341. Certhia himalayana, Vigors.
Himalayan Tree-Creeper
Certhia himalayana, (Vigors), Jerdon B. Ind. i, p, 380; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 243.
Writing from Murree of the Himalayan Tree-Creeper, Colonel C. H. T. Marshall
says: "This is a most difficult nest to find, as the little bird always
chooses crevices where the bark has been broken or bulged out, some 40 or 50
feet from the ground, and generally on tall oak-trees which have no branches
within 40 feet of their roots. There were young in the few nests we found.
Captain Cock secured the eggs in Kashmir; they are very small, being only 0·6
by 0·45; the ground is white, with numerous red spots. The nests we found
were in the highest part of Murree, about 7200 feet."
Two eggs of this species which I possess measure 0·69 and 0·68 respectively
in length, by 0·5 in breadth.
342. Certhia hodgsoni, (Brooks). Hodgson's Tree-Creeper
Certhia hodgsoni, (Brooks), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 243 bis.
Hodgson's Tree-Creeper is the supposed C. familiaris obtained by Dr.
Jerdon in Kashmir, of which he gave me two specimens.
Mr. Brooks says: "It was seen at Gulmurg and also at Sonamurg, where Captain
Cock took a few nests. The egg is much more densely spotted than that of the
English Creeper, so as almost to hide the reddish-white ground-colour. Size
0·59 to 0·65 inch long by 0·48 inch broad; time of laying, the first week in
June."
The egg is of smooth texture, without gloss, of a purplish-white
ground-colour, and fully spotted all over with light brownish red, especially
at the larger end. Numerous spots of reddish grey or pale inky purple are
intermingled with red ones.
In shape the egg varies from a somewhat elongated oval, more or less
compressed towards the smaller end, to a comparatively broad oval, also
slightly compressed towards the latter end. In all the eggs that I have seen,
the markings were more or less confluent towards the large end. Their
dimensions are correctly recorded by Mr. Brooks.
347. Salpornis spilonota (Frankl.). Spotted-Grey Creeper
Salpornis spilonota (Frankl.), Jerdon. BIyth. i, p. 382.
Mr. Cleveland found a nest of this species at Hattin
(Hathin), in the Gurgaon district (in present day
Haryana), on the 16th April. The nest was
placed on a large ber-tree in a patch of preserved jungle, at a height of
about 10 feet from the ground. It was cup-shaped, placed on the upper surface
of a horizontal bough at the angle formed between this and a vertical shoot,
to which it was attached on one side, the other three sides being free. The
nest itself is unlike any other that I have seen. It is composed entirely of
bits of leaf-stalks, tiny bits of leaves, chips of bark, the dung of
caterpillars, all cemented together everywhere with cobwebs, so that the
whole nest is a firm but yet soft and elastic mass. The nest is cup-shaped,
but oval and not circular; its exterior diameters are 4 and 3 inches
respectively; its greatest height 2 inches; the cavity measures 2·6 by 2·2,
and 1·1 in depth.
The texture of the nest, as I have already said, is extremely peculiar; it is
extremely strong, and though pulled off the bough on which it rested and the
off-shoot to which it was attached, is as perfect apparently as the day it
was found, bearing on the lower surface an exact cast of the inequalities of
the bark on which it rested; but it is soft, yielding, and flabby in the
hand, almost as much so as if it was jelly. The nest contained two almost
full-grown nestlings and one addled egg.
This egg is a very regular oval, slightly broader at one end, the shell fine
and fairly glossy; the ground-colour is pale greenish white; round the large
end there is an irregular imperfect zone of blackish-brown specks and tiny
spots, and round about these is more or less of a brown nimbus, and over the
rest of the egg a very few specks and spots of blackish, dusky, and pale
brown are scattered. It measures 0·68 by 0·53.
Another nest was found about 15 feet up a tree. It was partly seated on and
partly wedged in between the fork of two thick oblique branches, to the rough
bark of which the bottom only was firmly cemented with cobwebs, the sides, as
in the case of the first nest, being quite free and detached from its
surroundings. As regards dimensions and composition, the latter nest was an
exact counterpart of that first taken. It contained two partially fledged
nestlings.
352. Anorthura neglecta (Brooks). Kashmir Wren
Troglodytes neglecta, (Brooks), Hume, cat. no. 333 bis.
Troglodytes nipalensis, (Hodgson), Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 333.
The Kashmir Wren breeds in Kashmir in May and June at elevations of from 6000
to nearly 10,000 feet. I have never seen the nest, though I possess eggs
taken by Captain Cock and Mr. Brooks in Kashmir. The latter says: "Only two
nests of this bird were found (both at Gulmurg), one having four eggs and the
other three. In the latter case the full number was not laid, as the nest,
when first found, was empty; on three successive mornings an egg was laid and then they were taken.
"In shape they vary as much as do those of the English Wren, and like them
they are white, sometimes minutely freckled with pale red and purple-grey
specks, which are principally confined to the large end, with a tendency to
form a zone. Other eggs are plain white, without the slightest sign of a
spot; but these, I think, must be the exception, for the egg of the English
Wren is usually spotted. The egg has very little gloss, and the ground-colour is pure white."
The eggs are very large for the size of the bird. There appear to be two
types. The one somewhat elongated ovals, slightly compressed towards the
lesser end; the others broad short ovals, decidedly pointed at one end. Some
eggs are perfectly pure unspotted white; others have a dull white ground,
with a faint zone of minute specks of brownish red and tiny spots of greyish
purple towards the large end, and a very few markings of a similar character
scattered about the rest of the surface. All the eggs of the latter type vary
in the amount and size of markings; these latter are always sparse and very
minute. The pure white eggs appear to be less common. The eggs have always a
slight gloss, the pure white ones at times a very decided, though never at all a brilliant gloss.
In length they vary from 0·61 to 0·7 inch, and in breadth from 0·5 to 0·52 inch.
Mr. Brooks subsequently wrote: "The Kashmir Wren is not uncommon in the
pine-woods of Kashmir, and in habits and manners resembles its European
congener. Its song is very similar and quite as pretty. It is a shy, active
little bird, and very difficult to shoot. I found two nests. One was placed
in the roots of a large upturned pine, and was globular with entrance at the
side. It was profusely lined with feathers and composed of moss and fibres.
The eggs were white, sparingly and minutely spotted with red, rather oval in
shape; measuring 0·66 by 0·5. A second nest was placed in the thick foliage
of a moss-grown fir-tree, and was about 7 feet above the ground. It was
similarly composed to the other nest, but the eggs were rounder and plain white, without any spots."
355. Urocichla caudata (Blyth). Tailed Wren
Pnoepyga caudata (Blyth), Jerdon. B. Ind. i, p. 490; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 331.
The Tailed Wren, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, lays in April and May,
building a deep cup-shaped nest about the roots of trees or in a hole of
fallen timber; the nest is a dense mass of moss and moss-roots, lined with
the latter. One measured was 3·5 inches in diameter and 3 in height;
internally, the cavity was 1·6 inch, in diameter and about 1 inch deep. They
lay four or five spotless whitish eggs, which are figured as broad ovals,
rather pointed towards one end, and measuring 0·75 by 0·54 inch.
356. Pnoepyga albiventris (Hodgs.). Scaly-breasted Wren
Pnoepyga squamata (Gould), Jerdon. B. Ind. i, p. 488.
From Sikkim, Mr. Gammie writes: "I found two nests of the Scaly-breasted Wren
this year within a few yards of each other. They were in a small moist ravine
in the Rishap forest, at 5000 feet above sea-level. One was deserted before
being quite finished, and the other was taken a few days after three eggs had
been laid. The two nests were alike, and both were built among the moss
growing on the trunks of large trees, within a yard of the ground. The only
carried material was very fine roots, which were firmly interwoven, and the
ends worked in with the natural moss. These fine roots were worked into the
shape of a half-egg, cut lengthways, and placed with its open side against
the trunk, which thus formed one side of the nest. Near the top one side was
not quite close to the trunk, and by this irregular opening the bird entered.
Internally the nest measured 3 inches deep by 2 in width. I killed the female
off the eggs; she had eaten a caterpillar, spiders, and other insects."
Mr. Mandelli found a nest of this species at Pattabong, elevation 5000 feet,
near Darjeeling, on the 19th May, containing three fresh eggs. The nest was
placed amongst some small bushes projecting out of a crevice of a rock about
three feet from the ground. It was completely sheltered above, but was not
hooded or domed; it was, for the size of the bird, a rather large cup,
composed of green moss rather closely felted together and lined with fine
blackish-brown roots. The cavity measured about 2 inches in diameter and 1 in depth.
The eggs of this species seem large for the size of the bird; they are rather
broad at the large end, considerably pointed towards the small end. They are
pure white, almost entirely devoid of gloss, and with very delicate and fragile shells.
The eggs varied from in 0·72 to 0·78 in length, and from 0·54 to 0·57 in breadth.
Family REGULIDAE
358. Regulus cristatus, Koch. Goldcrest
Regulus himalayensis, (Blyth), Jerdon. B. Ind. ii, p. 206; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 580.
All I know of the nidification of this species is that Sir E. C. Buck found a
nest at Rogee (?), in the Sutluj Valley, on the
8th June, on the end of a deodar branch 8 feet from the ground and partly
suspended. It contained seven young birds fully fledged; no crest or signs of
a crest were observable in the young. Both the parent birds and the nest were kindly sent to me.
The nest is a deep pouch suspended from several twigs, with the entrance at
the top, and composed entirely of fine lichens woven or intervened into a
thick, soft, flexible tissue of from three eighths to half an inch in
thickness. Externally the nest was about 3½ to 4 inches in depth, and about 3 inches in diameter.
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