Leiothrix luteus (_Scop._), _Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 250.
Leiothrix callipyga (_Hodgs._), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._
no. 614.
The Red-billed Liothrix breeds from April to August; at elevations of
from 3000 to 6000 feet, throughout the Himalayas south, as a rule, of
the first snowy range and eastward of the Sutlej; west of the Sutlej I
have not heard of its occurrence. It also doubtless breeds throughout
the hill-ranges running down from Assam to Burmah.
Mostly the birds lay in May, affecting well-watered and jungle-clad
valleys and ravines. They place their nests in thick bushes, at
heights of from 2 to 8 feet from the ground, and either wedge them
into some fork, tack them into three or four upright shoots between
which they hang, or else suspend them like an Oriole's or White-eye's
nest.
The nest varies from a rather shallow to a very deep cup, and is
composed of dry leaves, moss, and lichen in varying proportions,
bamboo-leaves being great favourites, bound together with slender
creepers, grass-roots, fibres, &c., and lined with black horse- or
buffalo-hair, or hair-like moss-roots. The nests differ much in
appearance: I have seen one composed almost entirely of moss, and
another of nothing but dry bamboo-sheaths, with a scrap or two of
moss. They are always pretty substantial, but sometimes they are very
massive for the size of the bird.
Three is certainly the usual complement of eggs.
According to Mr. Hodgson's notes, this species breeds in the central
mountainous region of Nepal, and lays from April to August. The nest,
which is somewhat purse-shaped, is placed in some upright fork between
three or four slender branches, to all of which it is more or less
attached. It is composed of moss, dry leaves, often of the bamboo, and
the bark of trees, and is compactly bound together with moss-roots and
fibres of different kinds; it is lined with horse-hair and moss-roots,
and contains generally three or four eggs.
The following note I quote _verbatim_:--"_Central Hills, August
12th_.--Male, female, and nest. Nest in a low leafy tree 5 cubits from
the ground in the Shewpoori forest; partly suspended and partly rested
on the fork of the branch; suspension effected by twisting part of the
material round the prongs of the fork; made of moss and lichens and
dry leaves, well compacted into a deep saucer-shaped cavity; 3·62
high, 4·5 wide outside, and inside 2·25 deep and 3 inches wide; eggs
pale verditer, spotted brown, and ready for hatching. The bird found
in small flocks of ten to twelve, except at breeding-season."
A nest sent to me last year by Mr. Gammie was found by him on the 24th
April, at an elevation of about 5000 feet, in the neighbourhood of
Rungbee. It was built by the side of a stream in a small bush, at a
height of about 3 feet from the ground, and contained three eggs.
The nest is a deep and, for the size of the bird, very massive cup,
exteriorly composed entirely of broad flag-like grass-leaves, with
which, however, a few slender stems of creepers are intermingled,
internally of grass-roots; the egg-cavity being thinly lined with
coarse, black buffalo-hair. Externally the nest is more than 5 inches
in diameter and nearly 4 inches high; but the egg-cavity, which is
very regularly shaped, is 2½ inches in diameter and 2 inches in depth.
This year Mr. Gammie writes to me:--"I have taken many nests of the
Red-billed Liothrix here in our Chinchona reserves, at all elevations
from 3500 to 5000 feet. They breed in May and June, amongst dense
scrub, placing their nests in shrubs, at heights of from 3 to 5 feet
from the ground, and either suspending them from horizontal branches,
or hanging them between several upright stems, to which they firmly
attach them. The nest itself is cup-shaped and composed principally of
dry bamboo-leaves held together by a few fibres, and a few strings of
green moss wound round the outside. The lining consists of a few
black hairs, and the usual number of eggs is three. A nest I recently
measured was externally 4 inches in diameter and 2·7 in height, while
the cavity was 2·6 across by 1·9 in depth."
Mr. Gammie subsequently found a nest on the very late date of 17th
October at Rishap, Darjeeling. It contained three eggs, two of which
were addled.
Dr. Jerdon says that at Darjeeling he "got the nest and eggs
repeatedly; the nest made chiefly of grass, with roots and fibres, and
fragments of moss, and usually containing three or four eggs, bluish,
white, with a few purple and red blotches. It is generally placed in a
leafy bush at no great height from the ground. Gould, quoting from Mr.
Shore's notes, says that the eggs are black spotted with yellow:
this is of course erroneous. I have taken the nest myself on several
occasions, and killed the bird, and in every case the eggs were
coloured as above."
I wish to add here, as I have abused him occasionally, that Mr. Shore
was, I understand, a most excellent man, and that I have now come to
the conclusion that the extraordinary fictions that he recorded about
the eggs of birds can only have been due to colour-blindness of a
peculiarly aggravated nature. It is not that he mistook eggs, but that
he describes _impossible_ eggs--Kingfishers' eggs variegated black
and white, and here in this case black eggs spotted with yellow! Why,
there _are_ no such eggs in the whole world, I believe. On the other
hand, his whole life proves that he could not have deliberately set to
work to invent falsehoods. To return.
The eggs vary a good deal in shade and size, but are more or less long
ovals, slightly pointed towards the lesser end. The ground-colour is
a delicate very pale green or greenish blue, in one, not very common
type, almost pure white, and they are pretty boldly blotched or
spotted and speckled as the case may be, and clouded, most thickly
towards the large end, and very often almost exclusively in a zone or
cap round this latter, with various shades of red or purple and brown.
Some blotches in some eggs are almost carmine-red, but the majority
are brownish red or reddish brown, varying much in depth and intensity
of colour. There is something Shrike-like in the markings of many
eggs; and where the markings are most numerous, namely at the large
end, they are commonly intermingled with streaks and clouds of
pale lilac. The smaller end of the egg is often entirely free from
markings. I should mention that all the eggs have a faint gloss, and
that some are decidedly glossy.
They vary in length from 0·76 to 0·95, and in breadth from 0·59 to
0·66; but the average of thirty-four eggs is 0·85 by 0·62.