238 Sylvius. 



more than half the cases the eggs were partly incubated. I have 

 no record of more than five, and though I have any number of 

 notes of nests containing one, two, three, and four eggs, yet these 

 latter in almost all these cases were fresh. 



Mr. Blyth says that this species is " remarkable for the beautiful 

 construction of its nest, sewing together a number of growing stems 

 and leaves of grass, with a delicate pappus which forms also the 

 lining, and laying four or five translucent white eggs, with reddish- 

 brown spots, more numerous and forming a ring at the large end, 

 very like those of Orthotomus sutorius. It abounds in suitable 

 localities throughout the country." 



I must here note that Mr. Blyth never paid special attention to 

 eggs, or he would have hardly said this, because the character of 

 the markings are essentially different. Those of the Tailor-bird 

 are typically blotchy, of the present species speclcly. 



Colonel W. Vincent Legge writes to me from Ceylon that " in 

 the Western Province it breeds from May until September, and 

 constructs its nest either in paddy-fields or in guinea-grass plots 

 attached to bungalows. 



" The nest is so beautiful and so neatly constructed that perhaps 

 a short description of it will not be out of place. A framework of 

 cotton or other fibrous material is formed round two or three 

 upright stalks, about 2 feet from the ground, the material being 

 sewn into the grass and passed from one stalk to the other until a 

 complete net is made. This takes the bird from one to two days 

 to construct *. Several blades, belonging to the stalks round 

 which the cotton is passed, are then bent down and interlaced 

 across to form a bottom on which, and inside the cotton network, a 

 neat little nest of fine strips of grass torn off from the blade is 

 built ; this is most beautifully lined with cotton or other downy 

 substance, which appears to be plastered with the saliva of the bird, 

 until it takes the appearance and texture of soft felt. 



" The average dimensions of the interior or cup are 2 inches in 

 depth by 1| in breadth. The whole structure is generally com- 

 pleted in about five days, and the first egg laid on the fifth or sixth 

 day from the commencement. The number of eggs varies from 

 two to four, most nests containing three. The time of incubation 

 is, as a rule, from nine to eleven days. 



" I have found but little variation in the eggs of this species 

 either as regards size or colour. They are white or pale greenish 

 white, spotted and blotched in a zone round the larger end with 

 red and reddish grey, a few spots extending towards the point : 

 axis 063 inch ; diameter 051 inch. 



" From close observation I can certify that this and many other 

 small birds do not here sit during the daytime. I scarcely ever 

 found a Gisticola on the nest between sunrise and sunset." 



* Numbers of these birds used to build in a guinea-grass field attached to 

 my bungalow at Colombo, and I had full opportunity of watching the con- 

 struction of the nest on many occasions. — W. V. L. 



