(»2 BIRDS OF BRITISH GL"L\XA. 



Believing at that time that the birds only nested from March to 

 Mav, I made no special attempts to search for nests ; nor have I 

 vet had an opportunity of seeing whether, along the Berbice 

 River and the Canje Creek, nests are to be found on the Buudoorie 

 pimpler at that time of the year. 



" From tlie binding nature of the spiny twigs, the nests last for 

 a considerable time, and these are certainly made use of again, 

 possibly after more or less repair. The same nest has been found 

 in use after an interval of seven months. 



" Two or three eggs are laid at a time, both numbers being 

 about equally common in my experience ; and in one special 

 case six eggs were taken from a nest on which one bird had 

 been sitting, but whether they had been laid by one bird or two 

 birds there was nothing to show. The eggs, which vary con- 

 siderablv in size, being usuallv as large as a small-sized hen^s egg, 

 though often a good deal larger or smaller, are easilv seen from 

 beneath the nest, owing to its loose structure : and the whitish 

 egg-:, with scattered dark reddish-brown blotches, more closely 

 placed at the obtuse pole, form a marked contrast with the 

 grevish-bro\vn twigs of the nest. Even while the birds are sitting 

 on them, the eggs must be kept fairly cool from below ; and this 

 evidently gives the explanation why a number of freshly laid 

 eggs that were jdaced to be hatched out by a common fowl 

 exploded one after another, much to the alarm of the foster 

 parent, who, however, stuck to the nest with the remainder after 

 each occurrence. 



'* Soon after the hatching of the eggs, the nestlings begin to 

 crawl about by means of their wings and legs, the well-developed 

 claws on the pollex and index being constantly in use for holding 

 and hooking on to the surrounding objects. If they are drawn 

 from the nest by means of their legs, they hold on firmly to the 

 twigs both with their bill and wings ; and if the nest be upset by 

 means of a rod pushed up from below, they hold on to all objects 

 with which they come in contact by means of bill, feet, and wings, 

 making considerable u-e of the bill, not only to reach objects above 

 them, but also, with the help of the clawed wings, to raise thein- 

 selves to a higher level. When the [>arent bird is driven from the 

 nest, owing to the close approach of a boat, generally through an 

 opening cut in the floating Bundoorie pimpler, at high water, 

 or to the cutting and pulling of the branches bv some one who has 



