IIEXICTRUS. 59 



but a good deal neater. 1 have fouud only two nests of it, both 

 unfortunately containing young — one three, the other four ; both 

 nests were on tiny ledges of moss-covered rocks, a little above 

 water-mark, in beds of streams. The outer parts of the nests were 

 made flush with the natural moss on the rocks. One had but one 

 skeleton leaf in the bottom, but the other was well lined with them. 

 The eggs, to judge from the broken shells, are very much like those 

 of H. scMstaceus. It breeds in May and the beginning of June." 



Later on, he writes : — " I have seen at lest half a score nests of 

 this Forktail, but only three or four with eggs. It breeds in May 

 and June, from 2000 feet upwards. Two of the nests I found had 

 been used at least two years, for their walls were living masses of 

 roots of neighbouring plants and green moss of one or more years' 

 growth. They are usually placed on ledges of rocks by sides 

 of streams, very little above water-mark, and are deep massive 

 structures, round or oval according to the shape of the ledge on 

 which they rest. They are composed of moss intermingled with 

 skeleton leaves, and lined with tine roots. Externally they mea- 

 sure about 6 inches across by 8-5 deep ; internally 3'5 inches by 

 2*5. The eggs are three or four in number.'' 



A recent writer in the ' Asian ' remarks : — 



"The nest is a rather massive cup-shaped structure, almost 

 entirely composed of moss, lined with a little hair, a few fern-roots, 

 or scraps of the same moss as the whole of the exterior is made of. 

 The base of the nest is nearly always much mixed with damp earth, 

 making the nest ver}' substantial and heavy ; one that I had the 

 curiosity to weigh was no less than two and a half pounds. Another 

 effect of the damp earth is to keep the moss beautifully fresh and 

 green, making the nest look much like a clump of growing moss. 

 Jerdon states that the nest is composed of roots, fibres, &c., but I 

 have never come across one so made, though 1 have taken a great 

 many both of this and other species. It is invariably built near 

 water, and frequently on the banks of some hill-stream, either in a 

 hollow in the bank, amongst or under the rocks, or else under the 

 protecting cover of a stout tree-root, bunch of ferns, or other 

 suitable position ; occasionally the nest may be found placed 

 amongst the ferns and fern-moss which grow amongst the rocks 

 at the side of some little-used hill-path, but even then there is sui'e 

 to be water at no great distance, and tlie site chosen will be a damp 

 one. I found one nest placed in a hollow in a wall of rock forming 

 a part of one side of a big hill-stream. The hollow was nearly filled 

 with moss, and it made a peculiarly comfortable abode, and, more- 

 over, a very safe one, as, though quite visible from the low bank 

 opposite, it could only be got by means of a boat or raft. 



" The eggs are either three or four in number ; sometimes, 

 though but rarely, they are as many as five. They are of a very 

 pale greenish-white ground-colour, freckled throughout with pale 

 reddish : the amount of spots and the depth of their colour varies 

 greatly in different specimens, sometimes they are quite profusely 

 covered with dark reddish, and at other times almost unspotted. 



