on the Black-headed Sibia.



257



exceedingly difficult to distinguish the sexes from the skins,

although probably actual measurements of some of the bones

would reveal a difference.


During the summer of 1901, my Sibias commenced build¬

ing in a lime tree and other places, but the presence of a pair of

Rufous-chinned Laughing-Thrushes (Trochalopterum rufigulare)

and a pair of Bulbuls prevented them from settling down.

During the following summer, they were most anxious to nest,

and I gave them the opportunity ; but immediately they found

themselves in my nesting aviary without any of their enemies,

they set to work to “clear the deck”—to kill off my little

Finches—so I was obliged to bring them back into the general

aviary ; thus they have lost their chance, for I have no other

nesting place, and cannot sacrifice all the little birds for them.

When put up for nesting, I observed a great change come over

them ; from the bold and forward favourites on the look out for

a mealworm, they became the shy and retiring bird of the

forest, sneaking about the thickest of the foliage, inspecting

every possible nesting site, and but rarely to be seen in the open.

Of the nest Jerdon can tell us only : “ Hutton procured the nest

at Mussooree, made of coarse grass, moss, wool, and roots; and

the one egg he got was pale bluish-white with rufous freckles.”


Concerning the food of this species, Jerdon says :—“ It is

very fond of concealing itself in the thick masses of Epiphytic

plants found on all lofty trees in Sikhim, and its favourite food is

the fruit of the Epiphytic andromedse so abundant about Darjee¬

ling; it occasionally, however, picks insects from moss, or

crevices of the bark.” Here Jerdon misses a very marked

characteristic of the species, that of incessantly hawking after

insects on the wing. No fly or gnat so tiny but a Sibia darts into

the air after it; and so sure of aim are they that I may say they

never miss an insect that comes fairly into the aviary. On a

warm day, especially towards evening, they are never at rest,

but are ceaselessly darting into the air after their prey. During

the summer, they seem to live solely on fruit and the insects

they catch for themselves. The fruit they like best in captivity

seems to be the grape cut up into small pieces, but they also

partake of ripe pears, oranges, garden currants, &c. When



