"308 LANIID^. 



session of fabrics clearly not the work of any Shrike. Quite 

 recently I found a pair of L. lahtora with four eggs in a small nest 

 entirely woven of hemp, the bottom of which was thickly coated 

 with the droppings of former occupants. Again, on the 8th June, 

 a nest with four eggs \\as found on a roonj tree. This wonderful 

 nest, which I have kept, is entirely composed of what I take to be 

 old felt and feathers, tlie bottom of the cavity of which, when 

 found, was almost covered with the dung of young birds. 



" Evidently this nest was not orvjinally made by the Shrike, 

 but, as would appear, was taken possession of by it, after the 

 brood of some other species of birds had left it." 



Mr. W. Theobald makes the following note of this bird's breeding 

 in the neighbourhood of Find Dadan Khan and Katas in the Salt 

 Eange : — " Lays in the last week of March to the end of April. 

 Eggs five only, shape ovato-pyriform, size 1"06 inch by 0*8 inch; 

 colour pale greenish white, blotched and tinged with yellowish 

 grey and neutral markings ; vary much in intensity and colour. 

 Nest of twigs, lined with cotton or wool, and usually placed in stiff 

 thorny bushes." 



Lieut. H. E. Barnes, writing from Chaman in Southern Af- 

 ghanistan, remarks : — " The Grey-backed Shrike is extremely 

 common, breeding about the end of March, in much the same 

 situations as in India. I have collected many specimens, and 

 failed to detect any difference between the Indian bird and the one 

 found here. The average of twelve eggs is '97 by "To.'' 



He adds subsequently : — " This is the commonest Shrike in the 

 country ; it breeds in March and April, and the young are easily 

 reared in ca])tivity." 



Mr. W. Blewitt says that he " took four nests of this bird near 

 Hansee on the 28th-30th March ; they contained, one 5, two 4, 

 and one 3 eggs ; all but the latter (which, curiously enough, were a 

 good deal incubated) quite fresh. The nests were placed in acacia 

 and caper bushes, at heights of from 6 to 14 feet from the ground; 

 they were from to 7 inches in diameter exteriorly, rather loosely 

 constructed of thorny twdgs, with egg-cavities from 2 to 2k inches 

 deep, lined with fine straw and leaves." Again he writes : "Took 

 numerous nests in the neighbourhood of Hansee during the month 

 of July ; most of the eggs wei'e much incubated, and four was the 

 largest number found in any one nest. 



" The nests were all placed upon keekur trees at an average 

 height of some 10 feet from the ground ; they were composed of 

 thorny twigs, some with and some without a lining of fine grass 

 and feathers, and averaged some 5 or 6 inches in diameter by 2 to 

 4 inches in depth." 



Major C T. Bingham says that " this bird is excessively 

 common about Delhi, far more so than at Allahabad. At the 

 latter place I only found it breeding in March and April, but at 

 Delhi I have found nests in every month from March to August. 

 One evening in June I remember counting in n)y walk thirteen 

 nests within the radius of a mile ; some of these contained fresh 



