G64 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XI 



484. Hbmipus picatus, Sykes. 



Noticed occnsionally in the forests of Kumta and Karwar in the 

 cold and hot weather, hut not noticed at Karwar in the rains. Ahove 

 Ghats it is generally distributed, and is no doubt a permanent resident. 

 I have taken its nest only three times in Kanara. In all cases it was 

 placed on silk cotton trees at that time devoid of leaves, and was almost 

 quite invisible, as the moss and lichens composing it exactly corre- 

 spond with the colour of the bark. The nests are very minute, and 

 shallow. I have never seen more than two eggs or young in any nest; 

 but as I have seen flocks of five and six, I have no doubt they occasion- 

 ally lay more. The eggs I have taken were in March and May, and 

 were greenish, mottled with darker green and brown ; they are broad 

 ovals, and very shrike-like. 



487^ Tephrodornis stlvicola, Jerd. 



A fairly common bird in all the Kanara forests, being found in the 

 rains and cold weather in small flocks ; afterwards in pairs. I have 

 seen a good many nests, mostly however with young. They are large 

 fairly thick structures composed of roots and bordered with bright 

 o-reen moss, and ornamented outside with cobwebs. They are placed at 

 moderate heights from ten to twenty-five feet in forks of trees, or on 

 pollarded trees in " betta " land. They are not easy to find, as though 

 at the season they build the trees are leafless, they exactly correspond 

 with the adjoining tree, and would frequently be overlooked if it was 

 not for the fact that the birds like H. picatus and T. pondicertanus 

 constantly fly to and from the nest. The number of eggs or young is, 

 according to my experience, invariably two, and the eggs which are 

 laid in March and April are broad ovals of a greenish-white boldly 

 speckled at the larger end with purple and brown spots. 

 488. Teprodornis pondicerianus, Gmol. 



Very common everywhere in Kanara, breeding in March and 

 April. 



494. Pericrocotus flammeus, Forst. 



This minivet is fairly common both above and below Ghats, except 

 in the extreme north-east portion. During the rains in Karwar it is 

 not uncommon, and I believe it breeds there at that season, as I have 

 never seen the birds showing signs of breeding at any other time. 

 In the rains however, the forests are too thick to trace birds 



