Part 12

Major C.T. Bingham says:--"This is the _Pomatorhinus_ of the Thoungyeen valley, being found from the sources to the mouth of that river. A note recorded two years ago of a nest that I found is given below:--_4th March_.--Having to go over the ground along the southern boundary of the proposed Meplay reserve I had to cut my way through dense bamboo, to go through a long belt of which is hard work. To make it worse in this case several clumps had been burnt by fire and blown down. As I was slowly progressing along, bent almost double, out of a little hollow at my feet a bird flew with a suddenness that nearly knocked me down. I looked into the hollow, and there under the ledge of the sheltering bank was a nest of dry bamboo-leaves lined with strips of the same, shredded fine. It was cup-shaped, loosely made, about 1½ inches in diameter, and the same in depth, containing three pure white eggs, perfectly fresh (measured afterwards two proved respectively, 0·98 x 0·71, 0·99 x 0·73 inch); and gun in hand I watched, hiding myself behind a clump of bamboos about thirty yards off. For an hour I watched, but the bird did not return, so I marked the spot and went on. Returning back the same way just before dusk, I managed to start her again, and to get a hurried shot; she fell and I secured and recognized her as _P. olivaceus_."

The eggs, which seem small for the size of the bird, are rather broad ovals, some fairly regular, some a good deal compressed just towards the small end, which is, however, always obtuse, never pointed; the shell is fine, compact, and thin, smooth and satiny to the touch, but with scarcely any perceptible gloss. The colour is pure spotless white.

119. Pomatorhinus melanurus, Blyth. _The Ceylonese Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus melanurus, _Blyth, Hume, Cat._ no. 404 bis.

Colonel Legge writes of the nidification of this bird in Ceylon:--"This Babbler breeds from December until February. I have observed one collecting materials for a nest in the former month, and at the same period Mr. Mac Vicar had the eggs brought to him; they were taken from a nest made of leaves and grass, and placed on a bank in jungle. Mr. Bligh has found the nest in crevices in trees, between a projecting piece of bark and the trunk, also in a jungle-path cutting and on a ledge of rock; it is usually composed of moss, grass-roots, fibre, and a few dead leaves, and the structure is rather a slovenly one. The eggs vary from three to five, and are pure white, the shell thin and transparent, and they measure 0·96 to 0·98 in length, by 0·7 in breadth."

120. Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, Sykes. _The Southern Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus horsfieldii, _Sykes, Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 31; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 404.

The Southern Scimitar Babbler breeds throughout the hilly tracts of Southern India, up to an elevation of fully 7000 feet. They are common in Ootacamund, and even on Dodabet as high up as it is wooded. They seem to breed less plentifully about Kotagherry than they do at Ootacamund itself, Coonoor, Neddivattam, &c.

They lay from February to May, building a largish globular nest of grass, moss, and roots, placed on or very near to the ground in some bush or clump of fern or grass. They lay five eggs.

A nest of this species which I owe to Mr. Carter, and which was found at Coonoor on the 7th April, 1869, is a huge globular mass of moss and fine moss-roots some 7 inches in diameter, with, on the upper side, an entrance to a small egg-cavity some 3½ inches in diameter, and 2 inches in depth. It is a most singular nest, a great compact ball of soft feathery moss and very fine moss-roots, which latter predominate in the interior of the cavity, and so form a sort of lining to it. The great body of the nest is below the cavity, the overhanging dome-like covering of the cavity being comparatively thin.

Mr. Davison remarks:--"The nest of this bird is very peculiar in structure, more like the nest of a field-mouse than of a bird, being in fact merely a ball of grass rather loosely put together, the grass on the exterior being intermingled with dry leaves and other rubbish. The nest is generally placed either in a clump of fern, or at the roots of some grass-grown bush. The eggs are pure white, very elongated, and with a remarkably thin and delicate shell. The normal number appears to be five. The breeding-season is, I think, the latter end of April and May."

Later, he writes:--"It must, I think, breed twice, as I found a nest on the 10th March with fully-fledged young, and late in April another nest with perfectly fresh eggs."

Writing of this species Dr. Jerdon says:--"I procured its nest near Neddivattam on the Nilghiris, on a bank on the roadside, made with moss and roots, and containing four white eggs of a very elongated form."

Miss Cockburn, of Kotagherry, furnishes me with the following note on the nidification of this species:--"These birds build rather large nests, among the _roots_ of bushes, and generally prefer those which grow on the slopes of steep hills. Their nests are composed of coarse grass, a few roots of the same, and the bark of a bush, which cracks when dry and is very easily pulled off. These materials are put together into a round nest, and also form a covering above, which makes the inside look very snug indeed. But if any attempts are made to remove the nest, it generally falls to pieces, the materials having no tenacity. This bird commonly uses no lining to its nest, but lays its eggs (three to five in number) on the coarse grass of which the inside is composed. The eggs are pure white, particularly thin-shelled, and consequently perfectly translucent. They are found during the months of February and March."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden, writing from the Deccan, remark:--"Very common along tops of ghâts. D. got a nest with two eggs in March."

Mr. T. Fulton Bourdillon writes from Travancore:--"I have been so fortunate as to obtain two nests of this bird lately, though I have never found any before. The first contained three fresh eggs on the 5th December last, and was situated in a bank on the roadside at an elevation of about 3000 feet above sea-level. The nest was very loosely made of grass, with finer kinds of grass for the lining. I endeavoured to preserve it, but it fell to pieces on being taken from its position, and I only succeeded in saving the eggs. As the bird, usually a very shy one, flew off on my approach and remained close by while I was examining the nest, I have no doubt of its identity. Whether she would have laid more eggs I cannot say, but I fancy not; three seems to be the usual number judging from the two clutches taken. The other nest I found on the 8th of this month just completed. It was in much the same position as the last, viz. a bank by the roadside, and as it was near my bungalow I watched to see how the eggs were deposited. The bird laid one egg each day on the 11th, 12th and 13th, and then began to sit, so on the 15th I took the nest. When fresh the eggs are beautifully pink from the thinness of the shell."

Mr. J. Darling, junior, remarks:--

"Mr. Davison makes a very good remark on the nest of this bird, but I found one once under the roots of a tree at Neddivattam, and it was a most beautiful nest, built entirely of the fibrous bark of the Nilghiri nettle, in the shape of an oven, with a hole to go in at one side. It contained four pure white delicate eggs. Another one found near the same place was of the same nature, only resting on some fern-leaves and under a rock, and contained five eggs.

"I found a nest down at Vythery, Wynaad, in a hole in the bank of a road, in December 1874, made entirely of broad grass, very untidy, and containing three eggs."

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.

"Next to the lining was a layer of broadish grass-blades, placed lengthways, _i.e._ from base to apex of the cone, then came a cross layer of broad bamboo-leaves succeeded by a second layer of bamboo-leaves placed lengthways. By this arrangement the nest was kept perfectly water-tight. So nicely were these simple materials put together that they held each other in their places without the assistance of a single fibre.

"The nest contained four partially incubated eggs: three of them pointed and exactly alike, but the fourth rounded, and apparently of a different texture, so that it may have been introduced by a Cuckoo."

Two eggs sent by Mr. Gammie are moderately elongated ovals, somewhat obtuse even, at the smaller end. The shell is very fine, pure white, and has a fine gloss. They measure 1·1 by 0·83, and 1·06 by 0·78.

125. Pomatorhinus ruficollis, Hodgs. _The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus ruficollis, _Hodgs., Jerd, B. Ind._ ii, p. 29; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 400.

The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler breeds in Nepal, the Himalayas eastward of that State, and in the various ranges running down from Assam to Burmah.

The breeding-season appears to be April and May. They lay five, or sometimes only four, eggs.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"This species breeds, I think, from the middle of April to the middle of May; but I have only as yet taken a single nest, and this I found at Rishap on the 5th May, at an elevation of about 4500 feet. The nest was placed on the ground in open country, but partially concealed by overhanging grass and weeds, and immediately adjoining a deep humid ravine filled with a dense undergrowth. The nest was composed of dry grass, fern, bamboo, and other dry leaves put loosely together and lined with a few fibres. In shape it was domed or hooded, and exteriorly it measured 5·7 inches in height and 5 in diameter. Interiorly the cavity was 2·6 in diameter, and had a total depth of 3·8 measured from the roof, but of only 2 inches below the lower margin of the aperture. This nest contained five eggs, much incubated; indeed, they would have hatched off in one or two days."

The Rufous-necked Scimitar Babbler breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson, in the central portion of Nepal in April and May, building a large, coarse, globular nest of dry grass and bamboo-leaves on the ground in some thick bush or bamboo-clump. The opening of the nest is at the side. They lay four or five white eggs, measuring as figured 0·9 by 0·68.

The eggs sent me by Mr. Gammie are rather elongated ovals, a good deal pointed towards one end, pure white, the shells very fine and fragile, and with a fair amount of gloss.

Ten eggs varied from 0·85 to 1·02 in length, and from 0·62 to 0·74 in breadth, but the average was 0·95 by 0·68.

129. Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, Vigors. _The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys, _Vig., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 31; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 405.

The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler breeds from April to June in the Himalayas, at any rate from Darjeeling to the Valley of the Beas, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet. It may be _met_ with at double this latter altitude, but I doubt if it _nests_ higher.

As a rule, the nest is placed on the ground, in some thick clump of dry fern or coarse grass, amongst dead leaves and moss, but at times I have seen it placed in a thick bush 2 or 3 feet from the ground. It is very common near Kotegurh and below Narkunda, where we found nearly a dozen nests, almost all, however, containing young ones. Typically the nest is domed, and is loosely constructed of the materials at hand--coarse grass, dry fern, dead leaves, moss-roots, and the like, some 6 or 7 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 inches high, with a broad entrance on one side, a good deal above the middle. In some cases, however, where a dense bunch of grass or fern completely curves over the spot selected for the nest, the latter is a mere broad, shallow saucer. There is no regular lining to the nests, but a good many fine roots are at times incorporated in the interior of the cavity. All the nests that I have seen were placed near the edges of clumps of brushwood or scrubby jungle.

I ought here to mention that I am by no means certain that the Nepalese and Sikhim, in fact the eastern race of this species (_P. ferrugilatus_ Hodgs.), will not have to be separated from the more western _P. erythrogenys_ of Gould. Long ago Blyth remarked ('Journal Asiatic Society,' 1845, p. 598) that "there seems to be two marked varieties of _P. erythrogenys_, one having white under-parts, with merely faint traces of darker spots, the other with the throat and breast densely mottled with greenish olive," or, as I should call it, dingy olive-grey. This is perfectly true, and, as far as I can make out, the latter variety is not one of sex or age, but is local and confined to Kumaon (where the other form also occurs) and the hills eastward of this province. My own remarks above given refer to the true _P. erythrogenys_, and so do Hutton's; but Hodgson's and Mr. Gammie's birds both appear to have been, and the latter's certainly were, grey-throated examples. The eggs are undistinguishable, as, indeed, though they vary somewhat in shape and size, are those of most of the _Pomatorhini_.

Captain Hutton says that this species is "common from 3500 feet up to 10,000 or 12,000 feet, always in pairs, turning up the dead leaves on copsewood covered banks, uttering a loud whistle, answering and calling each other. It breeds in April, constructing its nest on the ground of coarse dry grasses and leaf-stalks of walnut-trees, and is covered with a dome-shaped roof, so nicely blended with the fallen leaves and withered grasses, among which it is placed, as to be almost undistinguishable from them. The eggs are three in number, and pure white; diameter 1·12 by 0·81 inches, of an ordinary oval shape. When disturbed, the bird sprung along the ground with long bounding hops, so quickly that, from its motions and the appearance of the nest, I was led to believe it a species of rat. The nest is placed in a slight hollow, probably formed by the bird itself."

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes, this species would appear to breed at heights of from 2000 to 8000 feet. It lays in May and June. On the 20th May, and again on the 6th June, Mr. Hodgson found nests of this species in thick bushes 3 or 4 feet above the ground. They were broad saucer-shaped nests of coarse vegetable fibres, grass, and grass-roots, 7 inches or so in diameter, and the cavity, which had no lining, was about 4 inches in diameter by 2 inches in depth. They contained three and four white eggs respectively. One figured measures 0·98 by 0·73. On June 8th he found two more nests at Jaha Powah, on the ground, on edges of brushy slopes close to grassy open plains, the nest a large mass of grass, oven-shaped, open at one and in one case at both ends, protected by the root of a tree. There were two and three white eggs in the nests respectively. The eggs of these nests are figured as measuring 1·08 by 0·73.

Mr. Gammie remarks:--"I found a nest of this species below Rungbee, at an elevation of about 2000 feet, on the 17th June. It was placed on, and partially in a hole in a bank, and contained two hard-set eggs. It was a large, loose pad of fine grass and dead fern, with a few broad flag-like grass-leaves incorporated towards the base, and overhung by a sort of canopy of similar materials. The basal portion was some 6 inches long and 5 inches broad, and about 2 inches thick in the thickest part, with a broad shallow depression for the eggs of about half that depth."

Writing again this year (1874) he says:--"I have only found two more nests this year, and both in the last week of April; the one contained three partially incubated eggs, the other three young birds. These nests were at Gielle, at an elevation of about 2500 feet. As a rule, these birds nest in open country, immediately adjoining moist thickly wooded ravines, in which they feed, and take refuge if disturbed from the nest. The nest is usually placed on sloping ground, more or less concealed by overhanging herbage, and is composed, according to my experience, of dry grass sparingly lined with fibres. It is large; one I measured _in situ_ was 8 inches in height and 7 inches in diameter; the vertical diameter of the cavity was 4 inches and the horizontal 3½ inches. I have not yet found more than three eggs or young ones in any nest."

Dr. Scully remarks of this bird in Nipal:--"It lays in May and June; two nests, taken on the 30th May and 6th June, were large loosely-made pads, not domed, and with the egg-cavity saucer-shaped, each nest contained three pure white eggs."

The eggs of this species are long, and at times narrow, ovals, pure white and fairly glossy, but occasionally almost glossless, without any marks or spottings.

In length they vary from 1·0 to 1·2, and in breadth from 0·73 to 0·85, but the average of twenty eggs is about 1·11 by nearly 0·8.

133. Xiphorhamphus superciliaris (Blyth). _The Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler_.

Xiphorhamphus superciliaris (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 33; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 406.

The Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in Sikhim, at elevations of 3000 to 6000 feet, during the months of May and June. The nest is a large globular one, composed of dry bamboo-leaves and green grass, intermingled and lined with fine roots and fibres. The entrance, which is about 2 to 2·5 inches in diameter, is at one end. A nest containing four eggs, obtained on the 12th June, measured about 7 inches in diameter externally, and it was placed in the crown of a stump from 2 to 3 feet from the ground. Sometimes the nests are placed in tufts of high grass or in thick bushes, but never at any great elevation above the ground. They lay three or four eggs, which are pure white, and one of which is figured as a broad oval, measuring 0·95 by 0·7.

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"I took a nest of this Scimitar Babbler on the 29th May, in the middle of the large forest on the top of the Mahalderam ridge, at about 7000 feet elevation. It was built on the ground, on top of a dry bank by the side of a path, and was overhung by a few grassy weeds. In shape it was a blunt cone laid on its side, with the entrance at the wide end. It was loosely made of the dead leaves of a deciduous orchid (_Pleione wallichiana_), small bamboo, chestnut, and grass, intermixed with decaying stems of small climbing-plants. It measured externally 6 inches long, with a diameter of 5·5 at front, and of 1·75 at back. The cavity was quite devoid of lining and measured 3·5 in length by 2·5 wide at entrance, slightly contracting inwards. It contained three partially incubated eggs."

Two eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie are elongated ovals, pure white, and with only a faint gloss. They measure 0·99 and 1·05 in length, by 0·68 and 0·75 in breadth respectively.

Subfamily TIMELIINAE.

134. Timelia pileata, Horsf. _The Red-capped Babbler_.

Timelia pileata, _Horsf., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 24; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 396.

Mr. Eugene Oates records that he "found the nest of this bird at Thayetmyo on the 2nd June with young ones a few days old. The nest was placed on the ground in the centre of a low but very thick thorny bush."

Subsequently he wrote from Pegu, further south:--"The nest is placed in the fork of a shrub, very near to, or quite on, the ground, and is surrounded in every case by long grass. A nest found on the 4th July, on which the female was sitting closely, contained three eggs slightly incubated. The breeding-season seems to be in June and July.