PICA. 13 



In the cold season of course the Jackdaw descends into the 

 plains of the North-west Punjaub, is very numerous near the 

 foot of the hills, and has been found in cis-Indus as far east as 

 Uniballa, and south at Ferozpoor, Jhelum, and Kalabagh. In 

 Trans-Indus it extends unto the Dehra Grhazi Khan district. 



I have never taken its eggs myself. 



Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on its nidifica- 

 tion in the Valley of Cashmere : 



" Lays in the first week of May ; eggs four, five, and six in 

 number, ovato-pyriforin and long ovato-pyriform, measuring from 

 1-26, 1-45, to 1-60 in length, and from 0-9 to I'OO in breadth ; 

 colour pale, clear bluish green, dotted and spotted with brownish 

 black ; valley generally ; in holes of rocks, beneath roofs, and in 

 tall trees." 



Dr. Jerdon says : " It builds in Cashmere in old ruined palaces, 

 holes in rocks, beneath roofs of houses, and also in tall trees, laying 

 four to six eggs, pale bluish green, dotted and spotted with 

 brownish black." 



Mr. Brookes writes : " The Jackdaw breeds in Cashmere in all 

 suitable places : holes in old Chinar (Plane) trees, and in house- 

 walls, under the eaves of houses, &c. I did not note the materials 

 of the nests, but these will be the same as in England." 



The eggs of this species are typically rather elongated ovals, 

 somewhat compressed towards one end. The shell is fine, but has 

 only a faint gloss. The ground-colour is a pale greenish white, 

 but in some eggs there is very little green, while in a very few the 

 ground is quite a bright green. The markings, sometimes very 

 fine and close, sometimes rather bold and thinly set, consist of 

 specks or spots of deep blackish brown, olive-brown, and pale inky 

 purple. In most eggs all these colours are represented, but in 

 some eggs the olive-, in others the blackish brown is almost 

 entirely wanting. In some eggs the markings are very dense 

 towards the large end, in others they are pretty uniformly dis- 

 tributed over the whole surface ; in some they are very minute 

 and speckly, in others they average the tenth of an" inch in 

 diameter. 



The eggs that I possess vary from T34 to 1-52 in length, and 

 from 0-93 to 1-02 in breadth ; but the average of sixteen eggs was 

 1-4 by 0-98. 



10. Pica rustica (Scop.). The Magpie. 

 Pica bactriana, Bp., Hume, Rough Draft N. 8f E. no. 668 bis. 



The Magpie breeds, we know, in Afghanistan, and also through- 

 out Ladak from the Zojee-la Pass right up to the Pangong Lake, 

 but it breeds so early that one is never in time for the eggs. The 

 passes are not open until long after they are hatched. 



Captain Hutton says this bird "is found all the year round 

 from Quettah to Girishk, and is very common. They breed in 



