THE BULBULS OF NORTH CACHAR. 5 



merable fern roots, all of the finest description, and, also, all black, 

 so firm is this part of the nest that if the outer part and the lining 

 be taken away, a strong and perfect cup remains capable of with- 

 standing considerable force. The true lining is composed entirely of 

 coarse fern roots, very rarely of fine twigs. These three portions of 

 the nest as a rule shew three distinct shades of colour, the outermost 

 part, in the material of which dead leaves predominate, is of a 

 yellow or light reddish, the fine fern roots cause the central part 

 to appear of a dead, dull black, whilst the innermost is nearl}^ always 

 of a dark reddish-brown. In shape the nest is a rather shallow cup, 

 av^eraging, in internal diameter about 2' 6," and in depth a little over 

 an inch. The outer dimensions of course depend much on the 

 amount of materials used and the compactness with which they are 

 fastened together. The greater number of nests will be found to 

 somewhat exceed 4' 5* by 2 '5, "and very few will be taken smaller 

 than this. Oates states that they build in small trees at heights 

 never above 10 feet from the ground ; amongst the large number of 

 nests that I have personally taken, I have never seen one above 

 four feet from the ground, and many are placed within a few inches 

 of it, or amongst roots and herbage, and practicallj^ if not actually, on 

 it. From its position the nest is more often than not very wet and 

 heavy, but so well is it made that the lining keeps beautifully dry and 

 warm. The eggs are very beautiful. In character they shew but 

 little variation, though much in the extent of their markings : the 

 ground-colour varies from a pale to a warm deep pink, always rather 

 bright in tint ; the primary markings consist of irregular lines, specks, 

 spots and small blotches of different shades of blood and maroon-red, 

 the majority dark, some light, and a very few quite pale ; the 

 secondary markings, which are usually very few in number and often 

 absent altogether, consist of specks and freckles of grey and purple- 

 greys ; I do not remember ever having seen any lines of this 

 colour. The markings usually tend to form a ring at the larger end, 

 the spots and lines here running into one another and being rather 

 blurred, elsewhere the spots are very few ; in a few eggs they form an 

 ill-defined cap, and in a very few they are fairly equally distributed 

 over the whole surface of the egg. I have two or three clutches in 

 which the character of the markings is very smudgy, and they are 



