Chapter IV: Part 4

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"In the first week of June I found a nest in low jungle, at 2000 feet, containing four greenish-blue eggs, but, as I did not see the bird, left it until my return a week later. I then saw the female, but in the interval the young had been hatched. The nest closely resembled that of _D. caerulatus_ [p. 46], both in shape and composition, and was similarly situated between several upright slender shoots to which it was firmly attached. It was, however, within five feet of the ground, which is lower by 5 feet or so than _D. caerulatus_ generally builds.

"I have found this species breeding from April to June, up to elevations not much exceeding 2500 feet. It affects the low, dense scrub growing in moist situations, and usually fixes its nest between several upright sprays, within 5 or 6 feet of the ground. The nest is cup-shaped, made of dry bamboo-leaves, intermixed with a very few pieces of climber-stems, and thickly lined with old leaf-stalks of some pinnate-leaved tree. Externally it measures about 5·5 inches in diameter by 4 in height; internally 3·5 by 2·75.

"The eggs are four or five in number."

Mr. Oates writes:--"On the 27th April I shot a female in the Pegu Hills off her nest. This latter contained one young one, and one deformed egg, which unfortunately got broken; colour a deep blue. The nest was placed in a small seedling bamboo about 6 feet from the ground at a joint where a number of small twigs shot out, inverted umbrella fashion. The nest in every respect closely resembled that of _G. pectoralis_."

He subsequently remarked:--"Breeds in Lower Pegu chiefly in July. Average of six eggs, 1·16 by ·88; colour, very glossy deep blue. Nest placed in forks of saplings within reach of the hand, massive, cup-shaped, and made of dead leaves and small branches; lined with fine twigs. Outside diameter 7 inches and depth 4; interior 4¼ by 2."

A nest found below Darjeeling in the first week of June on the branch of a good-sized tree, at a height of 12 feet from the ground, was similar to that described by Mr. Gammie, and contained a single fresh egg. This is a moderately broad oval, somewhat pointed towards the small end, and exhibits very little gloss. It is of precisely the same colour as those of the preceding species, but measures only 1·2 in length by 0·9 in breadth.

Writing from Tenasserim, Major C.T. Bingham says:--"Between the 25th March and 28th April I found at least twenty nests of this bird. They were broad, shallow cups of roots and twigs, lined with fine black grass-roots, and placed at heights varying from 4 to 10 feet above the ground, invariably in the forks of low bamboo. The number of eggs varied from 3 to 5; blue in colour, and fairly glossy."

Numerous nests from Sikhim, Pegu, and Tenasserim are all of precisely the same type as described by Mr. Gammie; but some are fully 7 inches in external diameter, and in several the cavity is at least 4 inches in diameter.

The eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie vary very much in size and shape, and somewhat in colour. Some are considerably elongated ovals, with a marked pyriform tendency. Others are particularly broad ovals for this class of egg. The shell is fine and compact, and as a rule they seem to have a fine gloss; but one or two specimens almost want this. In colour they are a pale, clear, slightly greenish blue, unspotted and unmarked. In length they vary from 1·01 to 1·13, and in breadth from 0·81 to 0·9, but the average of thirteen is 1·07 by 0·85.

76. Garrulax albigularis (Gould). _The White-throated Laughing-Thrush_.

Garrulax albogularis (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p, 38; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 411.

The White-throated Laughing-Thrush breeds throughout the lower southern ranges of the Himalayas from Assam to Afghanistan at elevations of from 4000 to nearly 8000 feet. They lay from the commencement of April to the end of June. The nest varies in shape from a moderately deep cup to a broad shallow saucer, and from 5 to 7 or even 8 inches in external diameter, and from less than 2 to nearly 4 inches in depth internally. Coarse grass, flags, creepers, dead leaves, moss, moss- and grass-roots, all at times enter more or less largely into the composition of the nest, which, though sometimes wholly unlined, is often neatly cushioned with red and black fern and moss-roots. The nests are placed in small bushes, shrubs, or trees, at heights of from 3 to 10 feet, sometimes in forks, but more often, I think, on low horizontal branches, between two or three upright shoots.

Three is, I think, the regular complement of eggs, and this is the number I have always found when the eggs were much incubated. I have not myself observed that this species breeds in company, nor can I ever remember to have taken two nests within 100 yards of each other.

Captain Hutton remarks:--"This is very common in Mussoorie at all seasons, and congregates into large and noisy flocks, turning up the dead leaves, and screaming and chattering together in most discordant concert. It breeds in April and May, placing the nest in the forks of young oaks and other trees, about 7 or 8 feet from the ground, though sometimes higher, and fastening the sides of it firmly to the supporting twigs by tendrils of climbing-plants. It is sometimes composed externally almost entirely of such woody tendrils, intermixed with a few other twigs, and lined with black hair-like fibres of mosses and lichens; at other times it is externally composed of coarse dry grasses and leaves of different kinds of orchids, and lined with fibres, the materials varying with the locality. The eggs are of a deep and beautiful green, shining as if recently varnished, and three in number. In shape they taper somewhat suddenly to the smaller end, which may almost be termed obtusely pointed. The size 1·19 by 0·87 inch. The usual number of eggs is three, though sometimes only one or two are found; but only on one occasion out of more than a dozen nests have I found four eggs. The old bird will remain on the nest until within reach of the hand."

From Murree, Colonel C.H.T. Marshall writes:--"This was the most beautiful egg taken this season, being of a rich, deep, glossy, greenish-blue colour. The nest is composed of fresh ivy-twigs, with the leaves attached, tightly woven together. The birds breed on small trees, not high up, at the end of a branch. While their nests were being examined, they came round in flocks to see what was happening, chattering and making that peculiar laughing note from which this genus takes its name. They are even gregarious in the breeding-season, and all the nests were found pretty near each other about 6000 feet up."

The nest sent me by Colonel Marshall is a broad, shallow cup, or saucer as I should perhaps call it, some 6 inches in diameter, with a central depression of at most 1·5 inch, below which the nest is an inch or 1·5 in thickness. It is very loosely put together, and composed interiorly of moderately fine dry twigs and roots, but exteriorly it is completely wound round with slender green ivy-twigs to which the leaves are attached. It has no lining or pretence for such.

Captain Cock says:--"The White-throated Laughing-Thrush lays one of the most lovely eggs with which I am acquainted. The nest is usually low, never more than 10 feet or so from the ground; and of some fifteen or more nests that I have taken, all were constructed of long stalks of the ground-ivy, twisted round and round into a wreath. The nest is not a deep cup; if anything it is rather shallow, but it is very wide. I always found these nests in thick forest, at high elevations from 6000 to 7000 feet. The birds used to sit close, and when put off their nests would commence their outcries, and from all parts they would assemble and flit about almost within reach of one's hand, making an awful noise, and in the dark shade of the forest their white gorgets had quite a ghostly look. The eggs are always three in number, of a beautiful shining blue-green, sometimes of a very long oval type. I have found the nests at Murree from the 3rd May to quite the end of June."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall writing of this species says:--"A nest found at Nynee Tal on Ayar Pata, about 7000 feet above the sea, contained two fresh eggs on the 31st May. The eggs were of a rich deep greenish blue, unspotted. The nest was a scanty and loosely-built structure, composed of roots and stems of grass and creepers, cup-shaped, rather shallow, and lined with a curious black creeper, very like coarse hair. The birds were gregarious even though breeding, and were moving about the underwood in parties of three to five. The nest was near the top of an oak-sapling in a dense coppice, placed close against the stem in a bunch of leaves at the top. The only difficulty in finding it lay in the scantiness of the structure rather than in the concealment by the foliage. The bird was on the nest and only moved off about 3 feet, sitting close by and chattering indignantly during my inspection. They are noisy birds, constantly on the move, and their notes, though rather harsh, are very varied and quite _conversational_."

The eggs are long, and pointed at the small end, to which they sometimes taper much. They are very glossy, and vary from a deep dull blue (the blue of a dark oil-paint, very much deeper than that of any other of the Crateropodinae with which I am acquainted) to a deep intense greenish blue. Possibly other as deeply coloured eggs occur in this family, but I have seen none like them. They are of course entirely unspotted.

In length they vary from 1·16 to 1·25, and in breadth from 0·8 to 0·86; but the average of some twenty eggs measured is 1·22 by 0·83.

78. Ianthocincla ocellata (Vig.). _The White-spotted Laughing-Thrush_.

Garrulax ocellatus (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 41; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 414.

I know nothing personally of the nidification of the White-spotted Laughing-Thrush, which breeds nowhere, so far as I know, west of Nepal, but I had a nest with a couple of eggs and one of the parent-birds sent me from Darjeeling. The nest was taken in May in one of the low warm valleys leading to the Great Runjeet, and is said to have been placed close to the ground in a thick clump of fern and grass. The nest is chiefly composed of these, intermingled with moss and roots, and is a large loose structure some 7 inches in diameter.

Mr. Blyth remarked in 'The Ibis' (1867) that this species was "surely a _Trochalopteron_ rather than a _Garrulax_," and the eggs seem to confirm this view. These are long, cylindrical ovals, very obtuse even at the smaller end. They are about the same size as those of _Garrulax albigularis_, with a very delicate pale blue ground and little or no gloss. One egg is spotless; the other has a few chocolate-brown specks or spots towards the large end. They measure 1·18 by 0·86 and 1·25 by 0·85.

80. Ianthocincla rufigularis, Gould. _The Rufous-chinned Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron rufogulare (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 47; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 421.

Common as this species is about Simla, I have never yet secured the nest, and know nothing certain about the eggs.

Captain Hutton says:--"This species appears usually in pairs, sometimes in a family of four or five. It breeds in May, in which month I took a nest, at about 6500 feet elevation, in a retired and wooded glen; it was composed of small twigs externally and lined with the fine black fibres of lichens. The nest was placed on a horizontal bough, about 7 feet from the ground, and contained three pure white eggs. Size 1·12 by 0·69; shape ordinary. The stomach of the old bird contained sand, seed, and the remains of wasps."

One egg that I possess of this species I owe to Captain Hutton, and it is of the _Pomatorhinus_ type--a long oval, slightly pointed pure white egg, with but little gloss, measuring 1·08 by 0·75.

From Sikhim a nest, said to belong to this species, has been recently sent me. It was found below Darjeeling in July, and was placed in a double fork of the branchlets of a medium-sized tree. It is a moderately deep cup, composed almost entirely of dry, coarser and finer, tendrils of creepers, and is lined with a some black moss-roots and a few scraps of dead leaves. It contained three fresh eggs.

Numerous nests of this species subsequently sent me from Sikhim are all of the same type, all moderately deep cups composed entirely of creeper-tendrils, the cavity only being lined with fine black roots. They appear from the specimens before me to be quite _sui generis_ and unlike those of any of its congeners. No grass, no dead leaves, no moss seems to be employed; nothing but the tendrils of some creeper. The nests appear to be always placed at the fork, where three, four, or more shoots diverge, and to be generally more or less like inverted cones, measuring say 4 to 5 inches in height, and about the same in breadth at the top, while the cavities are about 3 inches in diameter and 1·5 to 2 in depth. The nests appear to have been found at very varying heights from the ground from 5 to 15 feet, and at elevations of from 3000 to 5000 feet. They appear to have contained three fresh or more or less incubated eggs.

The eggs were found in Sikhim on different dates between 25th May and 8th September.

Exceptional as the coloration of the eggs of this species may seem, there is no doubt that they are pure white. The shell is thin and fragile, but has generally a decided gloss, and the eggs are typically elongated ovals, obtuse-ended, and more or less pyriform or cylindrical. The eggs vary from 0·92 to 1·13 in length, and from 0·75 to 0·8 in breadth, but the average of eleven eggs is 1·06 by 0·77 nearly.

82. Trochalopterum erythrocephalum (Vig.). _The Red-headed Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron erythrocephalum (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 43; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 415.

From Kumaon westwards, at any rate as far as the valley of the Beas, the Red-headed Laughing-Thrush is, next to _T. lineatum_, the most common species of the genus. It lays in May and June, at elevations of from 4000 to 7000 feet, building on low branches of trees, at a height of from 3 to 10 feet from, the ground.

The nests are composed chiefly of dead leaves bound round into a deep cup with delicate fronds of ferns and coarse and fine grass, the cavities being scantily lined with fine grass and moss-roots. It is difficult by any description to convey an adequate idea of the beauty of some of these nests--the deep red-brown of the withered ferns, the black of the grass- and moss-roots, the pale yellow of the broad flaggy grass, and the straw-yellow of some of the finer grass-stems, all blended together into an artistic wreath, in the centre of which the beautiful sky-blue and maroon-spotted eggs repose. Externally the nests may average about 6 inches in diameter, but the egg-cavity is comparatively large and very regular, measuring about 3½ inches across and fully 2¼ inches in depth. Some nests of course are less regular and artistic in their appearance, but, as a rule, those of this species are particularly beautiful.

The eggs vary from two to four in number.

Sir E.C. Buck sent me the following note:--

"I found a nest of this species near Narkunda (about 30 miles north of Simla) on the 26th June. It was placed on the branch of a banj tree, some 8 feet from the ground, and contained two eggs, half set. Nest and eggs forwarded."

Dr. Jerdon says that Shore, as quoted by Gould in his 'Century,' says that "it is by no means uncommon in Kumaon, where it frequents shady ravines, building in hollows and their precipitous sides, and making its nest of small sticks and grasses, the eggs being five in number, of a sky-blue colour." But Shore, as the showman would say, is, so far as eggs and nests are concerned, "a fabulous writer," and the eggs are always more or less spotted, and no nest that I ever saw of this species was composed of "small sticks."

Mr. Blyth says:--"Mr. Hodgson figures a green egg, spotted much like that of _Turdus musicus_, as that of the present species;" but in all Hodgson's drawings this _green_ represents a _greenish blue_, as I have tested in dozens of cases.

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall remarks:--"I found a nest of this species on the 15th May at Nynee Tal on the top of Ayar Pata, at an elevation of about 7500 feet above the sea. The nest was a rather deep cup, neatly made and placed about 5 feet from the ground amongst the outer twigs of a thick barberry bush, the leaves of which entirely concealed it. It was composed of a thick layer of dead oak- and rhododendron-leaves, bound round outside with just enough of grass-stems and moss to keep the leaves in place; it had no lining of any description. The egg-cavity was 3½ inches broad by nearly 2½ inches deep. The eggs, two in number, were blue, with a few spots, streaks, and scrawls of brown tending to form a zone at the larger end. They were large for the size of the bird. The ground-colour was like that of the eggs of a Song-Thrush in England.

"Several more nests found subsequently with eggs up to 4th June were similar in structure, but placed in small oak trees from 5 to 15 or 18 feet from the ground.

"I found a nest of this species containing a single hard-set egg on the 17th August; both parent-birds were by the nest; this is unusually late, the chief breeding-month being June."

The eggs are very long ovals, of a delicate pale greenish-blue ground-colour, with a few spots, streaks, and streaky blotches of a very rich though slightly brownish red at the large end. These eggs, though somewhat longer in shape and less freely marked, are exactly of the same type as those of _T. cachinnans_ and _T. variegatum_. The texture of the shell is very fine and compact, and they have a slight gloss. In some eggs the spottings are more numerous, and, besides the primary markings already mentioned, a few purple spots and blotches, mostly very pale, are intermingled with the darker markings. In almost all the eggs that I have seen the markings were absolutely confined to the larger end.

In length the eggs vary from 1·15 to 1·22, and in breadth from 0·8 to 0·86; but the average is about 1·2 by 0·82.

85. Trochalopterum nigrimentum, Hodgs. _The Western Yellow-winged Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron chrysopterum (_Gould), apud Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 43; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 416.

The Western Yellow-winged Laughing-Thrush breeds, so far as is yet known, only in Nepal, Sikhim, and Bhootan, from all which localities we have quite young birds, but no eggs.

Dr. Jerdon says:--"The eggs are greenish blue, in a nest neatly made with roots and moss." This, of course, is wrong, as the eggs are now well known to be spotted.

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"The Yellow-winged Laughing-Thrush breeds from April to June at elevations from 5500 feet upwards. It prefers scrubby jungle, and places its nest in bushes about six feet or so from the ground. It is a broad, cup-shaped structure, neatly and strongly made of fine twigs and dry grass-leaves, lined with roots and with a few strings of green moss wound round the outside. Externally, it measures about 6 inches wide, and 4½ deep; internally 3¼ by 2½.

"The eggs are usually three in number."

Six nests of this species found between the 4th May and 2nd July in Native and British Sikhim were sent me by Mr. Mandelli. They were placed in small trees or dense bushes at heights of from 3 to 8 feet, and contained in some cases two, and in others three fresh or fully incubated eggs, so that sometimes the bird only lays two eggs. Three nests were also sent me by Mr. Gammie, taken in the neighbourhood of the Sikhim Cinchona-Plantations. All are precisely of the same type, all constructed with the same materials, but owing to the different proportions in which these are used some of the nests at first sight seem to differ widely from others. Some also are a good deal bigger than others, but all are massive, deep cups, varying from 5·25 to 6·5 inches in diameter, and from 3 to fully 4 in height externally; the cavities vary from 3 to 3·5 in diameter, and from 2 to 2·5 in depth. The body of the nests is composed of grass; the cavity is lined first with dry leaves, and then thickly or thinly with black fibrous roots. Externally the nest is more or less bound together by creepers and stems of herbaceous plants. Sometimes only a few strings of moss and a few sprays of _Selaginella_ are to be seen on the outside of the nest; while, on the other hand, in some nests the entire outer surface is completely covered over with green moss, not only on the sides, but on the upper margin, so as to conceal completely the rest of the materials of the nest, and in all the nine nests before me the extent to which the moss is used varies.

The eggs of this species are typically somewhat elongated ovals, some are much pointed towards the small end, others are somewhat pyriform, and others again are subcylindrical. The shell is fine and soft, but has only a moderate amount of gloss. The ground-colour, which varies very little in shade, is a delicate pale, slightly greenish blue, almost precisely the same colour as that of _Trochalopterum erythrocephalum_. The eggs are sparingly (in fact, almost exclusively about the large end) marked with deep chocolate. These markings are in some spots and blotches, but in many assume the form of thicker or thinner hieroglyphic lines. As a rule, three fourths of the egg is spotless, occasionally a single speck or spot occurs towards the small end of the egg. One or two eggs are almost spotless. In length the eggs vary from 1·1 to 1·23, and in breadth from 0·73 to 0·87, but the average of sixteen eggs is 1·17 nearly by 0·82.

87. Trochalopterum phoeniceum (Gould). _The Crimson-winged Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron phoeniceum (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 48; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 422.

Mr. Gammie says:--"I have found altogether seven nests of the Crimson-winged Laughing-Thrush in and about Rishap, at elevations between 4000 and 5000 feet, and on various dates between the 4th and 23rd May. The locality chosen for the nest is in some moist forest amongst dense undergrowth. It is placed in shrubs, at heights of from 6 to 10 feet from the ground, and is generally suspended between several upright stems, to which it is firmly attached by fibres. It is chiefly composed of dry bamboo-leaves and a few twigs, and lined with black fibres and moss-roots. A few strings of moss are twisted round it externally to aid in concealing it. It is a moderately deep cup, measuring externally about 5 inches in diameter and 4 inches in height, and internally 3½ inches in width and 2 inches in depth.

"The eggs are almost always three in number, but occasionally only two. Of the seven nests taken by me, five contained eggs and two young birds."

The Crimson-winged Laughing-Thrush, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, breeds in Sikhim, at elevations of from 3000 to 5000 feet, during the months of April, May, and June. The nest is placed in the fork of some thick bush or small tree, where three or four sprays divide, at from 2 to 5 feet above the ground. The nest is a very deep compact cup. One measured _in situ_ was 4·5 inches in diameter and the same in height externally, while the cavity was 3 inches in diameter and 2·25 deep. It was very compact and was composed of dry leaves, creepers, grass-flowers, and vegetable fibres, more or less lined with moss-roots and coated externally with dry bamboo-leaves. They lay, we are told, three or four eggs.

Dr. Jerdon says:--"A nest and eggs said to be of this bird were brought to me at Darjeeling; the nest made of roots and grass, and the eggs, three in number, pale blue, with a few narrow and wavy dusky streaks."

The eggs are singularly lovely. In shape they are elongated ovals, generally very obtuse at both ends, and many of them exhibiting cylindrical or pyriform tendencies. The shell is very fine and fairly glossy, and the ground-colour is a most beautiful clear pale sea-green in some, greenish blue in others. The character of the markings is more that of the Buntings than of this family. There are a few strongly marked deep maroon, generally more or less angular, spots or dashes, principally about the large end, and there are a few spots and tiny clouds of pale soft purple, and then there are an infinite variety of hair-line hieroglyphics, twisted and scrawled in brownish or reddish purple, about the egg. The markings are nowhere as a rule crowded, and towards the small end are usually sparse and occasionally wholly wanting. In some eggs a bad pen seems to have been used to scribble the pattern, and every here and there instead of a fine hair-line there is a coarse thick one.

The eggs are pretty constant in size and colour, but here and there an abnormally pale specimen, in which the green has almost entirely disappeared, is met with. In length they vary from 0·98 to 1·15, and in breadth from 0·7 to 0·82, but the average of thirty-one eggs is 1·04 by 0·74.

88. Trochalopterum subunicolor, Hodgs. _The Plain-coloured Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron subunicolor, _Hodgs., Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 44; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 417.

The Olivaceous or Plain-coloured Laughing-Thrush breeds, according to Mr. Hodgson's notes, in the central region of Nepal from April to June. It nests in open forests and groves, building its nest on some low branch of a tree, 2 or 3 feet from the ground, between a number of twigs. The nest is large and cup-shaped: one measured externally 5·5 inches in diameter and 3·38 in height; internally 2·75 deep and 3·12 in diameter. The nest is composed externally of grass and mosses lined with soft bamboo-leaves. Three or four eggs are laid, unspotted greenish blue. One is figured as 1·07 by 0·7.

90. Trochalopterum variegatum (Vig.). _The Eastern Variegated Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron variegatum (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 45; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 418 (part).

The Eastern Variegated Laughing-Thrush breeds only at elevations of from 4000 to 7000 or 8000 feet, from Simla to Nepal, during the latter half of April, May, and June. The nest is a pretty compact, rather shallow cup, composed exteriorly of coarse grass, in which a few dead leaves are intermingled; it has no lining, but the interior is composed of rather finer and softer grass than the exterior, and a good number of dry needle-like fir-leaves are used towards the interior. It is from 5 to 8 inches in diameter exteriorly, and the cavity from 3 inches to 3·5 in diameter and about 2 inches deep. The nest is usually placed in some low, densely-foliaged branch of a tree, at say from 3 to 8 feet from the ground; but I recently obtained one placed in a thick tuft of grass, growing at the roots of a young Deodar, not above 6 inches from the ground. They lay four or five eggs.

The first egg that I obtained of this species, sent me by Sir E.C. Buck, C.S., and taken by himself near Narkunda, late in June, out of a nest containing two eggs and two young ones, was a nearly perfect, rather long oval, and precisely the same type of egg as those of _T. erythrocephalum_ and _T. cachinnans_, but considerably smaller than the former. The ground-colour is a pale, rather dingy greenish blue, and it is blotched, spotted, and speckled, almost exclusively at the larger end, and even there not very thickly, with reddish brown. The egg appeared to have but little gloss. Other eggs subsequently obtained by myself were very similar, but slightly larger and rather more thickly and boldly blotched, the majority of the markings being still at the large end.

The colour of the markings varies a good deal: a liver-red is perhaps the most common, but yellowish brown, pale purple, purplish red, and brownish red also occur. Here and there an egg is met with almost entirely devoid of markings, with perhaps only one moderately large spot and a dozen specks, and these so deep a red as to be all but black.

The eggs vary from 1·07 to 1·15 in length, and from 0·76 to 0·82 in breadth.

91. Trochalopterum simile, Hume. _The Western Variegated Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopterum simile, _Hume; Hume, Cat._ no. 418 bis.

Messrs. Cock and Marshall write from Murree:--"The nidification of this _Trochalopterum_ was apparently unknown before. We found one nest on the 15th June, about twenty feet up a spruce-fir at the extremity of the bough. Nest deep, cup-shaped, solidly built of grass, roots, and twigs; the bird sits close. Eggs light greenish blue, sparingly spotted with pale purple, the same size as those of _Merula castanea_."

92. Trochalopterum squamatum (Gould). _The Blue-winged Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron squamatum (_Gould), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 46; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 420.

From Sikhim my friend Mr. Gammie writes:--"I have never as yet found more than one nest of the Blue-winged Laughing-Thrush, and this one was found on the 18th May at Mongphoo, at an elevation of about 3500 feet. The nest was placed in a bush (one of the _Zingiberaceae_), growing in a marshy place, in the midst of dense scrub, at a height of about 4 feet from the ground, and was firmly attached to several upright stems. It was composed of dry bamboo-leaves, held together by the stems of delicate creepers, and was lined with a few black fibres. It was cup-shaped, and measured externally 5·7 in diameter by 3·6 in height, and internally 3·7 in width by 2·6 in depth. The nest contained three eggs, which were unfortunately almost ready to hatch off, so that three is probably the normal number of the eggs."

According to Mr. Hodgson's notes the Blue-winged Laughing-Thrush breeds in May and June in the central region of Nepal in forests, at elevations of from 2000 to 6000 feet. The nest is placed in a fork of a branch on some small tree, and is a large mass of dry leaves and coarse dry grass, 7 or 8 inches in diameter externally, mortar-shaped, the cavity about 2·5 deep, and lined with hair-like fibres. The nest, though composed of loose materials, is very firm and compact. They lay four or five eggs, unspotted, verditer-blue, one of which is figured as a broad regular oval, only slightly compressed towards one end, measuring 1·2 by 0·9.

One of the eggs taken by Mr. Gammie (the others were unfortunately broken) is a long, almost cylindrical, oval, very obtuse at both ends and slightly compressed towards the smaller end, so that the egg has a pyriform tendency. It measures 1·25 by 0·82. The colour is an excessively pale greenish blue, precisely the same as that of the eggs of _Sturnia malabarica_; but then this present egg was nearly ready to hatch off when taken, and the fresh eggs are somewhat deeper coloured.

Subsequent to his letter above quoted, Mr. Gammie on the 10th June found a second nest of this species similar to the first, containing three nearly fresh eggs. These are similar in shape to that above described, but in colour are a beautiful clear verditer-blue, altogether a much brighter and richer tint than that of the first. They measure 1·2 and 1·25 by 0·88.

One nest was taken by Mr. Gammie above Mongphoo at an elevation of about 4500 feet on the 30th of April. It was placed in a bush at a height of about 6 feet from the ground, and contained three fresh eggs. It was a loosely put together, massive cup, some 7 inches in diameter and 4 in height externally. It was composed mainly of fine twigs, creeper-stems, and grass, with a few bamboo-leaves intermingled, and the cavity was carefully lined with bamboo-leaves, and then within that thinly with black fibrous roots; the cavity measured 3·7 inches in diameter and 2·3 in depth.

The eggs of this species, of which I have now received many, appear to be typically somewhat elongated ovals, and not unfrequently they are more or less pyriform or even cylindrical. As a rule, they are fairly glossy, a bright pale, somewhat greenish blue, quite spotless, and varying a little in tint. In length they appear to vary from 1·11 to 1·25, and in breadth from 0·82 to 0·91; but the average of eleven eggs is 1·2 by 0·87.

93. Trochalopterum cachinnans (Jerd.). _The Nilghiri Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron cachinnans (_Jerd.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 48; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 423.

The Nilghiri Laughing-Thrush breeds, according to my many informants, throughout the more elevated portions of the mountains from which it derives its trivial name, from February to the beginning of June.

A nest of this species sent me by Mr. H.R.P. Carter, who took it at Coonoor on April 22nd (when it contained two fresh eggs), is externally a rather coarse clumsy structure, composed of roots, dead leaves, small twigs, and a little lichen, about 5 inches in diameter, and standing about 4½ inches high. The egg-cavity is, however, very regularly shaped, and neatly lined with very fine grass-stems and a little fine tow-like vegetable fibre. It is a deep cup, measuring 2½ inches across and fully 3¾ inches in depth.

A nest taken by Miss Cockburn was a much more compact structure, placed between four or five twigs. It was composed of coarse grass, dead and skeleton leaves, a very little lichen, and a quantity of moss. The egg-cavity was lined with very fine grass. The nest was externally about 5½ inches in diameter and nearly 6 inches in height, but the egg-cavity had a diameter of only about 2½ inches and was only about 2¼ inches deep.

It was Jerdon, I believe, who gave the name of Laughing-Thrushes to this group, and this name is applicable enough to this particular bird, the one with which he was most familiar, for it does _laugh_--albeit, a most maniacal laugh; but the majority of the group have not the shadow of a giggle even in them, and should have been designated "Screaming Squabblers."

Mr. J. Darling, Jr., says:--"This bird breeds from February to May. I have found the nests all over the Nilghiris, at elevations of from 4500 to 7500 feet above the sea. The nest is placed indiscriminately in any bush or tree that happens to take the bird's fancy, at heights of from 3 to 12 feet from the ground.

"In shape it is circular, a deep cup, externally some 6 inches in diameter and 5 or 6 inches in height, and with a cavity 3 to 4 inches wide and often fully 4 inches in depth. The nest is composed of moss and small twigs, at times of grass mingled with some spiders' webs: sometimes there is a foundation of dead leaves. The cavity is lined with fur, cotton-wool, feathers, &c.

"The eggs are two or three in number."

Mr. Wait, writing from Coonoor, says:--"_T. cachinnans_ breeds about May, and lays from three to five oval eggs. The ground is bluish, with ash-coloured and brown spots and blotches, and occasionally marks." None of my other correspondents, however, admit that the bird ever lays more than three eggs.

Mr. Davison tells me that "this bird breeds commonly on the Nilghiris, just before the rains set in, in May and the earlier part of June, but it occasionally breeds earlier (in April) or later (in the latter end of June). The nest is cup-shaped, composed of dead leaves, moss, grass, &c., and lined with a few moss-roots or fine grass. It is placed in the fork of a branch about 6 or 8 feet from the ground. The eggs are a bluish green, mottled chiefly towards the larger end, and sometimes also streaked with purplish brown. The normal number of eggs is two; sometimes, however, three are laid."

From Kotagherry, Miss Cockburn remarks:--"The name 'Laughing-Thrush' is most applicable to this bird, and its notes are often mistaken for the sound of the human voice. This bird is very shy, except when its nest contains eggs or young, when it becomes extremely bold. I was quite surprised to see a pair whose nest I was taking come so close as to induce me to put out my hand to catch them. The Laughing-Thrush builds a pretty, though large, nest, and generally selects the forked branches of a thick bush, and commences its nest with a large quantity of moss, after which there is a lining of fine grass and roots, and the withered fibrous covering of the Peruvian Cherry (_Physalis peruviana_), the nest being finished with a few feathers, in general belonging to the bird. The inside of the nest is perfectly round, and rarely contains more than two eggs, belonging to the owner. The eggs are of a beautiful greenish-blue colour, with a few large and small brown blotches and streaks, mostly at the large end. I have found the nests of these birds in February, March, and April. Occasionally the Black-and-white Crested Cuckoo, which appears on these hills in the month of March, deposits its eggs (two in number) in the nest of this Thrush. They are easily distinguished, as their colour is quite different from the Thrush's eggs, being entirely dark bluish green."

Mr. Rhodes W. Morgan writing from South India, says, in 'The Ibis':--"It builds a very neat nest of moss, dried leaves, and the outer husk of the fruit of the Brazil Cherry, lined with feathers, bits of fur, and other soft substances. The nest is cup-shaped, and generally contains three eggs, most peculiarly marked with blotches, streaks, and wavy lines of a dark claret-colour on a light blue ground. The markings are almost always at the larger end."

The first specimens that I obtained of the eggs of this species were kindly sent to me by the late Captain Mitchell and Mr. H.R.P. Carter of Madras; they were taken on the Nilghiris. They are moderately broad ovals, somewhat pointed towards one end, larger than the average eggs of _T. lineatum_, and about the same size as large specimens of the eggs of _Crateropus canorus_ and _Argya malcolmi_. The ground-colour is of a delicate pale blue, and towards the large end, and sometimes over the whole surface, they are speckled, spotted, and blotched, but only sparingly, with brownish red and blackish brown, and amongst these markings a few cloudy streaks and spots of dull faint reddish purple are observable. The eggs have not much gloss.

Numerous other specimens subsequently received from Miss Cockburn and others correspond well with the above description. More or less pyriform varieties are common. In some eggs the markings are almost entirely wanting, there being only a very faint brownish-pink freckling at the large end; and in many eggs, even some that are profusely spotted all over, the markings consist only of darker or lighter brownish-pink shades. Occasionally a few, almost black, twisted lines are intermingled with the other markings, and in these cases the lines are frequently surrounded by a reddish-purple nimbus.

The eggs vary in length from 0·92 to 1·08, and in breadth from 0·74 to 0·8, but the average of twenty eggs measured was 1·0 by 0·76.

96. Trochalopterum fairbanki, Blanf. _The Palni Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopterum fairbanki, _Blanf., Hume, Cat._ no. 423 bis.

The Rev. S.B. Fairbank, the discoverer of this species, found its nest at Kodai Kanal, in the Palni Hills, in May. The nest was placed in the crotch of a tree, at about 10 feet from the ground, and at an elevation of nearly 6500 feet above the level of the sea. The eggs are moderately elongated ovals, with a fine, fairly glossy shell. The ground is pale greenish blue or bluish green; the markings are spots, small blotches, hair-lines, and hieroglyphic-like scrawls, rather thinly scattered about the surface, and varying in colour through several shades of brownish and reddish purple to bright claret-colour.

The only egg I have measures 1 inch in length by 0·8 inch in breadth.

99. Trochalopterum lineatum (Vig.). _The Himalayan Streaked Laughing-Thrush_.

Trochalopteron lineatum (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 50; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 425[A].

[Footnote A: I omit the note on _T. imbricatum_ in the 'Rough Draft,' because, as I have shown in the 'Birds of India,' this bird was unknown to Hodgson, and his note refers to _T. lineatum_. Sufficient is now known about the nidification of this latter to render the insertion of Hodgson's note unnecessary.--ED.]

Next to the Common House-Sparrow, the Himalayan Streaked Laughing-Thrush is perhaps the most familiar bird about our houses at all the hill-stations of the Himalayas westward of Nepal and throughout the lower ranges on which these stations are situated; this species breeds at elevations of from 5000 to 8000 feet.

It lays from the end of April to the beginning of September, and very possibly occasionally even earlier and later. I took a nest on the 29th April near Mussoorie; Mr. Brooks obtained eggs in May and June at Almorah; Colonel G.F.L. Marshall at Mussoorie in July and August; and Colonel C.H.T. Marshall at Murree from May to the end of July. I again took them in July and August near Simla, and Captain Beavan found them as late as the 6th of September near the same station.

So far as my own experience goes, the nests are always placed in very thick bushes or in low thick branches of some tree, the Deodar appearing to be a great favourite. Those I found averaged about 4 feet from the ground, but I took a single one in a Deodar tree fully 8 feet up. The bird, as a rule, conceals its nest so well that, though a loose and, for the size of the architect, a large structure, it is difficult to find, even when one closely examines the bush in which it is. The nest is nearly circular, with a deep cup-like cavity in the centre, reminding one much of that of _Crateropus canorus_, and is constructed of dry grass and the fine stems of herbaceous plants, often intermingled with the bark of some fibrous plant, with a considerable number of dead leaves interwoven in the fabric, especially towards the base. The cavity is neatly lined with fine grass-roots, or occasionally very fine grass. The cavity varies from 3 inches to 3·5 in diameter, and from 2·25 inches to 2·75 in depth; the walls immediately surrounding the cavity are very compact, but the compact portion rarely exceeds from ·75 to 1 inch in thickness, beyond which the loose ends of the material straggle more or less, so that the external diameter varies from 5·5 inches to nearly 10.

The normal number of eggs appears to me to be three, although Captain Beavan cites an instance of four being found.

Captain Hutton tells us (J.A.S.B. xvii.) that in the neighbourhood of Mussoorie "this bird is met with in pairs, sometimes in a family of four or five, and may be seen under every bush. The nest is placed near the ground, in the midst of some thick low bush, or on the side of a bank amidst overhanging coarse grass, and not unfrequently in exposed and well-frequented places; it is loosely and rather slovenly constructed of coarse dry grasses and stalks externally, lined sometimes with fine grass, sometimes with fine roots. The eggs are three in number, and in shape and size exceedingly variable, being sometimes of an ordinary oval, at others nearly round."

From Almorah and Nynee Tal my friend Mr. Brooks writes to me "that this bird is common everywhere. The nest is generally placed in a low tree or bush where the foliage is thick. It is composed of grass, and lined with finer grass. The eggs are three in number, one inch and one line long by nine lines broad. They are of a light greenish blue, the tint being much the same as that of the eggs of _Acridotheres tristis_. They lay from the commencement of May to the end of June."

Colonel G.F.L. Marshall tells me that "the Streaked Laughing-Thrush is very common at Mussoorie, where it is called by the public the Robin of India. It breeds in July and August all about Landour. The nest is cup-shaped, rather shallow, and loosely put together, made of grass and fibre with some moss and a few dead leaves twisted into it; it is placed in a low bush or else on the ground concealed among the grass-roots on the hill-side. The eggs, three or four in number, are oval, rather large for the bird, and of a pure light-blue colour without spots. I took eggs on the 26th and 28th July and on the 16th August."

Sir E.C. Buck writes:--"At Mutianee, three marches north of Simla, I found on the 28th June a nest in a bush on the side of a scantily 'jungled' hill. It was 2 feet from the ground, constructed of grass and stalks externally, and lined with fibrous roots. It contained three fresh eggs. The nest measured--exterior diameter 6 inches, height exteriorly 4 inches; the interior diameter was 3 inches, and the depth of the cavity 2 inches."

The late Captain Beavan tells us that "on the 16th of August, 1866, I found a nest in the garden, in a rose-bush, with four pale blue eggs in it, like those of _Acridotheres tristis_. The nest is a large structure, firmly built of dry twigs, bark, sticks, ferns, and roots. Another nest, with three eggs only, was found in a thick clump of everlasting peas close to the ground on the 6th of September. The female sat very close, and this may have been the second nest of the same pair that built the nest mentioned above, as it was built not far from the first."

Major C.T. Bingham writes:--"Being at Landour for a few days in May I chanced on a nest of this bird, perhaps the commonest in the hills. It was placed under an overhanging bush on the side of Lal Tiba hill, and _on the ground_, being constructed rather loosely of pieces of the withered stem of some creeper, intertwined with a quantity of oak-leaves, and lined with grass-roots."

The eggs, of which I must have seen some hundreds, as this is the commonest Laughing-Thrush about both Mussoorie and Simla, are typically regular and moderately broad ovals. Abnormally elongated, spherical, and pyriform varieties occur; some are nearly round like a Kingfisher's, and I have seen one almost as slender as a Swift's, but, as a rule, the eggs vary but little either in shape or colour. They are perfectly spotless, moderately glossy, and of a delicate pale greenish blue, which of course varies a little in shade and intensity of colour, but which is very much paler on the average than those of any of the _Crateropi_, and at the same time less glossy. I am not at all sure whether _T. lineatum_ is rightly associated with species like _T. cachinnans, T. variegatum_, and _T. erythrocephalum_, which all have spotted eggs.

In length the eggs vary from 0·8 to 1·13, and in breadth from 0·63 to 0·8; but the average of fifty-eight eggs carefully measured is 1·01 by 0·73.

101. Grammatoptila striata (Vig.). _The Striated Laughing-Thrush_.

Grammatoptila striata (_Vig.), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii; p. 11; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 382.

The Striated Laughing-Thrush, remarks Mr. Blyth, "builds a compact Jay-like nest. The eggs are spotless blue, as shown by one of Mr. Hodgson's drawings in the British Museum."

A nest of this species found near Darjeeling in July was placed on the branches of a large tree, at a height of about 12 feet.

It was a huge shallow cup, composed mainly of moss, bound together with stems of creepers and fronds of a _Selaginella_, and lined with coarse roots and broken pieces of dry grass. A few dead leaves were incorporated in the body of the nest. The nest was about 8 or 9 inches in diameter and about 2 in thickness, the broad, shallow, saucer-like cavity being about an inch in depth.

The nest contained two nearly fresh eggs. The eggs appear to be rather peculiarly shaped. They are moderately elongated ovals, a good deal pinched out and pointed towards the small end, in the same manner (though in a less degree) as those of some Plovers, Snipe, &c. I do not know whether this is the typical shape of this egg, or whether it is an abnormal peculiarity of the eggs of this particular nest. The shell is fine, but the eggs have very little gloss. In colour they are a very pale spotless blue, not much darker than those of _Zosterops palpebrosus_.

The eggs measure 1·3 and 1·32 in length, and 0·89 and 0·92 in breadth.

From Sikhim, Mr. Gammie writes:--"In the first week of May I took a nest of the Striated Laughing-Thrush out of a small tree growing in the forest at 5500 feet above the sea. It was fixed among spray about 10 feet up. In shape it is a shallow, broad cup, and is built in three layers: the outer one of twining stems, which besides holding the nest together fastened it to the spray; the middle layer is an intermixture of green moss and fresh fern-fronds, and the inner a thick lining of roots. Externally it measured 7·5 inches broad by 5·25 inches deep; internally 4 inches by 2·75 inches.

"It contained two hard-set eggs."

Several nests of this species that I have now seen have all been of the same type, large nests 9 or 10 inches in diameter, and 4 to 5 in height, the body of the nest composed mainly of green moss interwoven with and bound round about with the stems of creepers and a few pliant twigs, many of which straggle away a good deal outside the limits which I have assigned in stating the dimensions above. The cavities are not quite hemispherical, a little shallower, say 4·5 inches in diameter and 2 inches in depth, closely lined with fine black roots. They have all been placed in the branches of trees at heights of from 8 to 20 feet.

Eggs of this species obtained by Mr. Gammie in May, and Mr. Mandelli in July, are of precisely the same type. They are rather elongated ovals, a good deal pointed towards the small end, near which they are not unfrequently a good deal compressed, so as to render the egg slightly pyriform. The shell is fine and smooth, but has little gloss. The ground-colour is a very pale greenish blue or bluish green, in some almost white; some of them are absolutely spotless, none of them are at all well marked, but some bear from half a dozen to a dozen tiny specks of a dark colour. On one only there is a triangular spot about 0·05 each way, which proves on examination with a microscope to be a deep brownish red. On the other eggs the markings are mere specks.

The eggs vary from 1·25 to 1·35 in length, and from 0·89 to 0·92 in breadth.

104. Argya earlii (Blyth). _The Striated Babbler_.

Chatarrhaea earlii (_Blyth), Jerd. B. Ind._ ii, p. 68; _Hume, Rough Draft N. & E._ no. 439.

The Striated Babbler breeds in suitable localities throughout Continental India, from Sindh to Tipperah and Assam, as also in Burmah. Reedy-margined lakes, canals and perennial streams are its favourite haunts, and wherever within the limits above indicated these abound, and the locality is moist and warm, _A. earlii_ is pretty sure to be met with.