then I saw it was _Sibia gracilis_; but it was very shy and seeing
us went off again, and hung about the trees at a distance of some 50
yards; while thus waiting, some four or five others were also seen.
The female, however, would not venture back, and I sent one of my
Goorkhas up, to cut off the head of the fir, nest and all, first
taking out the eggs. It contained three, of a pale sea-green, with
ash-brown streakings and blotchings all over.

"The nest was constructed of dry grass, moss, and rootlets, and the
green spinules of the fir were worked into it, fixing it most firmly
in its place in the crown of the pine where it was much forked."

206. Lioptila melanoleuca (Bl.). _Tickell's Sibia_.

Malacias melanoleucus (_Bl.), Hume, cat._ no. 429 quart.

Mr. W. Davison was fortunate enough to secure a nest of this Sibia on
Muleyit mountain in Tenasserim. He says:--"I secured a nest of this
species on the 21st of February, containing two spotless pale blue
eggs slightly incubated. The nest, a deep compactly woven cup, was
placed about 40 feet from the ground, in the fork of one of the
smaller branches of a high tree growing on the edge of a deep ravine.

"The egg-cavity of the nest is lined with fern-roots, fibres and fine
grass-stems; outside this is a thick coating of dried bamboo-leaves
and coarse grass, and outside this again is a thick irregular coating
of green moss, dried leaves, and coarse fibres and fern-roots.

"Externally the nest measures about 5 inches in height, and nearly the
same in external diameter at the top.

"The egg-cavity measures 1.7 deep by 2.7 across.

"The eggs, a pale spotless blue, measure 0.95 and 0.98 in length by
0.66 and 0.68 in breadth."

211. Actinodura egertoni, Gould. _The Rufous Bar-wing_.

Actinodura egertoni, _Gould, Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 52; _Hume, Rough
Draft N. & E._ no. 427.

There is no figure of the Rufous Bar-wing's nest or eggs amongst the
original drawings of Mr. Hodgson now in my custody, but in the British
Museum series there appears to be, since Mr. Blyth remarks:--"Mr.
Hodgson figures the nest of this bird like that of an English
Redbreast, with pinkish-white eggs."

From Sikhim Mr. Gammie writes:--"On the 27th April I took a nest of
this Bar-wing in a large forest at an elevation of about 5000 feet.
It was placed about 20 feet from the ground, in a leafy tree, between
several upright shoots, to which it was firmly attached. It is
cup-shaped, mainly com