GRATTCALUS. 



349 



interior is moderately cup-shaped. Thin twigs aud grass-roots are 

 freely used in its construction, while the outer part of the uest is 

 somewhat thickly covered with what appears to be spider's web. 

 Altogether the nest, considering the size of the birds, is of light 

 structure. I am sorry I did not take the dimensions of each nest 

 secured, but I sent you t\vo very perfect ones. I found the first 

 eggs in the beginning of July. They are of a dull lightish green, 

 with brown spots of all sizes, more dense towards the large end. 

 The maximum number of eggs is three. The bird breeds from 

 June to August." 



The nests which Mr. Blewitt sent me remind one a good deal 

 of those of the Dicrwl. They are broad shallow saucers, with an 

 ecrer-cavitv about 3 inches in diameter, and | inch in depth, co.n- 

 posed in the only two specnnens that I possess ot very tne twigs, 

 chiefly those of the furasli {Tamarix orimtalis). Exteriorly they 

 are bound round witli cobwebs, in which a quantity of lichen is 

 incorporated. The nests are loose flimsy fabrics, which but for 

 the exterior coating of cobwebs would certainly never have borne 

 removal. 



Dr. Jerdon remarks : — " I once obtained its nest and eggs. The 

 nest was built in a lofty casuarina tree, close to my house at 

 Tellicherry; it was composed of small twigs and roots merely, of mo- 

 derate size, and rather deeply cup-shaped, and contained three eggs, 

 of a greenish-fawn colour, with large blotches of purplish brown." 

 Professor H. Littledale writing from Baroda says :— " The Large 

 Cuckoo-8hrike is a permanent resident here. I found six nests 

 last August near Baroda, each with one egg ; and my men found 

 a uest building in the Police Lines at Khaira on the lOth October."' 

 Mr. J. Davidson informs us that " a pair of Gi-imcalus viadl 

 were apparently breeding near this place (the Ivondabhari Grhat). 

 He found a nest with two young in the previous September near 

 the same place." 



Mr. G. W. Vidal, referring to the South Konkan, says : — 

 " Common ; breeds in February and March." 



A nest that was placed in the fork of a bough was composed en- 

 tirely of slender twigs, the petioles of some pennated-leaved tree, 

 bound together all round the outside with abundance of cobwebs, so 

 that notwithstanding the incoherent nature of the materials the 

 nest was extremely firm. It is a shallow saucer quite of the 

 Dicrurine type, with a cavity 3 inches in diameter and barely 0-75 

 in depth. 



The eggs are typically of a somewhat elongated oval, a good deal 

 pointed towards one end, but some are broader and more of a 

 typical Shril^e shape. The eggs are of course considerably larger 

 than those of Laniu^i lahtoni. The shell is compact and fine, and 

 faintly glossy. The ground-colour is a palish-green stone-colour, 

 greener in some, and somewhat more creamy in others. The mark- 

 ings are very Shrike-like, and consist of brown blotches, streaks, and 

 spots, with numerous clouds and blotches of pale inky-purple, which 

 appear to underlie the brown markings. The markings in some 



