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 G.F.L. Marshall writes:--"I have only found two nests of this
species in Naini Tal, both had young (two in one nest, in the other
I could not count) on the 25th April; they were at about 7000 feet
elevation, built in holes in walls, the entrance in both cases being
very small, having nothing to distinguish it from other tiny crevices,
and nothing to lead any one to suppose that there was a nest inside.
It was only by seeing the parent birds go in that the nest was
discovered."
The eggs of this species are moderately broad ovals, with a very
slight gloss. The ground-colour is a slightly pinkish white, and they
are richly blotched and spotted, and more or less speckled (chiefly
towards the larger end), with bright, somewhat brownish red.
The markings very commonly form a dense, almost confluent zone or cap
about the large end, and they are generally more thinly scattered
elsewhere, but the amount of the markings varies much in different
eggs. In some, although they are thicker in the zone, they are still
pretty thickly set over the entire surface, while in others they are
almost confined to one end of the egg, generally the broad end.
These eggs vary much in size and in density of marking. The ordinary
dimensions are about 0·61 by 0·47, but in a large series they vary in
length from 0·57 to 0·72, and in breadth from 0·43 to 0·54. The
very large eggs, however, indicated by these _maxima_ are rare and
abnormal.
47. Lophophanes rufinuchalis (Bl.). _The Simla Black Tit_.
Lophophanes rufinuchalis (_Bl.). Jerd. B. Ind._ ii. p. 274.
Mr. Brooks informs us that this Tit is common at Derali and other
places of similar elevation. "I found a nest under a large stone in
the middle of a hill foot-path, up and down which people and cattle
were constantly passing; the nest contained newly-hatched young. This
was the middle of May."
Dr. Scully, writing of the Gilgit district, tells us that this Tit is
a denizen of the pine-forests, where it breeds.
Finally Captain Wardlaw Ramsay, writing in the 'Ibis,' states that
this Tit was breeding in Afghanistan in May.
Subfamily PARADOXORNITHINAE.
50. Conostoma aemodium, Hodgs. _The Red-billed Crow-Tit_.
Conostoma aemodium. _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 10; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 381.
A nest of the Red-billed Crow-Tit was sent me from Native Sikhim,
where it was found at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, in a cluster
of the small Ringal bamboo. It contained three eggs, two of which were
broken in blowing them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account