352 LANIID^. 



saucers made of line twigs and grasses with a lining of the same, 

 and contained two to four eggs in each. Height of nest from 

 ground ahout 12 to 15 feet. On the iTtli April I took two fresh 

 eggs from a nest, and the birds laying again, 1, on the 8th May, 

 again took three fresh eggs. When on the wing they utter their 

 note, generally returning to the same perch." 



And he adds : — 



''lGthAj}riI,lS78. — Took two perfectly fresh eggs from anest built 

 on a date-tree. Tlie date-trees in this district are tapped annually 

 for the iuice, from which sugar is manufactured. The leaves and 

 the bark for a depth of 3 inches are sliced away from one half of 

 the trunk, the leaves on the other half remaining, and at the root 

 of one of these the nest was built, wedged in between the trunk 

 and the leaves ; the external diameter was 4| inches, depth 3 inches, 

 thickness of sides of nest | inch ; a rather shallow cup, composed 

 exclusively of fine grasses with no attempt at a lining. 



"17/7i Jj)/-?7, 187'S.— Secured two fresh eggs from another nest 

 on a date-tree. In size and shape they \\ere similar and the 

 materials were the same grasses with no lining. The trees these 

 uests were on formed a small clump alongside a ryot's house. 

 People were passing under them all day, but the birds never noticed 

 them. Any bird, from a Kite to a Bulbul, coming near received a 

 warm welcome. The nests are at all times ex|)osed, and the natives 

 believe that two males and one female are found occupying one 

 nest. The birds being gregarious build on adjoining trees, and 

 while the ladies are engaged with their domestic affairs their lords 

 keep each other company, so the natives put them dovAn as poly- 

 androus. I have found over a dozen nests, and every one has been 

 the counterpart of the other, and only on d;ite-trees." 



Miss Cockburu writes froin the Nilghiris :— " On the 17th May, 

 1873, a nest of this bird was found. It was formed in a perpen- 

 dicular hole in a dried stump of a tree, about 35 feet in height. 

 The nest consisted entirely of slight sticks lined with tine grass, no 

 soft material being added as a finish, and the whole structure 

 went to pieces when removed. This nest contained three 

 eggs, their colour \A'hite, with a few dark and light brown spots 

 and blotches all over, and a strongly marked ring round the thick 



end. 



" The birds frequently returned to the place while the eggs were 

 being taken, till one of them was shot." 



Mr. J. Davidson remarks : — " This bird is very local in the Tum- 

 kur districts in Mysore, and I have only found it in three or four 

 gardens. 1 knew it had been breeding (from dissection) since March, 

 but till to-day (May 9th) I could not find its nest. To-day, however, 

 I saw four or five birds perpetually flying round and round a very 

 ragged old cocoanut-tree, the highest in that part of the garden, 

 and determined to send a man up. Two birds, however, at that 

 moment lit on one branch and I shot them both, and they prov(>d 

 to be fully-fledged young oiu'S. I sent the man up, however, and 

 was rewarded by his announcing two old nosts and a new one con- 



