TEOCHAIOPTEKUM. 63 



webs : sometimes there is a foundatiou of dead leaves. The cavity 

 is liued with fur, cottou-vvool, feathers, &c. 



" The eggs are two or three in number." 



Mr. AVait, writing from Coouooi*, 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 occa- 

 sionally 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. Tiiis 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 Inish, 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 tlie Peruvian Cherry {Physalis peru- 

 viana), 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. Ehodes AV. 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 pecidiarly 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. 

 Er. P. Carter of Madras ; they were taken on the N^ilghiris. They 



