262 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



in length, while the body of the bird is little more 

 than four inches. When the bird is in flight the long 

 streaming feathers trail out behind, and, as it flits 

 from tree to tree in the dark Himalayan forests, it 

 seems like a bright flash of sunlight gleaming through 

 the dismal pines. 



From the spotless white of its plumage I have heard 

 Europeans call it in error the dhobi-bird, or, from the 

 flowing tail, they sometimes speak of it as the ribbon- 

 bird, while its ghostly appearance has named it the 

 phantom-bird. 



The nest of this species is a neat cup-shaped 

 structure of grass and moss. It is usually supported 

 on the fork of a tree, but, on one occasion, I saw a 

 nest actually suspended by its margin to two thin 

 branches which grew downwards from above. The 

 position of a bird's nest, whether it be a supported or 

 a suspended structure, is the result of a very definite 

 instinct and is highly characteristic of the different 

 groups of birds which build their nests according to 

 these two types. I was therefore interested to find 

 a species that was able to adapt itself to either of 

 these methods and whose nest-building instinct was 

 so variable as to allow it either to support its nest on 

 the branch below or to suspend it from a branch 

 above in accordance with the facilities that offered at 

 the site where it wished to build. The nest is very 

 small in proportion to the size of the female bird, and, 

 when she is hatching, the tail, rump and the ends of 

 the wings project out behind. 



The young of this species, before leaving the nest, 

 thoroughly stretch their wings and practise the lesson 

 of wing -flapping to a sufficient extent to render their 



