The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds Part 48

"The eggs, four or five in number, are of a rather longer form than those of _P. humii_, and are pure white without any spots. They average 65 by 5."

He added _in epist._:--"This is a much shier bird than _P. humii_. I watched many a one without effect. The nest is a loose structure of moss lined with a little wool, and would not retain its shape after coming out of the hole. It is a most amusing bird, very noisy, with a short poor song, and utters a variety of notes when you are near the nest."

Certainly the nests he brought me are nothing but little pads of moss, 3 to 4 inches in diameter and perhaps an inch in thickness. There is no pretence for a lining, but a certain amount of wool and excessively fine moss-roots are incorporated in the body of the nest. _In situ_ they would appear to be sometimes more or less domed.

Captain c.o.c.k writes to me:--"I have taken numbers of nests of this bird in Cashmere and in and about the hill-station of Murree. They commence breeding in May and have finished by July. The nests are placed under roots of trees, in crevices of trees, between large stems, and a favourite locality is, where the road has a stone embankment to support it, between the stones. The nest is globular, made of moss, and the number of eggs is four. I have often caught the old bird on the nest. The nests are easy to find, as the birds are very noisy and demonstrative when any one is near their nests."

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall also very kindly gives me the following most interesting note on the nidification of this species in the vicinity of Murree. He says:--

"This little Willow-Warbler, so far as my own experience goes, always prefers a pretty high elevation for breeding. Out of the dozen nests found by Captain c.o.c.k and myself in the neighbourhood of Murree, none were at an elevation of less than 6500 feet above the sea; and my shikaree, who was always on the look out for me in the lower ranges, never came across the nest of this species.

"The nest is generally placed in holes at the foot of the large spruce firs. It is a difficult nest to find, as the bird selects holes into which the hand will not go, and outside there are no signs of there being any nest within.

"The c.o.c.k bird spends most of his time at the tops of trees, coming down at intervals. The only chance of success in taking the eggs is to watch carefully any that may be flying low in the bushes, until they disappear cautiously into the holes where they are breeding. I should mention that we have also found some nests in the rough stone walls on the hill road-sides.

"The nest is as neatly and carefully built as if it had to be exposed on the branch of a tree. It is globular in shape, made of moss, and lined with feathers. The eggs are pure white. They apparently rear two broods in the year. In the first nest, which we found under the root of an old spruce-fir on the 17th May, the eggs were quite hard-set; and I may remark that immediately over this nest, about 8 feet up the tree in a crack in the wood, a little _Muscicapula superciliaris_ was sitting on five eggs. Later at the end of June we found _fresh_ eggs in several nests. The eggs in our collection were all taken between the 17th May and the 10th July."

They do not always, however, select such situations as those referred to in the above accounts. Sir E.C. Buck, C.S., says:--"I found a nest on 11th June in the roof of Major Batchelor's bungalow at Nachar, in the Sutlej Valley; it contained young birds. I was not allowed to disturb the nest, which was composed externally of moss. I noticed a second half-made nest near the other."

The eggs of this species are, as might be expected, somewhat larger than those of _P. humii_, and they are of a different character, being spotless, white, and slightly glossy. In shape the eggs vary from a nearly perfect, moderately elongated oval to a slightly pyriform shape, broad at the large end, and a good deal compressed and somewhat pointed towards the small end (_vide_ the representation of the eggs of _Ruticilla t.i.thys_ in Hewitson's work).

In length they vary from 063 to 068, and in breadth from 048 to 053; but the average of fifteen eggs measured is 065 by 05.

430. Acanthopneuste davisoni, Oates. _The Tena.s.serim White-tailed Willow-Warbler_.

Reguloides viridipennis (_Blyth), apud Hume, cat._ no. 507[A].

[Footnote A: Mr. Hume is of opinion that this bird is the true _P.

viridipennis_ of Blyth. I have elsewhere stated my reasons for disagreeing with him.--ED.]

It was on the 2nd of February, just at the foot of the final cone of Mooleyit, at an elevation of over 6000 feet, that Mr. Davison came upon the nest of this species. He says:--

"In a deep ravine close below the summit of Mooleyit I found a nest of this Willow-Warbler. It was placed in a ma.s.s of creepers growing over the face of a rock about 7 feet from the ground. It was only partially screened, and I easily detected it on the bird leaving it. I was very much astonished at finding a nest of a Willow-Warbler in Burmah, so I determined to make positively certain of the owner. I marked the place, and after a short time returned very quietly. I got within a couple of feet of the nest; the bird sat still, and I watched her for some time; the markings on the top of the head were very conspicuous.

On my attempting to go closer the bird flew off, and settled on a small branch a few feet off. I moved back a short distance and shot her, using a very small charge.

"The nest was a globular structure, with the roof slightly projecting over the entrance. It was composed externally chiefly of moss, intermingled with dried leaves and fibres; the egg-cavity was warmly and thickly lined with a felt of pappus.

"The external diameter of the nest was about 4 inches; the egg-cavity 1 inch at the entrance, and 2 inches deep.

"The nest contained three small pure white eggs."

The three eggs here mentioned measured 059 and 06 in length, by 049 in breadth.

434. Cryptolopha xanthoschista (Hodgs.) _Holgson's Grey-headed Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Abrornis albosuperciliaris, _Blyth, Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 202; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 573.

Throughout the Himalayas south of the first snowy ranges, and in all wooded valleys in rear of these, from Darjeeling to Murree, this Warbler appears to be a permanent resident.

I have received its nests and eggs from several sources, and have taken them in the Sutlej and Beas Valleys myself. They lay in the last week of March, and throughout April and May, constructing a large globular nest of moss, more or less mingled exteriorly with dry gra.s.s and lined thinly with goat's hair, and then inside this thickly with the softest wool or, in one nest that I found, with the inner downy fur of hares. The entrance to the nest is sometimes on one side, sometimes almost at the top, and is rather large for the size of the bird. The nest is almost without exception placed on a gra.s.sy bank, at the foot of some small bush, and usually contains four eggs.

Talking of this species, and writing from Almorah on the 17th May, Mr.

Brooks said:--"I have just taken a nest. It was placed on a sloping bank-side near the foot of a small bush. The bank was overgrown with gra.s.s. The nest, which was on the ground, was a large ball-shaped one, composed of very coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, moss-roots, and wool, and lined with hair and wool. It contained four pure white glossy eggs, which were much pointed at the small end. I shot the bird off the nest. I had already frequently met with fully-grown young birds of this species."

Writing from Dhurmsala, Captain c.o.c.k remarked:--"On the 8th April I found a nest of this species containing four white eggs; it was placed on the ground, under a bush, on a steep bank. The nest was globular, with rather a large entrance-hole, and was made of moss, with dry gra.s.s outside, then black hair of goats, and thickly lined with the softest of wool: _no feathers_ in the nest. I caught the bird on the nest; it is common here."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall tells us:--"A nest found on the 22nd May at Naini Tal, about 7000 feet above the sea, contained three hard-set eggs. The eggs were pure white. The nest was a most beautiful little structure of moss, lined with wool; it was globular, with the entrance at one side, and placed on a bank among some ground-ivy, the outer part of the nest having a few broad gra.s.s-blades interwoven so as to a.s.similate the appearance of the nest to that of the bank against which it lay. It was at the side of a narrow glen with a northern aspect, and about four feet above the pathway, close to the spring from which my _bhisti_ daily draws water, the bird sitting fearlessly while pa.s.sed and repa.s.sed by people going down the glen within a foot or two of the nest."

The eggs are pure white, and generally fairly glossy. In texture the sh.e.l.ls are very fine and compact. The eggs are moderately broad ovals, much pointed towards the small end, and vary from 06 to 065 in length, and from 048 to 052 in breadth; but the average of twenty eggs measured is 063 by 05 nearly.

435. Cryptolopha jerdoni (Brooks). _Brooks's Grey-headed Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Abrornis xanthoschistos (_Hodgs.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 202; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 572.

This Warbler breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes[A], both in Nepal and Sikhim up to an elevation of 6000 or 7000 feet. They lay in May three or four pure white eggs. They make their nest on the ground in thick bushes, or in holes in banks, or under roots of trees. The nest is a large ma.s.s of moss and dry leaves, somewhat egg-shaped, with the entrance at one end, some 6 inches in length, 4 inches in breadth, and 35 in height externally, and with an oval entrance about 15 high and 225 wide. Inside it is carefully lined with moss-roots. Both s.e.xes a.s.sist in hatching and rearing the young, which are ready to fly in July.

[Footnote A: Mr. Hodgson's specimens in the British Museum are _C.

xanthoschista_; but _C. jerdoni_ also occurs in Nepal, and Mr. Hodgson _may_ have found the nests of both. I leave the note as it appeared in the 'Rough Draft,' as the two species are not likely to differ in their habits, and it matters little to which species Mr. Hodgson's note refers, provided the above remarks are borne in mind.--ED.]

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie says:--"I found one nest of this species at Rishap, at an elevation of 5000 feet, on the 20th May. The nest was in thin forest, near its outer edge, and placed on the ground beside a small stem. It was domed, and composed entirely of moss, with the exception of a few fibres in the hood or dome portion, and was lined with thistle-down. The exterior diameter was 33, the height 32: the cavity was 16 in diameter, and only an inch in depth below the lower margin of the entrance, which was the rim of the true cup, over which the hood was drawn. The nest contained four fresh eggs."

Several nests of this species that have been sent me from Sikhim were all of the same type--beautiful little cups, some placed on the ground, some amongst the twigs of brushwood a little above the ground, composed entirely of fine moss and a little fern-root, and with the interior of the cavity not indeed regularly lined but dotted about with tufts of silky seed-down.

The eggs are very similar to but smaller than those of the preceding species--very broad ovals, a good deal pointed towards one end, pure white, and faintly glossy. In length they vary from 053 to 058, and in breadth from 045 to 049.

436. Cryptolopha poliogenys (Blyth). _The Grey-cheeked Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Abrornis poliogenys (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 203.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"A nest of the Grey-cheeked Flycatcher-Warbler, taken on the 8th May in large forest at 6000 feet, contained three hard-set eggs. It was suspended to a snag among the moss growing on the stem of a small tree at five feet up. The moss supported it more than did the snag. It is a solid cup-shaped structure, made of green moss and lined with very fine roots.

Externally it measures 3 inches across and 2 deep; internally 2 inches wide and 1 deep."

The eggs of this species, like those of _C. xanthoschista_ and _C.

jerdoni_, are pure white. They are not, I think, separable from the eggs of these two species. Those sent me by Mr. Gammie measure 066 and 067 in length by 05 in breadth.

437. Cryptolopha castaneiceps (Hodgs.). _The Chestnut-headed Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Abrornis castaneiceps, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii. p. 205; _Hume.

Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 578.

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures, the Chestnut-headed Flycatcher-Warbler breeds in the central hill-region of Nepal from April to June, laying three or four eggs, which are neither figured nor described. The nest itself is a beautiful structure of mosses, lichens, moss- and fern-roots, and fine stems worked into the shape of a large egg, measuring 6 and 4 inches along the longer and shorter diameters; it is placed on the ground in the midst of a clump of ferns or thick gra.s.s, with the longer diameter perpendicular to the ground.

The aperture, which is about halfway between the middle and the top of the nest, and on one side, is oval, about 2 inches in width and 175 in height. Both s.e.xes are said to a.s.sist in hatching and rearing the young.