260 NECTABINIID.E. 



twig it hangs from, 9 inches in length and 3 in diameter, composed 

 chiefly of dry grass and cocoanut-fibre, with a few feathers inter- 

 mingled in the body of the nest, and the interior thickly lined 

 with these. About an inch below the point of suspension, the 

 portico projects for 1*25 inch; it is about T5 thick; and below 

 this is the little oval entrance to the nest, about 1-25 by 1 inch. 

 Interiorly the cavity is about 3'5 inches deep, and below the lower 

 margin of the entrance-hole nearly 1 -75 in diameter. The portico 

 and the upper portion or neck of the nest is chiefly coir, while the 

 lower and broader portions are mostly grass and pieces of bamboo 

 sheaths, a dead leaf or so, and a scrap or two of bark. There is 

 no attempt to decorate the nest externally, as is so common in 

 this genus ; but perhaps the nest was not quite finished, though 

 Davison says they were all alike. 



An egg of this species, taken by Mr. De Boepstorff in February 

 at Camorta, is a pale dull grey-brown, thickly streaked and freckled 

 with a somewhat darker brown, and with a few minute specks and 

 spots of a much darker brown, each surrounded by a sort of 

 purplish or reddish haze, scattered very sparsely about the egg. 

 On one side of the large end these markings seem to have a ten- 

 dency to form a zone. It measured 0*61 by 0'45. 



Arachnechthra flammaxillaris (Blyth). The Burmese 

 Telloiv-breasted Sun-bird. 



Arachnechthra flammaxillaris (BL), Hume, Rough Draft N. fy E. 

 no, 234 ter. 



Mr. W. Theobald states that he obtained a nest of this species 

 at Tavoy on the 1st February. The nest resembled that of A. 

 asiatica, and was a neat purse, suspended in a lime-tree (Citrus). 

 It contained two oval-pyriform eggs, pale greenish, speckled with 

 greyish ash, which measured 0-56 by O43 inch. I suspect some 

 error in measurements here ; these dimensions are apparently too 

 small for the bird. 



Mr. Gates, writing from Pegu, says : " I have found the nest 

 of this bird from the commencement of July to the end of August. 

 On the 3rd of the former month I observed a female of this species 

 attaching a piece of grass to a twig. On the 8th the nest looked 

 quite finished, and on the 14th I took two eggs from it. Another 

 nest also with two eggs was found on the same day, and subse- 

 quently, during July and August, other nests were found by me. 



" Two appear to be invariably the number of eggs laid. They 

 have little or no gloss ; the ground-colour is pale greenish white, 

 and this is nearly all covered with dashes of greyish ash, which run 

 one into the other at the thick end and form a cap. In addition, 

 the egg is sparingly marked with fine, round spots of dark brownish 

 black running at the edges like inkspots on blotting-paper. 



" All the nests I have met with have been placed in secondary 

 jungle, on shrubs and bamboos, seldom more than four feet, occa- 



