114 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



section through the stump a complete view of the 

 nest was obtained. The opening led into a horizontal 

 tunnel 3 inches in length, forming the vestibule of 

 a vertical shaft which ended in an oval chamber. 

 The front of the shaft was 175 inches distant from 

 the outer surface of the side of the stump in which 

 the opening was situated. The outer wall of the 

 terminal chamber was of course proportionately 

 thinner. The depth from the floor of the vestibule 

 to the bottom of the chamber was 9 inches, and 

 the diameter of the chamber at its widest part was 

 375 inches. The walls of the cavity were through- 

 out blackened, and those of the narrower parts of 

 it were polished, owing to the friction exerted on 

 them by the plumage of the birds in going in and 

 out. In this case the nest was placed very low, 

 with its opening only 4 feet above the ground, 

 but, in spite of this and the fact that it faced 

 directly out upon the main approach to a house, 

 it remained for some time undiscovered, owing to 

 the perfect concealment afforded by the drooping 

 foliage of a great clump of Cymbidium aloefolium 

 that capped the stump, and to the extreme wari- 

 ness with which the birds usually visited it. So 

 effectual was the concealment that the nest would 

 probably never have been discovered had it not 

 happened that one of the birds came out one day 

 just when some one was passing by the stump. 

 In specially retired places they seem to become 



