THE INDIAN WHITE-EYE 141 



one slender branch, and to the tip of this. The end 

 was worked into the structure of the nest so that the 

 whole looked like a ladle with a very thin handle. It 

 seemed incredible that so slight a branch could support 

 the nest and its contents. 



I have not been fortunate enough to watch the 

 white-eye building its nest. Mr. A. Anderson states 

 that the pair — for both the cock and the hen take 

 part in nest construction — " set to work with cobwebs, 

 and having first tied together two or three leafy twigs 

 to which they intend to attach their nest, they then use 

 the fine fibre of the sunn (Crotalaria juncea), with which 

 material they complete the outer fabric of their very 

 beautiful and compact nest. As the work progresses, 

 more cobwebs and fibre of a silky kind are applied 

 externally, and at times the nest, when tossed about 

 by the wind (sometimes at a considerable elevation), 

 would be mistaken by a casual observer for an acci- 

 dental collection of cobwebs. The inside of the nest 

 is well felted with the down of the madar plant, and 

 then it is finally lined with fine hair and grass stems 

 of the softest kind." The nest is usually situated 

 within three or four feet of the ground, but is sometimes 

 placed at much higher elevations. 



In South India, the time to look for white-eyes' 

 nests is from January to March. In the north, the 

 majority of nests are found between April and June. 



The eggs are a beautiful pale blue. Most commonly 

 only two seem to be laid. There are, however, many 

 cases on record of three and a few of four eggs. This 

 is an unusually small clutch. Nevertheless it is un- 



