167 



on the 19 th of January I found a nest at Camorta; I shot both the birds, but on climbing up 

 to the nest found it empty. Again, on the 17th of February I found three nests, two empty, 

 one with two young birds.' " 



Mr. Blyth (J. A. S. B. xix. p. 557) states that it is common at Malacca, whence I have 

 examined a fine adult male collected by Mr. Wardlaw-Ramsay. 



Messrs. Hume and Davison kindly write to me, with regard to the Malay peninsula, "We 

 have only met with this species at Singapore, where it was very abundant. 



"Male. Length 4 - 55 to 4 - 62 inches, expanse 6-75 to 7T2, tail from vent L5 to 1*62, wing 

 2-12 to 2-25, tarsus 0-52 to 0-6, bill from gape 0-75 to 0-8, weight 0-3 to 0-35. 



"Female. Length 4 - 25 to 4-6 inches, expanse 6-35 to 6-75, tail 1-25 to 1*5, wing 2-0 to 2-12, 

 tarsus 0-5 to 055, bill from gape 0*7 to 0'8. 



" Bill, legs, and feet black ; hides dark brown. 



" This species assumes a non-breeding dress similar to that of A. asiatica. Specimens killed 

 in August, and several of those killed in September, are in this dress, or passing out of it ; but 

 almost all the specimens killed at the end of October were in full or nearly full breeding-dress." 



Muller remarks that it is plentiful in Sumatra and Java, inland as well as on the coast, in 

 forest districts, but is not found in the mountains. 



It was from Java that Horsfield's type came; and here, according to Bernstein (J. f. O. 1859, 

 p. 279), this lively little bird is everywhere met with, being very plentiful in the gardens and 

 village-woods, where it attracts attention by its bold habits and clear loud voice. It flies rapidly 

 about amongst the tangled branches of the trees and bushes, or clings, with back downwards, to 

 the leaves and blossoms, after the manner of Tomtits, searching for small insects. Sometimes it 

 runs along a horizontal branch with tail erect like a Wren ; and at other times it climbs a 

 vertical stem like a Tree-Creeper. It feeds on the small insects which it finds in the flowers or 

 amongst the leaves and moss of the trees. Its very artistically constructed nest is suspended 

 from the end of a twig, and is pear-shaped, with an oval entrance at the side, which is covered 

 by a portico to protect it from the rain. The nest is composed of leaves, creepers, bark-fibres, 

 and chips of bark and flowers, woven together with wool and the silk of caterpillars, and some- 

 times appears, from its careless, loose structure, so like an accidental mixing of leaves, bark, &c. 

 round a cobweb, that it may pass unnoticed. Inside it is lined with wool mingled with a few- 

 feathers and horsehairs, and in a few cases with bark-fibres. It lays two eggs, of a dirty white 

 colour shaded with green, and clouded and spotted with olive-brown, and with pale-edged dark- 

 brown streaks. In the Sunda island, between Sumatra and Java, it is known, according to him, 

 by the name of Tjuet ; and it has also been recorded from these islands by Lesson. " It is, 

 according to Mr. Horsfield, the " Fri-ganti " of the Javese. 



Mr. Hume (Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, p. 155) gives the following description of the 

 nest : — " Very similar to, but larger and more coarsely made than that of A. asiatica. The nest 

 is a pendent, elongated egg, a good deal drawn out towards the twig it hangs from, nine inches 

 in length and three in diameter, composed chiefly of dry grass and cocoa-nut fibre, with a few 

 feathers intermingled in the body of the nest, and the interior thickly lined with these. About 

 an inch below the point of suspension the portico projects for 1"25 inch; it is about 1'5 thick: 

 and below this is the little oval entrance to the nest, about T25 by 1-0 inch. Interiorly the 



