Prinia cinereocapilla, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 172; _Hume,
Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 537.
Captain Hutton says[A]:--"In this species the structure of the nest
is somewhat coarser than in _P. stewarti_, and it is more loosely put
together, but like that species it is also a true Tailor-bird.
[Footnote A: I reproduce this note as it appeared in the 'Rough
Draft,' but I have no faith in the identification of this rare bird by
Capt Hutton. Mr. Hume is apparently of the same opinion, as he does
not quote the Dhoon as one of the localities in which, this species
occurs (S.F. ix, p. 286). It may be well, however, to point out that
Mr. Brooks procured this species at Dhunda, in the Bhagirati valley,
so that it is not unlikely to occur in the Dhoon.--ED.]
"In the specimen before me two large leaves are stitched together at
the edges, and between these rests the cup-shaped nest composed of
grass-stalks and fine roots, as in _P. stewarti_, and without any
lining, while, being more completely surrounded by or enfolded in the
leaves, the cottony seed-down which binds together the fibres in the
others is here dispensed with.
"The eggs were three in number, of a pale bluish hue, irrorated with
specks of rufous-brown, and chiefly so at the larger end, where they
form an ill-defined ring.
"The eggs measured 0·62 by 0·44.
"The nest was found hanging on a large-leafed annual shrub growing in
the Dhoon, and was placed about 2 feet from the ground. It was taken
on 22nd July."
386. Laticilla burnesi (Bl.). _The Long-tailed Grass-Warbler_.
Eurycercus burnesii, _Bl., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 74.
Mr. S.B. Doig appears to be the only ornithologist who has found the
nest of the Long-tailed Grass-Warbler. Writing of the Eastern Narra
District, in Sind, he says:--
"This bird is in certain localities very numerous, but invariably
confines itself to dense thickets of revel and tamarisk jungle. The
discovery of my first nest was as follows:
"On the 13th March, while closely searching some thick grass along the
banks of a small canal, I heard a peculiar twittering which I did not
recognize. After standing perfectly still for a short while, I at
length caught sight of the bird, which I at once identified as _L.
burnesi_. Leaving the bed of the canal in which I was walking and
making a slight detour, I came suddenly over the spoil-bank of the
canal on to the place where the bird had been calling. My sudden
appearance caused the bird to get very excited, and it kept on
twittering, approaching me at one time until quite close and then
going away again a short distance; I at once began searching for its
nest, and out of the first tussock of grass I touched, close to where
I was standing, flew the female, who joined her mate, after which both
birds kept up a continuous and angry twittering. On opening out the
grass, I found the nest with three fresh eggs in it, placed right in
the centre of the tuft and close to the ground. The eggs were of a
pale green ground-colour, covered with large irregular blotches of
purplish brown, and not very unlike some of the eggs of _Passer
flavicollis_. After this I found several nests, but they were all
building, and were one and all deserted, though in many instances I
never touched the nest, often never saw it, as on seeing the birds
flying in and out of the grass with building material in their bills
I left the place and returned in ten days' time, but only to find the
nest deserted. In one case where a single egg had been laid, I found
that the bird before deserting the nest had broken the egg. In July I
again got a nest and shot the parent birds; the eggs in this nest were
quite of a different type, being of a very pale cream ground-colour,
with large rusty blotches, principally confined to the larger end.
The nests of this bird are composed of coarse grass, the inside being
composed of the finer parts; they are 4 to 5 inches external diameter
and 2½ inches internal diameter, the cavity being about 1½ inches
deep. The months in which they breed are, as far as I at present know,
March, June, and September. The eggs vary in size from ·65 to ·80 in
length and from ·50 to ·55 in breadth. The average of seven eggs is
·72 in length and ·54 in breadth."
The eggs of this species vary somewhat in size and shape, but they are
typically regular rather elongated ovals, rather obtuse at both ends,
and often slightly compressed towards the small end. The shell is fine
and compact and has a slight gloss; the ground-colour is sometimes
greenish white, sometimes faintly creamy. The eggs are generally
pretty thickly and finely speckled and scratched all over, and besides
the fine markings there are a greater or smaller number of more or
less large irregular blotches and splashes, chiefly confined to the
large end. These markings, large and small, are brown, very variable
in shade, in some eggs reddish, in some chocolate, in some raw sienna,
&c. Besides these primary markings most eggs exhibit a number of
paler subsurface secondary markings, varying in colour from sepia to
lavender or pale purple; these are mostly confined to the large end
(though tiny spots of the same tint occur occasionally on all parts of
the egg), where with the large blotches they often form a more or less
conspicuous and more or less confluent but always ill-defined zone or
even cap. Here and there an egg absolutely wants the larger blotches,
but even in such cases the specklings are more crowded about the large
end, and these with the lilac clouds still combine to indicate a sort
of zone.
The eggs I possess of this species, sent me by Mr. Doig, vary from
0·71 to 0·81 in length by 0·52 to 0·59 in breadth; but the average of
seven eggs is 0·72 by 0·55.