Nidification of Indian Birds. 329 



about a ravine with stony sides, almost devoid of all vege- 

 tation, and I feel sure they had their nest somewhere near 

 at hand, but they would not visit it whilst I was present, 

 and a long search proved of no avail. The birds were very 

 anxious so long as I stayed in the ravine, and often came 

 within a very few feet of me ; but, as they seemed equally 

 alarmed wherever I went, their movements gave me no 

 assistance. 



42. Cryptolopha burkii. {Oates, op. cit. i. p. 424.) 

 Of this bird also I have taken but one nest, which I found 

 on the 28th of April at a place called Laisung, a hot, though 

 rather high, valley with very dense vegetation. It Avas built 

 against the moss-covered trunk of a large tree standing in 

 evergreen-forest, at an altitude well under 3000 feet. The 

 material used was entirely moss, and the nests differed in a 

 good many respects from any I have seen of C. xmithoschista, 

 which is the most common form in these hills during the 

 breeding-season. In the first place, the latter bird always 

 makes a distinct lining of some kind, generally of the softest 

 of vegetable down, which nearly fills up the whole inside. 

 In the nest of C burkii there was, indeed, a kind of lining, 

 but it was of moss only, but this so matted, beaten, and 

 twisted together that it was the least soft and yielding part 

 of the whole affair. It was also a far larger, as well as more 

 soHd, structure than any other nest I have seen of this 

 genus. It measured no less than 8"-4 high and 4"-2 across the 

 widest part, and this was solid moss, well put together, which 

 was able to withstand a good deal of rough handling. The 

 cavity was very small, and I do not know how the bird 

 managed to sit in it. In diameter it was l"-8, and the depth 

 just over 2"-l. The female was caught on the nest by means 

 of a fibre noose placed at the entrance. 



There were four eggs in it, very hard-set, so that they were 

 cleaned with a good deal of difficulty and are slightly broken. 

 They arc, of course, white, and the texture is very fine and 

 smooth, showing a slight but decided gloss; considering how 

 hard-set they were, the shells were very stout and compact. 



