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
Colonel E.A. Butler writes:--"I found a nest of the Rufous-fronted
Wren-Warbler at Deesa on the 27th July, 1875. It was in a grass beerh,
and placed in a heap of dead thorns overgrown with grass and about a
foot from the ground. It was composed externally of dry grass-stems,
with lumps of silky white vegetable down (_Calotropis_) scattered
sparingly over the whole nest. The lining consisted of very fine
dry grass neatly put together and felted with silky down, and a
considerable amount of the dull salmon-coloured fungus or lichen
referred to in the 'Rough Draft of Nests and Eggs,' p. 359. In shape
the nest is nearly spherical, being slightly oval however, with a
small aperture near the top. The entrance was 1½ inches in diameter,
and the nest itself roughly measured from the outside 4½ inches in
length and 4 in width. The eggs, usually four in number, are white,
closely speckled over with pale rusty red, intermingled with a few
pale washed-out inky markings, in some cases at the large end, which
is surrounded by a zone clear and well-marked in some instances, less
distinct in others. I found other nests in the same neighbourhood as
below:--
"Aug. 24, 1875. A nest containing 4 fresh eggs.
July 20, 1876. " " 4 " "
July 28, " " " 4 young birds.
Aug. 4, " " " 4 fresh eggs.
Aug. 5, " " " 4 " "
Aug. 5, " " " 4 " "
Aug. 5, " " " 5 " "
Aug. 8, " " " 5 " "
Aug. 14, " " " 5 " "
"In every one of the above instances the nest was exactly similar to
the one I have described, and built in the same kind of situation,
i.e. in heaps of dead thorns overgrown with long grass. The eggs are
all much the same, the spots being larger in some than in others and
more numerous in some cases than in others. In one set I have the
ground is very pale bluish white (skimmed milk) instead of being pure
white. As a rule the eggs are almost exactly like the eggs of _C.
cursitans_, and if mixed I doubt very much if any person could
separate them. On examining the salmon-coloured fungus-lining it
appears to me to be nothing more nor less than small pieces of dried
ber leaves, and I have never examined a nest without finding some of
this material at the bottom of it."
"The Rufous-fronted Wren-Warbler," writes Lieut. Barnes, "breeds in
Rajpootana during July, August, and the early part of September. The
nest, composed of grass, is loosely constructed, and placed in low
bushes or scrub."
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