568 CINNTEIS ASIATICUS. 



probably confined to Baluchistan and the low portion of Fars, in Southern Persia, perhaps ranging along 

 the north-east coast of the Persian Gulf; but it has not been obtained in the neighbourhood of Bushire or 

 Shiraz." He goes on to say that near Maskat, in Arabia, he saw a Nectarinia which may have been this 

 species. In Tenasserim Mr. Davison says it occurs from Pahpoon to about Yea, the most southerly point 

 where he ever observed it being about a day's march north of the river Yea. 



Habits. — This beautiful species has very similar habits to the last ; but it does not seem to frequent large 

 trees as much. It is very lively in its actions, fluttering and poising itself over flowers while it extracts the 

 nectar from them, and is constautly giving out its sharp but not unpleasant little chirping notes ; its song in 

 the breeding-season is not so loud nor so varied as that of its larger relative. It feeds on small flies and 

 insects, especially spiders, as well as honey ; and it is constantly opening and closing its wings, both when 

 flitting aboxit the branches in search of food and when singing in a state of rest on some prominent twig. 

 Blyth remarks that he has taken so large a spider from its stomach that he wondered how it could have been 

 swallowed. 



Out of the breeding-season I have observed that the male birds associate together in little troops, and 

 they may be seen in a variety of different plumages while moulting. 



Nidification. — In the south of the island the Purple Sun-bird breeds in April, May, and June, but in the 

 north it nests as late as August. In this month Mr. Holdsworth writes of a nest being constructed in the 

 verandah of his bungalow at Aripu : — " It was fastened," he says, " to the end of an iron rod hanging from 

 the roof and once used for suspending a lamp. The birds showed very little fear, although I was for several 

 days sitting within a few feet of the nest, engaged in the preparation of specimens." The nest is generally 

 suspended from the outspreading branches of a shrub or from the lateral down-hanging boughs of small trees; 

 it is, like the last described, made of grass interwoven with hairs and covered often with spiders' webs; it is 

 pear-shaped, tapering to the point of suspension, and with the opening near the top and shaded with a little 

 hood which projects slightly ; the interior is lined with cotton and feathers. Layard, in referring to the nest 

 being artfully concealed with cobweb, writes that he has " seen the spider still weaving her toils, having 

 extended the web to the surrounding branches, thus rendering the deception still more effective; and it 

 would seem that the birds were aware of it and left their helper undisturbed." In his exhaustive article on 

 the nesting of this Sun-bird Mr. Hume thus describes the construction of the nest : — " A little above the centre 

 of the oval a small circular aperture is worked, and just above it a projecting cornice, 1 to 1^ inch wide, is 

 extended ; then — on the opposite side of the oval — the wall of the nest, which is ready some days before the eggs 

 are laid, is pushed or bulged out a little so as to give room for the sitting bird's tail. The bulging out of 

 the back of the nest is one of the last portions of the work, and the female may be seen going in and out, 

 trying the fit, over and over again. When sitting, the little head is just peeping out of the hole under the 

 awning." Nests which are not built in a perpendicular direction appear not to be provided with this hood 

 or awning. We gather from the article in question that the nest is constructed in the most varied situations, as, 

 indeed, Mr. Holdsworth's experience in Ceylon proves. In India verandahs seem to be frequently chosen ; and 

 consequently, being so much under observation, few birds have had so much written concerning their nesting 

 habits. Mr. Adam observes that they are very fond of tacking on pieces of paper, light-coloured feathers, &c. 

 to the outside of the nest, and that, in one instance in which he watched the construction of a nest, the male 

 "never assisted the female in the slightest degree; he seemed exceedingly happy, fluttered every now and 

 then about the nest, and after each careful inspection he was so seemingly pleased with the handiwork of 

 his mate that he perched on an adjoining branch and poured forth a joyous strain, flapping his wings and 

 making his axillary feathers rotate in the most extraordinary manner." Two is the usual number of eggs, 

 but sometimes three are laid ; the ground-colour is greenish white, and they are closely marked with small 

 specks of brownish and greyish brown; these markings are generally almost confluent at the large end. 

 Mr. Hume gives the average size of fifty eggs as 064 by 046 inch. 



