Chapter 34

Some eggs contain hardly a speck of the purple-grey, while others have considerable blotches of that colour scattered amongst the red spots.

Some eggs are scantily marked, and have the spots very small; while others are densely spotted and blotched, the spots often being more or less confluent at the larger end. Frequently they accumulate round the larger end in the form of a confluent zone. The variety with deep purple-brown spots, which is the rarest, resembles those of _P. rufa_ in miniature; but, as a rule, the egg bears a much stronger resemblance to that of _P. trochilus_, though it is of course much smaller. _As far as the colour goes_, the representations in Hewitson's work of the eggs of _Parus cristatus, Parus coeruleus_, and _Phylloscopus trochilus_ will give a very correct idea of the different varieties of the egg of the present bird.

The greatest number of eggs found in any nest by Captain Cock and Mr. Brooks was five; frequently, however, four was the number upon which the bird was sitting; eggs partially incubated. On the Pir-Pinjal Mountain, just below the snows, a nest with four young ones was found on the 15th June, so that, though five seems to be the usual number, the bird frequently lays only four.

In length the eggs vary from 0·52 to 0·62, and in breadth from 0·43 to 0·47; but the average of fifty eggs carefully measured was 0·56 full by 0·44.

428. Acanthopneuste occipitalis, Jerd. _The Large Crowned Willow-Warbler_.

Reguloides occipitalis (_Jerd.), Jerd. B.I._ ii, p. 196; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 563.

The Large Crowned Willow-Warbler breeds in Cashmere and the North-west Himalayas generally, during the latter half of May, June, and the first half of July, apparently at any elevation from 4000 to 8000 feet.

Mr. Brooks says:--"This is perhaps the commonest bird in Cashmere, even more so than _Passer indicus_. It is found at almost all elevations above the valley where good woods occur.

"I only took three nests, as the little bird is very cunning, and, unlike the simple _P. humii_, is very careful indeed how it approaches its nest when an enemy is near.

"The nest is placed in a hole under the roots of a large tree on some steep bank-side. I found one in a decayed stump of a large fir-tree, inside the rotten wood. It was placed on a level with the ground, and could not be seen till I had broken away part of the outside of the stump. It was composed of green moss and small dead leaves, a scanty and loosely formed nest, and not domed. It was lined with fine grass and a little wool, and also a very few hairs. There were five eggs.

"Another nest was also placed in a rotten stump, but under the roots. A third nest was placed in a hole under the roots of a large living pine, and in front of the hole grew a small rose-bush quite against the tree-trunk. This nest was most carefully concealed, for the hole behind the roots of the rose-bush was most difficult to find.

"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 Cock 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 Cock 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 cock 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 tithys_ in Hewitson's work).

In length they vary from 0·63 to 0·68, and in breadth from 0·48 to 0·53; but the average of fifteen eggs measured is 0·65 by 0·5.

430. Acanthopneuste davisoni, Oates. _The Tenasserim 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 mass 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 0·59 and 0·6 in length, by 0·49 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 grass 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 grassy 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 grass. The nest, which was on the ground, was a large ball-shaped one, composed of very coarse grass, 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 Cock 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 grass 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 grass-blades interwoven so as to assimilate 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 passed and repassed 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 shells are very fine and compact. The eggs are moderately broad ovals, much pointed towards the small end, and vary from 0·6 to 0·65 in length, and from 0·48 to 0·52 in breadth; but the average of twenty eggs measured is 0·63 by 0·5 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 mass of moss and dry leaves, somewhat egg-shaped, with the entrance at one end, some 6 inches in length, 4 inches in breadth, and 3·5 in height externally, and with an oval entrance about 1·5 high and 2·25 wide. Inside it is carefully lined with moss-roots. Both sexes assist 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 3·3, the height 3·2: the cavity was 1·6 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 0·53 to 0·58, and in breadth from 0·45 to 0·49.

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 3½ inches across and 2¼ deep; internally 2 inches wide and 1¾ 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 0·66 and 0·67 in length by 0·5 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 grass, 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 1·75 in height. Both sexes are said to assist in hatching and rearing the young.

438. Cryptolopha cantator (Tick.). _Tickell's Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Culicipeta cantator (_Tick.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 200. Abrornis cantator (_Tick.), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 570.

A nest containing a single egg has been sent me as that of Tickell's Flycatcher-Warbler. It was found in May in Native Sikhim, at an elevation, it is said, of 12,000 feet. It was suspended to the tip of a branch of a tree at a height of about 8 feet from the ground. The nest is a most lovely one; but I confess that I have doubts as to its really belonging to this species.

The nest is, for the size of the bird, a large watch-pocket, some 6 inches in total length and 3·5 in breadth, composed entirely of white, satiny seed-down, densely felted together to the thickness of half an inch. The lower part, sides, and back very thinly, and the upper portion and the margin of the mouth of the pocket thickly, coated with excessively fine green moss and very fine soft vegetable fibre.

My sole reason for doubting the authenticity of the nest is that another _precisely_ similar one was sent me by another collector, a European, as belonging to an _Aethopyga_, together with the female which he shot off the nest.

The present nest contained a pure white egg; the other spotted eggs. Both collectors I have no doubt were fully assured of the correctness of their identification, and it may be that both species of birds construct similar nests; but I entertain considerable doubts on this subject, and think it right to note the fact.

The egg is a very broad oval, pure white, and very glossy, and measures 0·6 by 0·49.

Mr. Mandelli sends me a lovely nest, which he says belongs to this species. It was found in May in Native Sikhim, at about 12,000 feet elevation. It was suspended from the tiny branch of a tree at a height of about 8 feet from the ground. The nest is a perfect watch-pocket, composed entirely of white silky down belonging to one of the bombaxes, thinly coated here and there with strings of moss to keep it together, and more thickly so with this and vegetable fibre at and about the point of suspension and round the rim of the mouth of the pocket. The nest is altogether about. 6 inches long and about 3 inches in diameter at its broadest; the lower edge of the aperture into the pocket is 2 inches from the bottom of the nest, and the aperture is about 2 inches wide. It is altogether one of the loveliest nests I have ever seen: but I cannot feel certain that the nest really belongs to this species; for I have had a precisely similar nest, also found in Sikhim, on the 20th May, similarly suspended at a height of about 5 feet from the ground, sent me as belonging to another species of _Abrornis_; and though Mr. Mandelli is usually right, I think the matter requires further confirmation.

440. Abrornis superciliaris, Tick. _The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Abrornis flaviventris, _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 203.

Writing from Tenasserim, Major T.C. Bingham says:--

"I have shot this bird on the Zammee choung, where I got a nest with eggs; and I have more than once seen it in the Thoungyeen forests.

"The following is an account of the nest I found, recorded in my note-book:--

"Khasat village--Khasat choung, Zammee river, 9th March, 1878.--My camp to-day was pitched in the midst of a dense bamboo-break, close to a path leading to the village.

"About ten feet from my tent on this path, passers-by had cut one of the bamboos in a clump and left it leaning up against the clump; between two knots of this a rough hack had broken an irregular hole into a joint.

"Sitting outside my tent and looking carelessly about, my attention was attracted by what I took to be a leaf flutter down close to the above-mentioned bamboo, and to my surprise disappear before it reached the ground. Wondering at this, I got up and approached the place, when from the aforementioned hole in the bamboo out darted a little bird; and looking in I saw a neat little nest of fibres placed on the lower knot with three eggs, white densely speckled, chiefly in a ring at the larger end, with pinkish claret spots.

"I went back to my tent, watched the bird return, and shot her as on being frightened off she flew out a second time. It proved to be the above species.

"I took the nest and eggs. The latter, I regret to say, were lost subsequently through the carelessness of a servant, but I had luckily measured and taken a description of them.

"Their dimensions were respectively 0·57 x 0·42, 0·59 x 0·42, and 0·59 x 0·44."

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took a nest of this Warbler on the 15th June at 1800 feet elevation. It was inside a bamboo-stem near the banks of the Ryeng stream. Just under a node some one had cut out a notch, which the birds made their entrance. The nest rested on the node below and fitted the hollow of the bamboo. It was made of dry bamboo-leaves, and lined with soft, fibrous material. It measured 5 inches deep and 3 inches wide, with an egg cavity of 2 inches in depth, by 1¾ inch in width. The eggs, which were hard-set, were but three in number."

The eggs are rather long ovals, the shell fine but with very little gloss; the ground-colour is a dull white or pinky white, and it is thickly freckled and mottled about the large end and thinly elsewhere with red, in some cases slightly browner, in others purple. The markings have a tendency to form a cap or zone about the large end, and here, where the markings are densest, some little lilac or purplish-grey spots and clouds are intermingled.

An egg measures 0·61 by 0·43.

441. Abrornis schisticeps (Hodgs.). _The Black-faced Flycatcher-Warbler_.

Abrornis schisticeps, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 201; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 571.

Captain Hutton tells us that the Black-faced Flycatcher-Warbler is "a common species in the neighbourhood of Mussoorie, at 5000 feet, and commences building in March. A pair of these birds selected a thick China rose-bush trained against the side of the house, and had completed the nest and laid one egg when a rat destroyed it. I subsequently took two other nests in May, both placed on the ground in holes in the side of a bank by the roadside. In form the nest is a ball, with a round lateral entrance, and is composed externally of dried grasses and green moss, lined with bits of wool, cotton, feathers, thread, and hair. The eggs are three in number."

Two eggs of this species, sent to me by Captain Hutton, are very perfect ovals, pure white[A], and rather glossy.

[Footnote A: There can be little doubt that Capt. Hutton's eggs were wrongly identified.--ED.]

They both measure 0·62 by 0·48.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"The only nest I ever found of this Warbler was in a natural hole in a small tree in an open part of a large forest, at 5500 feet above the sea. In a cleft, five feet from ground, where a limb had been lopped off, there was a small hole, barely large enough, at entrance to admit the bird, but gradually widening out for the seven or eight inches of its depth. In the bottom of this cavity was a loose lining of dry bamboo-leaves, on which lay five eggs. They do not agree with those taken by Captain Hutton, which were 'pure white,' but I am absolutely certain of the authenticity of the eggs taken by me. They were well-set, so five is probably the full complement. They were taken on the 26th May."