554 Mr. W. Jesse on the 



this species I liavc almost invariably found a bit of snake- 

 skin, and Reid once found one entirely composed of human 



hair. 



Average of 24 Lucknow eggs '77" x "o?" 



Measurement of largest e^y:; -So" x "61'' 



„ smallest eg^ ^l" X '54" 



No. 663. CoPSYCHus saulahis. Maypie-lwhin. 



Dhyal [H. and Anglo-Indian boys]. 



The Dhyal is a common and permanent resident, fre- 

 quenting gardens and avenues alike, but with, I think, an 

 especial fondness for mango-groves, in which I have often 

 taken its nest. Reid remarked that " its food must be very 

 varied, for I found one feeding on a centipede, about four 

 inches long, that I made it drop with difficulty. On examin- 

 ing the centipede I found that life was not quite extinct.^' 



It breeds in May, June, and July, chiefly in holes of 

 trees, but according to Reid in wells and deserted buildings 

 also. The eggs are usually four, pale bluish green spotted 

 and blotched with brown, much resembling small Blackbird's 

 eggs. On one occasion I took no less than nine from 

 a nest in a hole in a pepul tree. They were in various 

 stages of incubation. Doubtless more than one bird had laid 

 them. 



During the breeding-season this bird, like the Brown- 

 backed Robin, sings sweetly ; but I do not think that it 

 does so at other times. 



Average of 22 Luckuow eggs -88" x •G8" 



Measurement of largest egg "GS" x "67" 



„ smallest e'^'g -84" X 'GO" 



No. 686. Geocichla citrina. Orange-headed Ground- 

 Thrnsk. 



Only a cold-weather visitant and far from common. 

 Reid stated that '' it may, to a certainty, be found in 

 every foi'est-looking bamboo-brake, frequenting damp and 

 dark nooks, where it feeds on the slugs and insects usually 

 found there, turning over the leaves to find them. It not 

 unfrequently enters the Horticultural Gardens at Luckno«^, 

 where it finds suitable haunts in the damp shrubberies ; 



