280 FIRST LIST OF THE BIRDS OF 



4tk April Female. — Length, 8*50 ; expanse, 11*25 ; wing, 3*50; 

 tail from vent, 3*92; tarsus, 1*16 ; bill from gape, 075; at 

 front, 0*50 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 2*66 ; weight 

 1-37 oz. Irides dark brown ; legs light purplish ; bill horny above, 

 pale beneath. 



\2th May, Male. — Length, 8*10 ; expanse, 10*50 ; wing, 3*50 ; 

 tail from vent, 3*66 ; tarsus, 1*16 ; bill from gape, 0'80 ; at 

 front, 0"46 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 2*25 ; weight, 

 1*12 oz. Irides stone brown ; bill blackish horny ; legs dark 

 fleshy ; mouth, inside blackish. 



lord May, Male. — Length, 8*0; expanse, 11*25 ; wing, 3*50 ; 

 tail from vent, 350 ; tarsus, 1*08 ; bill from gape, 0*80 ; at front, 

 050 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 2*0 ; weight, 1*12 oz. 

 Irides pale earth brown ; bill blackish brown ; legs dusky in 

 front, paling behind ; mouth inside black. Shot off nest with eggs. 



Very common in long grass fields. Permanent resident. It 

 utters its soft notes while on the wing, not only in the cold 

 season but the year through ; it is very noisy during the breeding 

 time. Breeds in clumps of grass a few inches above as well as 

 on the ground. I found five nests in the month of May from 

 23rd to 28th ; one was on the ground in a field of indigo ; the 

 rest were in clumps of •' Sun " grass, in the same field and 

 composed of this grass. One nest contained three half-fledged 

 young, and the rest contained each four slightly incubated eggs. 

 Although they nest in u Sun " grass, which is rarely over three 

 feet in height, it is very difficult to find the nest, as the grass 

 generally overhangs and hides it. Only when the bird rises 

 almost from your feet are you able to discover the whereabouts. 

 On several occasions I have noticed this species perchiug on 

 bushes. 



460.*— Otocompsa emeria, Shaw. 



1th February 1878, Female. — Length, 7*75; expanse, 10*50 ; 

 wing, 2*16; tail from vent, 3*33; tarsus, 0*75 ; bill from gape, 

 0'75 ; at front, 0*50; closed wings fall short of end of 

 tail, 2*25. 



Very common, and a permanent resident ; it freely enters 

 gardens and orchards. In my garden there was a Kaminee tree 

 (Murraya exotica) in which I found a nest of this species on 

 the 27th March in course of construction ; and on looking at it 

 on the 12th April, found two young that had just been hatched. 

 Cane brakes are favorite places for them to nest in. On the 6th 

 May I found a nest in one of these about four feet off the ground, 

 and containing three partly incubated eggs. This species does not, 

 as a rule, build in such exposed situations as the next ; it eats 

 the fruit of jungly trees, Ficus, fyc, as well as insects. 



