356 OBIOLIDJE.

Oapt. Hutton records that " this is a common bird in the Dhoon,
and arrives at Jerripanee, elevation 4500 feet, in the summer
months to breed. Its beautifnl cradle-like nest was taken in the
Dhoon on the 29th of May, at which time it contained three
pnre white eggs, sparingly sprinkled over with variously sized spots
of deep purplish-brown, giving the egg the appearance of having
been splashed with dark mud. The spots are chiefly at the larger
end, but there is no indication of a ring. The nest is a slight,
somewhat cup-shaped cradle, rather longer than wide, and is so
placed, between the fork of a thin branch, as to be suspended be-
tween the limbs by having the materials of the two sides bound
round them. It is composed of fine dry grasses, both blade and
stalk, intermixed with silky and cottony seed-down, especially at
that part where the materials are wound round the two supporting
twigs; and in the specimen before me there are several small
silky cocoons of a diminutive Bombyx attached to the outside, the
silk of which has been interwoven with the fibres of the external
nest. It is so slightly constructed as to be seen through, and
it appears quite surprising that so large a bird, to say nothing of
the weight of the three or four young ones, does not entirely
destroy it."

Prom Futtehgurh, the late Mr. A.. Anderson remarked:—" The
nest and eggs of this bird so closely resemble those of its European
congener (0. galbula) that little or no description is necessary.
The Mango-bird lays throughout the rains, July being the principal
month. One very beautifully constructed nest was taken by me on
the 9th Jnly, 1872, containing four eggs, which, according to my
experience, is in excess of the number usually laid. I have fre-
quently taken only a pair of well-incubated eggs.

" Two of the four eggs above alluded to were quite fresh, while
the other two were tolerably well incubated. The nest is fitted
outwardly with tow, which I have never before seen. One of the
pieces of cloth used in the construction of this nest was 6 inches
long."

" At Lucknow," writes Mr. B. M. Adam, " I found this species
on the 20th May building a nest in a neem-tree, and on the 24th
I took two eggs from the nest. On the 10th June I saw another
pair, only making love, so they probably did not lay till the end of
that month."

Dr. Jerdon notes that he " procured a nest at Saugor from a
high branch of a banian tree in cantonments. It was situated
between the forks of a branch, made of fine roots and grass, with
some hair and a feather or two internally, and suspended by a long
roll of cloth about three quarters of an inch wide, which it must
have pilfered from a neighbouring verandah where a tailor worked.
This strip was wound round each limb of the fork, then passed
round the nest beneath, fixed to the other limb, and again brought
round the nest to the opposite side; there were four or five of
these supports on either side. It was indeed a most curious nest,