Nidifi cation of Indian Birds. 267 



compressed towards the smaller cud, the others being very 

 regular. The surface is smooth, but almost "lossless ; the 

 texture is fine and the shell strong. 



They measure on an average '63 by '51 in. 



Both nests were taken in May, 1901. 



106. Okiolus andamanensis. 



Oates, P. B. Ind. i. p. 504- ; Butler, B. N. H. S. J. xii. 

 p. 396. 



The first nests taken, or at all events described, Avere 

 those recorded by Butler. He writes : — " I found two ; the 

 first on May the 19th, situated about 8 feet from the ground 

 on a small Bain-tree (Pithecolobium sp. ?) by the road- 

 side, was a very small and slight nest of the usual Oriole 

 type, and contained one large young bird only. The other 

 nest, taken on June 1st, was some fifteen feet from the 

 ground in a Hibiscus of some sort, standing some forty yards 

 from the jungle edge, and coutained three hard-set eggs. 

 This nest was much larger and more solid than the first, 

 almost double the size ; it was lined with fine roots and 

 fibres, underneath which was a layer of strips of dead plan- 

 tain-leaf (one of these pieces as large as 6 inches by 2 inches) . 

 Then came the foundation of dead and skeleton leaves held 

 together and suspended from the fork of the branch by fibres 

 of the Cocoanut Palm. 



" Eggs : "round-colour white with a strong pinkish-brown 

 tinge, spotted at the larger end with madder-brown, with a 

 few underlying purplish-grey spots. Some of the larger 

 spots have a pinkish-brown nimbus round them, giving them 

 the appearance of having been put on a wet surface and 

 having run." 



107. GrRACULIPICA NIGRICOLLIS. 



Oates, F. B. Ind. i. p. 534. ; Harrington, B. N. H. S. J. 



xiv. p. 598. 



A short note by Capt. Harrington in the Bombay Journal 



describes the bird as building " a large conspicuous nest 



at the end of branches. Nest composed of straw, grass, 



feathers, &c. Eggs pale blue, measuring 1'35 by *96 inch." 



