its family; when disturbed it flies -uickly out, and settling for a moment 
on a tall grass stalk or prominent stick, drops into the nearest bush at 
hand. A little group of three or four are, however, sometimes seen toge¬ 
ther; but in general I imagine that they consist of a young brood with their 
Darents. It proceeds swiftly through the thickest grass, and when wounded 
or winged runs with great speed on the ground, and Inevitably escapes into 
the tangled undergrowth. 
In the breeding season it is a lively bird, with all the manners of a war¬ 
bler, flying hither and thither, the male continually alighting on some pro¬ 
minent position, and uttering a strong and rather pretty warble. 
I have 'always found its food to consist of small coleoptera and various 
minute insects. The district of Uva is the only locality where I have seen 
small parties of this bird, an,d then not more than three or four together, 
which were probably, as previously remarked, a young brood accompanied by 
their parents. 
NIDIFICATION 
In the Western Province this Babbler commences to breed in February; but 
in May I found several nests in the Uva district near Fort Macdonald, and 
that month would thus seem to be the nesting season in the Central Province. 
The nest is' placed in the fork of a shrub, or In a huge tuft of maana 
grass, without any attempt at concealment, about three or four feet from the 
ground. It is a neatly made compact cup, well finished off about the top 
and exterior , and constructed of dry grass, adorned with cobwebs or lichens, 
and lined with fine grass or roots. The exterior is about two and a half 
inches in diameter by about two in depth. 
The eggs are usually three in number, fleshy white, boldly spotted, chief¬ 
ly abaut the larger end, with brownish sienna; in some these markings are 
inclined to become confluent, and are at times overlaid with dark spots of 
brick red. they are rather broad ovals, measuring on the average from .76 
to .73 inches'in length by-.56 to .59 in breadth. 
The upper figure in the drawing is that of a female shot in the Madulsima 
district. 
