RHIPIDUBA. 39 



for hours watching their untiring industry, and been much amused 

 to see the manner in which the latter part of the. building was 

 conducted. One of the birds would fly to the nest with a spider's 

 web in its bill, and, after fixing one end, the little creature, taking 

 hold of the other, would seat itself in the nest and give a sudden 

 twist round and round until it had drawn the material sufficiently 

 tight, when it would fasten it securely, thus giving a neatly finished 

 appearance to the outside. They build on low twigs of large trees, 

 and always lay three eggs of a brownish-white colour, which have 

 a very distinct circle of dark spots and streaks round the thick end. 

 This, however, is the case more or less with all the Flycatchers' 

 eggs with which I am acquainted. These birds have built on the 

 peach-trees in our garden, and, although we were most careful 

 that no one should touch their nests, Squirrels, Crows, and Crow- 

 Pheasants used to deprive them of their young. On these occa- 

 sions the distress of the parents was sad to witness, but it seemed 

 to last for only a few hours ; before the day was ended their sweet 

 song was resumed, and in less than a week another nest would be 

 commenced. 



" A pair of these Fantail Flycatchers once had their nest of 

 young ones on an orange-tree, and when my cat went too near it 

 (as they thought) they attacked her in such a manner, fluttering 

 and chattering close to her ears, as to oblige her to take refuge 

 under a wheelbarrow. These birds build in April and the three 

 following months." 



Colonel Butler thus describes the nest of this species : " The 

 nest is one of the neatest little structures I ever saw. It is cup- 

 shaped, with often a long untidy tail in continuation of its base. 

 The interior is composed of fine dry grass compactly woven to- 

 gether, and the exterior is bound with cobwebs, which are wound 

 round it so thickly that from the outside it looks perfectly white. 

 Many of these cobwebs are attached to twigs, to give the nest 

 support. It -is generally placed in the fork of one of the small 

 branches of some low thick bush about 2| or 3 feet from the 

 ground, or on small branches of big trees or low bushes overhanging 

 drv or watery nullahs running through thick jungle or clumps of 

 high trees, in the shade of which these birds are so fond of hunting 

 for insects. 



" The dimensions of the nest are as follows : Diameter, mea- 

 sured across the mouth from the outside, about 2| inches ; depth, 

 measured from the outside and not including the tail, If inch ; 

 depth, measured from the inside, 1 inch. 



" The following are some of the dates upon which I found nests 

 at Mount Aboo : 



" April 24th. A nest containing 3 fresh eggs. 

 29th. 3 



May 1st. 

 , 2nd. 



3rd. 



