FURREEDPORE, EASTERN BENGAL. 269 



15th May 1878. — Nestling Male, shot with the last one. — 

 Length, 7*58 j expanse, 8'82 ; wing, 275 ; tail from vent, 

 1-33; tarsus, 1-08 ; bill from gape, 0'85 ; at front, 058 ; 

 closed wings fall short of end of tail, 0*50 ; weight, 1'12 oz. 

 Irides stone colour ; legs fleshy blue ; bill horny above., pale 

 beneath ; mouth inside yellow. 



Excessively common, and a permauent resident. Prefers open 

 plains interspersed with bushes ; small bushes on road sides are 

 also favourite haunts of theirs. Breeds in the district. I 

 took ten nests this season from the 11th April to 4th June, with 

 from one to five eggs in each. Four nests were placed in bamboo 

 clumps from 9 to 30 feet high, one 40 feet from the ground on a 

 Casuarina tree, one 20 feet up in a Bur tree, and the rest in 

 Babool trees at from 6 to 15 feet high from the ground. There 

 is no attempt at concealment. The nest is a deep cup fixed in a 

 fork, and is made of grasses with a deal of the downy tops of 

 the same for an outside coating ; this peculiarity at once dis- 

 tinguishes the nest of this species. The description given by 

 Mr. Hodgson, of a nest found by him on the 16th May at Jahar 

 Powah, in " Nests and Eggs," Vol. I., p. 172, correctly 

 describes the nests I have found. This species imitates the call 

 of several kinds of small birds, as Sparrows, Kingcrows, &c, 

 and I have often been deceived by it. 



261.— Lanius cristatus, Lin. 



llth April 1878, Male.— Length, 8*10 ; expanse, 11*0 ; 

 wing, 3*50 ; tail from vent, 3"66 ; tarsus, 1*04 ; bill from gape, 

 0*86 ; bill at front, 0"50 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 

 2'25 ; weight, 1*25 oz. Legs bluish horny ; bill, above horny, 

 below, pinkish white ; irides brown. 



23rd April 1878, Male.— Length, 7'83 ; expanse, 10*33; 

 wing, 3*50 ; tail from vent, 3'92 ; tarsus, 0-92 ; bill at front, 

 0-54 ; bill from gape, 0'8l ; closed wings fall short of end of 

 tail, 2*33 ; weight, 1*12 oz. Legs leaden blue ; claws horny ; 

 irides dark brown • bill above horny, towards base fleshy ; lower 

 mandible at base fleshy, rest horny. 



22?id January 1878 ? — Length, 7-58 ; expanse, 1033 ; wing, 

 3*25 ; tail from vent, 3'42 ; tarsus, 091 ; bill from gape, 0'84 ; 

 hill at front, 0'56 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 

 2-16. 



9*/* April 1878, Female. — Length, 7'75 ; expanse, 9"50 ; 

 wing, 3*25 ; tail from vent, 342 ; tarsus, l'O ; bill from gape, 

 0*86 ; bill at front, 0*58 ; closed wings fall short of end of tail, 

 2"0; weight, 1*12 oz. Irides brown ; bill base below fleshy, rest 

 black ; legs bluish. 



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