FOR NORTHERN INDIA 71 



is clothed in plain brown and seems to suffer 

 from St. Vitus' dance in the tail. Doubtless 

 it is often mistaken for a hen robin. For this 

 mistake there is no excuse, because the rock- 

 chat lacks the brick-red patch under the 

 tail. 



April is the month in which to look for two 

 exquisite little nests those of the white-eye 

 (Zoster ops palpebrosa) and the iora (Aegithina 

 tiphia). White-eyes are minute greenish- 

 yellow birds with a conspicuous ring of white 

 feathers round the eye. They go about in 

 flocks. Each individual utters unceasingly a 

 plaintive cheeping note by means, of which it 

 keeps its fellows apprised of its whereabouts. 

 At the breeding season, that is to say in April 

 and May, the cock sings an exceedingly sweet, 

 but very soft, lay of six or seven notes. The 

 nest is a cup, about 2\ inches in diameter 

 and f- of an inch in depth. It is usually 

 suspended, like a hammock, from the fork 

 of a branch ; sometimes it is attached to 

 the end of a single bough ; it then looks like 

 a ladle, the bough being the handle. It is 

 composed of cobweb, roots, hair and other 

 soft materials. Three or four tiny pale-blue 

 eggs are laid. 



G 



