The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1Hume, Allan Octavian
Philosophy
The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1
Hume, Allan Octavian
Birds -- India; Birds -- Nests
The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Mandelli in the neighbourhood
of Darjeeling in July are so similar to those obtained by Mr. Gammie,
and of which he sent me the parent bird, that no second description is
necessary. They are a shade smaller, but the difference is not more
than is always observable in even the same species. They measure 0·67
in length, and 0·53 to 0·55 in breadth.
372. Tribura luteiventris, Hodgs. _The Brown Bush-Warbler_.
Tribura luteiventris, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 161; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 522.
A bird unquestionably belonging to this species[A], the Brown
Bush-Warbler, was sent me along with a single egg from Native Sikhim.
The bird was said to have been killed off the nest (which was not
preserved), which was found, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet,
in low brushwood about 3 feet from the ground.
[Footnote A: I do not place much confidence in the authenticity of the
egg of this bird sent to Mr. Hume. Being a Warbler with twelve
tail-feathers, it is unlikely to lay a red egg, and besides this the
eggs of the allied species, _T. thoracica_, as found by trustworthy
observers like Messrs. Gammie and Mandelli, are known to be white
speckled with red, in spite of Mr. Hodgson's figure representing them to
be deep cinnabar-red.--ED.]
The egg is a very regular, rather broad oval, has only a faint gloss,
and is of a very rich deep maroon-red, slightly darker at the large
end.
The egg measures 0·62 by 0·49.
374. Orthotomus sutorius (Forst.). _The Indian Tailor-bird_.
Orthotomus longicauda (_Gm_.), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 165; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 530.
The Indian Tailor-bird[A] breeds throughout India and Burma, alike in
the plains and in the hills (_e.g._, the Himalayas and Nilgiris), up
to an elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet.
[Footnote A: The notes on this bird's breeding are so very numerous
that I am compelled to omit several of them.--ED.]
The breeding-season lasts from May to August, both months included;
but in the plains more nests are to be found in July, and in the hills
more, I think, in June, than during the other months.
The nest has been often described and figured, and, as is well known,
is a deep soft cup enclosed in leaves, which the bird sews together to
form a receptacle for it.
It is placed at all elevations, and I have as often found it high upon
a mango-tree as low down amongst the leaves of the edible egg-plant
(_Solanum esculentum_).
The nests vary much, in appearance, according to the number and
description of leaves which the bird employs and the manner in which
it employs them; but the nest itself is usually chiefly composed of
fine cotton-wool, with a few horsehairs and, at times, a few very fine
grass-stems as a lining, apparently to keep the wool in its place and
enable the cavity to retain permanently its shape.
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