132 bidian Sunhirds. 



" conceal the entrances to their burrows, anything- in short that 

 " looks ohl and sliabby, is pounced upon and broug-ht home and 

 " carefully stuck about the outside of the nest with shreds of cob- 

 " web, until the birds feel that they have made their future iKjme 

 " a thoroughly disreputable object, like nothing so much as the 

 " unsig-htly collections of rubbish which are often seen gathered 

 " about the ruins of the deserted web of some large garden spider, 

 ".and. this in fact is just what you are meant to take it for, 

 " Finally the nest is well stuffed inside with silk cotton, and 

 " the hen bird settles down t/j her maternal duties, cosy and 

 " secure, with the chin I'csting on the window sill, so that she 

 " can see the passers-by." 



This admirable account was written of A. zcylonica 



but every word of it applies ec^ually to A.asiatica. Once a 



Sunbird of the latter species built a nest in my garden at 



Lahore, which she literally covered with the paper shavings 



that are used to pack tight the biscuits in Huntley and Palmer's 



tins. When I saw this unsightly object hanging from a bush 



I was about to upbraid the Khitimatgar for being so untidy 



as to throw the paper shavings on a bush. However, on 



walking up to the spot I found that the shavings had been 



placed there by the lady Sunbird; her sharp little eye had 



caught sight of them as they lay in the dustbin, and she had 



seized upon them as a suitable covering for her nursery! 



Writing of A. asiatica Mr. R. M. Adams says: 



" A pair that built in front of my office at Kurwool in an 



" Acacia-tree had the most extraordinary nest I have ever seen. 



" It was ornamented with bits of blotting' i)aper, twine, and old 



" service stamps that had been left lying- about. The whole 



" sfj'ucture was most compactly bound tog;ether with cobwebs, 



" and had a long string of caterpillar excrement wound round it. 



"This excrement had most probably fallen on to a cobweb, and 



" had stuck to it, and the cobweb had afterwards been transported 



" in strips to the nest." 



" It is curious how fond these birds are of tacking on 

 " pieces of paper and here and there a bright-coloured fea,tlier 

 " from a Paraquet or a Roller on tlie outside of their nests 

 " When in Agi'a, a bird of this species built a nest on a loose 

 " piece of thatch cord in my verandah, and on the side of the 

 " nest stuck on like a sign-board was a piece of a torn-up letter, 

 " with ' My dear Adam ' on it. 



Mr. E. W. Morgan says of this species: 

 The Purple cock apparently thinks his wedding- garment 

 " too expensive to be worn the whole year round, for after nesting 

 " he doffs it, and assumes funeral plumage, retaining only a purple 



