420 Mr. C. E. Stuart Baker on Indian 



little " Fly-catcher Warblers/' all laying pure white or red- 

 spotted eggs. 



But besides these generic groups there are certain genera 

 the members of which lay the most singularly contrasted 

 eggs. Most prominent of all these is undoubtedly Prinia, 

 which contains seven species, principally famous for having 

 shorter tails in the summer than in the winter. Now of 

 these seven forms two lay eggs which are coloured brilliant 

 biick-red, while the other five lay blue or blue-green eggs, 

 speckled, spotted, or blotched with dark colours. 



The nests, however, are often facsimiles of one another, 

 and the only characteristic at all noticeable in the birds them- 

 selves is that, whereas the two " red-egg-layers " are rather 

 brightly-coloured, handsome birds, the others are very plain 

 and inconspicuous. 



This family also contains certain birds which lay eggs of a 

 great variety of colours, notably Ortholomus and Franklinia, 

 but more especially is this the case with the latter. In my 

 own collection I have no less than thirteen varieties laid 

 by Franklinia, including pure white and pure blue eggs, 

 with all sorts of tints and spottings. But in no case are 

 the markings bold, and I think that T could always tell an 

 egg of this genus. 



To go into greater detail about this family would take up 

 too much space, so we wnll proceed to the Shrikes {Laniidm), 

 which comprise two subfamilies, viz., the true Shrikes 

 {Laniince) and the Swallow- Shrikes {Artaminae). It has 

 already been noted that the Drongos should probably form a 

 third subfamily [Dicrurince) of this group, so we will pass 

 on without further remarks on this subject. 



The genus Lanius is almost world-wide, and everywhere 

 the egg of the Shrike bears its stamp as such. From 

 this genus we pass, by a beautiful gradation in colouring, 

 through the Wood-Shrikes, Cuckoo-Shrikes, and Minivets 

 to the extreme outsider of the group, known as the Great 

 Grey Cuckoo-Shrike or large Cuckoo-Shrike {Gr-aucalus 

 macii). This fine species makes a nest very much of the 

 character of that of the Minivets, without the neatness and 



