's architecture. In one nest a good deal more of the fine 

 flower-panicle stems of grasses are intermingled than in the other. 

 Externally the nests are about 4-5 in diameter and 2-5 in height ; 

 the cavity 2 inches in diameter and about 1*25 in depth. 



Five more nests of this species have been taken by Mr. Mandelli 

 in the neighbourhood of Lebong, between the 18th May and 

 15th July ; with one exception, where there were only three slightly 

 set eggs, all the nests contained four more or less incubated ones. 

 All the nests were placed in amongst the twigs of low brushwood 

 at heights of from 1 to 3 feet from the ground, and all present the 

 invariable characteristic feature of this species, namely, a greater 

 or less admixtm-e of feathers in tlie lining of the cavity. Examin- 

 ing the nests carefully, it will be seen that they are composed of 

 three layers — exteriorly everywhere coarse blades of grass and 

 straw loosely put together, inside this a mass of extremely fine 



* This note of Mr. Hodgson's refers to his plate No, 900. The birds in his 

 collection bearing this number are Neornis assimilis, and are the same as 

 Horornis fortipes. — Ed. 



