126 COMMON BIRDS OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



notes ; during the breeding season a very distinct 

 one may often be heard, consisting of a long 

 series of shrill cries, '* whe, whe, whe, whe, whe, 

 whe." From the circumstances in which it is 

 uttered, this call would seem to be peculiar to the 

 male birds, and to form an element in their sexual 

 display; for, on careful approach to a site from 

 which it is audible a short exercise of quiet 

 watching will be rewarded by the sight of an iora 

 in brilliant plumage, suddenly emerging to make 

 a short upward flight, and then sink vertically for 

 some distance through the air with drooping wings 

 and elevated tail, calling loudly all the time it 

 descends to its mate, who is at no great distance 

 off among the boughs. Much of their food seems 

 to consist of spiders; and when they are hunting 

 for these among the leaves, creeping from one to 

 another and often hanging back downwards as they 

 go, they have a very tit-like look. The nests of 

 many Indian birds are highly attractive objects, 

 but very few of them are quite so beautiful as 

 those of ioras, moulded closely over the upper 

 surface of a horizontal bough in the form of a 

 shallow cup, compactly built up of fragments of 

 lichen woven together by masses of spiders' web, 

 and anchored by strands passing round their founda- 

 tion and any neighbouring twigs. The felt of web 

 and lichen gives the nests a delicate grey tint that 

 renders them very invisible among their surroundings. 



