396 CTJCULIDjE. 



the Crow. On the 9th May I took 10 more fresh eggs, five of 

 which were laid in a nest containing a single Crow's egg, from which 

 I had taken two CoeTs eggs on the 5th inst. ; and being of three dis- 

 tinct types, in all probability they were laid by two or three differ- 

 ent birds. This is the largest number of Cool's eggs I have ever 

 seen in one nest. Three are not an unusual number to find in a 

 nest, and two occur constantly. On the 12th May I took 3 more 

 fresh eggs, and on the 15th May 4 more, two of the latter being in 

 a nest by themselves that was empty when I visited it on the 

 12th inst. All of the above eggs were taken out of nests of C. 

 splendens, and in no one instance did I find an egg in the nest 

 of C. macrorliynclms, although the Large Crows' nests were more 

 common in that part of camp whore the Cools frequented than 

 the other species. ' 



Colonel "W. V. Legge, writing from Ceylon, says : " Tho eggs 

 of this species have been identified for the first timo in this 

 island, during the present year. In May three batches were 

 found near Bolgodde, in the Western Province, all in nests 

 of C. culminatus. In one nest there were 4 Crow's and 4 CoeTs 

 eggs ; in another 5 Crow's and 3 Cool's ; and in the third 2 Crow's 

 and 4 CoeTs. The parasite eggs varied in character considerably, 

 and two nests contained two types. I have long known the 

 Coel to be resident in Ceylon, though a want of knowledge of 

 the range of birds here has induced some to consider it migra- 

 tory." 



Mr. A. Gr. Cardew, C.S., records the following dates on which 

 he found eggs of the Cool in Madras : 



" June 21st. 2 eggs from nest of Corvus splendens which 

 contained no Crow's eggs, fresh. 



" June 23rd. 1 egg from nest of C. splendens which contained 

 4 Crow's eggs, slightly incubated. 



" June 24th. 2 eggs from nest of C. splendens which contained 



1 Crow's egg, fresh. 



" June 25th. 2 eggs from nest of C. splendens which contained 



2 Crow's eggs, all incubated." 



The eggs of the Coel are much about the size of a common 

 Blackbird's egg, but more compressed towards the small end, and 

 I have seen what I was informed was a variety of the Bing- 

 Ouzol's egg by no means unlike a specimen I possess of the Cool's 

 egg. The texture of the egg-shells is very compact and fine, but 

 they are entirely devoid of gloss. There is some faint general re- 

 semblance between their ground-colour and that of the eggs of 

 Gorvus splendens, in whose nest they are in Upper India almost 

 exclusively deposited, but I never saw a single egg of this Crow that 

 could for one instant be mistaken for that of the Coel. The 

 ground-colour varies much : pale sea-green, pale dingy green, dull 

 olive-green, pale olive-brown, and dingy stone-colour, are all 

 met with. The markings, specks, spots, streaks, and clouds, the 

 predominant character being streaky, vary alike in extent and in 

 shade and intensity of colour. The markings are almost invariably 

 most numerous towards the large end, where they often form an 



