THE COMMON FANTAIL WARBLER. 55 



principal food is the banana, of which it eats largely. It is very bold and pugnacious, the young 

 males particularly so. In confinement several cases have occurred of one having killed the other. 

 The young males closely resemble the females in plumage during their first year, in the second 

 they partially assume the gay plumage of their sire, and in their third year they put on the full 

 livery of the adult male.' " 



The male has the head and back of the neck, running in a rounded point towards the breast, rich 

 bright gamboge-yellow, tinged with orange, particularly on the centre of the forehead ; the remainder 

 of the plumage, with the exception of the secondaries and inner webs of all but the first primary, deep 

 velvety-black ; the secondaries bright gamboge-yellow, with a narrow edging of black along the inner 

 webs ; the first primary is entii'ely black, the next have the tips and outer webs black ; the half of the 

 inner web and that part of the shaft not running through the black tip are yellow ; as the primaries 

 approach the secondaries, the yellow of the inner web extends across the shaft, leaving only a black 

 edge on the outer web, which gradually narrows until the tips only of both webs remain black ; bill 

 yellow ; irides pale-yellow ; legs and feet black. 



The female has the head and thi'oat dull brownish- white, with a large patch of deep black on the 

 crown ; all the upper surface, wings, and tail, pale olive-brown, the feathers of the back with a 

 triangular-shaped mark of brownish-white near the tip ; the \mder surface is similar, but here, except 

 on the breast, the white markings increase so much in size as to become the predominant hue ; eyes 

 brown ; bill and feet black. 



THE FOURTH SUB-FAMILY OF THE TIMELIID^E.THE GRASS-WARBLERS (CUticolina). 



In this sub-family must be placed the large group of Grass Warblers, or Fantails, which are> 

 largely developed in the African continent, and range throughout Southern Europe and the whole 01 

 the Indian region, extending even into Australia. One of the best known species is 



THE COMMON FANTAIL WARBLER (Cisticola cursitaw). 



This bird is spread over the whole of Southern. Europe, over the whole of Africa, India, and 

 China, and is remarkable for the beautiful nest which it makes, and for the great variety in the colour- 

 ing of its eggs. Captain Vincent Legge writes to Mr. Hume from Ceylon : " It breeds in the western 

 province from May until September, and constructs its nest either in paddy-fields or in Guinea-grass 

 plots attached to bungalows. The nest is so beautiful and so neatly constructed that perhaps a short 

 description of it will not be out of place. A framework of cotton or other fibrous material is formed 

 round two or three upright stalks, about two feet from the ground, the material being sown into the 

 grasa, and passed from one stalk to another until a complete nest is made. This takes the bird from 

 one to two days to construct. Several blades, belonging to the stalks round which the cotton is passed, 

 are then bent down and interlaced across to form a bottom, on which, and inside the cotton network, 

 a neat little nest of fine strips of grass torn off from the blade is built. This is most beautifully lined 

 with cotton or other downy substance, which appears to be plastered with the saliva of the bird, until 

 it takes the appearance and texture of soft felt. The average dimensions of the interior, or cup, are 

 two inches in depth by one and a quarter in breadth. The whole structure is generally completed in 

 about five days, and the first egg laid on the fifth or sixth day from the commencement. The number 

 of eggs varies from two to four, most nests containing three. The time of incubation is, as a rule, 

 from nine to eleven days. I have found biit little variation in the eggs of this species either as 

 regards size or colour. They are white or pale greenish-white, spotted and blotched in a zone round 

 the larger end with red and reddish-grey, a few spots extending towards the point ; axis, 0'63 inch ; 

 diameter, - 51 inch. From close observation I can certify that this and many other small birds do 

 not here sit during the day-time. I scarcely ever found a Cisticola on the nest between sunrise and 

 sunset." Mr. Hume himself also observes: "I have myself taken several, and have had a great 

 many nests sent to me. With rare exceptions, all belonged to one type. The bird selects a patch of 

 dense fine-stemmed grass, from eighteen inches to two feet in height, and, as a rule, standing in a 

 moist place; in this, at the height of from six to eight inches from the ground, the nest is constructed. 



