lijO IIIBUNDINID^. 



Boon and hills, arriving in the latter locality in March, and 

 building its retort-shaped nest of mud beneath the eaves of houses, 

 against window-frames, at the side of verandah beams, and other 

 suitable situations ; the lining is of feathers. Some eggs taken on 

 the 29th of May were hard-set, but other broods were still earlier, 

 as a nest placed against the window of my room had then contained 

 young ones for some days previously. During the heavy mists of 

 the rainy season these nests often fall by their own weight from 

 the quantity of moisture imbibed. 



"• When far removed from houses, these birds resort to lofty 

 rocks, lieneath the ledges of which the nest is placed. Its shape 

 is flatfish hemispherical, with some variation, being at times more 

 globose, with a long neck forming the entrance passage, and thus 

 giving the nest a retort shape. When the bird has selected the 

 spot on which it intends to build, it usually deposits a white chalky 

 substance, by way of cement, against the wall or beam as the case 

 may be, as an adhesive foundation for the subsequent wall of mud. 

 Without this precaution the v\'eight of the material would cause it 

 to part from its foundation. This same whitish earth may also be 

 seen in the narrow neck of the nest, more especially at the mouth, 

 where strength is required to resist the constant abrasion that 

 would otherwise ensue from the frequent entrance and exit of the 

 bird. Grenerally speaking, this chalky cement is applied to any 

 part that may from circumstances appear to require strengthening, 

 as it likev^'ise gives consistency to the mud. Sometimes, if the 

 situation affords sufficient room, the long neck projects in a straight 

 line from the body of the nest, but where the space is confined, or 

 an obstacle interposes, the neck is turned off at an angle, and in 

 such cases there is pretty sure to be a layer of the chalky cement 

 at the point of deviation from the previous direction. When, 

 however, the material is of a sufficient consistency to be adhesive 

 without the cement, none is applied. In the construction of the 

 nest the mud is laid on in small rounded lumps, which gives a 

 rude and knotty appearance to the surface. The lining is abundant 

 and is composed of fine grass and feathers. 



'• Theie are frequently two broods from the same nest in the 

 same season, the first in the end of May and beginning of June, 

 the other in July and August. The birds that built against my 

 window reared one brood in June, and, as soon as the young were 

 able to fly, they were escorted by the old birds during the day and 

 were initiated in the art of fly-catching, returning to the nest 

 about sunset or earlier if the rain was heavy. This continued for 

 about ten days, when the young birds disappeared, and the old 

 ones laid again in the same nest towards the end of July." 



The late Captain Beavan mentions that he " found a nest which 

 was built in the verandah of the (l:ik bungalow at Fagoo on the 

 2nd August, 1866. It was then but just linisht'd, and the femnle 

 had not yet begun to lay her eggs. The nest is like that of U. 

 ruslica, made of mud, but has a f unnel-sha};ed entrance, some 4 or 

 5 inches in length, contiiuied from the top of the nest along the 



