ADDITIONAL AVIARY NOTES 335 



other on the following day. The period of 

 incubation was 14 days. Two days later one 

 youngster disappeared and on the 2nd July 

 the other was found in a decapitated condition 

 on the floor. 



The second pair chose a cavity in a bamboo 

 pole similar to the one used by the Shamas. 

 They merely padded the floor of the cavity with 

 grass and a few cocoanut fibres and thereon laid 

 the eggs. This pair began to build their nest on 

 the 17th May. I used to look in occasionally 

 for the eggs ; but none were laid during the month. 

 In June I could not inspect the nest in the first 

 week and on the 8th I discovered three eggs. 

 I removed one from this clutch also. The eggs of 

 this clutch differed from those of the other in that 

 the speckles were not sprinkled all over the 

 surface but were concentrated in a zone at the 

 thick end. The eggs were hatched out on the 

 "i6th and 17th June. But on the 19th I missed 

 the young ones. I strongly suspect, though I 

 have no actual ocular proof, that in both cases 

 the male parents were responsible for the death 

 and disappearance of the nestlings. On p. 32, 

 I have already stated that cock Dhayals kill 

 their own young. That the cock has carnivorous 

 tastes was apparent from his conduct in my own 



