A Warble?- of Distinction 



and his mate, with perhaps a few friends, hop 

 about from leaf to leaf looking for quarry, large 

 and small. The manner in which he stows away 

 a caterpillar an inch long is a sight for the gods ! 



Sometimes two or three of these warblers 

 attach themselves, temporarily at any rate, to 

 one of those flocks, composed mainly of various 

 species of tits and nuthatches, which form so 

 well-marked a feature of all wooded hills in 

 India. Hodgson's warblers are pugnacious little 

 creatures. Squabbles are frequent. It is impos- 

 sible to watch two or three of them for long 

 without seeing what looks like one tiny animated 

 golden fluff ball pursuing another from branch 

 to branch and even from tree to tree. 



The breeding season lasts from March to 



June. The nest is globular in shape, made of 



moss or coarse grass, and lined with some soft 



material, such as wool. The entrance is usually 



at one side. The nest is placed on a sloping 



bank at the foot of a bush, so that it is likely 



to escape observation unless one sees the bird 



flying to it. Three or four glossy white eggs 



are laid. Many years ago Colonel Marshall 



recorded the case of a nest at Naini Tal " at 



the side of a narrow glen with a northern 



aspect and about four feet above the pathway, 

 149 



