80 



an Indian Eobin flew off the wall and hovered before me, uttering 

 a sharp hissing cry. Knowing by her manner that she bad a nest 

 near, I searched in the wall and found the nest, composed of rotten 

 grass and straw, and some thread of woollen cloth. The nest con- 

 tained three young ones, quite unfledged ; their skin was of a 

 black-lead colour. 



"March I9th, 1851. Found in a hole in the rocks the nest of 

 the Indian Eobin, containing two eggs. 



" March 27th, 1851. Found the nest of the Robin, containing 

 two eggs, built at the foot of a little tuft of grass in a hole amongst 

 the roots. 



" The egg of this bird is of a very pale dusky blue, spotted all 

 over with light brown and a few purplish spots here and there ; 

 length rather more than 0'8 inch by 0*6 in width." 



Mr. Layard records that in Ceylon he has procured their nests, 

 which are composed of hair, moss, and dry grass, in the months of 

 June and July in Colombo, in December and April in the north. 

 The eggs are from three to five in number. 



And Colonel Legge says : " The Black Eobin breeds during the 

 months of March, April, May, and June in the Central, Western, 

 and Southern Provinces of Ceylon, the majority of nests being 

 built at the end of April." 



Numerous eggs sent me by Mr. H. Wenden from Sholapur 

 closely approach those of the northern form. 



In shape they are typically somewhat elongated ovals ; the shell 

 is fine and close, and fairly glossy. The ground is white with, in 

 many specimens, a faint greenish or pinkish tinge. The markings, 

 specks, and spots thickly set, sometimes chiefly at the large end 

 (where they are always most numerous, and usually more or less 

 confluent), more usually over the whole surface of the egg, prove, 

 when closely examined, to consist of varying shades of reddish 

 brown and brownish yellow, more or less intermingled with pale 

 lilac or reddish purple. 



I should add that in some eggs the markings are finer and more 

 speckly, in others they are rather bolder and more blotchy. 



These eggs are rather larger if anything, more elongated at any 

 rate, if not broader, than those of T. cambaiensis. They vary in 

 length from 0'76 to 0'84 inch, and in breadth from 0-55 to 0'62; 

 but the average of seventeen is 0-82 by 0-59. 



663. Copsychus saularis (Linn.). The Magpie-Robin. 



Copsychus saularis (Linn.), Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 114 ; Hume, Rouyh 

 Draft N. 8f E. no. 475. 



The Magpie-Eobin breeds throughout India. Many resort 

 during the nesting-season to the Dhoons and Terais that skirt the 

 Himalayas, and to the lower ranges of these latter, in which they 

 may be found nesting up to an elevation of at least 5000 feet. 



They lay from the end of March to quite the end of July, but by 



