Birds of North-west Fohkien, 191 



time on the 14th April. I obtained the first nest on the 

 27th April, and we took nests containing fresh eggs through- 

 out May to the 19th May (day before our departure). The 

 bird nests in the tea-plantations. The nest is placed on the 

 bigger tea-plants, in a fork or between two or three upright 

 branches near the top of the bush, but always well sheltered 

 by the upper twigs and leaves. This species is said to he 

 very shy at the nest, and my hunters assured me that if the 

 parent birds notice that their dwelling has been discovered 

 they will break the eggs and forsake it. I must say, 

 hoAvever, that one nest which I watched, after having 

 disturbed the sitting bird, was again occupied after a few 

 minutes^ waiting. Perhaps the hunters' statement only 

 applies to nests with eggs that have not yet been sat on. 

 On being disturbed, the sitting bird slips quietly off and 

 flies away close along the ground till hidden by brushwood, 

 &c. A nest was once brought to me in a closed box, the 

 parent bird being inside, tied by the leg. This bird, on 

 my taking hold of it to release it, bit fiercely, and when 

 released flew on to the rafters of our sitting-hall, where it 

 remained for some seconds swearing at us before it finally 

 flew away. 



The nest is a very pretty and generally neat, well-finished, 

 and fairly stifl" cup, composed of bamboo-leaves, coarse and 

 fine grasses, wrapped up in long soft moss and bound with 

 cobwebs. The lining is of very fine grass- stems or coir- 

 fibre, and the rim of the nest is generally well finished and 

 plastered with cobwebs. The inner measurements of 16 nests 

 average 2 inches in depth by If in diameter, several being 

 somewhat under 2 inches in depth, while one is 2j inches. 

 The cup is not always round, as six of the 16 nests measured 

 are oblong, with a diameter varying between 1^ x If 

 and l|x2 inches. The outer depth varies much; the 

 average is about 3j inches, but I have one which is as much 

 as 4f, while another is only 2| inches. The thickness 

 of the walls is also variable, the round nests varying from 

 3 to 4 inches in outer diameter, and the oblong ones from 

 3 to 3| inches. The average outer diameter is 3i inches. 



