Nidi fi 'cation of Indian Birds. 103 



end, the entrauce being just to one side of the top. It 

 is composed principally of grass, much mixed with leaves, 

 twigs (always small and pliant), weeds, and other similar 

 materials. The lining is always of finer grasses, moss, and 

 fern-roots, or a fine fibrous material made from the inner 

 bark of trees, and forms a cup fairly distinct from the rest of 

 the nest. It is stout and pretty well put together, the walls 

 averaging over an inch thick, and the outer dimensions of 

 the nest being about 4 inches broad by about 5.V to 6 inches 

 high. It is placed, as a rule, actually on the ground, and the 

 few examples that I have myself seen have all been in such 

 a position with one exception. This was placed against a 

 rotten stump, well covered with ferns, moss, and orchids, 

 about two feet from the ground. It was in a garden and 

 the tree-stump was standing practically alone, except for a 

 single thick Croton bush just in front of it. It was, 

 however, beautifully concealed and was only found acci- 

 dentally by the owner of the garden in searching for a 

 tennis-ball. 



As a rule, the nest is built in scrub-jungle on the sides of 

 nullahs and ravines; but I do not think that it is confined 

 to any kind of jungle or position, though it requires good 

 shelter, yet not too dense. 



The eggs number three or four in a clutch, but the latter 

 number is not found more often than, perhaps, once in five 

 times, and sometimes two eggs are found incubated. 



The eggs are distinctly like those of Scheeniparus mandellii, 

 so much so, indeed, that when Dr. Coltart first found a nest 

 of this species, but failed to get the parent bird, I had not 

 the slightest difficulty in naming them. Unlike the eggs of 

 8. rnandellii, however, which vary a good deal in coloration 

 those of S. rufigularis are remarkably constant, and the 

 following three clutches taken from my own collection nearly 

 cover the extremes of variation. 



No. 1 is a typical clutch of three eggs, matched by four out 

 of any five clutches taken. The ground-colour is pale yellow- 

 stone with just the faintest imaginable tinge of green in it ; 

 the markings consist of clouds, blotches, and spots of pale 



