Chapter XIX: Part 19

"I had frequently noticed on a tree in the garden an _old_ Shrike's nest. It was in the beginning of May that a male bird suddenly made his appearance and established himself in the garden, and morning and evening without fail did he sit and alternately chatter and warble away for hours. His perfect imitation of the notes of other birds was remarkable.

"In the beginning of June his singing suddenly ceased, the secret of which I soon discovered. He had secured a mate, and daily did I watch for the nest, which I thought they would prepare. Late on the evening of the 23rd June, happening to look up at the _old_ nest, to my surprise I found it occupied by the female, the male the while sitting on a branch near her. Next morning on searching the nest I found four eggs. Whether this nest was prepared the year previous by these birds or by another pair I cannot tell.

"That day, the day of the robbery, the female disappeared. The male followed next day, but only to return after two or three days and recommence with renewed energy his chattering and warbling. This he continued daily till near the end of July, when, as before, he suddenly ceased to sing. I then found that he had again secured a mate, whether the old female or a new bride I am not certain; they soon set about making a nest on a neighbouring tree, very cunningly, as I thought, selected; and now the young birds reared are nearly full-fledged. An old nest, evidently of last year's make, was brought me the other day with five eggs, but the _lining_, as by the way was done in the one in the garden, had been wholly removed and _new_ grass and khus substituted."

Major C.T. Bingham writes:--"Breeds both at Allahabad and at Delhi in May, June, and July. At the former place I never got the eggs, but have seen some that were taken; but at Delhi I found numbers of their nests in June and July, and one in May. It makes a much softer nest than either of the two above-mentioned Shrikes. One nest I took on the 15th June was composed wholly of tow, but generally they have an outer foundation of twigs, and are lined with tow, bits of cotton, human hair, or rags. Some eggs are a yellow-white, with very faint marks, others are miniatures of the eggs of _L. lahtora_.

"Five is the greatest number I have found in one nest."

Mr. W. Theobald makes the following note of this bird's breeding in the neighbourhood of Pind Dadan Khan and Katas in the Salt Range:--

"Lays from the commencement of May to the middle of June. Eggs three or four in number; shape varies from ovato-pyriform to blunt ovato-pyriform, and measuring from 0·73 to 0·87 inch in length and from 0·55 to 0·65[A] inch in breadth. Colour, same as _L. erythronotus_, also creamy or yellowish white, spotted with darker. Nest compact, in forks of thorny trees; outside fibrous stalks, bound with silk or spider-web, and covered with lichens or cocoons, imitating a weathered structure; inside lined with fine grass and vegetable down."

[Footnote A: I think that there must be some error in these dimensions, for mine are taken from forty-five specimens, the largest and smallest, out of some hundreds of eggs.--A.O.H.]

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall, writing from Murree, says:--"These little Shrikes breed in the hills, as well as the plains, up to 5000 feet high."

Colonel Butler has the following notes on the breeding of this Shrike in Sind:--

"Kurrachi, 7th May, 1877.--I found two nests on this date, one in the fork of a babool tree, the other on the stump of a broken-off branch of a tree between the stump and the trunk of the tree. The former contained four incubated eggs, exact miniatures of many eggs I have of _L. erythronotus_, the latter two small chicks.--May 12th, same locality, a nest containing two fresh eggs, and another containing two fully fledged young ones.--June 20th, same locality, one nest containing three fresh eggs, another containing four young birds. Eggs most typical are those which have a well-marked zone near the centre."

"Hydrabad, Sind, 19th June, 1878.--A nest on the outer bough of a babool tree about ten feet from the ground, containing three fresh eggs."

And he further notes:--"The Bay-backed Shrike breeds in the neighbourhood of Deesa at the end of the hot weather. The nest is a very firm and compactly built cup, usually placed in the fork of some low thorny tree at heights varying from seven to ten feet from the ground.

"June 15th, 1875. A nest containing 3 fresh eggs.
July 1st, 1876. " " 4 " "
July 15th, " " " 5 incubated eggs.
July 29th, " " " 4 young birds.

"These birds always retire from the more open parts of the country to low thorny tree-jungle to breed."

Mr. R.M. Adam says:--"This species breeds about Sambhur in July. On the 1st August I saw numbers of nests and fledglings in the Marot jungle."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden, writing of the Deccan, say:--"Abundant, and breeds all over the Deccan."

And the former gentleman informs us that this species is also very common in Western Khandeish, and that it breeds in the plains in June and July, and in the Satpuras in March.

Mr. Benjamin Aitken writes:--"This is a very familiar bird, and builds readily in some roadside tree, where men and carts are passing all day long. I have the following notes of its nests:--

"1st-8th May, 1869. Nest and three eggs taken at Khandalla, above the Bhore Ghât.

"12th May, 1871. Nest and four eggs at Poona.

"16th-18th May, 1871. Nest and four eggs at Khandalla. This nest was in a corinda bush, placed about 1½ feet from the ground.

"13th May, 1873. A clutch of young birds left the nest this morning at Poona.

"19th May, 1873. I found a nest of half-fledged young birds this day at Poona. The tree was almost denuded of leaves, and the heat of the sun being very intense, the parent bird was nevertheless sitting close. Its eyes were closed, and it was gasping hard. One of the young ones had crawled out from under the parent, and was sitting on the edge of the nest, also gasping hard.

"I do not exactly gather from your notes in the 'Rough Draft' what form the spots usually take. In my nest taken on the 12th May all four eggs had the zone quite as distinct as the eggs of a Fan-tailed Flycatcher. The seven eggs taken from two nests at Khandalla, on the other hand, had not the least appearance of a zone, but were spotted, after the manner of Sparrows' eggs. In both the latter cases I saw the old bird fly off the nest and alight on a tree a few yards off.

"I remember one little Shrike of this species which used to come down every day to pick up crumbs of bread and pieces of potatoe put out for the Sparrows. (Being a true naturalist I love Sparrows.)

"My brother on one occasion saw one of these Shrikes trying to catch a garden lizard--not a gecko.

"Of course you know that the young of this handsome and brightly coloured Shrike have a plain and curiously marked plumage, reminding one a little of the _pateela_ Partridge. I never saw this Shrike in Bombay."

The eggs of this, the smallest of all our Indian Shrikes, differ in no particular, so far as shape, colour, and markings go, from those of its larger congeners; that is to say, for every egg of this species an exactly similar one might be picked out from a large series of _L. lahtora_ or _L. erythronotus_; but at the same time there is no doubt that pale-creamy and pale-brownish stone-coloured grounds predominate more amongst the eggs of this species than in those of the two above-named. The markings are also, as a rule, more minute and less well-defined; indeed, in the large series I possess there is not one which exhibits the bold sharp blotches common in the eggs of _L. lahtora_, and not uncommon in those of _L. erythronotus_.

In length they vary from 0·75 to 0·95 inch, and in breadth from 0·62 to 0·71 inch; but the average of forty-five eggs is 0·83 by 0·66 inch nearly.

475. Lanius nigriceps (Franklin). _The Black-headed Shrike_.

Lanius nigriceps (_Frankl.), Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 404. Collyrio nigriceps, _Frankl., Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 259.

I have never myself taken the eggs or nests of the Black-headed Shrike.

Mr. E. Thompson says:--"This Shrike breeds all along the south-western termination of the Kumaon and Gurhwal forests, and is usually found in swampy, high grassy lands. It lays in July, August, and September, building a large cup-shaped nest, composed of roots and fine grasses, in small trees or shrubs in low, open grass-covered country.

"I found this the Common Shrike in the hilly jungly tracts in Southern Mirzapore, but I do not know whether it breeds there. The cry is quite like that of _L. erythronotus_.

"The southern limit of _Lanius nigriceps_ is interesting and remarkable. It disappears after you go south-west of the Mykle Range, and on the Range itself it is found only near marshy places. This Mykle Range extends as far east as Ummerkuntuk, with a spur going off north of that, and joining on with the Kymore Range, parts of which I explored in March last in Pergunnahs Agrore and Singrowlee. Down in those places this _Lanius_ was the Common Shrike, but south and west of Ummerkuntuk all the Shrikes disappear more or less, and _L. nigriceps_ entirely."

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes and figures this species breeds in the Valley of Nepal, laying in April and May, and building in thorny bushes, hedges, and trees, often in the immediate neighbourhood of villages. The following are two of Mr. Hodgson's notes:--

"Valley, May 18th.--Nest near the top of a fir of mean size, fixed securely in the midst of several diverging branches, made compactly of dry grasses, of which the inner ones, which constitute the lining, are hard and elastic, and well fitted to preserve the shape, which is a deep cup with an internal cavity 3·5 inches in diameter and nearly 3 deep. It contained six eggs, milk-and-water white, with pale olive spots, chiefly at the large end, measuring 0·95 by 0·68 inch.

"Jahar Powah, May 16th.--Ascent of Sheopoori, skirts of large forests; nest on lateral branches of a large tree made of downy tops of plants, of moss and thick grasses strongly compacted, and lined with fine elastic hair-like grass; the cavity is circular, 3 inches in diameter by more than 2 inches in depth; the whole nest is a solid deep cup; it contained four eggs, bluish white, with grey-brown remote spots."

Of another nest he gives the dimensions as:--external diameter 4·25 inches; external height 3·87; internal diameter 2·87; depth of cavity 2·75. He figures it as a very compact and deep cup resting on a horizontal fir branch between four or five upright sprays. He states that the young are ready to fly towards the end of June, and that it breeds only once a year.

Dr. Scully, also writing of Nepal, says:--"This Shrike breeds on the hillsides of the valley, usually in places where there is no tree-forest, and not uncommonly in the neighbourhood of hamlets. Several nests were obtained in May and June; these were large cup-shaped structures, composed of grass-roots, fibres, and fine seed-down intermixed. The egg-cavity was circular, lined with fine grass-stems, about 4 inches in diameter, and 2 inches deep in the middle. The usual number of eggs is five; the ground-colour pale greenish white, boldly blotched and spotted with olive marks in an irregular zone round the large end. A clutch of five eggs taken on the 14th June gave the following dimensions:--0·94 to 0·97 in length, and 0·65 to 0·7 in breadth."

Mr. Gammie found a nest of this species on the 17th May at Mongfoo, near Darjeeling, at an elevation of 3500 feet. The nest was placed in a wormwood bush, and was supported between several slender upright shoots, to which the exterior of the nest was more or less attached. The nest was a deep compact cup, externally composed of fine twigs, scraps of roots, and stems of herbaceous plants, intermingled with a great deal of flowering grass. Internally it was lined with very fine grass and moss-roots. The cavity measured about 3 inches in diameter, and was fully 2 inches deep. The external diameter was about 5 inches, and height 3½ or thereabout.

Subsequently he sent me the following full account of the nidification of this Shrike:--

"I have found this Shrike breeding abundantly in the Cinchona reserves in May and June, at elevations of from 3000 to 4500 feet above the sea. It affects open, cultivated places, and builds, from 6 to 20 feet from the ground, in shrubs, bamboos, or small trees. The nest is often suspended between several upright shoots, to which it is firmly attached by fibres twisted round the stems and the ends worked into the body of the nest; sometimes against a bamboo-stem seated on, and attached to, the bunch of twigs given out at a node; or in a fork of a small tree, or end of an upright cut branch where several shoots have sprung away from under the cut and keep the nest in position, when it has a large pad of an everlasting plant or of the downy heads of a large flowering grass to rest on--when the former material is handy it is preferred. The nest is sometimes exposed to view, but generally is tolerably well concealed. It is of a deep cup-shape, very compactly built of flowering grass and stems of herbaceous plants intermixed with fibry twigs, and lined with the small fibry-looking branchlets of grass-panicles. Externally it measures 5 inches across by 3½ inches in depth; internally the cavity is 3½ inches in diameter by nearly 2 inches deep. Usually the eggs are either four or five in number. On one occasion only have I seen so many as six. The coloration is of two distinct types, but one type only is found in the same nest. I suspect that the age of the bird has something to do with the variation of colour in the eggs. In a nest containing four eggs one had the majority of the spots collected on the small, instead of the thick end as usual, and, strange to say, it was addled white. The other three were hard-set. The parents get very much excited when their young are approached, and, as long as the intruder is in the vicinity, keep up an incessant volley of their harsh grating cries, at the same time stretching out their necks and jerking about their tails violently."

Mr. J.R. Cripps, writing from Furreedpore in Eastern Bengal, says:--"Excessively common and a permanent resident. Prefers open plains interspersed with bushes, also the small bushes on road-sides are a favourite haunt of theirs. Breeds in the district. I took ten nests this season from the 11th April to 4th June, with from one to five eggs in each. Four nests were placed in bamboo clumps from 9 to 30 feet high; one 40 feet from the ground on a casuarina-tree, one 20 feet up in a but-tree, and the rest in babool-trees at from 6 to 15 feet high from the ground. There is no attempt at concealment. The nest is a deep cup fixed in a fork, and is made of grasses with a deal of the downy tops of the same for an outside lining; this peculiarity at once distinguishes the nest of this species. The description given by Mr. Hodgson of a nest found by him on the 16th May at Jahar Powah, in 'Nests and Eggs,' p. 172, correctly describes the nests I have found. This species imitates the call of several kinds of small birds, as Sparrows, King-Crows, &c., and I have often been deceived by it."

The eggs of this species, of which, thanks to Mr. Gammie, I now possess a noble series, vary very much in shape and size. Typically they are very broad ovals, a little compressed towards one end, but moderately elongated ovals are not uncommon. The shell is very fine and smooth, and often has a more or less perceptible gloss; in no case, however, very pronounced.

There are two distinct types of colouring. In the one, the ground-colour is a delicate very pale green or greenish white, in some few pale, still faintly greenish, stone-colour; and the markings consist as a rule of specks and spots of brownish olive, mostly gathered into a broad zone about the large end, intermingled with specks and spots of pale inky purple. In some eggs the whole of the markings are very pale and washed-out, but in the majority the brownish-olive or olive-brown spots, as the case may be, are rather bright, especially in the zone. In the other type (and out of 42 eggs, 12 belong to this type) the ground-colour varies from pinky white to a warm salmon-pink, and the markings, distributed and arranged as in the first type, are a rather dull red and pale purple. In fact the two types differ as markedly as do those of _Dicrurus ater_; and though I have as yet received none such, I doubt not that with a couple of hundred eggs before one intermediate varieties, as in the case of _D. ater_, would be found to exist--as it is, two more different looking eggs than the two types of this species could hardly be conceived. I may add that in eggs of both types it sometimes, though very rarely, happens that the zone is round the small end.

In length they vary from 0·82 to 1·01, and in breadth from 0·68 to 0·79; but the average of forty-two eggs measured is 0·92 by 0·75.

476. Lanius erythronotus (Vigors). _The Rufous-backed Shrike_.

Lanius erythronotus (_Vig._); _Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 402. Collyrio erythronotus, _Vigors, Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 257. Collyrio caniceps[A] (_Blyth_), _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 257 bis.

[Footnote A: Mr. Hume may probably still consider _L. caniceps_ separable from _L. erythronotus_. I therefore keep the notes on the two races distinct as they appeared in the 'Rough Draft,' merely adding a few later notes.--ED.]

_Lanius erythronotus_.

The Rufous-backed Shrike lays from March to August; the first half of this period being that in which the majority of these birds lay in the Himalayas, which they ascend to elevations of 6000 feet: and the latter half being that in which we find most eggs in the plains; but in both hills and plains some eggs may be found throughout the whole period above indicated.

The nests of this species are almost invariably placed on forks of trees or of their branches at no great height from the ground; indeed, of all the many nests that I have myself taken, I do not think that one was above 15 feet from the ground. By preference they build, I think, in thorny trees, the various species of acacia, so common throughout the plains of India, being apparently their favourite nesting-haunts, but I have found them breeding on toon (_Cedrela toona_) and other trees. Internally the nest is always a deep cup, from 3 to 3¼ inches in diameter, and from 1¾ to 2-1/8 deep. The cavity is always circular and regular, and lined with fine grass. Externally the nests vary greatly; they are always massive, but some are compact and of moderate dimensions externally, say not exceeding 5½ inches in diameter, while others are loose and straggling, with a diameter of fully 8 inches. Grass-stems, fine twigs, cotton-wool, old rags, dead leaves, pieces of snake's skin, and all kinds of odds and ends are incorporated in the structure, which is generally more or less strongly bound together by fine tow-like vegetable fibre. Some nests indeed are so closely put together that they might almost be rolled about without injury, while others again are so loose that it is scarcely possible to move them from the fork in which they are wedged without pulling them to pieces.

I have innumerable notes about the nests of this Shrike, of which I reproduce two or three.

"_Etawah, March 18th_.--The nest was on a babool tree, some 10 feet from the ground, on one of the outside branches; an exterior framework of very thorny babool twigs, and within a very warm deep circular nest made almost entirely of sun (_Crotalaria juncea_) fibre, a sort of fine tow, and flocks of cotton-wool, there being fully as much of this latter as of the former; a few fine grass-stems are interwoven; there are a few human and a few sleep's wool hairs at the bottom as a sort of lining. The cavity of the nest is about 3 inches in diameter by 2 deep, and the side walls and bottom are from 1½ to 2 inches thick."

"_Bareilly, May 27th_, 1867.--Found a nest containing two fresh eggs. The nest was in a small mango tree, rather massive, nearly 2 inches in thickness at the sides and 3 inches thick at the bottom. It was rather stoutly and closely put together, though externally very ragged. The interior neatly made of fine grass-stems, the exterior of coarser grass-stems and roots, with a quantity of cotton-wool, rags, tow string and thread intermingled. The cavity was oval, about 3½ by 3 inches and 2 inches deep."

"_Agra, August 21st_.--Mr. Munro sent in from Bitchpoorie a beautiful nest which he took from the fork of a mango tree about 40 feet from the ground, a very compact and massive cup-shaped nest, not very deep."

Mr. F.R. Blewitt records the following note:--"Breeds from March to August, on low trees, and, as would appear, without preference for any one kind.

"The nest in shape much resembles that of _Lanius lahtora_; but judging from the half-dozen or so I have seen, _L. erythronotus_ certainly displays more skill and ingenuity in preparing its nest, which in structure is more neat and compact than that of _L. lahtora_. In shape it is circular, ordinarily varying from 5½ to 7 inches in diameter, and from 2 to 2½ inches in thickness. Hemp, old rags, and thorny twigs are freely used in the formation of the outer portion of the nest, but the Shrike shows a decided predilection for the former. In one nest I observed the cast skin of a snake worked in with the outer materials; in two others some kind of vegetable fibre was used to bind and secure the thorn twigs, and one had the margin made of fine neem-tree twigs and leaves. The egg-cavity is deeply cup-shaped, from 3 to 4 inches in diameter, and _lined_ usually with fine grass. Five appears to be the regular number of eggs; but on this score I cannot be very certain, seeing that my experience is confined to some half-dozen or so of nests.

"I have recently reared three young birds, and it is very amusing to witness their many antics, shrewdness, and intelligence. They are very tame, flying in and out of the bungalow at pleasure; when irritated, which is rather a failing with them, they show every sign of resentment. If one is inclined to be rebellious, not coming to call, the show of a piece of meat at once secures its submission and capture. Singular how partial they are to raw meat, and more singular to see the expert way in which they catch up the meat with the claws of either leg, and hold it from them while they devour it piecemeal. I saw the other evening an old bird pounce on a field-mouse, kill it, and then bring and cleverly fix the victim firmly between the two forks of a branch and pull it in pieces. It consumed but a part of the mouse."

Mr. W. Theobald makes the following note on this bird's breeding in the neighbourhood of Pind Dadan Khan and Kaias in the Salt Range:--'"Lay in May; eggs five to six; shape blunt, ovato-pyriform; size varies from 0·88 to 0·93 of an inch in length, and from 0·68 to 0·81 of an inch in breadth. Colour white or pale greenish white, slightly ringed and spotted with yellowish grey and neutral tint. Nest of roots, coarse grass, rags, cotton, &c., lined with fine grass, and placed in forks of trees."

Captain Hutton, who recognizes the distinctions between this species and _L. caniceps_, says:--"This is an abundant species in the Doon, but is found also within the mountains up to about 5000 feet. In the Doon I took a nest on the 28th June containing four eggs. It is composed of grass and fine stalks of small plants roughly put together, bits of rag, shreds of fine bark, and lined with very fine grass-seed stalks; internal diameter 3 inches, external 6 inches; depth 2½ inches."

Sir E.C. Buck notes having taken a nest containing four hard-set eggs on the 22nd of June, far in the interior of the Himalayas, at Niratu, north-east of Notgurh. The nest was in a tuhar tree and was composed externally of grass-seed ears, internally of finer grass; a very different-looking nest from any I have elsewhere seen, but he forwarded the bird and eggs, so that there could be no mistake.

From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall writes:--"Found numerous nests in the valleys in May and June, between 4000 and 5000 feet up."

From four to six eggs are laid, and in regard to this Shrike I have had no reason to think that it rears more than one brood in the year.

Major Wardlaw Ramsay say says, writing of Afghanistan:--"I found a great many nests in May and June. The first (27th May) was situated in the centre of a dense thorny creeper, and contained six eggs, white, faintly washed with pale green, and spotted and blotched with purplish stone-colour and pale brown. The nest was composed of green grass, moss, cotton-wool, thistle-down, rags, cows' hair, mules' hair, shreds of juniper-bark, &c., &c. Other nests were found in willows by the river-bank and in apricot-trees. In a large orchard at Shalofyan, in the Kurrum valley, I found three nests within a few yards of one another."

Major C.T. Bingham writes:--"I have only found one nest of this Shrike, which is, however, common enough both at Allahabad and at Delhi. This nest I found on the 3rd June in the Nicholson gardens at Delhi. It was placed high up in the fork of a babool tree, and though more straggling and loosely built was very like that of _L. lahtora_; the two eggs it contained, except that they are a trifle smaller, are very like those of _L. lahtora_"

Colonel Butler has furnished me with the following note:--The Rufous-backed Shrike commences nidification at Mt. Aboo about the end of May. I took a nest on the 11th June containing five fresh eggs. It was placed in the fork of one of the outer branches of a mango-tree about 15 feet, from the ground. The hen bird sat very close, allowing the native I sent up the tree to put his hand almost on to her back before she moved, and then she only flew to a bough close by, remaining there chattering and scolding angrily the whole time the nest was being robbed. The nest, which is coarse and somewhat large for the size of the bird, is composed externally of dry grass-roots, twigs, rags, raw cotton, string, and other miscellaneous articles all woven together. The interior is neatly lined with dry grass and horsehair. The eggs, five in number, are of a pale greenish-white colour, spotted all over with olivaceous inky-brown spots and specks, increasing in size and forming a zone at the large end. They vary much in shape, some being pyriform, and others blunt and similar in shape at both ends. I took another nest on the 19th June near the same place containing five fresh eggs, similar in every respect to the one already described, except that it was built on a thorn-tree about 10 feet from the ground. I took a nest at Deesa on the 8th July, 1875, containing four fresh eggs; these eggs are smaller and rounder than those from Aboo, and the blotches are larger and more distinct. The same pair of birds built another nest a few days later, on 18th July, within ten yards of the tree from which the other nest was taken, laying five eggs.

"I found other nests at Deesa on the following dates:--

"July 2nd. A nest containing 4 incubated eggs.
" 7th. " " 2 fresh eggs.
" 8th. " " 4 "
" 9th. " " 2 "
" 10th. " " 5 "
" 10th. " " 4 "
Aug. 9th. " " 3 "

"I found many other nests in the same neighbourhood containing young birds during the last week of July."

Regarding the Rufous-backed Shrike, Mr. Benjamin Aitken has sent me the subjoined interesting note:--"This Shrike makes its appearance in Bombay regularly during the last week of September, and announces its arrival by loud cries for the first few days, till it has made itself at home in the new neighbourhood; after which it spends nearly the whole of its days on a favourite perch, darting down on every insect that appears within a radius of thirty yards. It pursues this occupation with a system and perseverance to which _L. lahtora_ makes but a small approach. When its stomach is full, it enlivens the weary hours with the nearest semblance to a song of which its vocal organs are capable; for while many human bipeds have a good voice but no ear, the _L. erythronotus_ has an excellent ear but a voice that no modulation will make tolerable. It remains in Bombay till towards the end of February, and then suddenly becomes restless and quarrelsome, making as much ado as the _Koel_ in June, and then taking its departure, for what part of the world I do not know. This I know, that from March to August there is never a Rufous-backed Shrike in Bombay.

"The Rufous-backed Shrike, though not so large as the Grey Shrike, is a much bolder and fiercer bird. It will come down at once to a cage of small birds exposed at a window, and I once had an Amadavat killed and partly eaten through the wires by one of these Shrikes, which I saw in the act with my own eyes. The next day I caught the Shrike in a large basket which I set over the cage of Amadavats. On another occasion I exposed a rat in a cage for the purpose of attracting a Hawk, and in a few minutes found a _L. erythronotus_ fiercely attacking the cage on all sides. I once caught one alive and kept it for some time. As soon as it found itself safely enclosed in the cage, it scorned to show any fear, and the third day took food from my hand. It was very fond of bathing, and was a handsome and interesting pet."

Messrs. Davidson and Wenden remark:--"Very common in Satara; breeding freely in beginning of the rains; observed at Lanoli. Bare in the Sholapoor District and does not appear to breed there." And the former gentleman, writing of Western Khandeish, says:--"A few pairs breed about Dhulia in June and July."

Mr. C.J.W. Taylor records the following note from Manzeerabad in Mysore:--"Plentiful all over the district. Breeding in May; eggs taken on the 7th."

I have so fully described the eggs of _L. lahtora_, of which the eggs of this present species are almost miniatures, that I need say but little in regard to these. On the whole, the markings in this species are, I think, feebler and less numerous than in _L. lahtora_; and though this would not strike one in the comparison of a few eggs in each, it is apparent enough when several hundreds of each are laid side by side, four or five abreast, in broad parallel rows. The ground-colour, too, in the egg of _L. erythronotus_ has seldom, if ever, as much green in it, and has commonly more of the pale creamy or pinky stone-colour than in the case of _L. lahtora_.

In size the eggs of _L. erythronotus_ appear to approach those of the English Red-backed Shrike, though they average perhaps somewhat smaller.

In length they vary from 0·85 to 1·05 inch, and in breadth from 0·65 to 0·77 inch, but the average of more than one hundred eggs measured is 0·92 by 0·71 inch.

_Lanius caniceps_.

This closely allied species, the Pale Rufous-backed Shrike, breeds only, so far as I yet know, in the Nilghiris, Palanis, &c.

It lays from March to July, the majority, I think, breeding in June.

Its nest is very similar and is similarly placed to that of the preceding, from which, if it differs at all, it only differs in being somewhat smaller.

It lays from four to six eggs, slightly more elongated ovals than those of _L. erythronotus_, taken as a body, but not, in my opinion, separable from these when mixed with a large number.

Captain Hutton, however, does not concur in this: he remarks:--"This species, which is very common in Afghanistan, occurs also in the Doon and on the hills up to about 6000 feet. At Jeripanee I took a nest on the 21st June containing five eggs, of a pale livid white colour, sprinkled with brown spots, chiefly collected at the larger end, where, however, they cannot be said to form a ring; interspersed with these are other dull sepia spots appearing beneath the shell. Diameter 0·94 by 0·69 inch, or in some rather more. Shape rather tapering ovate.

"The differences perceptible between this and the last are the much smaller size of the spots and blotches, the latter, indeed, scarcely existing, while in _L. erythronotus_ they are large and numerous; there is great difference likewise in the shape of the egg, those of the present species being less globular or more tapering. The nest was found in a thick bush about 5 feet from the ground, and was far more neatly made than that of the foregoing species; it is likewise less deep internally. It was composed of the dry stalks of 'forget-me-not,' compactly held together by the intermixture of a quantity of moss interwoven with fine flax and seed-down, and lined with fine grass-stalks. Internal diameter 3½ inches; external 6 inches; depth 1½ inch, forming a flattish cup, of which the sides are about 1½ inch thick. The depth, therefore, is less by 1 inch than in that of the last-mentioned nest."

Mr. H.R.P. Carter tells me that "at Coonoor, on the Nilghiris, this species breeds in April and May, placing its nest in large shrubs, orange-trees, and other low trees which are thick and leafy. The nest is externally irregular in shape, and is composed of fibres and roots mixed with cotton-wool and rags; in one nest I found a piece of lace, 6 or 8 inches long; internally it is a deep cup, some 4 inches in diameter and 2 in depth. The eggs are sometimes three in number, sometimes four."

Mr. Wait says that "the breeding-season extends from March to July in the Nilghiris; the nest, cup-shaped and neatly built, is placed in low trees, shrubs, and bushes, generally thorny ones; the outside of the nest is chiefly composed of weeds (a white downy species is invariably present), fibres, and hay, and it is lined with grass and hair; there is often a good deal of earth built in, with roots and fibres in the foundation of this nest; four appears to be the usual number of eggs laid."

Miss Cockburn, from Kotagherry, also on the Nilghiris, tells me that "the Pale Rufous-backed Shrike builds in the months of February and March and forms a large nest, the foundation of which is occasionally laid with large pieces of rags, or (as I have once or twice found) pieces of carpet. To these they add sticks, moss, and fine grass as a lining, and lay four eggs, which are white, but have a circle of ash-coloured streaks and blotches at the thick end, resembling those on Flycatchers' eggs. They are exceedingly watchful of their nests while they contain eggs or young, and never go out of sight of the bush which contains the precious abode."

Mr. Davison remarks that "this species builds in bushes or trees at about 6 to 20 feet from the ground: a thorny thick bush is generally preferred, _Berberis asiatica_ being a favourite. The nest is a large deep cup-shaped structure, rather neatly made of grass, mingled with odd pieces of rag, paper, &c., and lined with fine grass. The eggs, four or five in number, are white, spotted with blackish brown, chiefly at the thicker end, where the spots generally form a zone. The usual breeding-season is May and the early part of June, though sometimes nests are found in April and even as late as the last week in June, by which time the south-west monsoon has generally burst on the Nilghiris."

Dr. Fairbank writes:--"This bird lives through the year on the Palanis and breeds there. I found a nest with five eggs when there in 1867, but have not the notes then made about it."

Captain Horace Terry informs us that this Shrike is a most common bird in the Palani hills, found everywhere and breeding freely.

Mr. H. Parker, writing from Ceylon, says:--"A pair of these Shrikes reared three clutches of young in my compound (two of them out of one nest) from December to May, inclusive; but this must be abnormal breeding."

Colonel Legge writes in his 'Birds of Ceylon':--"This bird breeds in the Jaffna district and on the north-west coast from February until May. Mr. Holdsworth found its nest in a thorn-bush about 6 feet high, near the compound of his bungalow, in the beginning of February.... Layard speaks of the young being fledged in June at Point Pedro, and says that it builds in _Euphorbia_-trees in that district."

The eggs of this species, sent me by Captain Hutton from the Doon and by numerous correspondents from the Nilghiris, are indistinguishable from many types of _L. erythronotus_, and indeed the birds are so closely allied that this was only to be expected. It is unnecessary to describe these at length, as my description of the eggs of _L. erythronotus_ applies equally to these.

In size the eggs, however, vary less and _average_ longer than those of this latter species. In length they range from 0·93 to 1 inch, and in breadth from 0·7 to 0·72 inch, but the average of twenty was 0·95 by 0·7 inch.

477. Lanius tephronotus (Vigors). _The Grey-backed Shrike_.

Lanius tephronotus (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 403. Collyrio tephronotus, _Vigors, Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 258.

As far as I yet know, the Grey-backed Shrike breeds, within our limits, only in the Himalayas, and chiefly in the interior, at heights of from 5000 to 8000 feet above the sea-level. In the interior of Sikhim, in the Sutlej Valley near Chini, in Lahoul, and well up the valley of the Beas, they are pretty common during the summer; they lay from May to July, and the young are about by the end of July or the early part of August. I have never seen a nest, although I have had eggs and birds sent me from both Sikhim and the Sutlej Valley. There were only two eggs in each case, but doubtless, like other Shrikes, they lay from four to six.

Mr. Blanford remarks that _L. tephronotus_ was "common at Láchung, in Sikhim, 8000 to 9000 feet, in the beginning of September, but three weeks later all had disappeared. Many of those seen were in young plumage, with hair on the breast, back, and scapulars."

Colonel C.H.T. Marshall records from Murree:--"This species much resembles _L. erythronotus_, but the eggs differ considerably, being more creamy white, blotched and spotted (more particularly at the larger end) with pale red and grey. They are the same size as those of the preceding species. Lays in the beginning of July at the same elevation as _L. erythronotus_."

As to the size I cannot concur with the above.

Colonel Marshall has since kindly sent me two of the eggs above referred to; they are clearly, it seems to me, eggs of _Dicrurus longicaudatus_, or the slightly smaller hill-form named _himalayanus_, Tytler.

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writes:--"A nest found at about three feet from the ground in a thick bush at Bheem Tal, at the edge of the lake, contained five fresh eggs on the 28th May: the nest was a coarsely built massive cup; the eggs were about the same size as those of _L. erythronotus_, but the spots were larger and less closely gathered than is usual with that species."

Dr. Scully says:--"The Grey-backed Shrike is common in the Valley of Nepal from about the end of September to the middle of March; it is the only Shrike found in the Valley during the winter season, but it migrates further north to breed. In December it was fairly common about Chitlang, which is higher than Kathmandu, but seemed to be entirely replaced in the Hetoura Dun by _L. nigriceps_. It frequents gardens, groves, and cultivated ground, perching on bushes and hedges and small bare trees. It has a very harsh chattering note, louder than that of _L. nigriceps_, and appears to be most noisy towards sunset, when its cry would often lead one to suppose that the bird was being strangled in the clutches of a raptor."

Mr. O. Möller has kindly furnished me with the following note:--"On the 7th June, 1879, my men brought a nest containing four fresh eggs, together with a bird of the present species; I send two of the eggs: perhaps you recollect the eggs of _L. tephronotus_, in which case you of course will be able to see at a glance if I am correct. I have never come across such large eggs of _L. nigriceps_, the eggs of which also as a rule have well-defined spots and no blotches; the two other eggs the nest contained measure 1 by 0·74, and 1·01 by 0·76 inch."

The eggs of this species are of the ordinary Shrike type, moderately elongated ovals, a little compressed towards the small end. The shell extremely smooth and compact, but with scarcely any perceptible gloss. The ground-colour pale greenish or yellowish white; the markings chiefly confined to a broad irregular ill-defined zone round the large end--blotches, spots, specks, and smears of pale yellowish brown more or less intermingled with small clouds and spots of pale sepia-grey or inky purple. In some eggs a good number of the smaller markings and occasionally one or two larger ones are scattered over the entire surface of the egg, but typically the bulk of the markings are comprised within the zone above referred to.

In length four eggs vary from 0·97 to 1·06 inch, and in breadth from 0·76 to 0·81 inch.

481. Lanius cristatus, Linn. _The Brown Shrike_.

Lanius cristatus, _Linn., Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 406: _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 261.

I am induced to notice this species, the Brown Shrike, although I possess no detailed information as to its nidification, in consequence of Lord Walden's remarks on this subject in 'The Ibis' of 1867. He says "Does it, then, cross the vast ranges of the Himalaya in its northern migration? or does it not rather find on the southern slopes and in the valleys of those mountains all the conditions suitable for nesting?"; and he adds in a note, "It is extremely doubtful whether any passerine bird which frequents the plains of India during the cooler months crosses to the north of the snowy ranges of the Himalaya after quitting the plains to escape the rainy season or the intense heat of summer."

Now, it is quite certain, as I have shown in 'Lahore to Yarkand,' that several of our Indian passerine birds do cross the entire succession of Snowy Ranges which divide the plains of India from Central Asia, and it is tolerably certain from my researches and those of numerous contributors that _L. cristatus_ breeds _only_ north of these ranges. True, Tickell gives the following account of the nidification of this species in the plains of India:--

"Nest found in large bushes or thickets, shallow, circular, 4 inches in diameter, rather coarsely made of fine twigs and grass. Eggs three, ordinary; 29/32 by 21/32: pale rose-colour, thickly sprinkled with blood-red spots, with a darkish livid zone at the larger end.--_June_." But Tickell, though he warns us at the commencement of his paper (Journal As. Soc. 1848, p. 297) of the "attempts at duplicity of which the wary oologist must take good heed," gives the egg of the Sarus as plain white, and says he has seen upwards of a dozen like this, those of the Roller as full deep Antwerp blue, those of _Cypselus palmarum_ as white with large spots of deep claret-brown, and so on, and it is quite clear that his supposed eggs and nest of _L. cristatus_ belonged to one of the Bulbuls.

Of more than fifty oologists who have collected for me at different times in hills and plains, from the Nilghiris to Huzára on the one side, and to Sikhim on the other, not one has ever met with a nest of _L. cristatus_. This is doubtless purely negative evidence, but it is still entitled to considerable weight.

From the valleys of the Beas and the Sutlej, as also from Kumaon and Gurhwal, these Shrikes seem to disappear entirely during the summer, and they are then, as we also know, found breeding in Yarkand. It is only in the latter part of the autumn that they reappear in the former named localities, finding their way by the commencement of the cold season to the foot of the hills.

Mr. R. Thompson, to quote one of many close observers, remarks:--"This bird appears regularly at Huldwanee and Rumnugger at the foot of the Kumaon Hills during the cold weather, confining itself to thick hedges and deep groves of trees. Where it goes to in summer I cannot say, it certainly does not remain in our hills."

484. Hemipus picatus (Sykes). _The Black-backed Pied Shrike_.

Hemipus picatus (_Sykes_), _Jerd. B. Ind._ i, p. 412; _Hume, Rough Draft_ _N. & E._ no 267.

I quite agree with Mr. Gray that this bird is a Flycatcher and not a Shrike; no one in fact who has watched it in life can have any doubt on this subject; but yet, except for their being more strongly marked, its eggs have no doubt a very Shrike-like character, at the same time that they exhibit many affinities to those of _Rhipidura albifrontata_ and other undoubted Flycatchers.

Mr. W. Davison says:--"About the first week in March 1871, I found at Ootacamund a nest of this bird placed in the fork of one of the topmost branches of a rather tall _Berberis leschenaulti_. For the size of the bird this was an exceedingly small shallow nest, and from its position between the fork, its size, and the materials of which it was composed externally, might very easily have passed unnoticed; the bird sitting on it appeared to be sitting only on a small lump of moss and lichen, the whole of the bird's tail, and as low down as the lower part of the breast, being visible. The nest was composed of grass and fine roots covered externally with cobweb and pieces of a grey lichen, and bits of moss taken apparently from the same tree on which the nest was built: the eggs were three in number. The tree on which this nest was built was opposite my window, and I watched the birds building for nearly a week; and, again, when having the nest taken, the birds sat till the native lad I had sent up put out his hand to take the nest. I am _absolutely_ certain, as to the identity of this nest and these eggs."

The eggs brought me by Mr. Davison, of the authenticity of which he is positive, are very Shrike-like in their appearance; they are rather elongated ovals, somewhat obtuse at both ends, and entirely devoid of gloss. The ground-colour is a pale greenish or greyish white, and they are profusely blotched, spotted, and streaked with darker and lighter shades of umber-brown; in both eggs these markings are more or less confluent along a broad zone, which in one egg encircles the larger, in the other the smaller end: these eggs measure 0·7 by 0·5 inch and 0·69 by 0·49 inch.

Captain Horace Terry writes from the Palani Hills:--"Pittur Valley. I had a nest brought me which from the description of the bird must, I think, have belonged to this species. Nest rather a shallow cup placed in a thorny tree about ten feet from the ground, neatly made of grass and moss, lined with fine grass and a few feathers, covered a great deal on the outside with dusky-coloured cobwebs, 2·5 inches across and 1·5 inch deep inside, and 3·25 inches to 3·5 inches across, and 2·25 inches deep outside: contained five very much incubated eggs; shape and marking exactly like those of _L. caniceps_, having a well-defined zone round the larger end; size about the same or rather smaller than those of _Pratincola bicolor_."

485. Hemipus capitalis (McClelland). _The Brown-backed Pied Shrike_.

Hemipus capitalis (_McClell._), _Hume, cat._ no. 267 A.

I must premise that to the best of my belief there is no such thing as _H. capitalis_, McClell., in India, or, in other words, that this latter name is a mere synonym of _H. picatus_.[A]

[Footnote A: Mr. Hume would probably now agree with me that _H. picatus_ and _H. capitalis_ are distinct species. _H. picatus_, however, is not confined to Southern India, but occurs along the Terais of Sikhim and Nepal, and throughout Burma. _H. capitalis_ occurs on the Himalayas from Gurwhal to Assam. There is little doubt that Captain Hutton's nest did not really belong to a Pied Shrike.--ED.]

Mr. Blyth remarks, Ibis, 1866:--"_Hemipus picatus_. Under this name two very distinct species are brought together by Dr. Jerdon: _H. capitalis_ (McClell., 1839; _H. picaecolor_, Hodgson, 1845) of the Himalaya, which is larger, with proportionally longer tail, and has a brown back; and _H. picatus_ (Sykes) of Southern India and Ceylon, which has a black back. Mr. Wallace has good series of both of them.

"_Hemipus capitalis_ has accordingly to be added to the birds of India."

Now, out of India, Mr. Wallace may have got hold of some brown-backed _Hemipus_, which is really distinct, but nothing is more certain (I speak after comparison of a large series from Southern India with a still larger, gathered from all parts of the Himalayas) than that the Southern and Northern Indian birds are identical, and that in both localities the males have black and the females brown backs.

Capt. T. Hutton says:--"On the 12th of May I procured a nest of this bird in the Dehra Doon; it was placed on the ground at the base of an overhanging rock, and was composed entirely of the hair of horses and cows and other cattle, which had doubtless been collected from the bushes and pasture-lands in the vicinity. There were four eggs of a pale sea-green, spotted with rufous-brown, and forming an indistinct and nearly confluent ring at the larger end. The bird had begun to sit.

"This curious little species is not uncommon in the outer hills up to 5000 feet in the summer months."

The three eggs sent me by Captain Hutton appear to differ somewhat conspicuously from any other eggs of the _Laniidae_ that I have yet seen. The ground-colour is a very pale greenish white, and they are moderately thickly freckled and mottled all over, but most densely towards the large end (where, in one egg, there is a well-marked, though somewhat irregular, zone), with pale brownish pink and very pale purple. In shape the eggs are very regular, rather broad ovals, and appear to have but little or no gloss. They vary in length from 0·66 to 0·7 inch, and in breadth from 0·53 to 0·55 inch.

Dr. Jerdon's evidence, so far as it goes, tallies with Captain Hutton's account. He says:--"I obtained its nest once at Darjeeling, made of roots and grasses, with three greenish-white eggs, having a few rusty-red spots."

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"At page 178 of 'Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds' (Rough Draft), Captain T. Hutton's description of the nest and eggs of _Hemipus picatus_ is given, and at page 179 that of Mr. W. Davison. The two descriptions differ so radically that, as there remarked, one of the two must be in error. Permit me to record my limited experience of the nesting of this bird.