gkaucalus. 349 



interior is moderately cup-shaped. Thin twigs and grass-roots are 

 freely used in its construction, while the outer part of the nest is 

 somewhat thickly covered with what appears to be spider's web. 

 Altogether the nest, considering the size of the birds, is of light 

 structure. I am sorry I did not take the dimensions of each nest 

 secured, but I sent you two very perfect ones. I found the first 

 eggs in the beginning of July. They are of a dull lightish green, 

 with brown spots of all sizes, more dense towards the large end. 

 The maximum number of eggs is three. The bird breeds from 

 June to August." 



The nests which Mr. Blewitt sent me remind one a good deal 

 of those of the JDicrun. They are broad shallow saucers, with an 

 egg-cavity about 3 inches in diameter, and f inch in depth, com- 

 posed in the only two specimens that I possess of very fine twigs, 

 chiefly those of the furash (Tamarix orientalis). Exteriorly they 

 are bound round witli cobwebs, in which a quantity of lichen is 

 incorporated. The nests are loose flimsy fabrics, which but for 

 the exterior coating of cobwebs would certainly never have borne 

 removal. 



Dr. Jerdon remarks : — " I once obtained its nest and eggs. The 

 nest was built in a lofty casuarina tree, close to my house at 

 Tellicherry ; it was composed of small twigs and roots merely, of mo- 

 derate size, and rather deeply cup-shaped, and contained three eggs, 

 of a greenish-fawn colour, with large blotches of purplish brown." 



Professor H. Littledale writing from Baroda says : — " The Large 

 Cuckoo-Shrike is a permanent resident here. I found six nests 

 last August near- Baroda, each with one egg ; and my men found 

 a nest building in the Police Lines at Khaira on the 10th October.'' 



Mr. J. Davidson informs us that " a pair of Graucalus muni 

 were apparently breeding near this place (the Kondabhari Grhat). 

 He found a nest with two young in the previous September near 

 the same place." 



Mr. Gr. W. Vidal, referring to the South Konkan, says : — 

 " Common; breeds in February and March." 



A nest that was placed in the fork of a bough was composed en- 

 tirely of slender twigs, the petioles of some pennated-leaved tree, 

 bound together all round the outside with abundance of cobwebs, so 

 that notwithstanding the incoherent nature of the materials the 

 nest was extremely firm. It is a shallow saucer quite of the 

 Dicrurine type, with a cavity 3 inches in diameter and barely 075 

 in depth. 



The eggs are typically of a somewhat elongated oval, a good deal 

 pointed towards one end, but some are broader and more of a 

 typical Shrike shape. The eggs are of course considerably larger 

 than those of Lanius lahtora. The shell is compact and fine, and 

 faintly glossy. The ground-colour is a palish-green stone-colour, 

 greener in some, and somewhat more creamy in others. The mark- 

 ings are very Shrike-like, and consist of brown blotches, streaks, and 

 spots, with numerous clouds and blotches of pale inky-purple, which 

 appear to underlie the brown markings. The markings in some 



