30 Mr. T. M. Savage English on 



were very excited when the nest was approached. On the 

 4th of May there were two eggs which were still quite fresh. 

 They were smaller than would have been expected from the 

 size of the bird, and like heavily marked Greenfinch's eggs 

 in colour. This nest, together with most of the nests made 

 of " turtle grass " which are presumably those of this species, 

 was in a locality several miles from any fresh water, even 

 the dew being more or less briny, except when heavy rain 

 has thoroughly washed the leaves and so removed the salt 

 which the trade-wind brings in fine spray from the reef. 

 So it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this Dendroeca 

 must be able to satisfy its tliirst from the sea, like Fregata 

 aquila, which can often be seen, when the sea is smooth, 

 drinking on the wing as a swallow does. 



Dendroeca vitellina nested in the wi-iter's garden (at George- 

 town) in April and May, 1912. The first nest was about 

 four feet from the ground in a Ficus benjamina, and was 

 beautifully made of cotton-wool (Gossypium) from a bush 

 growing close by, with a lining of feathers. When first 

 found, on the 11th of April, it was apparently quite finished, 

 but the bird continued to add feathers to the lining until 

 the 20th or 21st, on which day the feather bed was level 

 with the rim of the nest. 



The first egg was laid at about 8 a.m. on the 22nd, and 

 the second before 7 a.m. on the following day. They were 

 large for the size of the bird, and in colour not unlike the 

 grey-green type of the Red-backed Shrike's egg. On the 

 5th of May some enemy broke one of the eggs, and though 

 the bird did not desert the survivor and hatched it on the 

 following day, the young one, too, was taken on the 7th. 

 Another nest, also made of cotton, was begun on tiie 8th 

 of May in a low croton-bush less than two feet from the 

 ground, but was not finished ; and a tliird, not quite so full 

 of feathers as the first, but otherwise like it, was found on 

 the 11th about eight feet up in an orange-tree. On the 

 17th this nest had two eggs in it which differed somewhat 

 in colour from those previously found. These had no 

 suggestion of green in either ground-colour or markings. 



