« 
554 Mr. W. Jesse on the 
this species I have almost invariably found a bit of snake- 
skin^ and Reid once found one entirely composed of human 
hair. 
Average of 24 Lucknow eggs '77" x "o?" 
Measurement of largest e^^ -83" X '61'' 
„ smallest e^^ -71" X '54" 
No. 663. CopsYCHus saularis. Magpie- Robin. 
Dhyal [H. and Anglo-Indian boys]. 
The Dhyal is a common and permanent resident^ fre- 
quenting gardens and avenues alike, but with, I think, an 
especial fondness for mango-groves, in vrhich I have often 
taken its nest. Reid remarked that '' its food must be very 
varied, for I found one feeding on a centipede, about four 
inches long, that I made it drop vrith difficulty. On examin- 
ing the centipede I found that life vras not quite extinct.'''' 
It breeds in May, June, and July, chiefly in holes of 
trees, but according to Reid in wells and deserted buildings 
also. The eggs are usually four, pale bluish green spotted 
and blotched with brown, much resembling small Black bird^s 
eggs. On one occasion I took no less than nine from 
a nest in a hole in a pepul tree. They were in various 
stages of incubation. Doubtless more than one bird had laid 
them. 
During the breeding-season this bird, like the Brown- 
backed Robin, sings sweetly ; but I do not think that it 
does so at other times. 
Average of 22 Lucknow eggs •88"x -68" 
Measurement of largest q^^ -93" X •67" 
„ smallest q^^ -84" X -69" 
No. 686. Geocichla citrina. Orange-headed Ground- 
Thrush. 
Only a cold-weather visitant and far from common. 
Reid stated that " it may, to a certainty, be found in 
every forest-looking bamboo-brake, frequenting damp and 
dark nooks, where it feeds on the slugs and insects usually 
found there, turning over the leaves to find them. It not 
unfrequently enters the Horticultural Gardens at Lucknow, 
where it finds suitable haunts in the damp shrubberies; 
