The nests of this species are very beautiful cups, very compact and firm, sometimes wedged into a fork, but more commonly suspended between two or three twigs, or sometimes attached by one side only to a single twig.  They are placed at heights of from 4 to 10 feet from the ground in the branches of slender trees, and are usually carefully concealed, places completely encircled by creepers being very frequently chosen.  The chief materials of the nest are dead leaves, sometimes those of the bamboo, but more generally those of trees; but little of this is seen, as the exterior is generally coated with moss, and the interior is lined first with excessively fine grass, and then more or less thinly with black buffalo- or horse-hairs.  The cups are about 3 inches in diameter and 2 in height externally, the cavities barely 2 in diameter and perhaps 1.5 in depth:  but they vary somewhat in size and shape according to the situation in which they are placed and the manner in which they are attached, some being considerably broader and shallower, and some rather deeper.

Eggs of this species sent me from Mr. Mandelli, which were obtained by him in the neighbourhood of Darjeeling, are decidedly elongated ovals, fairly glossy, and with a pale slightly greenish-blue ground.  A number of minute red or brownish-red or yellowish-brown specks and spots occur about the large end, sometimes irregularly scattered, sometimes more or less gathered into an imperfect zone.  The rest of the egg is either spotless or exhibits only a few tiny specks and spots.  The eggs measure 0.75 and 0.76 by 0.51 and 0.52.

223.  Yuhina gularis, Hodgs. The Stripe-throated Yuhina.

Yuhina gularis, Hodgs., Jerd.  B. Ind. ii, p. 261; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 626.

The Stripe-throated Yuhina breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson’s notes, from April to July, building a large massive nest of moss, lined with moss-roots, and wedged into a fork of a branch or between ledges of rocks, more or less globular in shape, and with a circular aperture near the top towards one side.  A nest taken on the 19th June, near Darjeeling, was quite egg-shaped, the long diameter being perpendicular to the ground, and measured 6 inches in height and 4 inches in breadth, the aperture, 2 inches in diameter, being well above the middle of the nest; the cavity was lined with fine moss-roots.  The eggs are figured as rather elongated ovals, 0.8 by 0.56, with a pale buffy or cafe au lait ground-colour, thickly spotted with red or brownish red, the markings forming a confluent zone about the large end.

225.  Yuhina nigrimentum (Hodgs.). The Black-chinned Yuhina.

Yuhina nigrimentum (Hodgs.), Jerd.  B. Ind. ii, p. 262; Hume, Rough Draft N. & E. no. 628.

A nest of the Black-chinned Yuhina, taken by Mr. Gammie on the 17th June below Rungbee, at an elevation of about 3500 feet, was placed in a large tree, at a height of about 10 feet from the ground, and contained four hard-set eggs.  It is a mere pad, below of moss, mingled with a little wool and moss-roots, and above, that is to say the surface where the eggs repose, of excessively fine grass-roots.