254 NECTAEINHD^. 



bits of (and entire) leaves, fine grass, &c., all intermixed, are 

 attached and woven together by spiders' webs. The lining of the 

 nest is invariably silky-white seed-down, Aery neatly afiixed to the 

 interior of the structure. The entrance is either a small circular 

 or somewhat oval-shaped hole, about or just above the centre of 

 the nest, with a very slightly projecting awning above it. But 

 this awning is not in every nest. Out of some 18 nests obtained 

 by me, seven or eight only had it. I venture to state that this 

 awning is only added when the nest is about perpendicular in 

 position, and where therefore a necessity exists for this additional 

 protection for the entrance. I am the more particular to note this 

 fact, because,^ every nest with the awning was, when discovered, 

 in a perpendicular position ; while those 1 saw- \\ithout it were so 

 attached as to stand out a little slantingly, and had the entrance 

 on what may be called the underside ; I never saw the entrance- 

 hole at the bottom as Colonel Tickell pretends. The eggs in 

 colour are whitish, minutely speckled with light brownish spots, 

 on some eggs closely coalescing at the larger end. The regular 

 number of eggs appears to be two or three. I found the length 

 of the nest to be from 7 to 8"5 inches and from 2'8 to 3'4 in 

 breadth." 



And referring to the 8un-bird which I at one time named 

 A. iiitcniu'dia, he further writes : — " Hume's Purple Honey-sucker 

 is numerousl}^ met with in the extensive forest tracts of the 

 llaepore and 8iimbulpore Districts. It is usually met with singly 

 or in pairs ; occasionally three or four may be seen on the same 

 tree feeding on the nectar of the flowers. Its habits are very 

 sindlar to those of Ana-JinectJira asiatica. The note is a feeble 

 chirp, somewhat resembling that of this latter Honey-sucker. It 

 breeds from some time in February to the end of April. The 

 nest is bottle-shaped with a more or less lengthened neck, and 

 constructed externally of fine grasses, with htn-e and there small 

 chips of soft bark, lea\es, or spider's web attached to it. The 

 interior lining is composed of seed-down ; a small circular hole is 

 made about the centre for the entrance. 



''The nest is suspended from the end of some small branch of u 

 low bush or small tree. On the loth March my men brought me 

 three eggs (hard-set), and the nest found on the branch of a low 

 bush OAcrhanging a small stream. In A])ril (I forget the date) a 

 nest, with two eggs, was secured on the branch of a fruit tree in a 

 garden." 



Colonel Gr. F. L. Marshall writes : — " Breeds in March and 

 April in the .Saharunpoor District, the young being hatched about 

 the middle of Ihe latter month. It builds an elegant pensile nest, 

 bottle-shaped, with entrance at side, and a shght awning-like pro- 

 jection over it ; it is generally ])laced about 3 or 4 feet from the 

 ground hanging from the end of a bough ; it is made of line grass 

 and straw woven together with cobwebs and covered outside with 

 dead leaves and seeds. The eggs, generally two, sometimes three 

 in number, are large for the bird, of an elongated oval shape and 



