DICTUM. 271 



number of eggs laid is either two or three, just as often one as the 

 other. The eggs are pure white without any gloss, and are rather 

 pointed at one end. They vary in size from '58 to '55 in length, 

 and from *42 to '38 in breadth. 



" The nest is generally built in mango-trees, but other trees, 

 especially if the leaves are large and drooping, are also used. It 

 is placed at all heights from the ground, from twelve feet to the 

 summits of the highest trees. The nest is suspended from an 

 outside twig, and is so surrounded by leaves that it is almost in- 

 visible. "When once the female begins to set, all efforts to find 

 the nest would, I believe, be useless. It is only by watching the 

 little birds carrying materials, which they do incessantly and with 

 a constant twitter, that I and my shikaree have been able to secure 

 the nests. 



" To say that the nest is most beautiful is only to say what is 

 applicable to the nests of all the Flower-peckers. The nest of this 

 little bird is simply exquisite when newly built. It measures no 

 more than 4 inches in total height, and one nest I have is only 

 3^ inches. It is egg-shaped, slightly pointed at the upper end, 

 where it is attached to the branch. Its external diameter is 

 2 inches. The entrance is circular, f inch diameter, and placed 

 just midway between the top and bottom of the nest. The 

 egg-chamber is small, the walls of the nest being of considerable 

 thickness. 



" The bulk of the nest is made of the finest vegetable down of 

 dazzling whiteness resembling spun glass ; and exteriorly the 

 nest is kept firm by being bound round with fine grass, which is 

 twisted into a rope at the lower edge of the entrance. At the 

 back of one nest there are a few patches of excreta of caterpillars, 

 and in another, four dry blossoms of some shrub are stuck to 

 the back of the nest. As a rule, however, no ornamentation is 

 attempted." 



Mr. J. E. Cripps writes : This tiny species is very common 

 in the Dibrugarh district in forests and cultivation, and common 

 in tea-gardens, when they are in bloom. On the 24th May, 1881, 

 I found a nest with three hard-set eggs. The nest was in a guava- 

 tree growing in a ryot's compound, and was suspended from a 

 twig about as thick as a pencil and 5 feet off the ground. In 

 shape it was like an egg, the short end hanging downwards, and 

 measured 2| inches long by 2 broad, with the entrance at the 1 

 upper side, and was composed of very fine black threads, evidently 

 spiders' webs, and lined with the cotton of the pod of ' Sernul ' 

 (Bombax, sp.)." 



