258 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVI T. 



taken in 1903 by Mr. Irvine in Ranchi. 1 have another sent me from' 

 the same place by Mr. Irvine. I cannot vouch for their authenticity." 



Now I myself have a reputed egg of Cuculus micropterus from the 

 Irvine collection, and I have also oviduct eggs of Coccystes jacobinus 

 and Hierococcyx varius, and I have not the least hesitation in saying that 

 my egg belongs to one of these ; and, as jacobinus only occurs as a rare 

 straggler in Khandesb, Mr. Davidson's egg is probably that of Hiero- 

 coccyx varius. Mr. Irvine's egg is slightly darker than any of mine of 

 H. varius, but I have seen eggs of this bird quite as dark as the reputed 

 micropterus egg. In size, shape and texture it agrees perfectly. Not one 

 oF my authentic jacobinus eggs could possibly be described as pale blue.* 



Nehrkorn describes the egg of this cuckoo as " Fleich-farben mit- 

 markiton violetten und rost braunen flecken, welche fast nur am stumfen 

 End steken. 24-17 mm. (aus Nest von Buchanga atra) Sikhim." 



This is very probably the egg of Surniculus lugubris (The Drongo 

 Ouckoo), very improbably that of Cuculus micropterus. 



Nineteen of the eggs which we suppose to be micropterus have passed 

 through my hands, and in ground colour all these are a very palehedge 

 sparrow green-blue, some rather more blue, but varying very little in 

 range of colour. In depth of colouring they range from almost skim 

 milk blue-green to a colour nearly as dark as a hedge-sparrow's egg. 

 Never, however, do they anything like approach the deeper colour of a 

 Coccystes egg, not even coromandus, much less jacobinus. 



Most of the eggs are quite spotless, but a few are more or less marked » 

 One egg in my collection, which I owe to Col. Rattray, has a single dark 

 green spot near the extremity of the large end ; another has perhaps 

 half a dozen such marks at the larger and one at the smaller end : in 

 this egg the marks are far more blue than the ground colour. In Col. 

 Rattray's own collection there are one or two eggs which are speckled, 

 always faintly, with pale reddish, or as the owner of the eggs calls it, 

 pale lilac. In one case these markings form a zone about the larger 

 end, but in the others are speckled sparsely all over. 



In shape these eggs are all rather broad ovals and, with two excep- 

 tions which are rather pointed, decidedly obtuse at the smaller end. In 

 no case have I seen a spherical or elliptical shaped egg such as the 

 Coccystes or the poliocephalus type. 



■ • Dr. Coltart has had thia year, on 24th August 1905, a nest of Garrulax moniliger (the 

 Necklaced-Laughing Thrush) brought to him containing one of those eggs. It agrees with 

 Rattray's, but is slightly darker than any I have seen of his. 



