Nidification of Indian Birds. 47 



most nests the major portion of the material used will be 

 found to consist of bamboo-leaves^ other articles consisting 

 of dead leaves, moss, and fern-roots, sometimes coarse 

 bamboo-roots and stems of weeds, and, almost always, a great 

 number of tendrils. The lining consists almost invariably 

 of coarse moss- and fern-roots, mixed with leaf-stems and a 

 few stalks of weed. I do not remember having seen any 

 nest which did not contain a certain number of tendrils, and 

 in some few cases these form the bulk of the nest, even the 

 lining containing a number of fine and soft ones. The 

 largest nest I have recorded is one which was found by a 

 roadside in a mass of creepers, half resting on, or against, a 

 dead stump, and within a foot of the ground. This nest was 

 fully 7"'5 across, and the outer wall about 4"'5 deep, but the 

 inner wall, i. e. that against the stump, was about 7", it being 

 built up higher and slightly over the internal cup, though by 

 no means forming a domed, or even semi-domed, nest. The 

 average size of the nest is about 6" by 4" externally, and 

 some 4" by 2" internally. 



The situation in which the nests are placed varies consi- 

 derably; I have taken them from tall saplings fully twenty 

 feet from the ground, and again have found others within 

 a few inches of it. Perhaps more nests are found below 

 than above four feet from the ground, heavy masses of rasp- 

 berry-brambles, ferns, and other low plants forming a very 

 favourite position for the bii'd as a nesting-site. jNIost nests 

 are placed well inside heavy jungle or forest, but the nest I 

 have described above as being unusually large was taken 

 from beside a track or pathway frequently used, though the 

 nest was so well hidden as not to be found without a careful 

 search. Two is the normal number of eggs laid, three seldom, 

 four never. Tbe first eggs I obtained of this bird were 

 pure white, and were brought to me by a Naga, together with 

 the nest and the female ; the second clutch I obtained were 

 of the beautiful pale blue colour seen in the eggs of Dryonastes 

 ruficoUis. I therefore put down one of these clutches as 

 being false, but which I could not tell ; further experience, 

 however, has proved to me that these birds lay eggs which 



