378 birds' nesting on the "eastern narra/' 



Section III. 



A few species, in regard to whose nidification, although already 

 described hy others, I should like to add a few remarhs. 



Species Noticed. 

 (a.) 532. — Prinia flaviventris. 

 {b.) 550. — Burnesia gracilis. 

 (c.) 934. — Ardetta sinensis. 

 {d.) 934. — Ardetta minuta. < 



(a.) 532.— Prinia flaviventris. 



This bird is tolerably common all along the Narra, but as it 

 keeps in very thick jungle, it is not often seen unless looked for. 

 I took my first nest on the 12th, and my second on the 17th of 

 May. This evidently is the second brood, as I noticed on the 

 same day a lot of young birds which must have been fully six 

 weeks old. One nest was lined with horse hair and fine grasses. 

 Four was the normal number of eggs, which were precisely as 

 described in " Nests and Eggs.^' 



(b,\ 550.— Burnesia gracilis. 



This little "Warbler is very common. I took the first nest in 

 March and again in May ; they build in stunted tamarisk 

 bushes ; the nest is circular dome-shaped with the entrance on 

 one side near the top ; the inside is very beautifully and softly 

 lined with the silky down of grass seeds. Four is the usual 

 number of eggs in one nest. 



(c.) 934.— Ardetta sinensis. 



This little Bittern is very common here, during the hot 

 weather ; I have found their nests in May and again in August. 

 Five is the usual number of eggs in one nest. The nest is 

 sometimes situated in the centre of a tussock of grass, or in a 

 bunch of reeds growing in the centre of a tamarisk bush in the 

 water, and two nests I found in the middle of some rushes ; the 

 tops of the rushes had been bent down and tied together, form- 

 ing a little platform, about 3 feet above the water, and on this 

 the eggs were laid. Several nests which I found containing 

 one egg I left, returning some four days after expecting to find 

 five eggs, but in each case I found the nest deserted and the 

 egg gone. One nest, which was in the middle of a lot of rushes 



