130 CBATEEOPODID2E. 



browed Short-wing breeds in April and May. It constructs its 

 nest a foot or so above the ground amongst grass and creeping- 

 plants at the base of trunks of trees ; it is composed of moss and 

 moss-roots, is somewhat globular in shape, and is firmly attached 

 to the creepers ; dried bamboo-leaves and pieces of fern are here 

 and there fixed to the exterior, and the nest is lined with hair-like 

 fibres ; the entrance is at one side and circular. One nest measured 

 7 inches in height, 5-5 in width, and 3-38 from front to back. 

 The aperture was 2 inches in diameter. The eggs (four in number, 

 or at times three) are pure white, broad ovals, pointed at one end, 

 measuring 0-9 by 0-65 inch. This species breeds in the central 

 regions of Nepal and in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling. 



Three nests of this species found early in June in Sikhim and 

 Nepal, at elevations of 5000 to 8000 feet, contained respectively 

 2, 3, and 4 fresh eggs. They were all placed in brushwood at 2 to 

 3 feet above the ground, and they are all precisely similar, being 

 rather massive shallow cups, composed of very fine black roots 

 firmly felted together, and with a few dead leaves or scraps of moss 

 in most of them incorporated in one portion or other of the outer 

 surface. The nests are about 4 inches in diameter and 2 in 

 height ; the cavity is about 2 inches in diameter and 1 in depth ; 

 but, owing to the positions in which they are placed, they are often 

 more or less irregularly shaped. 



Mr. Mandelli obtained three eggs which he considers to belong 

 to this species, on the 3rd June, near Darjeeling. I rather ques- 

 tion the authenticity of these eggs. They are pure white and 

 devoid of gloss, moderately elongated ovals, only slightly com- 

 pressed towards the smaller end. They vary from - 83 to 0-91 in 

 length and from 0-61 to 0-64 in breadth. 



198. Drymochares nepalensis (Hodgs.). The Nepal Short-wing. 

 Brachypteryx nipalensis, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 494. 



Prom Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes : — " A nest taken by me on the 

 15th of June at 5000 feet, close to a large forest, contained three 

 slightly-set eggs. It was placed on the moss-covered trunk of a 

 fallen tree, and was hooded, with an entrance at the side ; rather 

 neatly made of dry leaves with an outer covering of green moss, 

 and an inner lining of skeletonized leaves and black fibrous roots. 

 Externally it measures 5 inches in height by about the same in 

 width ; internally 3 inches high by 2-4 across. The entrance was 

 2-3 in diameter. The front of the egg-cavity is but slightly de- 

 pressed below the entrance, gradually sloping backwards to the 

 depth of nearly an inch." 



All the nests of this species that I have seen were of the sa:ne 

 type, more or less globular, more or less hooded or domed, according 

 to the situation in which they were placed, composed of dry flags 

 and dead and more or less skeleton leaves, bound together with a 

 little vegetable fibre and some moss, but chiefly with fine black 

 fibrous roots, with which the entire cavity is densely lined, inside 



