The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 written by Allan O. Hume

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"Again, on the 9th July, I took a nest in person, which also contained
eight eggs. Seven of these are all alike and are well incubated, while
the eighth is quite fresh, and doubtless owes its parentage to one of
the above-mentioned Cuckoos.

"Strange to say I have now another nest marked down, which in like
manner contains the same number of callow young. It is just possible
that the foster-parents may have to perform double duty in this case.

"From the foregoing it may be inferred that _M. canorus_ does
occasionally lay more than four eggs, or as the birds are gregarious
even during the breeding-season, it is possible enough that two birds
may occasionally deposit eggs in the same nest.

"I should not think that _H. varius_ (the "Brain-fever and
Delirium-tremens Bird" as it is frequently called) had much difficulty
in depositing her eggs in the nest of the _Malacocerci_, for I have
frequently noticed that all the Babblers in the neighbourhood make a
clean bolt of it immediately this Cuckoo puts in an appearance, no
doubt owing to its great similarity to the Indian Sparrow-Hawk (_M.
badius_).

"During the months of September and October I have observed several
Babblers in the act of feeding one young _H. varius_, following the
bird from tree to tree, and being most assiduous in their attentions
to the young interloper."

Mr. H.M. Adam remarks:--"I took a nest of this bird in Agra on the
17th July. It contained five eggs, all of which were nearly hatched.
Again on the 21st I took another nest containing only one hard-set
egg."

Writing from Calcutta, Mr. J.C. Parker says:--"I found a nest of this
bird, near my house in Garden Reach, on the 23rd June. It contained
four fresh eggs."

Colonel Butler observes:--"The Bengal Babbler breeds in the
neighbourhood of Deesa as a rule, I think, during the rains and in the
cold weather, but I have found nests as late as March. The nest is
usually placed on the outside branch of some moderate-sized tree
(neem &c.). It is a somewhat solidly built structure composed almost
entirely of dead twigs, stems of dead leaves, and stalks of coarse dry
grass, being lined with a few fine fibrous roots or stems of grass. I
found nests on the following dates:--

"July 16, 1875. A nest containing 4 fresh eggs.
"March 20, 1876. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"May 29, 1876. " " 3 fresh eggs.
"June 17, 1876. " " 3 fresh eggs.
"June 17, 1876. " " 4 young birds.
"Oct. 15, 1876. " " 4 fresh eggs.
"Nov. 3, 1876. " " 4 slightly incubated.

"In some nests I have noticed a breach upon one side of the nest as if
intended for the convenience of the bird's tail. It is not unusual to
find an egg of _C. jacobinus_ in the nest."

Major C.T. Bingham writes:--"Common both at Allahabad and at Delhi; I
have found this bird breeding from April to the end of July. All nests
that I have found have, with the exception of one, been placed in low
babool bushes; once only I found a nest near Delhi in the fork of a
low bough of a mango-tree, this was on the 31st July. The nests are
more or less loosely constructed cups of slender twigs and grass-roots
and inclined."

Mr. J.R. Cripps writing from Eastern Bengal says:--"On the 15th April
I found a nest on the very top of a mango-tree about 30 feet off the
ground, shooting the male as it flew off the nest."

The eggs of this species are very variable in colour, shape, and size.
Typically they are rather broad ovals, somewhat compressed towards one
end, and much the shape of, though a good deal smaller than, those
of our English Song-Thrush. Some are, however, long and cylindrical;
others more or less spherical. The colour varies from a pale blue,
like that of _Trochalopterum lineatum_, to a deep dull blue,
recalling, but yet not so dark as, that of _Garrulax albigularis_. The
eggs are typically glossy, but it is remarkable that in a large series
the deepest coloured are always far the most glossy. Some deep blue
eggs of this species are most intensely glossy, more so than almost
any other of our Indian eggs, except those of _Metopidius indicus_. I
need scarcely say that the eggs are entirely spotless and devoid of
all markings, but I may note that each egg is invariably the same
colour throughout, and that I have never met with a specimen in which
the shade of colour varied in the same egg.

In length the eggs vary from 0.88 to 1.15, and in breadth from 0.75 to
0.82; but the average of fifty-one eggs measured is 1.01 by 0.78.

_C. malabaricus_.

The Jungle Babbler, like the White-headed one, breeds pretty well over
the whole of Southern India, but while the latter is chiefly confined
to the more open plain country, the former is the bird of the uplands,
hills, and forests. Still the Jungle Babbler is found at times in the
same localities as the White-headed one, and what is more, specimens
occur, as in Cochin, which partake of the distinctive characters of
both. A great deal still remains to be done in working out properly
this group; both in Sindh on the west and the Tributary Mehals on the
east, and again in some parts of the Nilghiris, races occur quite
intermediate between typical _C. terricolor_ and typical _C.
malabaricus_, while in the south, as already mentioned, forms
intermediate between this latter and _C. griseus_ seem common. Three
distinguishable races again of _C. griseus_ are met with, but running
the one into the other, while intermediate forms between this species
and _C. somervillii_ (Sykes) are also met with.

Mr. Davison remarks:--"This bird seems to be very irregular in its
time of breeding. I have taken the nest in May, June, October, and
December. The nest is rather a loose structure of dry grass and
leaves, lined with fine dry grass; it is generally placed in the
middle of some thick thorny bush, and cannot generally be got at
without paying the penalty of well scratched hands. The eggs,
generally five in number, are of a very deep blue with a tinge of
green, but of not so decided a tinge as in the eggs of _M. griseus_.
It breeds on the slopes of the Nilghiris, not ascending to more than
about 6000 feet."

Mr. Wait, writing from Coonoor, says:--"_C. malabaricus_ builds a
cup-shaped nest in small trees and bushes, and lays from three to five
very round oval verditer-blue eggs."

Captain Horace Terry says of this species:--"Rather rare at Pulungi,
but very common lower down on the slopes and in the Pittur valley. I
got a nest on April 5th at Pulungi with three incubated eggs, and on
the 6th one with two incubated eggs, in the Pittur valley. The last
was built in a hollow in the top of a stump of a tree that had been
broken off some ten feet from the ground."

Mr. I. Macpherson writes from Mysore:--"This bird is occasionally
found with _C. griseus_ in the bigger scrub forests, but its chief
habitat is the larger forests. Its breeding-season is much the same
as _C. griseus_ but unlike it, it does not select thorny bushes
for building in, its nests being generally found in small trees or
bamboo-clumps. Four is the usual number of eggs laid, but five
are often found, and the fifth I expect is frequently that of _H.
varius_."

Three eggs sent me by Mr. Carter from Coonoor, in the Nilghiries, are
absolutely undistinguishable from those of _Argya malcolmi_. Like
these they are a uniform, rather deep greenish blue, devoid of spots
or markings, and very glossy. I do not think that, if the eggs of _A.
malcolmi, C. malabaricus_, and _C. terricolor_ were once mixed, it
would be possible to separate them with certainty. Other eggs taken by
Mr. Davison are similar but slightly smaller, and, taking them as
a whole, I think they average rather darker than those of the two
species just mentioned.

The eggs vary in length from 0.93 to 1.02, and in breadth from 0.71 to
0.82; but the average of nine eggs is 0.97 by nearly 0.77.

111. Crateropus griseus (Gm.). _The White-headed Babbler_.

Malacocercus griseus (_Gm._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 60; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 433.

I should say that the White-headed Babbler breeds all over the plain
country of Southern India, not ascending the hills to any great
elevation. At the same time, many people would very likely separate
the Madras, Mangalore, and Anjango birds, and insist on their being
different species; but for my part, seeing how the birds vary in each
locality and what a perfect and unbroken chain of intermediate forms
connects the most different-looking examples, and that all the several
races are separable from the other species of this group by their more
or less conspicuously pale heads, I prefer to keep them all as _C.
griseus_.

This species, thus considered, breeds apparently twice a year from
April to June, and again in October and even later.

About Madras the nest is commonly placed in thick thorny hedges of a
shrub locally known as "Kurka-puli," said by Balfour to be _Garcinia
cambogia_, but which does not look like a _Garcinia_ at all. The nest
is a loosely-made cup, composed of grass-stems and roots, and the eggs
vary from three to five in number.

Dr. Jerdon says:--"I have often found the nest of this bird, which
is composed of small twigs and roots, carelessly and loosely put
together, in general at no great height from the ground. It lays three
or four blue eggs."

Colonel Butler writes:--"A nest containing four fresh eggs apparently
of this species (it being the common Babbler in this district) was
brought to me by some wood-cutters on the 18th March, 1880. It was
taken in the jungles about six miles from Belgaum, and measured about
23/4 inches in diameter and about 2 inches deep interiorly, and was of
the usual Babbler type, consisting of dry stems loosely but neatly
constructed. The eggs were highly glossed and deep bluish green, some
people might say greenish blue."

Mr. Iver Macpherson writes of this bird from Mysore:--"I have found
their nests in every month between March and August, and they possibly
breed both earlier and later. The nests are generally fixed in thorny
bushes and at no great height off the ground. Four is the usual number
of eggs laid, but very often five are found, and I feel much inclined
to think that the fifth egg is often that of _H. varius_."

The eggs of this species that I possess were taken by Mr. Davison in
May, in the immediate neighbourhood of Madras. They are all pretty
regular, somewhat cylindrical ovals, excessively glossy, spotless, and
of a deep greenish blue, much deeper than the eggs of any of the other
_Crateropi_ are as a rule; in fact, they approach in colouring to the
eggs of _Garrulax albigularis_.

They vary in length from 0.9 to 1.0, and in breadth from 0.62 to
0.74; but I have seen too few eggs to be able to strike any reliable
average.

112. Crateropus striatus (Sw.). _The Southern-Indian Babbler_.

Malacocercus striatus (_Sw._), _Hume, Cat._ no. 432 bis.

Colonel Legge, writing of this bird's nidification in Ceylon,
says:--"The breeding-season of the 'Seven Brothers' lasts from
(page 80 in the book.) March until July. The nest is placed in a
cinnamon-bush, shrub or bramble, at about four feet from the ground,
and is a compact cup-shaped structure, usually fixed in a fork and
made of stout grasses and plant-stalks and lined with fine grass,
which, in some instances I have observed, was plucked green. The
interior measures 21/2 inches in depth by about 3 in width. The eggs
are two or three in number, small for the size of the bird, glossy in
texture, and of a uniform opaque greenish blue. They measure from 0.91
to 1.0 in length, by 0.7 to 0.74 in breadth."

113. Crateropus somervillii (Sykes). _The Rufous-tailed Babbler_.

Malacocercus somervillei (_Sykes_), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 63; _Hume
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 435.

Of the nidification of the Rufous-tailed Babbler (which, so far as I
yet know, is confined to the narrow strip of country lying beneath the
Ghats for about 60 miles north and south of Bombay and to the hills or
ghats overlooking this), all I yet know is contained in the following
brief note by Mr. E. Aitken: he says:--

"I once found a nest of the Rufous-tailed Babbler at Khandalla, I
cannot tell the level precisely, but it cannot have been far from 2000
feet above the sea. It was at the end of May or the very beginning of
June. The nest was in a small spreading tree in level, open forest
country. The situation was just such a one as _A. malcolmi_ generally
chooses--the end of a horizontal branch with no other branches
underneath it; but it was not so high as those of _A. malcolmi_
usually are, for I could reach it from the ground. The nest was
rather flat and contained three eggs, almost hatched, of an intense
greenish-blue colour.

"In Bombay, where it is far more common, I once, on the 1st October,
saw a pair followed by one young one and a young _Coccystes
melanoleucus_. This was on a hill, and indeed these birds seem to
confine themselves pretty much to hilly ground."

Mr. Benjamin Aitken writes:--"With reference to your remark that, as
far as you know, the Rufous-tailed Babbler is confined to the strip of
country beneath the Ghats, I can certainly say that they are plentiful
on the slopes of Poorundhur hill, eighteen miles south of Poona. It
would be interesting to learn on which other of the Deccan hills it is
found. This species is decidedly fond of hilly country. It is common
on the two ranges of low hills that run along the east and west shores
of the island of Bombay, but never shows a feather in the gardens and
groves on the level ground. I spent the greater part of two days, when
I could ill spare the time, in searching for the nests, but the birds
breed in the date-trees, and it would be hopeless to think of finding
a nest without cutting away many of the branches or fronds. Moreover,
the bird is extremely wary, and it is by no means easy to guess on
which particular tree it has its nest."

114. Crateropus rufescens (Blyth). _The Ceylonese Babbler_.

Layardia rufescens (_Blyth_), _Hume, Cat._ no. 437 bis.

Colonel Legge writes regarding the nidification of this bird in
Ceylon:--"This bird breeds in the Western Province in March, April,
and May, and constructs a nest similar to the last [_M. striatus_],
of grass and small twigs, mixed perhaps with a few leaves, and placed
among creepers surrounding the trunks of trees or in a low fork of
a tree. It conceals its habitation, according to Layard, with great
care; and I am aware myself that very few nests have been found. It
lays two or three eggs, very similar to those of the last species, of
a deep greenish blue, and pointed ovals in shape--two which were taken
by Mr. MacVicar at Bolgodde measuring 0.95 by 0.75, and 0.92 by 0.74
inch."

115. Crateropus cinereifrons (Blyth). _The Ashy-headed Babbler_.

Garrulax cinereifrons (_Blyth_), _Hume, Cat._ no. 409 bis.

Colonel Legge, in his work on the birds of Ceylon, says:--"The
breeding-season of this bird is from April to July. Full-fledged
nestlings may be found abroad with the parent birds in August; and
from this I base my supposition, for I have never found the nest
myself. Intelligent native woodmen, in the western forests, who are
well acquainted with the bird, have informed me that it nests in
April, building a large, cup-shaped nest in the fork of a bush-branch,
and laying three or four dark blue eggs. Whether this account be
correct or not, future investigation must decide."

116. Pomatorhinus schisticeps, Hodgs. _The Slaty-headed Scimitar
Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus schisticeps, _Hodgs., Jerd. B.I._ ii, p. 29; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 402.

Speaking of the Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler, Dr. Jerdon says:--"A
nest made of moss and some fibres, and with four pure white eggs, was
brought to me at Darjeeling as belonging to this bird."

Two nests were sent me by Mr. Mandelli as belonging to this species,
the one found near Namtchu on the 3rd April containing four fresh
eggs, the other near Tendong on the 15th June, containing three.
Another nest which he found on the 22nd April, near the same place as
the first, contained four fresh eggs. All were placed on or very near
to the ground in brushwood and grass; all appear to have been
large, rather saucer-like nests, from 5.5 to 6.5 inches in diameter
externally, and 2.5 to 3 in height. Outside and below they are
composed chiefly of coarse grass, dead leaves, especially fern-leaves,
while interiorly they are composed of and lined with finer--in some
cases _very_ fine--grass. The cavities average, I should guess, 3.75
inches in diameter, and 1.5, or a little more perhaps, in depth.

Mr. J.R. Cripps has the following note on the breeding of this bird in
Assam:--"A nest I got was situated at the roots of a clump of bushes,
overhanging a small river. A bridge spanning this river was within ten
yards, the intervening space being open; and for such a shy bird to
have chosen such an exposed situation to build in astonished me."

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"A nest of this Babbler taken on the
20th May much resembled that of _P. ferruginosus_, both in size and
structure. The egg-cavity had, however, a lining of at least half an
inch in thickness of soft, fibrous material extracted from the bark of
some tree, and a little fine grass for the eggs to lie on. It was on
the ground, among low jungle, in the Ryeng Valley, at 2000 feet of
elevation, and contained four eggs, two of them hatching off and
two addled. According to my experience, nests containing so large a
proportion of addled eggs are unusual."

Eggs sent by Mr. Mandelli as belonging to this species closely
resemble those of _Pomatorhinus ferruginosus_, but are somewhat
smaller; they are oval eggs a good deal pointed towards one end, pure
white, and with a high gloss. They were obtained on the 5th and 22nd
of April in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling, and measure from 0.95 to
1.04: in length, and 0.72 to 0.73 in breadth. Eggs sent by Mr. Gammie
are precisely similar.

Two other eggs of this species subsequently obtained were slightly
shorter and broader, and measured 0.95 by 0.77, and 0.98 by 0.78.

118. Pomatorhinus olivaceus, Blyth. _The Tenasserim Scimitar
Babbler_.

Pomatorhinus olivaceus, _Blyth, Hume, Cat._ no. 403 bis.

Mr. Davison writes:--"I found a nest of this bird on the morning of
the 21st January, 1875, at Pakchan, Tenasserim Province, Burma. It was
placed on the ground at the foot of a small screw pine, growing in
thick bamboo-jungle; it was a large globular structure, composed
externally of dry bamboo-leaves, and well secreted by the mass of dry
bamboo-leaves that surrounded it; it was in fact buried in these, and
if I had not seen the bird leave it, it would most undoubtedly have
remained undiscovered. Externally it was about a foot in length by
9 inches in height, but it was impossible to take any accurate
measurement, as the nest really had no marked external definition.
Internally was a lining about half an inch thick, composed of thin
strips of dry bark, fibres, &c. The entrance was to one side,
circular, and measuring 2.5 inches in diameter; the egg-cavity
measured 4 inches deep by about 3 in height.

"In the nest were three pure white ovato-pyriform eggs, but so far
incubated that they would probably have hatched off before the day was
out.

"The measurements of two were 1.1 and 1.09 in length by 0.75 in
breadth."

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 11/2 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 31/2 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."