. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. Cochrane ami I [)m-Kueil it in vain ; but while searching among the cliffs for Vultures' nests, Mi-. i'oclirane pulled down from the extremity of the twig of a hyssop plant what he imagined to he an old nest of a Gi'ass Warbler {Dryinoica yracUis). It had the external appearance of a loose ball of rubbish, such as might have been floated down by a sudden flood and caught in the branch of a tree. After tossing it about for some time he threw it towards me, and on examining it I was dismayed to find it a fresh nest, very firm and compact ins
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. Cochrane ami I [)m-Kueil it in vain ; but while searching among the cliffs for Vultures' nests, Mi-. i'oclirane pulled down from the extremity of the twig of a hyssop plant what he imagined to he an old nest of a Gi'ass Warbler {Dryinoica yracUis). It had the external appearance of a loose ball of rubbish, such as might have been floated down by a sudden flood and caught in the branch of a tree. After tossing it about for some time he threw it towards me, and on examining it I was dismayed to find it a fresh nest, very firm and compact inside, with a small hole in the side, and containing two broken fresh eggs, elongated, of a greenish-white, ^vith a zone of darker green-grey spots near the larger end. We searched in vain for another, and mourning our ill-luck, left the neighbourhood the next day. On the 23rd of May I returned to the same place, antl while climbing up to a cave, tho resort of the Rufous Swallow (Hirunclo rufula), I struck with my head a little ball of straw and leaves attached to the extremity of a castor-oil plant, not two yards from the «pot where Mr. Cochrane had found his nest. It contained three eggs, quite fresh, and was beautifully shaded both from the sun and from observation. I was fortunate enough to secure the male bird in full plumage. Close by was another nest, from which one young bird had been reared ; and we watched the female feeding her young family of three in the liyssop overhead. I am inclined to believe that they had lired twice, for we coidd not make out a third pair. Meanwhile, I had returned in April to our old quarters at Ain Sultan, near Jericho, accompanied oidy by a single muleteer and one guard. On the afternoon of my arrival, on the 13th of April, I discovered by myself no less than seven nests—one with three eggs, one with two hard set, one building, and four with young. All were in precisely similar situations, suspended from the extremity of a small twig hang
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
