Birds of ihc JhcJum District. 
straggling but wt'll interlaced. Its internal measuremenLs 
were diameter 3| inches, and depth 'ijinehes. 
A pair of Pied Crested Cuckoos seen ; also a single 
Rui'ous-tai'ed Finch-lark (Ammomancs phomicnr<i). 
The Common House Crow (Corvus sidcudcus ) is now 
nesting . 
July 5. — Very heavy rain during the morning. There are at present 
quite a fair number of Pied Crested Cuckoos {Coce'/sl.cs 
jacobinus) about and their curious call, which might be 
considered a feeble edition of the Koel's scream, is to be 
heard now and again. The species remained throughout 
the month. 
I flushed several Quail from the .Towar crops in the 
evening, and shooting one found that I had secured a 
hen Black-breasted or Eain Quail {Cotarnix coromandel- 
ica ) . I heard also of others being seen so they have not 
belied their name and reputation ; they were not about last 
month . 
Searching for Wren -Warblers' nests I found many 
small balls of grass with an entrance hole near the top at 
one side, and well lined with silk from the seed pods of the 
" Uck " plant. These wen' placed in clumps of thorn, gener- 
ally only a few inches above the ground : all were empty 
except one, which contained 4 eggs, evidently of the Rufous- 
fronted Wren -Warbler (Fravklinia hiichanani) . 
A small colony of Weaver birds {Ploccus haya) noted 
building in a Kikur tree . They were cutting fine strips 
of grass from some clumps of long " sarpat " grass growing 
near by ; these they carried up into the tree and wove 
into the structures with a tine indifference to my presence. 
It was interesting to observe the stages of construction as 
shown by different nests in the colony. First, a tassel 
of grass is suspended from a twig ; then it is increased 
and developed into a loop, which is broadened, and a porch 
is developed over the upper part ; the porch is widened 
and increased until a big oval structure is formed, having 
a large round hole in the bottom and ;i,iiolher at one side. 
The bottom hole is finally closed in and the side ludc fash- 
ioned off into a long funnel which hangs below the com- 
pleted nest. 
Jul3' (i . — Visited some patches of coars<! rushy -grass growing amongst 
thorn bushes, where a number of pairs of Ilufous Fantail- 
Warblers (Cisiicola cursitans) were breeding, but I only 
managed to find one nest : this was unfinished aud was 
placed about a foot from the ground, in a thick patch of 
grass growing round a scrubby little thorn bush. These 
curious little Warblers are remarkable for the manner 
in which they soar in the air, making strange darts and 
