NOTES. 303 



It is very active in catching its pi'ey, and does not fly far after it, 

 but snaps it up with a sudden dart. This flycatcher breeds in Ceylon 

 during the early part of the year, from January to May. 



In March , 1911, durmg a collecting tour in the Southern Province , 

 and while I was camping in a village called Weligatta, about seven 

 miles from Hambantota, I came across the nest of this bird, placed 

 on a forked branch of a leafless thorny tree at a height of about 7 

 feet from the ground. The nest was composed of fine grass and plant 

 stalks coated with cobwebs, and the inside lined with a few feathers ; 

 and in this elegantly-shaped, shallow, cup-like nursery were found 

 one cream-coloured egg spotted with grayish brown. On my return 

 from the collectmg tour in Wirawila and Tissamaharama, after a 

 fortnight, I paid a visit to the nest, and found two newly -hatched 

 young ones. It must have taken ten to twelve days for incubation. 

 When the young hatched out they are of course ugly, large -mouthed 

 creatures, innocent of a single feather. At first they are very weak, 

 and seem to have scarcely strength enough to raise their heads 

 to receive the insects brought by their parents. Their growth is 

 however exceedingly rapid. After three days, when I saw them 

 again, they were fully twice the size they were when first hatched 

 out. They keep their fond parents very busy seeking food for them. 

 This consists entirely of minute insects, many of which are picked 

 off the trunks and branches of trees, some are taken off the ground, 

 while others are caught on the wing. 



By the sixth day the young birds had grown so big that there was 

 no room for them to lie side by side in the nest. By this time the 

 tail and great wing feathers had grown rapidly, and their conduct 

 in the nest was unlike that of any other young birds I have seen. 

 The moment a parent arrived, up into the air go their gaping mouths. 

 While seekmg for food the parents never go far from the nest. They 

 keep a most jealous guard over their precious nursery, and most 

 necessary is it that they should do so for fear of crows and hawks. 

 as they are exceedmgly fond of eating young birds, and are always 

 on the lookout for nests. I was watching on the sixth day, and saw 

 the pair of fantails performing their nursery duties, when a black 

 crow {Corvus macrorhyncJius) alighted near the next tree. Both 

 fantail flycatchers immediately attacked it. Their method of 

 attack was to make a series of dashes at the back and tail of the 

 crow, pecking at it each time they approached. The crow did not 

 appear to mind this treatment very much, and as my sole intention 

 was to secure the nest and young, and fearing I might loose such a 

 nice group for the Museum I scared the crow aAvay. But after a 

 little while they calmed down and resumed their search for food. 

 I thought I would see what they would do to me if I attempted to 

 take their young ones. Accordingly, when both the parents were 

 near by, I moved up to the tree and stretched my hand towards the 

 nest and secured both the young ones. The flycatchers made no 



