58 



it is fond of selecting trees in close proximity to one another , 

 it is rare that more than three or four nests are found in the 

 same tree. Isolated nests are to be found in the Fort and in the 

 trees about Slave Island, but the principal nesting place in the 

 vicinity of the former, is at the back of the Cemetery on theGalle 

 Face, where, in the small Suriah trees on the border of the 

 lake, numbers of nests are built every year. The nest is smaller 

 than that of other crows ; it is made of sticks lined with 

 coir pulled from the heads of cocoanut trees, and is built either 

 in the fork of a top branch or on a horizontal bough, sometimes 

 close to the ground. About Colombo the eggs are, as a general 

 rule, laid by the 1st of May, and are three or four in number. 

 They vary very much in size and coloration, some measuring 

 1 in. 5f lines, by 1 in. 2 lines., others 1 in. 8 lines, by 11 £ lines. The 

 general groundcolour is light green or light blue -green, speckled* 

 dappled and blotched, chiefly at the larger end, with dark grey 

 and olive brown, and pencilled sometimes with a few fine dark 

 streaks. 



Not the least amusing spectacle among the many sights 

 afforded by the habits of this bird is the noonday bath—two or 

 three birds up to the thighs in water, ducking and splashing in 

 all directions, while half a dozen more are drying themselves on 

 the bank, probably engaged in some angry debate on a culprit 

 standing by, who has refused to perform his ablutions. 



Estbslda Amandava* (Linneus.) The Bed Wax-Bill. 



As far as I can ascertain, the occurrence in Ceylon of the 



Amaduvad or Red Wax-Bill has not as yet been recorded, and it 



is somewhat singular that its presence should have been over- 



looked, as it frequents at one s eason of the year no less public a 



* It is possible that this bird has beeo acclimatized about Colombo 

 from individuals having escaped from confinement. Numbers art 

 brought in cages from the various Indian Porte. 



a 



