MELOPHUS. 173 



returued and bad the chicks under her. They were verv young, 

 and the morning air on thi.s lone pinnacle very cold, and hence her 

 extraordinary tameness. 



" The nest was built on the flat bottom oE the niche, was per- 

 fectly circular, with au external diameter at bottom of about 

 5,j inches and an internal at top of about 2|. The lower portion 

 was composed of tine twigs, the upper portion and the lining of 

 the cavity, so far as the young ones allowed this to be seen, of fine 

 grass-stems. Altogether the nest was about 2| inches high, and 

 very neat and symmetrical. 



"Judging from my present experience, I should say that three 

 was the fidl number of eggs usually laid." 



808. Melophus melanicterus (Grm.). The Crcdal Black 

 Bautlmj. 



Melophus melanicterus {Gm.),Jercl. B. Lid. ii, p. 381 : Hume, Il,uuh 

 Draft K ^- E. no. 724. 



The Crested Black Bunting breeds only sparingly in the plains 

 of India. At Mount Aboo, the loftiest of the Aravallis, it breeds 

 up to an elevation of 4500 feet. Throughout the Himalayas, from 

 Nepal to Murree, it breeds at all elevations from 2000 to 5000 or 

 6000 feet, and it also nests occasionally in the various Dhoons, 

 Terais, and Bhabhurs that skirt the bases of these mountains. In 

 the Himalayas the breeding-season extends from April to June. 

 In the plains and on Mount Aboo June, July, and August appear 

 to be the months in which it lays. 



The nest is placed in holes in banks or walls, on the ground 

 under some overhanging clod or rock, or concealed in some thick 

 tuft of grass, and very exceptionally (I have only seen one such) in 

 a low thick bush within a few inches of the ground. The nests 

 vary a good deal : they are often very slight, loosely put together, 

 shallow saucers, composed entirely of fine grass-roots, without any 

 lining ; at other times they are neat compact cups, made with grass 

 or grass and moss, and lined with fine grass, fern- and moss-roots, 

 vegetable fibres, or even horsehair. I have seen loose strawo-ling 

 saucers, G inches in diameter, with a cavity barely an inch in 

 depth ; and I have by me to this day neat cups, little more than 

 4 inches in external diameter, and with a deep circular cavity 

 little more than 2 inches across and nearly as deep as wide. 



They lay three to four eggs, quite as commonly the latter as the 

 former number ; but I have never seen or heard of more being 

 found. 



AVriting from Jhausi, Mr. E. E. Blewitt tells us that this species 

 " breeds only in July and August. I think my experience is, how- 

 ever, confined to two nests : one was found at the base of a small 

 plum-bush, near to a wall ; the other in a hole in a wall. The nests 

 are exact counterparts of each other ; on the outside they are made 

 of very coarse grass and roots. The egg-cavity, cup-shaped, has 



