The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 — David Hume — John Shaqi
The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1
David Hume · en
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 grasses, and almost always
contains three eggs, which, when fresh, are of a beautiful pink
colour, owing to the yolk shining through the shell, 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 1·04 by ·7 inch."
The eggs sent me from the Nilghiris by Miss Cockburn 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 0·98 to 1·12, and in breadth from 0·75 to
0·79; but the average seems to be about 1·08 by 0·77.
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, grass, 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 1·08 by 0·7.
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 grass,
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 3·5 inches across, and 1·75 in depth. The entrance, which was
at the end, measured 3 inches in diameter.