90 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



tangled mass of Banisteria close to one corner of 

 my house, and had they gone straight in and out of 

 the cover, the presence of the nest might veiy well 

 have escaped notice. Instead of doing so, however, 

 on coming in they went through a regular series of 

 elaborate manoeuvres that could hardly fail to excite 

 suspicion. As each bird arrived with a fresh store of 

 building materials, it pitched first on a tangle of 

 Petrcea on the near side of the path, hopped about 

 for a time there in an ostentatiously degage fashion, 

 then passed on to a neighbouring pot-plant, and 

 from this crossed over to the Banisteria and 

 disappeared beneath the foliage at a point close 

 to which the nest lay. 



Whilst a pair is occupied in building, both birds 

 always come in and go out together. When they 

 come in with new materials one of them waits 

 patiently on a neighbouring twig whilst its partner 

 works its burthen into the nest, then they exchange 

 places and duties, and finally fly off to collect a 

 new store, calling out jubilantly to one another as 

 they go. There are very few birds who seem to 

 enjoy life more thoroughly than they do, and, even 

 when hardest at work building or feeding their 

 chicks, they always seem to be in the highest spirits. 

 When the nest has been finished three lovely little 

 eggs, thickly sprinkled with red and purple specks 

 on a delicate pink ground, are laid at intervals of 

 twenty-four hours. Incubation lasts for thirteen 



