Birds of Ihc Jlirlum District. 
343 
appear to play a great part in the destruction of eggs in 
this district, and it is a common sight to see an ohl nest 
cased in the nuid galleries of a colony of white ants, who 
arc busy coiisTiniinsr the materials of which it is made ! 
A small partj' of Pipits sei'ii ap])eared to bo at- 
tributable to {Anthi's utriolal an) . A nest with 5 eggs 
of the Large Grey Babbler (Arf/ya maJcoInii) found a- 
bout 8 feet from the ground in a small Kikur lice; thi^ 
nest was a slight but verj' strong platform of interlaced 
thorny twigs, with a shallow cup, slightly lined with fine 
roots . 
Jul}' 19. — Examined several nests of the Pond Heron (Ar<ho!a ijrai/i,) 
which were placed at a great height from the ground at 
the tops of a Peepul and a Mango tree ])y a small pond. 
The nest.s were the usual slight stick st ruct arcs and inostly 
contained 4 rggs apiece. 
Four fresh eggs in a nest of the Jungle Babbler 
{Craliroims ranorus ) placed about 12 fe. t from the gi'ound 
at the end of a bough of a Guava tree. 
A small party of Eo.se-colour^d Pastors (P/i-;for ro-t- 
nifi) seen in the evening and few n'liortcd as h th in 
the morning. 
The two pairs of Indian Coiir.'i( r.'i {Ci(rsoriiis cor- 
omandelicus) arc still frequenting the paddock where they 
were first noted weeks ago ; but so far I can find no eggs 
or young. 
Five Wliiti' Jbis, and one lihick ]l)is seen. Some 
Night Herons calling by the bungalow in the evening, 
Tu!y 20. — A rainy day. I was much surprised to see three Wagtails 
feeding in the compound. These were evidently two Alask-d 
Wagtails (Motacilla prr.ionafa) accompanied by a dullnr 
bird that, looked like an imniMturo White AA'agtail [M . 
nihn). 
Examined a colony of some fifteen nests of the 
Common Weaver or BIyth's Baya (Ploccun baya) swung 
in amongst the upper branches of a small but very dense 
Kikur-tree. Several of the nests were still unfinished, 
while others contained eggs or j^oung. The nests were all 
of the same material — fine strips cut from the iorg blades 
of spear grass that grows in tufts along the nrighbouring 
canal . 
Tn a Peepul near by was a nest of the Pied Afynah 
(Stvrnopaslor contra) — a large untidy domed mass of grass 
and feathers placed in a fork about 20 feet from the 
ground. On examination this proved to contain an addled 
egg and three well feathered youngsters, who flew out and 
dispersed in a field of sugar cane. 1 caught two of thi'se, 
to the great alarm of the parent bird, who hovered round 
