in depth, of fine moss,
fur, a feather or two, and a few insects' wings intermixed, for the
eggs to rest on. The fur looks like that of a rat. There were four
hard-set eggs, which, unfortunately, got broken in the taking. One
of them only was measurable, and it was 0.65 inch by 0.5. I send the
shell-fragments to show the coloration."

317. Sitta neglecta, Walden. _The Burmese Nuthatch_.

Sitta neglecta, _Wald., Hume, cat._ no. 250 bis.

The Burmese Nuthatch probably breeds throughout Pegu and Tenasserim.
Of its nidification in the latter division Major C.T. Bingham
writes:--"On the 21st March, wandering about in a deserted clearing,
I saw a couple of Nuthatches (_Sitta neglecta_) flying to and from a
tree, carrying food apparently. Watching them closely with a pair of
binoculars, I saw them disappear near a knot in a branch. The tree was
a dead dry one and rather difficult to climb, but a peon of mine went
up and reported five young ones unfledged, the nest-hole being 6
inches deep, and the opening, which was originally a large one, and
probably caused by water wearing into the site of a broken branch,
narrowed by an edging of clay. The young lay on a layer of broken
leaves. As they were featherless, blind little things I left them
alone, and was delighted to see the parents continuing to feed them."

321. Sitta castaneiventris, Frankl. _The Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch_.

Sitta castaneoventris, _Frankl., Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 386.

The late Captain Cock furnished me with the following note a long time
ago regarding the breeding of this Nuthatch:--"A very common bird at
Sitapur in Oudh, every mango-tope containing one or more pairs. They
pair early and commence making their nests in February, laying their
eggs in March. The nests are in cavities of trees, at no great height
from the ground, and unless observed in course of construction are
difficult to find--the bird filling the whole cavity up with mud
consolidated with some viscid seed of a parasitical plant, and merely
leaving a small round hole for entrance. This composition hardens like
pucca masonry in a very short time, and secures the nest from all
marauders except the oologist. The nest consists of a few dry leaves
at the bottom of the cavity at no great depth, and upon this four eggs
are laid. The birds sit close and do not easily desert their nests, as
the following instance will show. In 1873 I found a _Sitta's_ nest in
a mango-tree, and after watchin