350 LANIID^E. 



eggs are all very faint, and, as it were, half washed out, while in 

 others they are very bright and clear. In some these are com- 

 paratively sparse and few ; in others close-set and numerous, 

 especially in a broad zone near the large end ; but this zone is by 

 no means invariably present ; in fact, not above one in five eggs 

 exhibit it. There is something in these eggs which reminds one 

 of some of the Terns' eggs ; and although, when compared with a 

 large series of L. lahtora, individuals of this la'ter species may be 

 found resembling them to a certain extent, I do not think that at 

 first sight any zoologist would have felt sure that they were Shrike's 

 eggs. 



They vary in length, from 1*12 to 1 - 41 inch, and in breadth from 

 0-8 to 0-95 inch, but the average of eight eggs is l - 26 by 0'9 inch 

 nearly. 



Subfamily ARTAMBLE. 



512. Artamus fuscus, Vieill. The Ashy Swallow-Shrike. 



Artamus fuscus, V., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 441 ; Hume, Rough Draft 



N. fyE.no. 287. 



Mr. E. Thompson says: — " I have frequently found the nests 

 of the Ashy Swallow-Shrike, and have watched the old birds con- 

 structing them, but never took down their eggs. Two or three 

 pairs may always be found nesting on the long-leaved pine, as one 

 comes up from Kaladoongee to Nyneetal and passes halfway up 

 from the first dak chokee at Grhutgurh. They lay in May and 

 June, constructing their nest on the horizontal extension of a main 

 branch of some lofty tree, generally Pinus longifolia. The nest, 

 composed of fine grasses, roots, and fibres, is a loose, only slightly 

 cup-shaped structure, some 5 inches in diameter." 



Dr. Jerdon says on the other hand: — "I have procured the 

 nest of this bird situated on a palmyra tree on the stem of the 

 leaf. It was a deep cup-shaped nest, made of grass, leaves, and 

 numerous feathers, and contained two eggs, white with a greenish 

 tinge, and with light brown spots, chiefly at the larger end. I see 

 that Mr. Layard procured the nest in Ceylon, where this bird is 

 common, in the heads of cocoanut trees, made of fibres and grasses, 

 and it was probably the nest of this bird that was brought to 

 Tickell as that of the Palm-Swift." 



According to Mr. Hodgson this species begins to lay in March, 

 the young being fledged in June; the nest is a broad shallow 

 saucer, from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, composed of grass and 

 roots, together with a little lichen, loosely put together, a green 

 leaf or two being sometimes found as a lining to the nest. The 

 nest is placed on some broad horizontal branch, where two or three 

 slender twigs or shoots grow out of it, or on the top of some stump 

 of a tree, or broken end of a branch, generally, at a considerable 



