Writing from Hoshungabad, Mr. E.C. Nunn remarks:—"I found two nests of this species, each containing two eggs, on the 20th July and 6th August, 1868. Both nests were ball-shaped, of coarse grass very firmly and compactly twisted together, and with numerous dead leaves incorporated in the body of the nest and towards the base, forming the major portion of the material. They were thinly lined inside with fine grass-roots. One was placed at the root of a small thorny bush: the other on the ground in a thick clump of rank grass." The nest Mr. Nunn sent to me was peculiarly solidly made. The cavity was small, about 2·25 inches in depth and 1·5 in diameter. The bottom of the nest was some 2 inches and the sides 1·25 inch thick.
From Raipoor Mr. F.R. Blewitt tells us that "in July and August four nests of this Babbler were taken; in two there were four eggs each, in the third, three, and in the fourth, two—thirteen in all. The nests were carefully made on the ground, at the base of clumps of long grass growing very near to bamboo thickets. Three are made exclusively of the dry leaves of the bamboo; the fourth of coarse grass. They were nearly globular, about 4 inches in diameter, and without any regular lining, although in the interior of the cavity a good deal of fine grass-stems had been incorporated in the nest. They were well hidden in the grass."
Mr. Henry Wenden writes:—"On July 18th, about 15 miles from Bombay, on the line of railway, I found a nest and eggs of the following description: nest, a rough loose ball of soft flat grasses, lined with hard but fine grass-stems, entrance at side near top; situated in a thorny bush in cactus-hedge, by a narrow lane, not 4 feet wide, through which numerous people passed. The nest, about 3 feet from the ground, was in no way concealed. On the 18th there were two eggs, and on the 20th, when there were four eggs, the bird was snared and nest taken."
The eggs are short, broad ovals, very slightly compressed towards one end. The ground-colour is white or pinkish white, and it is streaked, spotted, and speckled most thickly at the large end (where there is a tendency to form an irregular confluent cap or zone), and thinly towards the small end, with shades of red, brownish red, and reddish purple, varying much in different examples. In some the markings are pretty bold and blotchy, in others they are small and speckly; in some they are smudgy and ill-defined, in others they are clear and distinct. Some of the eggs are miniatures of some types of Pyctorhis sinensis, but many recall the eggs of the Titmouse. They are much about the size of those of Parus caeruleus and P. palustris, but a trifle less broad than either of these. The eggs have a faint gloss.
In length they vary from 0·63 to 0·7, and in breadth from 0·5 to 0·56; but the average of twenty-four eggs now before me is 0·67 by 0·53.
136. Dumetia albigularis (Blyth). The Small White-throated Babbler.
Dumetia albogularis (Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind ii, p. 26; Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E. no. 398.
Miss M.B. Cockburn, writing from Kotagherry, tells me that "the White-throated Babbler builds its nest in the month of June. One was found by my nest-seekers on the 17th of that month in the year 1873. It was constructed on a coffee-tree, and contained three eggs, which were white, profusely covered with reddish spots of all sizes. The bird was very shy, and would not return to the nest for some hours after it had been discovered; when, however, she did so, she was shot. This year (1874) I found another similar nest on the 9th of June, also containing three eggs."
The nest with which she favoured me was small and nearly globular (say at most 4 inches in external diameter), composed entirely of broad flaggy grass without any lining or any admixture whatsoever of other material. The nest was loosely put together, and had a comparatively narrow circular entrance near the top.
From Mysore Mr. Iver Macpherson writes:—"This is an exceedingly common bird in parts of this district, and their nests are so plentiful that I never now take them.