22 COBVIDJE. 



or they are streaky smudges forming a mottled ill-defined cap at 

 the large end, and running down thence in streaks and spots longi- 

 tudinally; in the other type the ground-colour is greenish white 

 or pale yellowish stone-colour, and the character of the markings 

 varies as in the preceding type. Besides these there are a few eggs 

 ■with a dingy greyish-white ground, with very faint, cloudy, ill- 

 defined spots of pale yellowish brown pretty uniformly distributed 

 over the whole surface. In nine eggs out of ten the markings are 

 most dense at the large end, where they form irregular, more or 

 less imperfect caps or zones. A few of the eggs are slightly glossy. 



Of the salmon-pink type some specimens in their coloration 

 resemble eggs of Dicrurus longicaudatus and some of our Goat- 

 suckers, while of those with the greenish-white ground-colour some 

 strongly recall the eggs of Lanius lahtora. 



In length the eggs vary from 1-0 to 1-3, and in breadth from 

 0-78 to 0-95 ; but the average of forty-four eggs is 1-17 by 0-87. 



17. Dendrocitta leucogastra, Gould. The Southern Tree-pie. 



Dendrocitta leucogastra, Gould, Jerd. B. Ind. ii, p. 317 ; Eiime, 

 Bough Draft N. 8f E. no. 678. 



From Travancore Mr. Bourdillon has kindly sent me an egg and 

 the following note on the nidification of the Southern Tree-pie :— 



" Three eggs, very hard-set, of an ashy-white colour, marked with 

 ashv and greenish-brown blotches, 1-12 long and 0-87 broad, were 

 taken on 9th March, 1873, from a nest in a bush 8 or 10 feet from 

 the ground. The nest of twigs was built after the style of the 

 English Magpie's nest, minus the dome. It consisted of a large 

 platform 6 inches deep and 8 or 10 inches broad, supporting a nest 

 \\ inch deep and 3| inches broad. The bird is not at all uncom- 

 mon on the Assamboo Hills between the elevations of 1500 and 

 3000 feet above the sea, seeming to prefer the smaller jungle and 

 more open parts of the heavy forest." 



Later he writes : — " On the 8th April I found another nest con- 

 taining three half-fledged Magpies (D. kucogastra). The nest was 

 entirely composed of twigs, roughly but securely put together; 

 interior diameter 3 inches and depth 2 inches, though there was a 

 good-sized base or platform, say, 5 inches in diameter. The nest 

 was situated on the top fork of a sapling about 12 feet from the 

 ground. I tried to rear the young birds, but they all died within 

 a week." 



The egg is very like that of our other Indian Tree-pies. It is 

 in shape a broad and regular oval, only slightly compressed towards 

 one end. The shell is fine and compact and is moderately glossy. 

 The ground is a creamy stone-colour. It is profusely blotched and 

 streaked with a somewhat pale yellowish brown, these markings 

 being most numerous and darkest in a broad, irregular, imperfect 

 zone round the large end, and it exhibits further a number of pale 

 inky-purple clouds and blotches, which seem to underlie the brown 

 markings, and which are chiefly confined to the broader half of the 

 egg. The latter measures 1*13 by 0-86. 



