168 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV L 



eggs, and not laying up to the authorised scale of three and four. Nearly all the 

 eggs were hard-set, a large number of young birds were also about. I was for- 

 tunate finding four nests of the Large Swallow-Plover (G. orientalis). These again 

 were quite content with one and two eggs, as two of the nests contained two in- 

 cubated eggs each and the other two one each, also incubated. This last bird's 

 eggs were very difficult to find, as they were laid on grassy mounds on the sand 

 bank, whilst the Terns and Lesser Swallow-Plovers laid out on the bare sand. It 

 was very interesting watching the strange antics the two kinds of swallow-plovers 

 went through to entice one away from their eggs or young, while the Terns 

 kept shrieking and swooping at our heads. We only took a few eggs of the 

 first two kinds, but might as well have taken the lot, as two days after the river 

 rose considerably, submerging all the sand-banks. It seems as if these birds go 

 on nesting as long as they possibly can, as a friend of mine kindly got me eggs 

 of <S, seena and G. lactea in March last from sand-banks in the Upper 

 Chindwin. 



No. 22.—THE HOODED RACKED-TAILED MAGPIE [C. CUCULLATA) : BubmesE 



NAME— NA-PA-JU. 



This handsome little Magpie is well distributed over the dry zone of Upper 

 Burma, being found in the Yamethin and Meiktila Districts and across into 

 the Lower Chindwin and as far, up as Mingin in the Upper Chindwin. 



It seems to be very partial to what is known in Burma as " Themin jungle," 

 a fairly open thorny scrub-jungle. 



I was unfortunately laid up by an accident in April last and was unable to go 

 out after the nests of this magpie. It was very aggravating, as I had marked 

 down a tract of jungle where it seemed very fairly common. However, the 

 Deputy Commissioner kindly came to my help promising to try and get some 

 eggs brought in, so I gave him a skin of " Na-pa-ju," asking him to order nests 

 to be brought in complete with branches and eggs. The necessary instructions 

 were given, and resulted in two nests, with branches complete and some eggs, 

 being brought in early last May. Both nests were exactly similar in make 

 and description and were built in a thorny tree, and would, I imagine, be rather 

 difficult to find, as they were very flimsilj, but neatly, put together, light being 

 seen through in all directions. The nests consist of two distinct parts, first a 

 neat saucer 'Shaped structure of " wait-a-bit " thorns, very like the miniature 

 inverted dome or upper covering to the nest of the Common Magpie (P. 

 rusticci), inside this was placed a small well-made nest of grass stems and 

 creepers, the thorns coming up well over the aides of the nest, the whole 

 idea of nest giving one the impression that the bird feared enemies from below 

 and not from above. The dimensions of nests were — outer diameter of thorny 

 structure about six to seven inches and about five inches deep, of nest proper 

 diameter about three inches by one and a half inches deep. 



Eggs measure about '95 X '1 , and are coloured very like ZJ, frontalis, a grey- 

 stone ground colour with olive spots, some having a distinct zone. There can be 

 no doubt as to the identity of the eggs, as C. cucullata is the only bird in the 



