gakeultjs. 29 



nest myself, I have now repeatedly had it sent me. It builds at 

 moderate heights, rarely above 25 feet from the ground, in trees 

 or thick shrubs, at elevations of from 3000 to 7000 feet. The 

 nest is a moderate -sized one, 6 to 8 inches in external diameter, 

 composed of fine twigs and grass, and lined with finer grass and 

 roots. 



The nest is usually placed in a fork. 



The eggs are four to six in number. 



Mr. Hodgson notes that he " found a nest " of this species " on 

 the 20th April, in the forest of Shewpoori, at an elevation of 7000 

 feet. The nest was placed in the midst of a large tree in a fork. 

 The nest was very shallow, but regularly formed and compact. It 

 was composed of long seeding grasses wound round and round, 

 and lined with finer and more elastic grass-stems. The nest 

 measured about Q\ inches in diameter, but the cavity was only 

 about half an inch deep." 



Colonel C. H. T. Marshall remarks : — •" I only took one authen- 

 ticated set of eggs of this species (I found several with young), as 

 it is an early breeder — I say authenticated eggs, because I think 

 we may have attributed some to Oarralus lanceolatus, as the nests 

 and eggs are very similar, and having a large number of the eggs 

 of the latter, I took some from my shikaree without verifying 

 them. 



" The nest I took on the 6th May, 1873, at Murree, was at an 

 elevation, I should say, of between 6500 and 7000 feet (as it was 

 near the top of the hill), in the forest. The tree selected was a 

 horse-chestnut, about 25 feet high. The nest was near the top, 

 which is the case with nearly all the Crows' and Magpies' nests 

 that I have taken. It was of loose construction, made of twigs 

 and fibres, and contained five partially incubated eggs. 



" The eggs are similar to those of G. lanceolatus. I have care- 

 fully compared the five of the species which I am now describing 

 with twenty of the other, and find that the following differences 

 exist. The egg of Q. bisptcularis is more obtuse and broader, 

 there is a brighter gloss on it, and the speckling is more marked ; 

 but with a large series of each I think the only perceptible dif- 

 ference would be its greater breadth, which makes the egg look 

 larger than that of the Black-throated Jay. My lour eggs measure 

 1-15 by 0-85 each. 



" This species only breeds once in a year, and from my observa- 

 tions lays in April, all the young being hatched by the 15th May. 

 Captain Cock and myself carefully hunted up all the forests round 

 Murree, where the birds were constantly to be seen, commencing 

 our work after the 10th May, and we found nothing but young 

 ones." 



Colonel Gr. P. L. Marshall writes : — " I have found nests of this 

 species for the first time this year ; the first on the 22nd of May, 

 by which time, as all recorded evidence shows it to be an early 

 breeder, I had given up all hopes of getting eggs. The first nest 

 contained two fresh eggs ; it was on a horizontal limb of a large 



