The nest of the Stripe-throated Siva is placed, according to Mr. Hodgson, in the slender fork of a tree at no great elevation from the ground. It is composed of moss and moss-roots, intermingled with dry bamboo-leaves, and woven into a broad compact cup-shaped nest. One such nest, taken on the 27th May, with three eggs in it, measured exteriorly 4·25 in diameter and 3 inches in height, with a cavity (thickly lined with cow's hair) about 2·5 in diameter and 2·25 in depth. The birds lay in May and June. The eggs are three or sometimes four in number; they are pale greenish blue or bluish green, and vary in length from 0·8 to 0·9, and in breadth from 0·6 to 0·65, and are, some thickly, some thinly, speckled and freckled, usually most densely towards the large end, with red or brownish red. His nests were taken both in Sikhim and Nepal.
221. Siva cyanuroptera, Hodgs. The Blue-winged Siva.
Siva cyanouroptera, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 253; Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E. no. 617.
The Blue-winged Siva breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, in the central regions of Nepal, and in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling, in May and June. The nest is placed in trees, at no great elevation above the ground, and is wedged in where three or four slender twigs make a convenient fork. A nest taken on the 2nd June was a large compact cup, measuring exteriorly 4·75 in diameter and 3·75 in height, and having a cavity 2·6 in diameter and 1·87 in depth. It was composed of fine stems of grass, dry leaves, moss, and moss-roots, bound together with pieces of creepers, roots, and vegetable fibres, and closely lined with fine grass-roots. They lay from three to four eggs, which are figured as moderately broad ovals, considerably pointed towards the small end, 0·85 in length by 0·6 in width, having a pale greenish ground pretty thickly speckled and spotted, especially on the broader half of the egg, with a kind of brownish brick-red.
Mr. Mandelli found a nest of this species at Lebong (elevation 5500 feet) on the 28th April. It contained four fresh eggs; it was placed in a fork of a horizontal branch of a small tree at a height of only 3 feet from the ground. The nest is, for the size of the bird, a large cup, externally entirely composed of green moss firmly felted together. This outer shell of moss is thickly lined with the dead leaves of a Polypodium, and this again is thinly lined with fine grass. The nest was about 4 inches in diameter, and 2·5 in height externally; the cavity was about 2·5 broad and 1·5 deep.
The nests of this species are very beautiful cups, very compact and firm, sometimes wedged into a fork, but more commonly suspended between two or three twigs, or sometimes attached by one side only to a single twig. They are placed at heights of from 4 to 10 feet from the ground in the branches of slender trees, and are usually carefully concealed, places completely encircled by creepers being very frequently chosen. The chief materials of the nest are dead leaves, sometimes those of the bamboo, but more generally those of trees; but little of this is seen, as the exterior is generally coated with moss, and the interior is lined first with excessively fine grass, and then more or less thinly with black buffalo- or horse-hairs. The cups are about 3 inches in diameter and 2 in height externally, the cavities barely 2 in diameter and perhaps 1·5 in depth: but they vary somewhat in size and shape according to the situation in which they are placed and the manner in which they are attached, some being considerably broader and shallower, and some rather deeper.
Eggs of this species sent me from Mr. Mandelli, which were obtained by him in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling, are decidedly elongated ovals, fairly glossy, and with a pale slightly greenish-blue ground. A number of minute red or brownish-red or yellowish-brown specks and spots occur about the large end, sometimes irregularly scattered, sometimes more or less gathered into an imperfect zone. The rest of the egg is either spotless or exhibits only a few tiny specks and spots. The eggs measure 0·75 and 0·76 by 0·51 and 0·52.
223. Yuhina gularis, Hodgs. The Stripe-throated Yuhina.
Yuhina gularis, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 261; Hume, Rough Draft
N. & E. no. 626.
The Stripe-throated Yuhina breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, from April to July, building a large massive nest of moss, lined with moss-roots, and wedged into a fork of a branch or between ledges of rocks, more or less globular in shape, and with a circular aperture near the top towards one side. A nest taken on the 19th June, near Darjeeling, was quite egg-shaped, the long diameter being perpendicular to the ground, and measured 6 inches in height and 4 inches in breadth, the aperture, 2 inches in diameter, being well above the middle of the nest; the cavity was lined with fine moss-roots. The eggs are figured as rather elongated ovals, 0·8 by 0·56, with a pale buffy or café au lait ground-colour, thickly spotted with red or brownish red, the markings forming a confluent zone about the large end.