Three Beautiful Niliavas. 23 



seemed to have their own part of the aviary for catching flies, and seldom 

 trespassed." 



" They love bathing, and in summer-time the cock often had as many 

 as six dips a day." 



" They adore mealworms, but besides these 1 supply live ants' eggs, 

 insectile mixture, fruit (chiefly orange), bread and milk (containing barley- 

 water) .... on this they have done well I think they are 



very hardy for Flycatchers, but do not like fog and cold To 



my great disappointment T lost the cock in December 1913, but was 

 fortunate enough to get another, and I hope they may do better .... 

 the old cock used to bully the hen at times." 



I saw these birds in their summer quarters in Mr. de 

 Quincey's aviary, where their beauty was beyond description; 

 fortunately it was a bright, sunny day, and we watched them for 

 r. long time — their plumage under the play of light being 

 indescribably beautiful — their deportment while catching flies 

 equally so. The cock was much more confiding than the hen, 

 but neither knew fear at mealworm time. 



Later they nested; a beautiful robin-like nest was 

 constructed in a straw hat, lined with fine black rootlets. The 

 ti:g was very similar to that of our Red-breast, less blotched, 

 but with more and darker spots at the large end, almost clear at 

 the small. Unfortunately, in ignorance of the nest, the hen 

 was disturbed and she deserted. 



I know nothing further of this pair of birds, as shortly 

 afterwards Mr. de Ouincey joined the Air Service, and most of 

 his collection of birds had " gone West " when demobiHsation 

 took place. 



Mr. H. Whistler, in Bird Notes, 1914, pages 213-4, writes 

 ot their wild life in the Murree Hill, N. W. Himalayas, where, 

 he states, it is met with in heavy jungle, frequenting the under- 

 growth, perching only a foot or two above the ground, and is 

 inclined to be shy. He describes the nest as a " cup of moss 

 hned with black roots," placed only a few inches above the 

 ground and well screened by a tangle of bushes. " The ti^^ 

 is pale reddish-buff, very faintly freckled and mottled throughout 

 with dingy pink which is most apparent towards the larger end." 

 Personally I have only had the male of this species; it was out 

 of doors from mid-May to end of October, and spent the winter 

 months caged in a shghtly heated birdroom, in which their 

 water was usually frozen over during severe periods — its 



