ANTHUS. 215 



nest, consisting of fine light-coloured roots and grasses intermingled 

 with a considerable quantity of oakum woven together and lined 

 with similar materials, but finer, and a few horsehairs. A con- 

 siderable-sized hole had been excavated for the admission of the 

 nest. The two parent birds kept running ( Wagtail-like) to and 

 fro with insects in their mouths, principally small dragonflies, 

 which they caught along the edge of the water." 



He subsequently wrote from Belgaum: 



" Belgaum : 14th June, 1879, a well-built nest under a tussock 

 of grass on a rocky ' maidan/ containing three incubated eggs. 

 Another iiest ou the 22nd June, containing three fresh eggs. 30th 

 June, two nes" one containing a single fresh egg, the other three 

 young birds about ten days old. All of the above nests were in 

 the same locality and in precisely similar situations. The nests 

 were all compact and well built, and in some instances had a slight 

 canopy, evidently as a protection from the rain. 



" Belgaum : 28th March, 1880, a nest by the side of a tussock of 

 grass, containing three half-fledged young ones. The nest was on a 

 bare ' maidan ' in a very exposed situation. April 4th, visited two 

 nests that J had left on the 2nd April, each then containing two 

 fresh eggs, and found them both empty and deserted. One nest 

 was very solidly built of dry grass, coarse exteriorly, fine interiorly, 

 and completely hidden under the grass, having a run up to it 

 through the grass, and would never have been discovered unless 

 the old bird had been seen going to and from it whilst building. 

 The other was in a tussock of coarse grass in a comparatively 

 open situation. In the breeding-season these birds rise into the air 

 constantly, much like Pyrrhulauda grisea or Chcetornis locusttlloides, 

 and, after soaring about singing for a short time, descend, Lark- 

 like, with wings and tail spread, usually settling on some low bush 

 or bank near the nest. 1 notice that in the breeding-season these 

 birds perch constantly on low bushes. April llth, a nest on an 

 open fc maidan' in a tussock of grass, containing three incubated eggs. 

 As a rule, when nests are built on a maidan exposed to the wind, 

 such as we have in this neighbourhood, they are invariably placed 

 on the leeward side of the tussock, and usually have a canopy over 

 the top to protect them from the wind. The nest thus resembles 

 a ball of grass with a good-sized entrance at the side. 



"On the 17th of April I found another nest, containing three 

 fresh eggs, and, placing a horsehair noose at the entrance, caught 

 the hen bird in a few minutes. On the 18th April I took another 

 nest with three fresh eggs ; and on the 19th April found three nests, 

 each containing a single fresh egg. Two more nests on the 23rd 

 April, each containing three incubated eggs ; -and one on the 26th 

 April, containing three fresh eggs. 27th April, another nest con- 

 taining three fresh eggs, and one containing three incubated 



" 2nd May, two nests, each containing three incubated eggs. 

 16th June, a nest containing four fresh eggs : this is the first time 

 I have ever seen more than three eggs in one nest. 20th June,. 



