FURREEDPORE, EASTERN BENGAL. 279 



legs fleshy yellow ; claws ditto ; bill yellow, like ivory ; gape 

 light orange ; mouth, inside bright orange ; ovaries minute. 



Very common indeed, frequenting gardens and cultivation 

 where parties of seven and eight may be seen hopping about the 

 ground, feeding on insects. During the heat of the day they hunt 

 about the branches of trees for insects that remain in the bark. 

 On the 15th April I found a nest on the very top of a Mangoe 

 tree about 30 feet off the ground, shooting the male as it flew 

 off the nest. Three hard set eggs, of a deep greenish blue. 

 Nest placed in a fork of twigs, the uppermost oue, composed 

 exclusively of "doob" grass (Cynodon dactylon) very loosely put 

 together with a thin lining of the same. It measured externally 

 8-inches in length by 5*5 in breadth and 3 in depth. Oval 

 shaped ; egg cavity 4*5 X 3'25 X 2. 



439— Chatorhea earlei, Blyth. 



Znd December 1877, Female. — Length, 9*85 ; expanse, 10*91 ; 

 wing, 3*33 ; tail from vent, 4-83 ; tarsus, 1*25 ; bill from gape, 

 1*09; bill at front, 081 ; closed wings fall short of end of 

 tail, 4"08. Irides bright yellow. 



Ylth January 1878, Male. — Length, 10*15 ; expanse, 10*50; 

 wing, 3*58 ; tail from vent, 5'20; tarsus, 1*33 ; bill from gape, 

 1*07; bill at front, 0*80 ; closed wings fall short of end of 

 tail, 3*58. 



Very common, and a permanent resident, keeping to grass 

 fields in small parties of seven to ten. Very noisy. On the 2nd 

 December 1877 I found a nest with three slightly-incubated 

 eggs in a small babool bush which stood in a u Sun" grass field. 

 The nest was a deep cup, whose foundation was a few leaves 

 over which " Sun" grass was woven rather loosely. Lining of fine 

 grass roots. The nest was placed in amongst some coarse grass 

 which grew up in the centre of the bush, and was three feet 

 from the ground. External height, 4-inches ; diameter, 4*25; 

 internal diameter, 2*5 ; depth, 25. Both Messrs. Marshall and 

 Hume, in their works on " Birds Nesting," give March and Sep- 

 tember as the two periods for these birds to lay, and the clutch 

 I found may have been exceptionally late. 



441— Chsetornis striatus, Jerdon. 



2\st March 1878, Female. — Length, 8'42 ; expanse, 11*25 ; 

 wing, 350; tail from vent, 4*08; tarsus, 1*20; bill from gape. 

 0*75 ; at front, 0*50 ; closed wings fall short of eud of tail, 2-60, 

 Irides light chocolate brown ; legs fleshy ; bill fleshy at base ; 

 rest horny. Shot off nest. 



