62 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



being should be left alone in his native country as much a& 

 possible ; though it is, I think, quite legitimate to cage 

 such birds in order to give people who cannot see them 

 wild some idea of what they are like in life. 



When the Honeysucker's fancy lightly turns to thoughts 

 of love, the pair construct a very curious little nest of cob- 

 webs and rubbish, oval in shape, with the entrance-hole at 

 the side surmounted by an eave or porch. This is hung at 

 the end of a twig, sometimes quue low down ; I remember 

 one in the Bengal Club compound which could have been 

 reached with the hand. On account of the nature of the 

 materials of which it is made it does not particularly 

 strike the eye as a nest at all, and no doubt its situation at 

 the end of such an exiguous support serves as a protection 

 against enemies if it does happen to draw their attention. 

 Only two eggs are laid, white speckled with drab ; and the 

 young male birds are at first very like their mother. I knew 

 of two being reared by hand in Calcutta by a very painstak- 

 ing fancier, who kept them successfully till they had attained 

 their full beauty of plumage, and for some time after that. 



This species of Honeysucker is confined to India and 

 Ceylon, and is certainly much the commonest kind in 

 Calcutta. But it has a relative in India which is also fre- 

 quently to be seen, and is to my mind even a handsomer 

 bird, though less varied in hues. This is the Purple Honey- 

 sucker (Arachnechthra asiatica), a bird of about the same 

 size as that which I have been discussing, but with a pro- 

 portionately bigger bill, both longer and stouter, al chough 

 maintaining the curved and slender form so characteristic 

 of these birds. 



