Drymoipus sylvaticus, _Jerd. B. Ind_ ii, p. 181; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 545.
Drymoipus neglectus, _Jerd. R. Ind._ ii, p. 182; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 546.
Dr. Jerdon says:--"I found the nest in low jungle near Nellore, made
chiefly of grass, with a few roots and fibres, globular, large, with
a hole at one side near the top, and the eggs white, spotted very
thickly with rusty red, especially at the thick end."
Mr. Blewitt appears to have taken many eggs of this species in the
Raipoor District, and he has sent me the following notes, together
with numerous eggs. He says:--
"The Jungle Wren-Warbler breeds in the Raipoor District from about
the middle of June to the middle of August. Low thorn-bushes on rocky
ground are chiefly selected for the nest, and both parent birds assist
in building it and in hatching and rearing the young. A new nest is
made each year, and four is the maximum number of eggs.
"On the 1st July this year I found a nest of this species in the
centre of a low thorny bush, growing in rocky ground, about two miles
north of Doongurgurh in the Raipoor District.
"The nest was about 4 feet from the ground, firmly attached to and
supported by the branches. It was of a deep cup shape, 3·6 in diameter
and 4·9 in height, composed of coarser and finer grasses firmly
interwoven, and contained four fresh eggs. In the same locality we
secured a second similarly situated nest, about 2½ feet from the
ground, and it contained a single fresh egg. It was rather more neatly
and massively made than the former. It was about 4 inches in diameter
and 5 inches in height, and the egg-cavity was nearly 3 inches deep.
The lining is of fine grass-stalks well interwoven. The exterior is
composed of coarse grass mixed with a little greyish-white fibre.
"Subsequently several other similar and similarly situated nests were
found."
Colonel E.A. Butler writes:--"The Jungle Wren-Warbler breeds in the
neighbourhood of Deesa in the months of July, August, and September.
The following are the dates upon which I found nests this year
(1876):--
"July 28. A nest containing 4 young birds.
" 29. " 5 fresh eggs.
Aug. 1. " 4 "
" 5. " 5 "
Aug. 13. " 5 "
" 16. " 4 young birds fledged.
" 17. " 5 "
" " " 3 "
" 19. " 4 "
" " " 5 "
" 30. " 5 "
Sept. 3. " 5 "
"In addition to the above, I found nests in the same neighbourhood in
1875. One on the 14th August containing four young birds almost ready
to leave the nest. It was placed in the middle of a tussock of coarse
grass on the side of a nullah on a bank overgrown with grass and
bushes, and my attention was attracted first of all to the spot by the
incessant chattering and uneasiness of the two old birds, one of which
had a large grasshopper in its mouth. After hiding behind a bush for
a few minutes, I saw the hen bird fly to the nest, which led to its
discovery. The nest was dome-shaped, with an entrance upon one side,
composed exteriorly of blades of rather coarse dry grass (green,
however, as a rule when the nest is first built), and interiorly of
similar, but finer, material. It is an easy nest to find when once
the locality in which the birds breed is discovered, as it is
a conspicuous ball of grass, smeared over, often more or less,
exteriorly with a silky white vegetable-down or cobweb, and many of
the blades of the tussock in which it is placed are often drawn down
and woven into the nest, which at once attracts attention. Then,
again, the cock bird is almost always to be found on the top of some
low tree near the nest, uttering his peculiar ventriloquistic note
'_tissip, tissip, tissip_,' etc. All the above nests were exactly
alike and in similar situations, viz. fixed in the centre of a tussock
of coarse grass on the banks of some deep nullahs running through a
large grass 'Beerh.' The eggs remind me more of the English Robin's
eggs than those of any other species I know. The ground-colour is dull
white, sometimes tinted with pale green, and the markings reddish
fawn. In some cases the eggs are peppered all over with a conspicuous
zone at the large end, sometimes a dense cap instead of a zone. In
other cases the markings, though always present, are almost invisible,
as also the zone or cap. They are about the size of the eggs of the
Spotted Flycatcher. I found a few other nests besides those I have
mentioned during July and August 1875."
Captain Cock informed me that this species is "common in the jungles
around Seetapore. Nest is largish, dome-shaped, and placed low down in
a thorny bush. The bird lays in August five eggs, the _fac-simile_ of
the eggs of _Pratincola ferrea_, perhaps of a more elongated type than
the eggs of that bird."
Mr. H. Parker, writing on the birds of North-west Ceylon, refers to
this bird under the titles _D. jerdoni_ and _D. valida_, and informs
us that it breeds from January to May.
The eggs of this species are somewhat elongated ovals. The
ground-colour is a greenish or greyish stone-colour, and they are
finely and often rather sparsely freckled all over with very faint
reddish brown, or brownish pink in most eggs; these frecklings are
gathered together into a more or less dense zone round the large
end, forming a conspicuous ring there much darker-coloured than the
frecklings over the rest of the surface. The eggs have a faint gloss.
In length they vary from 0·68 to 0·75, and in breadth from 0·49 to
0·52, but the average appears to be 0·7 by 0·5.