^THOPYGA. — ARACHNECHTHRA. 251 



The eggs o£ this species are somewhat elongated ovals, only very 

 slightly comjiressed towards tlie small end. The shell is extremely 

 fine and fragile, but entirely devoid of gloss. The ground-colour 

 is a dead white, and it is rather thinly spotted, streaked, and 

 blurred with a rather pale brown, at times somewhat darker, and 

 with a faint reddish or purplish tint ; not uufrequently a number 

 of the markings combine to form an irregular zone often more or 

 less confluent about the larger end. 



Three eggs, found on the 22nd ^fav. measure n-iil In' t»-44, 

 0-oS by 0-4:',. 0-57 by 0-4^. 



^thopyga nepalensis (llodgs.). Tin- Xr/xd Vvllon'-liad-cl 

 Sun-Jnrd. 



^Etliopvga uipaleiisis {Hw7i/s.), Jcrd. B. hid. i, p. .366; Hume. Roncjh 

 Draft X. ^- E. uo. 220. 



Of the Xepal Yellow-backed iSun-bird, Dr. Jerdon remarks that 

 " it is the most common species at Darjeeling, being often seen in 

 gardens in the station. There I obtained a nest of this bird, very 

 neatly, though loosely, made of moss, domed at the top, with the 

 entrance at the side overhung by a sort of projecting roof ; it con- 

 tained two eggs, of a dusky-greenish tinge, with numerous small 

 dusky spots." 



According to Mr. Hodgson's notes and drawings, this species 

 begins to lay in April, and builds a comparatively large, oval, 

 banging nest (composed of moss and wool, and lined throughout 

 with silky down), which is attached to some leafy t\\\g, at aii 

 elevation of from 3 to 5 feet from the ground. These birds, it is 

 said, breed only in Nepal, in the central lull-region, frequenting 

 groves and open forest, in which also their nests are always found. 

 The dimensions of a nest which are given accord well with those 

 of the figure. The nest is egg-shaped, 7"75 inches in length by 4 

 in breadth, and a little above the middle is an oval aperture about 

 1*G2 by !•<> inch. There is no portico or projection abo\'e this, 

 and whert^as in the nest of ^li". silnno' dark-coloured hair-like roots 

 seem to constitute the chief components of the nest, in the present 

 species green moss and white wool-hbres seem to predominate. 

 They lay two or three eggs, which are figured as moderately broad 

 ovals 0'68 by 0'43 inch. The eggs are represented as nearly 

 white, with a certain amount of reddish mottling towards the 

 large end. They have only one brood in the year, and both birds 

 participate in rearing the young, which are ready to fly in July. 



Arachnechthra lotenia (Linn.). Lohn's Sun-bird. 



Arachnechthra loteuia (Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 372. 

 Cinnyris lotenius {Linn.), Htnne, Cat. no. 2o5. 



Mr. E. H. Aitken thus writes on the nidification of this Sun- 

 bird : — "As far as I know there is nothing on record about the 

 breeding of this Sun-bird, and since I went to Uran on the so- 



