Birds of North-west Fohkien. 411 



at the base of the steep wooded slope of the mountain made 

 up the third side o£ this quiet corner. The hen bird was 

 sitting when I approached the nest, and flew down to the 

 little cave, where she hopped about under the rocks till she 

 fell a victim to a badly-calculated shot which spoilt her as a 

 specimen. There were three eggs in the nest, which I did 

 not take till next day, when I found that they were on the 

 point of hatching. On this second visit I found the male 

 sitting. He behaved just like the female, but soon slipped 

 away. I waited some time for his return, but as he did not 

 appear I took the nest. On crossing the stream again to 

 pick some flowers I found the male quietly hopping about on 

 the ground under the rock where the nest had been, and 

 secured him without damage. 



This nest appears to have been made much in the same 

 way as that described by Mr. Stuart Baker (Ibis, 1896, 

 p. 322). It is a domed nest, made exteriorly of moss twined 

 into the living moss that hung on the rock, a bag with a 

 side-entrance having thus been formed. The inner part of 

 the nest is of coir-fibre and is lined with fine brown grass- 

 stems. As stated above, the aperture faced the cave, the 

 sides being parallel with the rock. The top of the nest 

 overlaps the entrance, and the structure was built over an 

 old nest, the whole forming a mass eleven inches in length. 

 The aperture is 2 inches high by 1^ inch broad. The 

 distance from the base of the entrance to the base of the 

 nest is 4 inches. The height inside is 3^ inches ; the inner 

 diameter 3 inches ; and the depth of the egg-cavity is about 

 1^ inch. 



The third nest was found some distance above the village, 

 among the moss and grass covering the bank of a stream. 

 This nest was just above the water, and was fastened to the 

 living moss and grass growing on the side of the bank. It is 

 an oblong domed structure, with the top of the nest over- 

 lapping the aperture, which faced up stream, and it is ex- 

 teriorly made of moss and fine roots. The inner part is of 

 fine brown grass-stems or coir-fibre and very fine roots. 

 The aperture is 2 inches high by 1^ inch wide. The outer 



