d me that the birds built on this cliff-side every
monsoon."

Mr. E. Aitken has furnished me with the following note:--

"Of this bird I have seen two nests--one containing two hard-set eggs
on April 29, 1872, situated in a hole in a tree overhanging a stream
about 20 feet from the ground; the other containing three hard-set
eggs on May 22nd, 1872, and situated on a ledge of rock in the bed
of a stream; both the nests were rather coarsely made of roots. My
brother says he has also found three other nests, two placed in holes
of trees and the other on a rocky ledge, but the nests were in every
case near to running water. The bird stays with us all the year, and
is one of our commonest species. Its clear whistle is always to be
heard the first thing in the morning before the other birds get up,
and daring the violent rains of the S.W. monsoon it seems almost the
only bird which does not lose heart at the incessant downpour. April
and May appear to be the breeding months."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden remark:--"Scattered all over the Deccan in
suitable localities. W. got two nests, one on the Bhore Ghat on 5th
August, and one on the Thull Ghat on 17th of same month. That on the
Bhore Ghat was built on a ledge of rock some 15 feet _in_ from the
face of a railway tunnel where 30 or 40 trains daily passed within
a few feet of it. That on the Thull Ghat was in a cutting at the
_entrance_ of a tunnel, and about the same height above and from the
rails as the one on the Bhore Ghat. In both cases the eggs were
much discoloured by the smoke from engines, but on being washed, W.
observed that one of the three eggs in each nest was of a decidedly
_greenish blue_, finely speckled and splashed with pinky brown, while
the others were of the _pale salmon-pink_, as described in Mr. Hume's
Rough Draft of 'Nests and Eggs.' The male bird was sitting on one of
the nests and was shot. W. saw numerous other nests, some high up on
cliffs, beyond the reach of a 15-foot ladder. Two nests in holes in
trees were reported to him, but he could not go to examine them. The
nests were about 4 inches diameter by 21/2 inches deep inside and 8
to 10 inches broad outside, and not more than 10 inches high. The
foundation portion contained a great deal of clay and earth, which
seemed to be necessary to secure the nests in positions so exposed
to the heavy gusts of wind which prevail on these ghats during the
monsoon."

Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan, writing from