Pellorneum fuscocapillum (_Bl), Hume, Cat._ no. 399 quint.
Captain Legge writes, in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"The nest of this
species is exceedingly difficult to find, and scarcely anything is
known of its nidification. Mr. Blyth succeeded in finding it in
Haputale at an elevation of 5500 feet. It was placed in a bramble
about 3 feet from the ground, and was cup-shaped, loosely constructed
of moss and leaves; it contained three young."
149. Drymocataphus nigricapitatus (Eyton). _The Black-capped
Babbler_.
Drymocataphus nigricapitatus (_Eyton), Hume, Cat._ no. 396 sex.
Mr. W. Davison writes:--"I got one nest of this bird at Klang. I was
passing through some very dense jungle, where the ground was very
marshy, when one of these birds rose from the ground about a couple of
feet in front of me, and alighted on an old stump some few feet away.
On examining the place from which the bird rose, I found the nest
placed at the base of a small clump of ferns, and concealed by a
number of overhanging withered fronds of the fern. The base of the
nest, which rested on the ground, was composed of a mass of dried
twigs, leaves, &c.; then came the real body of the nest, composed of
coarse fern-roots, the egg-cavity being lined with finer roots and
a number of hair-like fibres. It looked compactly and strongly put
together, but on trying to remove it, it all came to pieces. When the
bird saw me examining the nest it fluttered to within a couple of feet
of me, twittering in a most vehement manner, feigning a broken wing
to try and draw me away. The nest contained only two eggs, which were
slightly set."
These eggs are extremely regular ovals, scarcely smaller, if at all,
at one end than at the other. The shell is very fine and fragile, but
has only a slight gloss. The ground-colour appears to have been creamy
white, but the markings are so thickly set that little of this is
anywhere visible. First, pale inky-purple spots and clouds are thickly
sprinkled over the surface, and over this the whole egg is freckled
with a pale purplish brown. They measured 0·82 in length by 0·62 and
0·63 in breadth.