MOTACJLLA. 205 



pieces of twine, cloth, fibres of plants, feathers, and a large pro- 

 portion of human hair. Bound the outer edge there was a rim 

 formed, I presume, to keep the young in the nest. The egg- 

 receptacle was quite flat, and lined with a few feathers, horsehair, 

 wool, and fibres firmly matted together. On the 1st May I 

 observed another bird building, and found its nest in a hole in the 

 bank of an open well. The nest had just been commenced ; on 

 the 3rd it was finished, and on the 7th it contained t\vo eggs, 

 which I took with the nest. Another bird I watched finished its 

 nest on the 7th May, and ou the 9th, 10th, llth, and 12th it laid 

 an egg & \ day. The eggs are dirty white in colour, much 

 speckled a^o. spotted with pale brown and dusky ; at the broad 

 end the spots are massed together, while in one egg they form a 

 zone.'" 



From Hoshungabad Mr. E. C. Nunn writes : " On the llth 

 April we found a nest in a low bank in the bed of the Nerbuddah. 

 It was composed of a mixture of wool, hair, feathers, grass-roots, 

 pieces of thread and hemp, and bits of cotton. On the very next 

 day we found a second precisely similar nest in a similar situation. 

 Each nesfc contained two fresh eggs." 



At Ahmednuggur, in the Deccan, the Eev. H. J. Bruce recorded 

 the following note : 



" 26th April, 1869. Found a nest of this bird containing four 

 fresh eggs. The nest was situated on a shelf under a projecting 

 rock in the perpendicular bank of the river; was but 6 or 8 inches 

 above the water-level, and 15 inches from the edge of the bank. 

 It was composed of coarse sticks upon the lower and outer sides, 

 above which were finer sticks and roots of grass lined with hair. 

 The whole was so loosely put together that it was with difficulty 

 removed from its place. The outer side was built up with sticks 

 nearly 4 inches, while the inner side was scarce an inch thick. 



" The egg-cavity was 2| inches in diameter and 1| inch in depth. 

 The eggs were of bluish-white colour, thickly covered with light 

 brown blotches which often run into each other. On the larger 

 end of one specimen these blotches form an irregular circle, while 

 the other three have the whole larger end more or less thickly 

 covered." 



Writing from Poona about this species, Mr. E. Aitken remarks : 

 " I found a nest on the 17th of last April. It was on one of the 

 barrels on which the platform of the boat-club floats. By raising 

 one loose plank, I got a look at the nest, and thought I distin- 

 guished three young ones, nearly fledged. They had a nest in the 

 very same situation (on the identical barrel, I believe) last year." 



Colonel E. A. Butler writes : " The Pied Wagtail breeds at 

 Mount Aboo round the lake in March and April, placing its nest 

 in holes of stone walls, which are often made at the edge of the 

 water to support the road leading round the lake. The cock-bird 

 during the period of incubation generally sits upon some big rock 

 which, rising above the surface of the water, forms an island at no 

 great distance from the nest." 



