328 PET BIRDS OF BENGAL 



To afford them a suitable nesting site I 

 nailed up in the wall a long piece, of very 

 fat bamboo with three holes in it, one above 

 each joint. The male bird, after inspection^ 

 fixed upon the middle hole and invited the 

 female to have a look at it. In a short 

 time I noticed the latter carrying nest materi- 

 als which consisted of fine cocoanut fibres. 

 The upholstering of the cavity began on the 

 25th March and continued till the 30th. The 

 hen Shama became so bold as to accept 

 cocoanut fibres from my hand. If I gave a 

 rough one, she would smooth and clean it by 

 beating it on the ground. She would carry 

 to the nest four or five fibres at a time and,, 

 after arranging them in the hole, invariably 

 came back with one in her bill. 



On the 31st the hen laid the first egg and 

 on the 4th April she completed a clutch of 

 five. I removed one and left her four to 

 hatch. She alone incubated. The first egg was 

 hatched out <jn the 14th and the rest by the 

 1 6th April. After this the behaviour of the 

 fefnale was most unmotherly. She beat one 

 nestling to death and killed the others by drop- 

 ping them from a height. 



On April 22nd the hen began nest-building. 



