The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds Part 15

Internally was a lining about half an inch thick, composed of thin strips of dry bark, fibres, &c. The entrance was to one side, circular, and measuring 25 inches in diameter; the egg-cavity measured 4 inches deep by about 3 in height.

"In the nest were three pure white ovato-pyriform eggs, but so far incubated that they would probably have hatched off before the day was out.

"The measurements of two were 11 and 109 in length by 075 in breadth."

Major C.T. Bingham says:--"This is the _Pomatorhinus_ of the Thoungyeen valley, being found from the sources to the mouth of that river. A note recorded two years ago of a nest that I found is given below:--_4th March_.--Having to go over the ground along the southern boundary of the proposed Meplay reserve I had to cut my way through dense bamboo, to go through a long belt of which is hard work. To make it worse in this case several clumps had been burnt by fire and blown down. As I was slowly progressing along, bent almost double, out of a little hollow at my feet a bird flew with a suddenness that nearly knocked me down. I looked into the hollow, and there under the ledge of the sheltering bank was a nest of dry bamboo-leaves lined with strips of the same, shredded fine. It was cup-shaped, loosely made, about 1 inches in diameter, and the same in depth, containing three pure white eggs, perfectly fresh (measured afterwards two proved respectively, 098 x 071, 099 x 073 inch); and gun in hand I watched, hiding myself behind a clump of bamboos about thirty yards off. For an hour I watched, but the bird did not return, so I marked the spot and went on. Returning back the same way just before dusk, I managed to start her again, and to get a hurried shot; she fell and I secured and recognized her as _P. olivaceus_."

The eggs, which seem small for the size of the bird, are rather broad ovals, some fairly regular, some a good deal compressed just towards the small end, which is, however, always obtuse, never pointed; the sh.e.l.l is fine, compact, and thin, smooth and satiny to the touch, but with scarcely any perceptible gloss. The colour is pure spotless white.

119. Pomatorhinus melanurus, Blyth. _The Ceylonese Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus melanurus, _Blyth, Hume, Cat._ no. 404 bis.

Colonel Legge writes of the nidification of this bird in Ceylon:--"This Babbler breeds from December until February. I have observed one collecting materials for a nest in the former month, and at the same period Mr. Mac Vicar had the eggs brought to him; they were taken from a nest made of leaves and gra.s.s, and placed on a bank in jungle. Mr. Bligh has found the nest in crevices in trees, between a projecting piece of bark and the trunk, also in a jungle-path cutting and on a ledge of rock; it is usually composed of moss, gra.s.s-roots, fibre, and a few dead leaves, and the structure is rather a slovenly one. The eggs vary from three to five, and are pure white, the sh.e.l.l thin and transparent, and they measure 096 to 098 in length, by 07 in breadth."

120. Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, Sykes. _The Southern Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, _Sykes, Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 31; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 404.

The Southern Scimitar Babbler breeds throughout the hilly tracts of Southern India, up to an elevation of fully 7000 feet. They are common in Ootacamund, and even on Dodabet as high up as it is wooded. They seem to breed less plentifully about Kotagherry than they do at Ootacamund itself, c.o.o.noor, Neddivattam, &c.

They lay from February to May, building a largish globular nest of gra.s.s, moss, and roots, placed on or very near to the ground in some bush or clump of fern or gra.s.s. They lay five eggs.

A nest of this species which I owe to Mr. Carter, and which was found at c.o.o.noor on the 7th April, 1869, is a huge globular ma.s.s of moss and fine moss-roots some 7 inches in diameter, with, on the upper side, an entrance to a small egg-cavity some 3 inches in diameter, and 2 inches in depth. It is a most singular nest, a great compact ball of soft feathery moss and very fine moss-roots, which latter predominate in the interior of the cavity, and so form a sort of lining to it. The great body of the nest is below the cavity, the overhanging dome-like covering of the cavity being comparatively thin.

Mr. Davison remarks:--"The nest of this bird is very peculiar in structure, more like the nest of a field-mouse than of a bird, being in fact merely a ball of gra.s.s rather loosely put together, the gra.s.s on the exterior being intermingled with dry leaves and other rubbish.

The nest is generally placed either in a clump of fern, or at the roots of some gra.s.s-grown bush. The eggs are pure white, very elongated, and with a remarkably thin and delicate sh.e.l.l. The normal number appears to be five. The breeding-season is, I think, the latter end of April and May."

Later, he writes:--"It must, I think, breed twice, as I found a nest on the 10th March with fully-fledged young, and late in April another nest with perfectly fresh eggs."

Writing of this species Dr. Jerdon says:--"I procured its nest near Neddivattam on the Nilghiris, on a bank on the roadside, made with moss and roots, and containing four white eggs of a very elongated form."

Miss c.o.c.kburn, of Kotagherry, furnishes me with the following note on the nidification of this species:--"These birds build rather large nests, among the _roots_ of bushes, and generally prefer those which grow on the slopes of steep hills. Their nests are composed of coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, a few roots of the same, and the bark of a bush, which cracks when dry and is very easily pulled off. These materials are put together into a round nest, and also form a covering above, which makes the inside look very snug indeed. But if any attempts are made to remove the nest, it generally falls to pieces, the materials having no tenacity. This bird commonly uses no lining to its nest, but lays its eggs (three to five in number) on the coa.r.s.e gra.s.s of which the inside is composed. The eggs are pure white, particularly thin-sh.e.l.led, and consequently perfectly translucent. They are found during the months of February and March."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden, writing from the Deccan, remark:--"Very common along tops of ghats. D. got a nest with two eggs in March."

Mr. T. Fulton Bourdillon writes from Travancore:--"I have been so fortunate as to obtain two nests of this bird lately, though I have never found any before. The first contained three fresh eggs on the 5th December last, and was situated in a bank on the roadside at an elevation of about 3000 feet above sea-level. The nest was very loosely made of gra.s.s, with finer kinds of gra.s.s for the lining. I endeavoured to preserve it, but it fell to pieces on being taken from its position, and I only succeeded in saving the eggs. As the bird, usually a very shy one, flew off on my approach and remained close by while I was examining the nest, I have no doubt of its ident.i.ty.

Whether she would have laid more eggs I cannot say, but I fancy not; three seems to be the usual number judging from the two clutches taken. The other nest I found on the 8th of this month just completed.

It was in much the same position as the last, viz. a bank by the roadside, and as it was near my bungalow I watched to see how the eggs were deposited. The bird laid one egg each day on the 11th, 12th and 13th, and then began to sit, so on the 15th I took the nest. When fresh the eggs are beautifully pink from the thinness of the sh.e.l.l."

Mr. J. Darling, junior, remarks:--

"Mr. Davison makes a very good remark on the nest of this bird, but I found one once under the roots of a tree at Neddivattam, and it was a most beautiful nest, built entirely of the fibrous bark of the Nilghiri nettle, in the shape of an oven, with a hole to go in at one side. It contained four pure white delicate eggs. Another one found near the same place was of the same nature, only resting on some fern-leaves and under a rock, and contained five eggs.

"I found a nest down at Vythery, Wynaad, in a hole in the bank of a road, in December 1874, made entirely of broad gra.s.s, very untidy, and containing three eggs."

Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan writing from South India, says:--"Breeds in April, constructing a neat domed nest of leaves on the ground, at the foot of a bush. The nest is lined with fine gra.s.ses, and almost always contains three eggs, which, when fresh, are of a beautiful pink colour, owing to the yolk shining through the sh.e.l.l, which is exceedingly fragile. The egg, when blown, is of a very beautiful glossy white. If suddenly approached whilst on its nest, this bird runs out like a rat, and flies when at a distance from the nest. An egg in my collection measures 104 by 7 inch."

The eggs sent me from the Nilghiris by Miss c.o.c.kburn and Mr. Carter are nearly perfect ovals, usually much elongated, but sometimes moderately broad, and very slightly compressed towards one end.

They are very fragile, and perfectly pure spotless white in colour.

Typically, although smooth and satiny in texture, they have but little gloss, but occasionally a fairly glossy egg is to be met with.

In length they vary from 098 to 112, and in breadth from 075 to 079; but the average seems to be about 108 by 077.

122. Pomatorhinus ferruginosus, Blyth. _The Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus ferruginosus, _Blyth,, Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 29; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 401.

The Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in Sikhim, at an elevation of 5000 or 6000 feet. Its nest is placed about a foot or 2 feet above the ground, in a bamboo-clump or some thick bush, and is firmly wedged in between the twigs and shoots.

It is composed internally of dried bamboo-leaves, gra.s.s, and vegetable fibres, outside which bamboo-sheaths are bound on with creepers and fibres of different kinds. The nest is more or less egg-shaped, with the longer diameter horizontal, some 7 inches or so in length and 5 inches in height, and with the entrance at one end, measuring some 3 inches in diameter. Four or five eggs are laid, elongated ovals, somewhat pointed towards the small end, pure white, and measuring about 108 by 07.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took a nest of this bird on the 19th May, at an elevation of about 5000 feet. It was placed on the ground, among low scrub, near the outskirts of a large forest, and was neatly made, for a _Pomatorhinus_, of bamboo-leaves and long gra.s.s, with a thin lining of fibry strips torn from old bamboo-stems. In shape it was a cone laid on its side. Externally it measured 9 inches in length by the same in height at front, while the egg-cavity measured 35 inches across, and 175 in depth. The entrance, which was at the end, measured 3 inches in diameter.

"Next to the lining was a layer of broadish gra.s.s-blades, placed lengthways, _i.e._ from base to apex of the cone, then came a cross layer of broad bamboo-leaves succeeded by a second layer of bamboo-leaves placed lengthways. By this arrangement the nest was kept perfectly water-tight. So nicely were these simple materials put together that they held each other in their places without the a.s.sistance of a single fibre.

"The nest contained four partially incubated eggs: three of them pointed and exactly alike, but the fourth rounded, and apparently of a different texture, so that it may have been introduced by a Cuckoo."

Two eggs sent by Mr. Gammie are moderately elongated ovals, somewhat obtuse even, at the smaller end. The sh.e.l.l is very fine, pure white, and has a fine gloss. They measure 11 by 083, and 106 by 078.

125. Pomatorhinus ruficollis, Hodgs. _The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus ruficollis, _Hodgs., Jerd, B. Ind._ ii, p. 29; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 400.

The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler breeds in Nepal, the Himalayas eastward of that State, and in the various ranges running down from a.s.sam to Burmah.

The breeding-season appears to be April and May. They lay five, or sometimes only four, eggs.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"This species breeds, I think, from the middle of April to the middle of May; but I have only as yet taken a single nest, and this I found at Rishap on the 5th May, at an elevation of about 4500 feet. The nest was placed on the ground in open country, but partially concealed by overhanging gra.s.s and weeds, and immediately adjoining a deep humid ravine filled with a dense undergrowth. The nest was composed of dry gra.s.s, fern, bamboo, and other dry leaves put loosely together and lined with a few fibres. In shape it was domed or hooded, and exteriorly it measured 57 inches in height and 5 in diameter. Interiorly the cavity was 26 in diameter, and had a total depth of 38 measured from the roof, but of only 2 inches below the lower margin of the aperture. This nest contained five eggs, much incubated; indeed, they would have hatched off in one or two days."

The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson, in the central portion of Nepal in April and May, building a large, coa.r.s.e, globular nest of dry gra.s.s and bamboo-leaves on the ground in some thick bush or bamboo-clump. The opening of the nest is at the side. They lay four or five white eggs, measuring as figured 09 by 068.

The eggs sent me by Mr. Gammie are rather elongated ovals, a good deal pointed towards one end, pure white, the sh.e.l.ls very fine and fragile, and with a fair amount of gloss.

Ten eggs varied from 085 to 102 in length, and from 062 to 074 in breadth, but the average was 095 by 068.

129. Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, Vigors. _The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, _Vig., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 31; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 405.

The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler breeds from April to June in the Himalayas, at any rate from Darjeeling to the Valley of the Beas, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet. It may be _met_ with at double this latter alt.i.tude, but I doubt if it _nests_ higher.

As a rule, the nest is placed on the ground, in some thick clump of dry fern or coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, amongst dead leaves and moss, but at times I have seen it placed in a thick bush 2 or 3 feet from the ground. It is very common near Kotegurh and below Narkunda, where we found nearly a dozen nests, almost all, however, containing young ones. Typically the nest is domed, and is loosely constructed of the materials at hand--coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, dry fern, dead leaves, moss-roots, and the like, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 inches high, with a broad entrance on one side, a good deal above the middle. In some cases, however, where a dense bunch of gra.s.s or fern completely curves over the spot selected for the nest, the latter is a mere broad, shallow saucer. There is no regular lining to the nests, but a good many fine roots are at times incorporated in the interior of the cavity. All the nests that I have seen were placed near the edges of clumps of brushwood or scrubby jungle.

I ought here to mention that I am by no means certain that the Nepalese and Sikhim, in fact the eastern race of this species (_P.