Part 81

The ground-colour is dull, glossless, pinky white; the markings consist chiefly of a broad ill-defined zone of dull dark purple; the other parts of the egg are sparingly, but pretty evenly speckled and spotted with pale purple.

The eggs measure 0·66 by 0·49 and 0·64 by 0·48.

458. Suya crinigera, Hodgs. The Brown Hill-Warbler.

Suya criniger, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 183; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 547.

The Brown Hill-Warbler breeds throughout the Himalayas, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet, at any rate from Sikhim, where it is comparatively rare, to the borders of Afghanistan.

The breeding-season lasts from the beginning of May until the middle of July, but the majority of the birds lay during May.

A nest which I took at Dilloo, in the Kangra Valley, on the 26th May, was situated near the base of a low bush on the side of a steep hill; it was placed in the fork of several twigs near the centre of the bush, about 2 feet from the ground. It was an excessively flimsy deep cup, about 3 inches in diameter, and 2½ inches in depth internally. It was composed of downy seeds of grass held together externally by a few very fine blades of grass, and irregularly and loosely lined with excessively fine grass-stems.

Many other nests subsequently obtained were similar in their materials, the great body of the nest consisting of grass-down, slightly felted together and wound round with slender blades of grass. The nest, however, is by no means always cup-shaped; it is often covered in above, an aperture being left on one side near the top.

A nest which I found near Kotegurh is composed of fine grass very loosely and slightly put together, all the interspaces being carefully filled in with grass-down firmly felted together. The nest is nearly the shape of an egg, the entrance being on one side, and extending from about the middle to close to the top. The exterior dimensions of the nest are about 5½ inches for the major axis, and 3 inches for the minor. The entrance-aperture is circular, and about 2 inches in diameter. The thickness of the nest is a little over three eighths of an inch; but the lower portion, which is lined with very fine grass-stems, is somewhat thicker. The nest was in a thorny bush, partly suspended from just above the entrance-aperture and partly resting against, though not attached to, some neighbouring twigs. It contained seven eggs, and was taken at Kirlee (Kotegurh) on the 30th May. Of course, the position of the nest was that of an egg standing on end and not lying on its side.

They lay from five to seven eggs, and have, I think two broods.

Dr. Jerdon states that "it makes a large, loosely constructed nest of fine grass, the opening near the top a little at one side, and lays three or four eggs of a fleshy white, with numerous small rusty-red spots tending to form a ring at the large end."

Writing about a collection of eggs made at Murree, Messrs. Cock and Marshall tell us:--"Nest built in high jungle-grass, loosely but neatly made of very fine grass and cobwebs, opening at one side near the top. Breeds late in June at about 4000 feet elevation."

From Almorah Mr. Brooks writes that this species was "common on hill-sides where low bushes were numerous. One nest found was suspended in a low bush, and was a very neat purse-shaped one, with an opening near the top and rather on one side. It was composed of fine soft grass of a kind which had dried green, and was intermixed with the down of plants and lined with finer grass. The eggs were four in number; the ground-colour white, speckled sparingly with light red, but having also a broad zone or ring of deeper reddish brown very near the large end--on the top of the larger end, in fact.

"Laying in Kumaon in May."

From Mussoorie Captain Hutton remarks:--"This little bird appears on the hill, at about 5000 feet, in May. A nest taken much lower down in June was composed of grasses neatly interwoven in the shape of an ovate ball, the smaller end uppermost and forming the mouth or entrance; it was lined first with cottony seed-down, and then with fine grass-stalks; it was suspended among high grass, and contained five beautiful little eggs of a carneous white colour, thicky freckled with deep rufous, and with a darkish confluent ring of the same at the larger end. I have seen this species as high as 7000 feet in October. It delights to sit on the summit of tall grass, or even of an oak, from whence it pours forth a loud and long-continued grating note like the filing of a saw."

Writing of Nepal, Dr. Scully says:--"A nest taken on the 29th June contained only two fresh eggs. The nest was of the shape of a mangoe, the small end being uppermost, and the entrance on one side, near the top; its measurements externally were, in height 5·2, in breadth 3·6 in one direction and 2·65 in the other; the opening was nearly circular, 1·8 in diameter. It was rather flimsy in structure, composed of grass-down, more or less felted together, and bound round externally with dry green grass-blades; internally it was scantily lined with fine grass-stems, which were used to strengthen the lower lip of the entrance-hole. The eggs were fairly glossy, moderate or longish oval in shape, and measured 0·65 by 0·5 and 0·7 by 0·49; the ground-colour was pinkish white, the small end nearly free from markings, the middle portion with faint streaks and tiny indistinct spots of brownish red, and the large end with a zone of bright brownish red or a confluent cap of the same colour."

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"This Suya breeds from May to June in the warmest valleys up to 3500 feet. It affects open grassy tracts, and builds its nest in a bunch of grass, within a foot or two of the ground. The nest is an extremely neat egg-shaped structure, with entrance at side, made of fine grass-stems thickly felted over with the white seeds of a tall flowering grass, which gives it a very pretty appearance. Externally it measures 5 inches in height by 3 in diameter; the cavity is 2·25 wide and 2 deep, from lower edge of entrance. The entrance is about 2·25 across.

"The usual number of eggs is four. I have never found more, but on several occasions as few as two and three well-incubated eggs."

A nest of this species taken by Mr. Gammie near Mongphoo, on the 18th April, at an elevation of about 3000 feet, contained three fresh eggs. It closely resembles nests that I have taken of S. crinigera in shape, somewhat like an egg, with the entrance on one side, near the top, exteriorly about 5 inches in length, and 2¾ inches in diameter, with an aperture a little less than 2 inches across. It was built amongst grass, of which a few fine stalks constitute the outer framework, and the whole body of the nest inside this framework consists solely of the flower-down of grass firmly felted together. It is lined pretty thickly everywhere with the excessively fine stalks which bear this down.

Taking a large series, I should describe the eggs as typically regular but somewhat elongated ovals, often fairly glossy, at times almost glossless. The ground varies from pale pinky white to pale salmon-colour. A dense, more or less mottled, zone or cap at the large end, varying in different specimens from reddish pink to almost brick-red, and more or less of speckling, mottling, or freckling of a somewhat lighter shade than the zone spreads in some thinly, in some densely over the rest of the egg.

In length they vary from 0·63 to 0·75, and in breadth from 0·46 to 0·55; but the average of sixty-five eggs is 0·69 by 0·52.

459. Suya atrigularis, Moore. The Black-throated Hill-Warbler.

Suya atrogularis, Moore, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 184; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 549.

The Black-throated Hill-Warbler breeds in Kumaon and the Himalayas eastwards from thence, at elevations of 4000 to 6000 feet.

The breeding-season lasts from April to July, but the birds mostly lay in May and June. Open grassy hillsides dotted about with scrub, thin forests, or gardens are the localities it affects. The nest is placed at times in some low bush surrounded with and grown through by grass, more commonly in clumps of grass, and never at any great height from the ground. It is more or less egg-shaped, and placed with the longer diameter vertical, the entrance being on one side above the middle. It is composed exteriorly sometimes of fine grass-roots, sometimes of the finest possible grass, loosely but sufficiently firmly interwoven, a little moss being often incorporated in the upper portion, and internally always, I think, exclusively of fine grass.

Four is perhaps the usual number of the eggs, but I have found five.

Mr. Gammie, writing from Sikhim, says:--"I have found four nests of this species this year in the Chinchona reserves, at elevations of from 4500 to 5500 feet, during the months of May and June. The nests were all in open grassy country, in grass by the sides of low banks, and not above a foot off the ground. They are globular, with a lateral entrance, composed of grass, and with a little moss about the dome. One I measured was 5·5 high, and 4·5 in diameter externally; internally the nest was 2·4 in diameter, and the cavity had a total height of 3·9, of which 2 inches was below the lower edge of the entrance. According to my experience four is the regular complement of eggs. I have repeatedly (three times this year) shot the female off the nest, and beyond question Jerdon is wrong about this bird's laying Indian-red eggs."

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes, this species breeds in groves and open forest in Sikhim and the central region of Nepal from April to June, building a large globular nest in clumps of grass, of dry grass, roots, and moss, lined with fine grass and moss-roots. The entrance, which is circular, is at one side; the nest is egg-shaped, the longer diameter being perpendicular, and is placed at a height of about 6 inches from the ground. A nest taken on the 30th. May measured 6·12 in height and 3·5 in diameter externally, and the circular aperture, which was just above the middle, was 1·75 in diameter. It contained four eggs, which are represented as ovals, a good deal pointed towards one end, measuring 0·69 by 0·55. The ground-colour is a pale green, and they are speckled and spotted with bright red, the markings being most numerous towards the large end, where they have a tendency to form a zone or cap.