136 GLIMPSES OF INDIAN BIRDS 



emerged, and half the shell was still in the nest. 

 Thus the latest arrival made his appearance at least 

 twenty-eight hours after either of his brethren. 



I watched carefully in order to ascertain how the 

 parent birds got rid of the egg-shell. Presently 

 bulbul A came to the nest with food. When it had 

 disposed of this, it began pecking in the nest, and 

 appeared to be eating up the shell, but in reality it 

 was cleaning the nest. After being thus engaged for 

 a couple of minutes it flew off, carrying the half egg- 

 shell in its beak. It flew to a distance with this, so 

 that I did not see what became of it. This explains 

 why broken egg-shells are seldom found lying on 

 the ground below a nest. On the following day I 

 placed a small piece of paper in the nest. This was 

 carried off by the first parent bird to visit the nest, 

 but not before the bird had fed its young. Shortly 

 afterwards I placed a sheet of thick paper over the 

 top of the nest so as to completely cover it. This non- 

 plussed both parents. They made no attempt to 

 insert their heads underneath it, but hopped about 

 near the nest looking very disconsolate. I therefore 

 removed the obstruction. 



Young bulbuls when first hatched out are almost 

 lost in the nest, taking up very little more room than 

 the eggs that contained them ; but they grow at an 

 astonishing rate. By the time the oldest was six 

 days old the three young birds almost filled the nest. 

 From the fourth day the heads of the nestlings went 

 up, and the mandibles vibrated rapidly whenever 

 a parent approached ; previously the young birds 



