B21iDS FROM THE NOETH CHIX HILLS. 77 



brought in to me, in 191;"»; but I never got the bird oft' a blue 

 chitch, and these eggs may have been substituted by the 

 tinders. Mr. Stuart-Baker's bhio chitch shows that the bird 

 may lay blue or white eggs, in the same manner as U. mnnio. 



The nest is generally built in the fork of a low bush or shrub, 

 2' to 10' high, in fairly open jungle, and is not difhcult to 

 see. Outside it is roughly made of grass-stems with the ends 

 left sticking out untidily in all directions and is lined with 

 yellow grass seed stems ; in shape it is a large flattish cup, and 

 there are often a few moss roots, and small twigs mixed with 

 the main structure of the nest (but not with the lining). The 

 general effect is a brown outside, lined yellow, as opposed to 1. 

 cineracea of which the nest is brov/n outside, lined black. 



The eggs number 2 or 3 in a clutch (I only once found 4) 

 and those of which we are sure were white, but there may be 

 blue eggs as well. They are glossy, and of a satiny texture, 

 but this, as well as the gloss, varies considerably. The shell 

 is of medium thickness, fairly hard, and opaque, the grain is 

 normal to fine ; the surface is sometimes smooth, sometimes 

 closely and minutely pitted. The average size of 45 eggs is 

 1-02" X -73", length varying from "93" to 109" and the breadth 

 from "70" to •79". In shape, they are typically rather pointed, 

 the large end being roundish, and the small end tapering 

 conside^abl3^ The eggs appear liable to a good deal of variation 

 in all respects, and begin to be laid about May ; we only found 

 a few in April. 



17. Himalaj^an White-Crested Laughing-Thrush — Garnda.v leucoloj)hus 



leucolophus. (t)9). 



Common. 



18. Black-gorgetted Laughing-Thrush — Garrulax pectoralis. (72). 



Common. 



19. Necklaced Laughing-Thrush — Garrulax moniliger. (73). 



The above 3 species inhabit the bamboo jungle in the valleys. 



20. McCleUand's Laughing-Thrush — Garrulax gular is, (74). 



I shot a bird which I identified as this in 1915, but the skin 

 was very badly smashed up, and 1 am doubtful. 



21. Ashy Laughing-Thrush — lanthocincla cineracea. (79). 



This is the common laughing thrush of the district, being 

 exceedingly abundant between 4,000' and 6,000', and breeding in 

 the raspberrj'^ canes and thickets near the villages. AVe obtained 

 a large number of nests and eggs at the end of April, and 

 beginning of May. The laying season seems to extend for 

 about a month, as we got both hard set and fresh eggs almost 

 every day. The earliest incubated eggs were found on April 

 20th ; this is dift'erent from D. ;/albanus, which does not begin 

 to breed till about the beginning of Maj'. (My earliest eggs 

 were a fresh clutch on 27th April 1915.) 



The nest is a small and flimsy copy of that of G. pectoralis, 

 and is generally fairly conspicuous ; the bird obliges by sitting 

 on it until you almost touch her, thereby rendering identifica- 

 tion easy. The nests were generally placed in low thickish 



