182 CAMPOPHAGID/E. 



tipped with white, the rest blackish or dark brawn, broadly tippedj witrTwhite, 

 the outermost with the white tippings, mottled with brown. 



The young are similar to the adult female ; adults have the bill black, ats 

 the legs and feet; iris brownish red. 



Length. 7*5 inches ; wing 4; tail 3 ; tarsus O*8 ; bill from gape 0*85. 



Hab. The whole Peninsula of India and Ceylon, Central and Southern 

 India, Bengal, the Concan and Deccan, and, according to Blyth, Upper 

 Pegu. It hunts usually in small parties, and occasionally,, according to Jerdon, 

 singly or in pairs, flying from tree to tree, and slowly and carefully examining 

 the foliage^ prying searchingly all around and under the leaves to discover a 

 suitable morsel. It continues its search, hopping and flying, from branch td> 

 branch till the tree has been well inspected, when the flock flies off together 

 to another tree. Caterpillars and other soft insects are its favourite food. Dr. 

 Jerdon adds that it is usually a silent bird but has a harsh call, and mentions 

 having in June heard a male giving out a clear whistling cafi as it was flying 

 from tree to tree. It affects wooded tracts, but not deep forests. Mr. Blewitt 

 found the nest of this species in Bundelcund in July. It was placed at the 

 end of two small out-shooting branches of a Mowa tree, and was slightly made 

 of thin twigs and roots, and partially covered with spider's web. The eggs, 

 two in number, were green, mottled with dark brown. 



203. Lalage melanothorax, Skarpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. iv. p. 90. 



The BLACK-BREASTED CUCKOO-SHRIKE. 



Closely allied to L. sykesi but differs in being larger and in having the 

 black of the neck extending much further down on the breast and back. 



Length. 7*5 inches ; wing 4*2 ; tail 3*2 ; oilmen O'8. 



/fa._Madras (South India). 



204. Lalage terat, Bodd. t Tab. PI. Enl. pi. 17; Hume, Stray F. 

 i. p. 66; ii. p. 202; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. iv. p. 91. The NICOBAK 

 CUCKOO-SHRIKE. 



Adult Male. Forehead, top and back of head, interscapulary region, 

 scapulars and lesser wing coverts black, with a green metallic gloss ; a broaef 

 streak from the nostrils over the eye and ear coverts, wing lining, edge of 

 the wing, axillaries and entire lower parts including the sides of the neck, 

 broad tips to the two external lateral tail feathers, a narrow tip to the next pair, 

 the median wing coverts, broad margins to the outer webs of the greater 

 coverts, the secondaries and the bases of the inner web of the primaries pure 

 white ; the breast and sides tinged with grey ; the middle and lower back, 

 rump and upper tail coverts grey, the two latter with faint traces of whitish 

 bars ; a streak from the gape through the eye black. 



In the female the superciliary stripe is not so conspicuous and the greater 

 wing coverts are only narrowly tipped with white. The forehead, top and 



