358 TIMALIID®. 
Nidification. Breeds at Fao from the last few days of May to 
the end of July, making a cup-shaped nest of roots, palm fibre 
and grass, lined with grass, wool or hair. It is placed generally 
on a leaf of a date-palm at any height from 3 to 10 feet from 
the ground; it has also been found in cactus-hedges and, very 
rarely, in thorny bushes. The eggs number either four or five, 
occasionally only three, and are a dull white with pale grey 
blotches and spots of grey. The texture is fine and close but 
almost glossless and, in shape, they are fairly broad ovals with 
the smaller end distinctly compressed. The eggs measure about. 
26°2 x 18°7 mm. 
According to Cumming “the male assists the female in building 
the nest and sitting on the eggs. 
‘The nest is completed in three to four days; one egg is laid 
daily till the full number is completed, 7. ¢., four or five and about 
14 days are taken in incubating.” 
Habits. Apparently the Hypocolius is locally migratory, leaving 
the hilly country during the breeding season and taking to the 
date-gardens and semi-cultivated country. 
“The cal] of these birds is a very pleasing liquid note, nothing 
like the harsh cry of the Shrikes. The female has only the one 
call; the male has a different call, but often imitates the female, 
especially when alarmed; he has also the habit of erecting the 
feathers of his head when excited. They are more arboreal, at 
least in Fao, than the Shrikes. ‘They live chiefly on fruit, but 
also indulge in a little inseet diet, as several stomachs I have 
examined contained legs and wings of beetles ete, 
“They become very tame if reared from the nest ” (Cumming.) 
