Nests and Eggs of some rare Philippine Birds. 233 



found nesting, such as the Fruit- Pigeon [Carpophaga badia). 

 The Cuckoo-Doves [Macropygia emiliana of Borneo and 

 M. tenuirostris of the Philippines) nest in open localities in 

 dead bracken only a foot or two above the ground, their 

 plumage assimilating perfectly with the dead fern. 



Large clearings in which the huge dead trunks of rotting 

 forest-giants remain standing are the favourite breeding- 

 places of many species. Some of these trunks are bored by 

 Woodpeckers in dozens of places. In these old borings 

 Parrots of the genera Tanygnathus and Prioniturus form 

 nesting-colonies and rear their young in security; while, 

 of the Starling tribe, Sarcops and Calornis may be noticed 

 breeding in numbers in the same trees. Calornis is, how- 

 ever, very partial to dovecots, nesting in the boxes with 

 domestic Pigeons. The Pigmy Falcon [Microhierax] I also 

 noticed nesting high up in a hole in one of these dead 

 trunks. The commonest eggs, perhaps, found in the East 

 are those of the Bulbuls, Pycnonotus and lole. These nests 

 are generally on the edge of the forest or in some isolated 

 bush in old clearings. The species which prefer to remain in 

 the true forest for their nidification, such as Woodpeckers 

 and Barbets, nest often in impregnable strongholds ; while 

 Hornbills, which are too large to enter a hole small enough 

 to keep out their enemies, build the hen in with gums, and 

 she has to remain thus imprisoned until the young one is able 

 to fly. In the low growth in true forest we find numbers of 

 birds nesting : — Flycatchers, among the masses of forest-drift 

 which collect among the clumps of bamboo and in the low 

 trees, or in the long dangling pieces of moss which hang from 

 the trees; while the Green Broad-bill [Calyptomena) also 

 utilizes these masses of moss, selecting a piece at the end of 

 som.e slender bough in the undergrowth, and for greater 

 security often over a pathway. Many of the small ground- 

 frequenting Timeliines nest among the forest-refuse in 

 thickets or bamboo-clumps. Their nests are generally loose 

 balls of leaves, entered at the side, but more nests of manv of 

 this genus are built away from the forest in old overgrown 

 clearings. The sea-coast is quite a favourite locality for 



SER. VII. VOL. IV. R 



