ZOSTEE.OPS. 143

frilifc of the Khoda or Ghumroor (Ehretia Icevis). I got one fruit
from the old birds, being anxious to know what the young ones
were getting for their dinner.

" The pairing-season commences about the end oŁ March, when
the males may be heard uttering a feeble kind of rambling
song, which in reality is merely modified repetitions of a single
note."

Mr. A. Anderson remarked that "the White-eye breeds through-
out the North-Western Provinces and Oudh during the months
of June, July, and August. The nest is a beautiful little model
of the Oriole's; and according to my experience it is invariably
suspended, and not fixed in the fork of small branches as stated
by Jerdon. I have on several occasions watched a pair in the
act of building their nest. They set to work with cobwebs,
and having first tied together two or three leafy twigs to which
they intend to attach their nest, they then use fine fibre of the swn
(Orotalana jancea^ with which material they complete the outer
fabric of their very beautiful and compact nest. As the work
progresses more cobwebs and fibre of a silky kind are applied
externally, and at times the nest, when tossed about by the -wind
(sometimes at a considerable elevation), would be mistaken by a
casual observer for an accidental collection of cobwebs. The inside
of the nest is well felted with the down of the madar plant, and then
it is finally lined with fine hair and grass-stems of the softest kind.
Sometimes the nest is suspended from only two twigs, exactly after
the fashion of the Mango-birds (Oriolus Tcundoo); and in this case
it is attached by means of silk-like fibres and fine fibre of sun for
about lg inch on each side ; at others it is suspended from several
twigs; and occasionally I have seen the leaves fixed on to the sides
of the nest, thus making it extremely difficult of detection.

" In shape the nest is a perfect hollow hemisphere; one now
before me measures (inside) 1-5 in diameter. The wall is about
0*3 in thickness.

" Almost all my nests have been built on the neem tree, the
long slender petioles of which are admirably adapted for its sus-
pension.

" As a rule the nest is built at a considerable height, and owing
to its situation there is not a more difficult nest to take. Great
numbers get washed down in a half-finished state in a heavy fall
of rain.

" The eggs are, exactly as Jerdon describes them, of a pale blue,
* almost like skimmed milk,' and the usual number is three, though
four are frequently laid."

"On the 7th September," writes Mr. E. M. Adam, "in my
garden in Lucknow, I discovered a nest of this bird in course of
construction, but when it was nearly finished the birds left it.
The nest was a beautiful little cup made of fine grass and cobwebs.
It was situated in a slender fork of a mango-tree about 15 feet
from the ground.''

Major C. T. Eingham says :—" Common both at Allahabad and