THE KHER-PIDDAH 53 



thick bush or shrub, or dense tuft of grass, 



on or near the ground. Some- 

 Nests and , . , 1 . T -n 



times the crevices on hills near 



bggs 



the fields serve the purpose. Its 

 nursery is generally a cup of coarse grass 

 mingled with moss, lined with fine grass, 

 fur, cattle-hair, or feathers. Nests placed 

 in holes in walls are mere shapeless pads. 

 The eggs are four or five in number, pale- 

 green with brownish- red spots. 



The reason why in India it is scarce as 

 a cage-bird is not difficult to detect. It 

 evades the gaze of bird-fanciers on account 

 of its retiring nature and its song can hardly 

 compare with that of the Dhayal 

 Cage-life and the Shama, which are there- 

 fore so much liked as cagepets. 

 But the Kher-Piddah is undoubtedly a 

 more handsome Inrd than the pied Bush- 

 chat, and to those who are fastidious about 

 size and colour, its value can hardly be over- 

 looked. As compared with the Piddah, its 

 behaviour in an aviary is exemplary. It is 

 neither rough nor irascible in its dealings 



