They vary from 0·65 to 0·69 in length, and from 0·48 to 0·52 in breadth.]
448. Horornis fortipes, Hodgs. The Strong-footed Bush-Warbler.
Horornis fortipes, Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 162.
Dumeticola fortipes, Hodgs., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 526.
According to Mr. Hodgson[A], this Tree-Warbler breeds from May to July in the central region of Nepal. They build a tolerably compact and rather shallow cup-shaped nest of grass and dry bamboo-leaves, mingled with grass-roots and vegetable fibre and lined with feathers.
[Footnote A: This note of Mr. Hodgson's refers to his plate No. 900. The birds in his collection bearing this number are Neornis assimilis, and are the same as Horornis fortipes.—ED.]
A nest taken on the 29th May measured externally 3·5 in diameter and 2 inches in height, and internally 2 inches in diameter by 1·37 in depth. It contained four eggs, which are figured as deep dull purple-red. Dr. Jerdon gave me two eggs, as I now feel certain, belonging to this species; there is no mistaking them, as they are the most wonderful coloured eggs I ever saw; but as he was not certain to what species they belonged, I unfortunately threw them away. Mr. Hodgson figures the egg as a moderately broad oval, a good deal pointed towards one end, slightly glossy, and measuring 0·65 by 0·47.
Two nests and eggs, together with one of the parent birds, of the Strong-footed Bush-Warbler were sent me from Sikhim. Both nests were found in thick brushwood or low jungle, at elevations of 5000 to 5500 feet—the one at Lebong on the 12th June, the other on another spur of the same hill in July.
The nests were very similar—small massive cups, composed exteriorly of dry blades of grass and leaves, and lined internally with fine grass and a few feathers. Both nests exhibit this lining of feathers, so that it is no accident but a characteristic of the bird's architecture. In one nest a good deal more of the fine flower-panicle stems of grasses are intermingled than in the other. Externally the nests are about 4·5 in diameter and 2·5 in height; the cavity 2 inches in diameter and about 1·25 in depth.
Five more nests of this species have been taken by Mr. Mandelli in the neighbourhood of Lebong, between the 18th May and 15th July; with one exception, where there were only three slightly set eggs, all the nests contained four more or less incubated ones. All the nests were placed in amongst the twigs of low brushwood at heights of from 1 to 3 feet from the ground, and all present the invariable characteristic feature of this species, namely, a greater or less admixture of feathers in the lining of the cavity. Examining the nests carefully, it will be seen that they are composed of three layers—exteriorly everywhere coarse blades of grass and straw loosely put together, inside this a mass of extremely fine panicle-stems of flowering grass, and then inside this the lining of moderately fine grass mingled with feathers. The nests vary a good deal in size, according to the thickness of the coarse outer layer and the extent to which this straggles; but they seem to be generally from 4 to 5 inches in diameter, and 2·5 in height, whilst the cavity is about 2 inches in diameter, and 1, or a little more than 1, in depth.
The eggs (each nest contained four) are sui generis, moderately broad regular ovals, with a decided but not brilliant gloss, and of a nearly uniform chocolate-purple. The eggs of one nest are of a a slightly deeper shade than those of another, probably in consequence of one set being more incubated than the other. They vary in length from 0·66 to 0·69, and from 0·49 to 0·52 in breadth.