THE ISLANDS OF THE BAY OF BENGAL. 161 



I am not quite sure that this is spodiopygia, and if not, it may- 

 stand as inexpectata nobis, [vide Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 296). 

 I ought to have added that there is a certain amount of gloss 

 on the head, wings, and tail, but not nearly so well-marked as 

 on linchi, or if the Andaman bird is distinct affinis, Tytler. 



As yet it has only been found nesting in caves, though the 

 time may come when, like other members of the family, it may 

 resort to buildings. 



I found the eggs in a cave on Little Button Island of the 

 Andaman Archipelago on the 21st March, but I do not know 

 whether they have a second brood. The nest, except, just at its 

 junction w r ith the rock (where it is brownish), is composed of 

 the most exquisitely silvery white gelatine ; exteriorly the 

 surface is compact and somewhat roughened in laminse ; interi- 

 orly it is a net-work of the finest and whitest threads, reminding 

 one of the Euplectella. The true nest, which is pure white, and 

 in shape rather more than half of a shallow cup, is from 2 to 

 2| inches broad, stands out from 1^ to nearly 2 inches from 

 the wall, and varies interiorly in depth from little more than 

 one-half to a full inch. The attachment films and foundation 

 below the true nest, both of which are somewhat brownish, vary- 

 excessively according to the site chosen for the nest ; in some 

 they are almost wanting, in others the film extends for an inch 

 on either side beyond the nest, and the foundation below T the 

 most projecting point of the true nest may be 1£ inches in 

 depth. 



The edge of the true nest all round is blunt, like that of an 

 ivory paper-cutter, and the sides gradually increase as they 

 approach the bottom to the thickness of f ths of an inch, or 

 occasionally even half an inch. Of course the nests vary 

 in outline as well as in size and depth, but the line of 

 the upper edge is generally more of a horse shoe than of a 

 segment of an oval or circle. I found the nests capi-iciously 

 dotted about, par preference in the darkest corners (nowhere 

 out of reach of the hand, for the cave is low) in places a couple 

 of feet apart, in others a dozen clustered together within a 

 diameter of less than this distance. 



As a rule, each nest was separate and distinct, but in a few 

 cases I found two and even three joined together. 



The eggs are, as usual, pure white, more or less cylindrical in 

 shape, devoid of gloss, and slightly larger than those of the 

 preceding species. 



Davison procured two specimens at Mount Harriet ; I shot a 

 dozen at Little Button ; I saw it also at Macpherson's Straits, 



