Birds of Luc know. 481 
together with from two to four of the Crow. On one 
occasion I found a nest which contained two fresh KoeFs 
eggs but no Crowds. It is very curious to notice the dislike 
of the House-Crow for the Koel, which it pursues relent- 
lessly; the Jungle-Crow, on the other hand, is seemingly 
quite unaffected by a sight of the speckled lady. Like the 
majority of the Crow tribe, the eggs of C. splendens are 
green, marked and blotched more or less profusely with 
various shades of darker green and brown. In size they vary 
remarkably, from l''-37-l''-80 in length, and from 0"-99-l"-ll 
in breadth ; but the average of ten Lucknow eggs — I have 
been too lazy to measure more — is I'^'SS x 1""05, which is a 
good deal less than in C. macrorhynchus. 
No. 16. Dendrocitta rufa. Indian Tree-Pie. 
Mootri [H. Lucknow]. Ogilvie; Long-tail Jay [Anglo- 
Indian boys] . 
The Indian Tree-Pie, with his handsome plumage of fawn 
and sooty brown and his long tail, is a common and well- 
known resident, frequenting topes, gardens, and avenues 
indiscriminately. When not breeding this species often 
goes about in small parties of five or six. Its flight is 
undulating. When angry, excited, or alarmed it keeps up 
a harsh disagreeble chattering, but its other note, something 
like "cog-ee cog-ee,'' is mellow and pleasing. Though I 
have never actually seen any proof myself, close observers, 
including my friend Mr. Benjamin Aitken, declare that this 
bird is a great destroyer of the eggs and young of other 
species. Mr. George Reid writes : — '^ A specimen that I 
shot had evidently robbed some nest, for its bill was smeared 
with the yolk of eggs. On another occasion I actually 
caught one in the act of robbing a Babbler's nest.^^ 
This bird nests from the end of March (first e^g 
April 1st. — W. J.) to the beginning of July (last e^^, 
July 7. — G. R.), but by far the greater number of eggs are 
taken between April 15th and June 15th. 
The nest is a very poor sort of structure of sticks lined 
with grass, and is usually at the extreme tip of a mango. 
