Notes OIL the Birds of the Sambhnr Lake Sf its vicinity. 385 



646. — Parus nuchalis, Jerdon. 



In one patch of jungle near to Marot I have obtained some 

 twelve specimens of this rare bird, and quite lately I found it 

 in another range of hills further to the west towards the 

 marble quarries of Mokrana. It seems to be so common about 

 the Marot jung-le that I have never yet paid the jungle a visit 

 without secui ing one or more specimens. At the beginning of 

 last rains I sent some men to look for the nest, but although 

 I obtained a female with the ovary greatly enlarged, they 

 failed to find a nest. I again sent men about a fortnight later, 

 and they reported that no birds were to be seen. 



Jerdon^s figure, in his " Illustrations of Indian Ornithology,^^ 

 is very good, but while Jerdon describes the bird as black, the 

 figure shows the color as a deep glossy blue-black, and all my 

 birds have this shade, but darker than shown in the figure. 

 The nuchal mark is like a semi-circle in the males, smaller in 

 the females ; this mark and margins and tips of the tertials are 

 pure white. In some specimens the white of the breast is 

 tinged with very pale-yellow. 



The central tail-feathers are obsoletely banded, and ave all 

 more or less tipped with white. In good specimens thei'e is a 

 very dark glossy green edging to the feathers, The mesial stripe 

 is deep black with a shade of blue. Irides, dark-brown. In 

 size they are very much alike. 



The call is a fine bold whew, whew, whew, whew, whew. 

 It utters it rapidly with the last note high. I had noticed _ the 

 call and was looking for the bird, when Mr. Ashton shot it in 

 the act of calling. On the 25th May I obtained a male 

 evidently breeding. 



657.— Corvus Lawrencei, ffume. 



This raven is pretty common during the cold weather, but 

 pairs are seen about this throughout the year. They are ' very 

 fond of attaching themselves to the camps of the numerous 

 parties of Banjaras who visit the lake. 



I obtained a nest at the end of January wh ch contained 

 three eggs, and a fourth was found in the parent bird. The 

 nest was about fifteen feet from the ground in a keggera tree 



