The nest is small and neat, and done up generally like a Chaffinch's,
to resemble the bark of the tree on which it is placed.

The nests that I have seen have been invariably placed at a
considerable height from the ground in the fork of a branch, most
commonly, I think, a mango-tree, though I have occasionally noticed
them in other trees.

The nest is a small moderately deep cup, with an internal cavity about
1.7 inch to 1.9 in diameter, and nearly an inch in depth. The sides of
the nest are about 3/8 inch thick, and the thickness of the bottom of
the nest varies according to the shape of the fork chosen, whether
obtuse or acute-angled. In the former case the bottom of the nest
is sometimes not above 1/4 inch in depth. In the latter case, it is
sometimes as much as an inch in thickness. It is composed of very
fine, needle-like twigs (with at times here and there a few feathers)
carefully bound together externally with cobwebs, and coated with
small pieces of bark or dead leaves, or both, so that looked at from
below with the naked eye it is impossible to distinguish it from one
of the many little excrescences so common, especially on mango-trees.
There appears to be rarely any regular lining, a very little down and
cobwebs forming the only bed for the eggs, and even this is often
wanting. Sometimes a few tiny dead leaves or a little lichen will be
found incorporated in the nest, and occasionally, but rarely, fine
grass-stems take the place of very slender twigs.

Three is, I believe, the normal number of the eggs. I extract a couple
of old notes I made in regard to the nests of this species:--"_August
5th_.--Took three eggs of this bird, shooting the two old birds at the
same time. The tree was a mango, the nest was in the fork of a branch,
some 40 feet from the ground, built interiorly with very small twigs,
with here and there a very few feathers intermixed, and was exteriorly
coated with fine flakes of bark held in their place by gossamer
threads. It was cup-shaped, with an interior diameter of 1-7/8 by 3/4
inch.

"The eggs had a slightly greenish-white ground, thickly spotted and
speckled, and towards the larger end blotched, with somewhat brownish
red; the markings showing a decided tendency to form a zone round, or
cap at the larger end."

"_Allygurh, August 27th_.--Another beautiful little nest in a
mango-tree high up, a tiny cup about 11/2 inch internal diameter by 3/4
inch deep, woven with very fine twig