PHATIXCOLA. 47 



" The eggs vary greatly in coloration. The general type of 

 colouring is a dingy greenish blue, spotted with a dingy brick-red, 

 chiefly at the larger end, where the spots form a zone. 



" It is a very familiar little bird, often building its nest in the 

 banks of the busiest thoroughfares of Ootacamund. 



" It lays four or five eggs, and sometimes only thre^." 



Mr. Wait tells me that " it breeds pretty well throughout the 

 Nilghiris, at elevations of from 3000 to 7000 feet, at all times 

 from February to July. It builds in holes in banks, and often in 

 drain-holes in walls, 3 or 4 feet from the ground. The nest is 

 cup-shaped, with an internal diameter of from 1| to 2 inches, com- 

 posed of root-fibres, grass, weeds, and scraps of woven materials, 

 anything soft, and is more or less lined with very soft fibres or 

 hair. Five, I think, is the regular number of eggs, but they often 

 lay less." 



From Kotagherry Miss Cockburn sends me the following note : 



" During the breeding-season the cock is particularly loud in 

 his song, and shows considerably more of his white feathers above 

 his wings (which he has the power of doing) than at any other 

 time of the year. I have often been amused watching a pair from 

 my window when they fancied themselves unobserved. The little 

 brown lady would be busy discussing some large grub tenderly 

 provided for her by her lord and master, while he enlivened the 

 repast by dancing and singing round her on the gravel- walk, at the 

 same time displaying every thread (or, rather, feather) of his snow- 

 white Bishop's Lawn from beneath his little black silk surplice. 

 Their nests are very plentiful in the months of February, March, 

 and April. They generally build in small holes in the banks of 

 roads, and collect a quantity of soft materials, such as wool and 

 down, and usually lay four eggs. However, I once found a nest 

 with six, and watched it with great interest until the young brood 

 were all reared. 



" Sometimes they choose curious places to build in. In my vine- 

 yard an old basket, bottom upwards, was put aside, and not moved 

 for some little time. One day I noticed a hen Eobin fly in and 

 out through a small hole, and on looking in found a nest nearly 

 finished. A few days after it contained four eggs, which in some 

 way disappeared in a short time." 



Mr. J. Darling, Jun., remarks : " This bird breeds very com- 

 monly on the Nilghiris from one end to the other. The place 

 selected is usually a hole in a bank ; but I have found it building 

 in holes of trees, in the eaves of houses, on the ground in the same 

 place as a Lark, and once in a Swallow's nest. The nest is usually 

 built of leaves and grass-roots and lined with hair, wool, and fur, 

 sometimes feathers. Taking 100 nests found by myself, 70 nests 

 had 4, 10 nests 5, and 20 nests 3 eggs each. I also found 4 nests 

 in the AVynaad with 4 eggs in each. They breed from about the 

 loth February to the loth May." 



Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan, writing from South India, says : " It 

 breeds in holes of banks from February to May, laying three or 



