MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 361 



On reaching the opening of the nest, the bird hangs with the tail pressed 

 up against the nest. As it flew from the nest and below us, the blew of the 

 wings and fanshaped tail, and the broad white bar on the underside of each 

 wing showed up conspicuously. 



The lower of the two nests on the wires — last year's — has slipped down 

 the inclined wire, and its bottom portion has gone, but the porch seems to 

 have been on the east side as in this year's nest. 



The higher one, this year's nest, consists of twigs, fibres and a few leaves — 

 the last apparently, merely accidental additions. It is about a foot long 

 vertically and some eight inches across with a porch overhanging the 

 entrance which is situated about the middle of the side facing up the 

 nullah. 



The topmost portion by which the nest is suspended is in both these nests 

 very much stronger, and consists of many more twigs and fibres than the 

 figure on page 1 of Fauna of British India, Birds, Vol. Ill, would indicate, 

 and so prevents the nest being turned round or detached by the wind 

 which would occur, if it were so slender as shown in the figure to which 

 I refer — and I imagine the figure to have been drawn partly from descrip- 

 tion after the nest had been detached from its support. 



I enclose a copy of a rough sketch made on the spot by me of this year's 

 nest. 



Last year the Electrical Engineer, fearing the birds might be killed by 

 current from the wire, had attempts made to dislodge the nest, but as the 

 birds persisted in building he left them alone. Each nest hangs from 

 a lower wire: had either been on a higher one and touched a lower wire 

 the birds must have been killed. 



Apparently nothing but birds could molest a nest, thus suspended from 

 the lowest of four parallel wires high above the nullah. The nest, contain- 

 ing at the time either eggs or young birds, has to my knowledge withstood 

 in the past few weeks two tornadoes, both of which tore off roofs, one but 

 half a mile from the nest, and flung them like sheets of paper over the 

 tree-tops. 



The collector of the late Mr. P. W. Mackinnon tells me that about 

 eighteen years ago he first came upon a nest of this bird, suspended from 

 a bough in the Jumna Valley and brought back the nest and the eggs 

 which he says were white. Six years later he found another nest, and 

 again six years ago he found one suspended from a bough in the Brewery 

 nullah. 



The call of the young birds in the nest somewhat resembled the alarm 

 notes of a very excited pair of black bulbuls, who seemed to be abusing us 

 freely — probably for being near their nest — and these two looked as if they 

 had been too occupied with domestic duties to trim their top knots that 

 morning, for they had a very dissipated, if not ' dotty' appearance. 



Four very large beaks of an equal number of very small minhas appearing 

 from under a roof near by indicated yet another hungry family. 



H. D. PEILE. 



MiTssooRiE, 4i7t July 1914. 



