Chaetornis striatus (_Jerd.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii. p. 72; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 441.
Dr. Jerdon remarks that Mr. Blyth mentions that the nest of
the Grass-Babbler, as he calls it, nearly accords with that of
_Malacocercus_, and that the eggs are blue.
I cannot find the passage in which Blyth states this, and I cannot
help doubting its correctness. This bird, like the preceding, is not
a bit of a Babbler. I have often watched them in Lower Bengal amongst
comparatively low grass and rush along the margins of ponds and
jheels, not, as a rule, affecting high reed or seeking to conceal
themselves, but showing themselves freely enough, and with a song and
flight wholly unlike that of any Babbler.
They are very restless, soaring about and singing a monotonous song of
two notes, somewhat resembling that of a Pipit, but clear and loud.
They do not soar in one spot like a Sky-Lark, as Jerdon says, but rise
to the height of from 30 to 50 yards, fly rapidly right and left, over
perhaps one fourth of a mile, and then suddenly drop on to the top of
some little bush or other convenient post, and there continue their
song.
Mr. Brooks remarks:--"On the 28th August, 1869, I observed at the side
of the railway, at Jheenjuck Jheel, on the borders of the Etawah and
Cawnpoor Districts, several pairs of _Chaetornis_. A good part of the
jheel was covered with grass about 18 inches high, and to this they
appeared partial, though occasionally I found them among the long
reeds. The part of the jheel where they were found was drier than the
rest, there being only about an inch of water in places, while other
portions were quite dry.
"I noticed the bird singing while seated on a bush or large clump of
grass, and sometimes it perched on the telegraph-wires alongside of
the line of railway, continuing its song while perched.
"By habits and song it seems more nearly allied to the Pipits than the
Babblers. Males shot early in September were obviously breeding, and
a female shot on the 13th of that month contained a nearly full-sized
egg."
It does not do to be too positive, but I should be inclined to believe
that the eggs are not uniform coloured, blue and glossy like a
Babbler's, but dull, dead, or greenish white, with numerous small
specks and spots[A].
[Footnote A: The discovery of this bird's eggs has proved Mr. Hume to
be right in his conjecture.--ED.]
Colonel E.A. Butler, who was the first to discover the eggs of the
Bristled Grass-Warbler, writes:--
"The Grass-Babbler is not uncommon about Deesa in the rains, at which
season it breeds. I found a nest containing four eggs on the 18th
August, 1876. It consisted of a round ball of dry grass with a
circular entrance on one side, near the top, was placed on the ground
in the centre of a low scrubby bush in a grass Bheerh, and when the
hen-bird flew off, which was not until I almost put my foot on the
nest, I mistook her for _Argya caudata_. On looking, however, into the
bush, I saw at once by the eggs that it was a species new to me. I
left the spot and returned again in about an hour's time, when, to my
disappointment, I found that three of the eggs had hatched. The fourth
egg being stale, I took it and added it to my collection. The eggs are
about the size of the eggs of _A. caudata_, but in colour very like
those of _Franklinia buchanani_, namely, white, speckled all over with
reddish brown and pale lavender, most densely at the large end. This
bird has a peculiar habit in the breeding-season of rising suddenly
into the air and soaring about, often for a considerable distance,
uttering a loud note resembling the words 'chirrup, chirrup-chirrup,'
repeated all the time the bird is in the air, and then suddenly
descending slowly into the grass with outspread wings, much in
the style of _Mirafra erythroptera_. This bird is so similar in
appearance, when flying and hopping about in the long grass, to _A.
caudata_, that I have no doubt it is often mistaken for that species.
I have invariably found it during the rains in grass Bheerhs overgrown
with low thorny bushes (_Zizyphus jujuba_, &c.). Whether it remains
the whole year round I cannot say; at all events, if it does, its
close resemblance to _A. caudata_ enables it to escape notice at other
seasons."
Mr. Cripps, writing from Fureedpore, says:--"Very common in long grass
fields. Permanent resident. It utters its soft notes while on the
wing, not only in the cold season but the year through; it is very
noisy during the breeding-time. Breeds in clumps of grass a few inches
above as well as on the ground. I found five nests in the month of May
from 23rd to 28th: one was on the ground in a field of indigo; the
rest were in clumps of 'sone' grass and from the same field composed
of this grass. One nest contained three half-fledged young, and the
rest had four eggs slightly incubated in each. Although they nest in
'sone' grass which is rarely over three feet in height, it is very
difficult to find the nest, as the grass generally overhangs and hides
it. Only when the bird rises almost from your feet are you able to
discover the whereabouts. On several occasions I have noticed this
species perching on bushes."
The eggs, which, to judge from a large series sent me by Mr. Cripps,
do not appear to vary much in shape, are moderately broad ovals, more
or less pointed towards one end. The shell is fine and fragile but
entirely devoid of gloss; the ground-colour is white with a very faint
pinky or lilac tinge, and they are thickly speckled all over with
minute markings of two different shades--the one a sort of purplish
brown (they are so small that it is difficult to make certain of the
exact colour), and the other inky purple or grey. In most eggs the
markings are most dense at or about the large end, and occasionally a
spot may be met with larger than the rest, as big as a pin's head say,
and some of these seem to have a reddish tinge, while some are more of
a sepia.
The eggs vary from 0·75 to 0·86 in length and from 0·59 to 0·62 in
breadth, but the average of twelve eggs is almost exactly 0·8 by 0·6.