5 I 8 PASSERIFORMES 



CHAP. 



branch, or even builds it in creepers. Savi's Warbler {Locustella 

 luscinioidcs) makes a Kail-like nest of broad grass-blades {Glycerici) 

 in sedges, Myiomoira one of bark, grass, wool, moss, and fibres in 

 holes in trees, J/m'O a similar fabric on their \)xa,nQ\\e,Q, Acantliiza a 

 domed hanging structure of like materials, Origma a ragged pendent 

 mass of moss and roots, lined with fur or feathers, under rocks. 

 Orthotomus (Tailor-bird) and some species of Franklinia, Prinia, 

 and Cisticola stitch together the edges of a leaf or leaves to 

 sustain their nest of grass, cotton, wool, and hair. 



The number of eggs is generally from three to six, but as 

 many as twelve are found in Regidus. The colour is buffish- 

 white with Ijrownish and violet-grey spots in Savi's Warbler ; 

 pinker with delicate red - brown freckling in the Grasshopper- 

 Warbler ; rich red-brown in Cettia and Chthonicola ; similar or 

 varying to blue, green, white or pinkish, with or without red or 

 brown spots, in Prinia even in the same species ; little different 

 in Cisticola ; bronzy -brown in Pyrrliolaemus ; white or purplish 

 with dark markings in Sericornis ; white in Origma and Crypto- 

 loi^ha. In Sylvia the eggs are greenish- or yellowish-white with 

 olive, brown, green, or reddish spots ; in Acrocephahis they are 

 decidedly greener ; in Aedon greyer with brown and dull violet 

 markings ; in PhyUoscoims and AcantJiiza white, usually with 

 dark red or purplish spotting; in HyjMlais lilac -pink with 

 blackish or brown blotches or streaks ; in Regulus wdiite, freckled 

 or entirely suffused with yellowish or ruddy dots. 



Myiodectes frequents woods and thickets, and has somewhat 

 Thrush -like habits ; the voice is powerful, clear and metallic ; 

 while the food consists chielly of berries, though insects are 

 hawked for in the air. The nest, placed on bushes, stumps, 

 banks or rocks, is made of sticks lined witli soft materials, or of 

 twigs, roots, and moss, and contains from three to six eggs, not 

 unlike those of the Eedbreast. 



Polioptila haunts tall trees or shrubs in pairs or small 

 companies ; the habits are restless, the flight is quick, the food 

 consists of gnats and so forth, commonly captured on the wing. 

 The purse-like nest is felted with bark, fibres, and down, and 

 decorated with lichens ; it is woven to boughs, stems, or creepers, 

 and contains four or five greenish- or bluish-white eggs, marked 

 with red-brown, lilac, and grey. 



Of the Miminae, Mimus pjolyglottus is the Mocking-bird in 



