On the Nidification of Indian Birds. 41 



IV. — Notes on the Nidification of some Indian Bii'ds not 

 mentioned in Hume's 'Nests and Eygs.' — Part I. By E. 

 C. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S. 



1, Dendrocitta frontalis. {Oates, Fauna of British 

 India, Birds, i. p. 33.) 



This liandsome Magpie breeds freely to the east o£ North 

 Cachar on all ranges over 4000 feet high. The nest is much 

 like that of D. himalayensis, but is, on an average, somewhat 

 smaller. It is made of fine twigs and the stems of creepers 

 and weeds, the last less invariably used than the two former. 

 In nine cases out of ten there is practically no lining, but in 

 two nests I have seen a scanty amount of mithna and goat's- 

 hair placed at the very bottom, and in a few others I have 

 found a sort of rough lining of coarse fern-roots, the softer 

 stems of green weeds, or the finer roots of bamboos. Always, 

 however, the lining, if existing at all, is coarse and by no 

 means abundant. The nest is in shape a shallow cup, rather 

 flimsy and transparent, but more so in appearance than in 

 reality, for, though one can always see through it, the materials 

 are well intertwisted and stand a great deal of rough handling 

 before coming apart. The size of the nest ranges from under 

 5" to 7" in diameter, and the depth from about 2" to 3"-5 or 

 rather more; nests measuring over 6"'5 are rare, and the 

 average is only about 6", outer diameter; the inner cup 

 averages about 5" by 1''. 



The nest is seldom built at any great height from the ground, 

 generally below six feet, and often within two or three. It 

 is placed in the fork of a bush, a small sapling, or even in a 

 stout weed, and the situation preferred is one in scanty forest 

 with a thin undergrowth of weeds and scraggy bushes. In 

 dense evergreen forest I have never found the nest, though 

 I have seen the birds, but I have taken two or three in the 

 outskirts of evergreen forest where the trees were few and 

 far between, and the principal growth consisted of tall bushes 

 and thick, low lime-bushes. The eggs can nearly all be 

 matched with others, either of D. rufa or D. himalayensis, 

 but, taking a series of them, they present a much richer 



