506 
DUMETIA ALBOGULAllIS. 
Habits . — The little “ Pig-bird ” (as it is not very aptly called by some o£ the natives in India) frequents 
bushy patnasj low scrub, grass-fields dotted with shrubs, detached woods, and waste land in the vicinity of 
jungle, associating in little troops, and keeping mostly out of sight in the lower parts of bushes and thick 
underwood ; from such haunts it seldom strays, except when alarmed or when roaming hither and thither 
in the mornings and evenings, when little companies may be seen making their way from one piece of covnr 
to another, in qrrite “ follow-my-leader " fashion, eaeh bird following its companion with a straight low flight 
and a weak, plaintive wheet note. When hunted out from a shrub or clump of brambles it endeavours to remain 
as long as possible under cover, hopping timidly from branch to branch, and cautiously peering out at its 
enemy, until it is time to beat a retreat, when it betakes itself off in the above methodical manner. Its food 
consists of the larvae of various insects and minute Coleoptera, and in feeding it possesses much the manner 
of Alcvppe. On one occasion I observed a little flock, which was assembled at the base of an umbrageous tree iu 
thick jungle, indulging in a series of quaint antics ; they were hopping spasmodically about, jerking up their 
wings with a puffing out of their breast-feathers, and every now and then dropping like balls of fluff on to a 
bed of dry leaves, where they seemed to have discovered a welcome supply of food. 
Nidijication . — The breeding-season lasts from March until July, the nest being built in a low bush 
sometimes only a few inches from the ground. It is globular in shape and loosely eonstructed of grass, stalks, 
and dry blades or bents, sometimes interwoven with fibrous or eaterpillar-eaten leaves, the interior being 
composed of the same but finer material than the body. The eggs are usually three in number, dull white, 
closely fi’eckled throughout with small ferruginous spots ; in some there is a well-formed zone round the 
obtuse end. They are rather small for the bird, measnring 0‘7 to 0'72inch in length by 0'51 to O'SSiuch 
in breadth. 
In South India this bird breeds in June. Mr. Hume thus describes a nest sent him by Miss Cockburn, 
and taken from a coffee-bush in the Kotagherry district. It was “ small and nearly globular, composed 
entirely of broad flaggy grass, without any lining or any admixture whatsoever of other material j it was 
loosely put together, and had a comparatively narrow entrance at the top.” This nest contained three eggs ; 
and mention is made of another one with the same number. The ground-colour of these eggs was china- 
white, marked with a profusion of specks and spots, which, though spread over the whole surface, were 
“ gathered most intensely into an imperfect, more or less confluent, cap or zone at the larger end, where, 
also, a few purplish-grey spots and specks, not found on any other part of the egg, were noticeable.” They 
vary from 0'7 to 0'75 inch in length by O'o to 0'53 inch in breadth. 
Genus ALCIPPE. 
Bill stout; culmen curved from the base, commissure curved throughout; tip distinctly 
notched. Nostrils oval ; rictal bristles small but stout. Wings rounded ; the 5th quill generally 
the longest. Tail short and rounded. Tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw. 
Of small size. 
